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Euthanasia – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Posted: June 21, 2016 at 6:47 am

This article is about euthanasia of humans. For mercy killings performed on other animals, see Animal euthanasia.

Euthanasia (from Greek: ; "good death": , eu; "well" or "good" , thanatos; "death") is the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering.[1]

There are different euthanasia laws in each country. The British House of Lords Select Committee on Medical Ethics defines euthanasia as "a deliberate intervention undertaken with the express intention of ending a life, to relieve intractable suffering".[2] In the Netherlands and Flanders, euthanasia is understood as "termination of life by a doctor at the request of a patient".[3]

Euthanasia is categorized in different ways, which include voluntary, non-voluntary, or involuntary. Voluntary euthanasia is legal in some countries. Non-voluntary euthanasia (patient's consent unavailable) is illegal in all countries. Involuntary euthanasia (without asking consent or against the patient's will) is also illegal in all countries and is usually considered murder.[4] As of 2006, euthanasia is the most active area of research in contemporary bioethics.[5]

In some countries there is a divisive public controversy over the moral, ethical, and legal issues of euthanasia. Those who are against euthanasia may argue for the sanctity of life, while proponents of euthanasia rights emphasize alleviating suffering, and preserving bodily integrity, self-determination, and personal autonomy.[6] Jurisdictions where euthanasia is legal include the Netherlands, Canada,[7]Colombia, Belgium, and Luxembourg.

Like other terms borrowed from history, "euthanasia" has had different meanings depending on usage. The first apparent usage of the term "euthanasia" belongs to the historian Suetonius, who described how the Emperor Augustus, "dying quickly and without suffering in the arms of his wife, Livia, experienced the 'euthanasia' he had wished for."[8] The word "euthanasia" was first used in a medical context by Francis Bacon in the 17th century, to refer to an easy, painless, happy death, during which it was a "physician's responsibility to alleviate the 'physical sufferings' of the body." Bacon referred to an "outward euthanasia"the term "outward" he used to distinguish from a spiritual conceptthe euthanasia "which regards the preparation of the soul."[9]

In current usage, euthanasia has been defined as the "painless inducement of a quick death".[10] However, it is argued that this approach fails to properly define euthanasia, as it leaves open a number of possible actions which would meet the requirements of the definition, but would not be seen as euthanasia. In particular, these include situations where a person kills another, painlessly, but for no reason beyond that of personal gain; or accidental deaths that are quick and painless, but not intentional.[11][12]

Another approach incorporates the notion of suffering into the definition.[11] The definition offered by the Oxford English Dictionary incorporates suffering as a necessary condition, with "the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma",[13] This approach is included in Marvin Khol and Paul Kurtz's definition of it as "a mode or act of inducing or permitting death painlessly as a relief from suffering".[14] Counterexamples can be given: such definitions may encompass killing a person suffering from an incurable disease for personal gain (such as to claim an inheritance), and commentators such as Tom Beauchamp and Arnold Davidson have argued that doing so would constitute "murder simpliciter" rather than euthanasia.[11]

The third element incorporated into many definitions is that of intentionality the death must be intended, rather than being accidental, and the intent of the action must be a "merciful death".[11] Michael Wreen argued that "the principal thing that distinguishes euthanasia from intentional killing simpliciter is the agent's motive: it must be a good motive insofar as the good of the person killed is concerned."[15] Similarly, Heather Draper speaks to the importance of motive, arguing that "the motive forms a crucial part of arguments for euthanasia, because it must be in the best interests of the person on the receiving end."[12] Definitions such as that offered by the House of Lords Select Committee on Medical Ethics take this path, where euthanasia is defined as "a deliberate intervention undertaken with the express intention of ending a life, to relieve intractable suffering."[2] Beauchamp and Davidson also highlight Baruch Brody's "an act of euthanasia is one in which one person... (A) kills another person (B) for the benefit of the second person, who actually does benefit from being killed".[16]

Draper argued that any definition of euthanasia must incorporate four elements: an agent and a subject; an intention; a causal proximity, such that the actions of the agent lead to the outcome; and an outcome. Based on this, she offered a definition incorporating those elements, stating that euthanasia "must be defined as death that results from the intention of one person to kill another person, using the most gentle and painless means possible, that is motivated solely by the best interests of the person who dies."[17] Prior to Draper, Beauchamp and Davidson had also offered a definition that includes these elements. Their definition specifically discounts fetuses in order to distinguish between abortions and euthanasia:[18]

"In summary, we have argued... that the death of a human being, A, is an instance of euthanasia if and only if (1) A's death is intended by at least one other human being, B, where B is either the cause of death or a causally relevant feature of the event resulting in death (whether by action or by omission); (2) there is either sufficient current evidence for B to believe that A is acutely suffering or irreversibly comatose, or there is sufficient current evidence related to A's present condition such that one or more known causal laws supports B's belief that A will be in a condition of acute suffering or irreversible comatoseness; (3) (a) B's primary reason for intending A's death is cessation of A's (actual or predicted future) suffering or irreversible comatoseness, where B does not intend A's death for a different primary reason, though there may be other relevant reasons, and (b) there is sufficient current evidence for either A or B that causal means to A's death will not produce any more suffering than would be produced for A if B were not to intervene; (4) the causal means to the event of A's death are chosen by A or B to be as painless as possible, unless either A or B has an overriding reason for a more painful causal means, where the reason for choosing the latter causal means does not conflict with the evidence in 3b; (5) A is a nonfetal organism."[19]

Wreen, in part responding to Beauchamp and Davidson, offered a six-part definition:

"Person A committed an act of euthanasia if and only if (1) A killed B or let her die; (2) A intended to kill B; (3) the intention specified in (2) was at least partial cause of the action specified in (1); (4) the causal journey from the intention specified in (2) to the action specified in (1) is more or less in accordance with A's plan of action; (5) A's killing of B is a voluntary action; (6) the motive for the action specified in (1), the motive standing behind the intention specified in (2), is the good of the person killed."[20]

Wreen also considered a seventh requirement: "(7) The good specified in (6) is, or at least includes, the avoidance of evil", although as Wreen noted in the paper, he was not convinced that the restriction was required.[21]

In discussing his definition, Wreen noted the difficulty of justifying euthanasia when faced with the notion of the subject's "right to life". In response, Wreen argued that euthanasia has to be voluntary, and that "involuntary euthanasia is, as such, a great wrong".[21] Other commentators incorporate consent more directly into their definitions. For example, in a discussion of euthanasia presented in 2003 by the European Association of Palliative Care (EPAC) Ethics Task Force, the authors offered: "Medicalized killing of a person without the person's consent, whether nonvoluntary (where the person in unable to consent) or involuntary (against the person's will) is not euthanasia: it is murder. Hence, euthanasia can be voluntary only."[22] Although the EPAC Ethics Task Force argued that both non-voluntary and involuntary euthanasia could not be included in the definition of euthanasia, there is discussion in the literature about excluding one but not the other.[21]

Euthanasia may be classified according to whether a person gives informed consent into three types: voluntary, non-voluntary and involuntary.[23][24]

There is a debate within the medical and bioethics literature about whether or not the non-voluntary (and by extension, involuntary) killing of patients can be regarded as euthanasia, irrespective of intent or the patient's circumstances. In the definitions offered by Beauchamp and Davidson and, later, by Wreen, consent on the part of the patient was not considered as one of their criteria, although it may have been required to justify euthanasia.[11][25] However, others see consent as essential.

Euthanasia conducted with the consent of the patient is termed voluntary euthanasia. Active voluntary euthanasia is legal in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Passive voluntary euthanasia is legal throughout the U.S. per Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health. When the patient brings about his or her own death with the assistance of a physician, the term assisted suicide is often used instead. Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland and the U.S. states of California, Oregon, Washington, Montana and Vermont.

Euthanasia conducted when the consent of the patient is unavailable is termed non-voluntary euthanasia. Examples include child euthanasia, which is illegal worldwide but decriminalised under certain specific circumstances in the Netherlands under the Groningen Protocol.

Euthanasia conducted against the will of the patient is termed involuntary euthanasia.

Voluntary, non-voluntary and involuntary euthanasia can all be further divided into passive or active variants.[26] Passive euthanasia entails the withholding of common treatments, such as antibiotics, necessary for the continuance of life.[2] Active euthanasia entails the use of lethal substances or forces, such as administering a lethal injection, to kill and is the most controversial means. A number of authors consider these terms to be misleading and unhelpful.[2]

According to the historian N. D. A. Kemp, the origin of the contemporary debate on euthanasia started in 1870.[27] Euthanasia is known to have been debated and practiced long before that date. Euthanasia was practiced in Ancient Greece and Rome: for example, hemlock was employed as a means of hastening death on the island of Kea, a technique also employed in Marseilles. Euthanasia, in the sense of the deliberate hastening of a person's death, was supported by Socrates, Plato and Seneca the Elder in the ancient world, although Hippocrates appears to have spoken against the practice, writing "I will not prescribe a deadly drug to please someone, nor give advice that may cause his death" (noting there is some debate in the literature about whether or not this was intended to encompass euthanasia).[28][29][30]

The term "euthanasia" in the earlier sense of supporting someone as they died was used for the first time by Francis Bacon (1561-1626). In his work, Euthanasia medica, he chose this ancient Greek word and, in doing so, distinguished between euthanasia interior, the preparation of the soul for death, and euthanasia exterior, which was intended to make the end of life easier and painless, in exceptional circumstances by shortening life. That the ancient meaning of an easy death came to the fore again in the early modern period can be seen from its definition in the 18th century Zedlers Universallexikon:

The concept of euthanasia in the sense of alleviating the process of death goes back to the medical historian, Karl Friedrich Heinrich Marx, who drew on Bacon's philosophical ideas. According to Marx, a doctor had a moral duty to ease the suffering of death through encouragement, support and mitigation using medication. Such an "alleviation of death" reflected the contemporary Zeitgeist, but was brought into the medical canon of responsibility for the first time by Marx. Marx also stressed the distinction between the theological care of the soul of sick people from the physical care and medical treatment by doctors.[32][33]

Euthanasia in its modern sense has always been strongly opposed in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Thomas Aquinas opposed both and argued that the practice of euthanasia contradicted our natural human instincts of survival,[34] as did Francois Ranchin (15651641), a French physician and professor of medicine, and Michael Boudewijns (16011681), a physician and teacher.[29]:208[35] Other voices argued for euthanasia, such as John Donne in 1624,[36] and euthanasia continued to be practised. In 1678, the publication of Caspar Questel's De pulvinari morientibus non subtrahend, ("On the pillow of which the dying should not be deprived"), initiated debate on the topic. Questel described various customs which were employed at the time to hasten the death of the dying, (including the sudden removal of a pillow, which was believed to accelerate death), and argued against their use, as doing so was "against the laws of God and Nature".[29]:209211 This view was shared by many who followed, including Philipp Jakob Spener, Veit Riedlin and Johann Georg Krnitz.[29]:211 Despite opposition, euthanasia continued to be practised, involving techniques such as bleeding, suffocation, and removing people from their beds to be placed on the cold ground.[29]:211214

Suicide and euthanasia became more accepted during the Age of Enlightenment.[35]Thomas More wrote of euthanasia in Utopia, although it is not clear if More was intending to endorse the practice.[29]:208209 Other cultures have taken different approaches: for example, in Japan suicide has not traditionally been viewed as a sin, as it is used in cases of honor, and accordingly, the perceptions of euthanasia are different from those in other parts of the world.[37]

In the mid-1800s, the use of morphine to treat "the pains of death" emerged, with John Warren recommending its use in 1848. A similar use of chloroform was revealed by Joseph Bullar in 1866. However, in neither case was it recommended that the use should be to hasten death. In 1870 Samuel Williams, a schoolteacher, initiated the contemporary euthanasia debate through a speech given at the Birmingham Speculative Club in England, which was subsequently published in a one-off publication entitled Essays of the Birmingham Speculative Club, the collected works of a number of members of an amateur philosophical society.[38]:794 Williams' proposal was to use chloroform to deliberately hasten the death of terminally ill patients:

That in all cases of hopeless and painful illness, it should be the recognized duty of the medical attendant, whenever so desired by the patient, to administer choloroform or such other anaesthetic as may by-and-bye supersede chloroform so as to destroy consciousness at once, and put the sufferer to a quick and painless death; all needful precautions being adopted to prevent any possible abuse of such duty; and means being taken to establish, beyond the possibility of doubt or question, that the remedy was applied at the express wish of the patient.

The essay was favourably reviewed in The Saturday Review, but an editorial against the essay appeared in The Spectator.[27] From there it proved to be influential, and other writers came out in support of such views: Lionel Tollemache wrote in favour of euthanasia, as did Annie Besant, the essayist and reformer who later became involved with the National Secular Society, considering it a duty to society to "die voluntarily and painlessly" when one reaches the point of becoming a 'burden'.[27][39]Popular Science analyzed the issue in May 1873, assessing both sides of the argument.[40] Kemp notes that at the time, medical doctors did not participate in the discussion; it was "essentially a philosophical enterprise... tied inextricably to a number of objections to the Christian doctrine of the sanctity of human life".[27]

The rise of the euthanasia movement in the United States coincided with the so-called Gilded Age, a time of social and technological change that encompassed an "individualistic conservatism that praised laissez-faire economics, scientific method, and rationalism", along with major depressions, industrialisation and conflict between corporations and labour unions.[38]:794 It was also the period in which the modern hospital system was developed, which has been seen as a factor in the emergence of the euthanasia debate.[41]

Robert Ingersoll argued for euthanasia, stating in 1894 that where someone is suffering from a terminal illness, such as terminal cancer, they should have a right to end their pain through suicide. Felix Adler offered a similar approach, although, unlike Ingersoll, Adler did not reject religion. In fact, he argued from an Ethical Culture framework. In 1891, Alder argued that those suffering from overwhelming pain should have the right to commit suicide, and, furthermore, that it should be permissible for a doctor to assist thus making Adler the first "prominent American" to argue for suicide in cases where people were suffering from chronic illness.[42] Both Ingersoll and Adler argued for voluntary euthanasia of adults suffering from terminal ailments.[42] Dowbiggin argues that by breaking down prior moral objections to euthanasia and suicide, Ingersoll and Adler enabled others to stretch the definition of euthanasia.[43]

The first attempt to legalise euthanasia took place in the United States, when Henry Hunt introduced legislation into the General Assembly of Ohio in 1906.[44]:614 Hunt did so at the behest of Anna Hall, a wealthy heiress who was a major figure in the euthanasia movement during the early 20th century in the United States. Hall had watched her mother die after an extended battle with liver cancer, and had dedicated herself to ensuring that others would not have to endure the same suffering. Towards this end she engaged in an extensive letter writing campaign, recruited Lurana Sheldon and Maud Ballington Booth, and organised a debate on euthanasia at the annual meeting of the American Humane Association in 1905 described by Jacob Appel as the first significant public debate on the topic in the 20th century.[44]:614616

Hunt's bill called for the administration of an anesthetic to bring about a patient's death, so long as the person is of lawful age and sound mind, and was suffering from a fatal injury, an irrevocable illness, or great physical pain. It also required that the case be heard by a physician, required informed consent in front of three witnesses, and required the attendance of three physicians who had to agree that the patient's recovery was impossible. A motion to reject the bill outright was voted down, but the bill failed to pass, 79 to 23.[38]:796[44]:618619

Along with the Ohio euthanasia proposal, in 1906 Assemblyman Ross Gregory introduced a proposal to permit euthanasia to the Iowa legislature. However, the Iowa legislation was far broader in scope than that offered in Ohio. It allowed for the death of any person of at least ten years of age who suffered from an ailment that would prove fatal and cause extreme pain, should they be of sound mind and express a desire to artificially hasten their death. In addition, it allowed for infants to be euthanised if they were sufficiently deformed, and permitted guardians to request euthanasia on behalf of their wards. The proposed legislation also imposed penalties on physicians who refused to perform euthanasia when requested: a 612 month prison term and a fine of between $200 and $1000. The proposal proved to be controversial.[44]:619621 It engendered considerable debate and failed to pass, having been withdrawn from consideration after being passed to the Committee on Public Health.[44]:623

After 1906 the euthanasia debate reduced in intensity, resurfacing periodically but not returning to the same level of debate until the 1930s in the United Kingdom.[38]:796

The Voluntary Euthanasia Legalisation Society was founded in 1935 by Charles Killick Millard (now called Dignity in Dying). The movement campaigned for the legalisation of euthanasia in Great Britain.

In January 1936, King George V was given a fatal dose of morphine and cocaine in order to hasten his death. At the time he was suffering from cardio-respiratory failure, and the decision to end his life was made by his physician, Lord Dawson.[45] Although this event was kept a secret for over 50 years, the death of George V coincided with proposed legislation in the House of Lords to legalise euthanasia. The legislation came through the British Volunteer Euthanasia Legalisation Society.[46]

Euthanasia opponent Ian Dowbiggin argues that the early membership of the Euthanasia Society of America (ESA) reflected how many perceived euthanasia at the time, often seeing it as a eugenics matter rather than an issue concerning individual rights.[42] Dowbiggin argues that not every eugenist joined the ESA "solely for eugenic reasons", but he postulates that there were clear ideological connections between the eugenics and euthanasia movements.[42]

A 24 July 1939 killing of a severely disabled infant in Nazi Germany was described in a BBC "Genocide Under the Nazis Timeline" as the first "state-sponsored euthanasia".[47] Parties that consented to the killing included Hitler's office, the parents, and the Reich Committee for the Scientific Registration of Serious and Congenitally Based Illnesses.[47]The Telegraph noted that the killing of the disabled infantwhose name was Gerhard Kretschmar, born blind, with missing limbs, subject to convulsions, and reportedly "an idiot" provided "the rationale for a secret Nazi decree that led to 'mercy killings' of almost 300,000 mentally and physically handicapped people".[48] While Kretchmar's killing received parental consent, most of the 5,000 to 8,000 children killed afterwards were forcibly taken from their parents.[47][48]

The "euthanasia campaign" of mass murder gathered momentum on 14 January 1940 when the "handicapped" were killed with gas vans and killing centres, eventually leading to the deaths of 70,000 adult Germans.[49] Professor Robert Jay Lifton, author of The Nazi Doctors and a leading authority on the T4 program, contrasts this program with what he considers to be a genuine euthanasia. He explains that the Nazi version of "euthanasia" was based on the work of Adolf Jost, who published The Right to Death (Das Recht auf den Tod) in 1895. Lifton writes: "Jost argued that control over the death of the individual must ultimately belong to the social organism, the state. This concept is in direct opposition to the Anglo-American concept of euthanasia, which emphasizes the individual's 'right to die' or 'right to death' or 'right to his or her own death,' as the ultimate human claim. In contrast, Jost was pointing to the state's right to kill.... Ultimately the argument was biological: 'The rights to death [are] the key to the fitness of life.' The state must own deathmust killin order to keep the social organism alive and healthy."[50]

In modern terms, the use of "euthanasia" in the context of Action T4 is seen to be a euphemism to disguise a program of genocide, in which people were killed on the grounds of "disabilities, religious beliefs, and discordant individual values".[51] Compared to the discussions of euthanasia that emerged post-war, the Nazi program may have been worded in terms that appear similar to the modern use of "euthanasia", but there was no "mercy" and the patients were not necessarily terminally ill.[51] Despite these differences, historian and euthanasia opponent Ian Dowbiggin writes that "the origins of Nazi euthanasia, like those of the American euthanasia movement, predate the Third Reich and were intertwined with the history of eugenics and Social Darwinism, and with efforts to discredit traditional morality and ethics."[42]:65

On January 6, 1949, the Euthanasia Society of America presented to the New York State Legislature a petition to legalize euthanasia, signed by 379 leading Protestant and Jewish ministers, the largest group of religious leaders ever to have taken this stance. A similar petition had been sent to the New York State Legislature in 1947, signed by approximately 1,000 New York physicians. Catholic religious leaders criticized the petition, saying that such a bill would "legalize a suicide-murder pact" and a "rationalization of the fifth commandment of God, 'Though Shalt Not Kill.'"[52] The Right Reverend Robert E. McCormick stated that

"The ultimate object of the Euthanasia Society is based on the Totalitarian principle that the state is supreme and that the individual does not have the right to live if his continuance in life is a burden or hindrance to the state. The Nazis followed this principle and compulsory Euthanasia was practiced as a part of their program during the recent war. We American citizens of New York State must ask ourselves this question: 'Are we going to finish Hitler's job?'"[52]

The petition brought tensions between the American Euthanasia Society and the Catholic Church to a head that contributed to a climate of anti-Catholic sentiment generally regarding issues such as birth control, eugenics, and population control.[42]

The petition did not lead to a law.

Historically, the euthanasia debate has tended to focus on a number of key concerns. According to euthanasia opponent Ezekiel Emanuel, proponents of euthanasia have presented four main arguments: a) that people have a right to self-determination, and thus should be allowed to choose their own fate; b) assisting a subject to die might be a better choice than requiring that they continue to suffer; c) the distinction between passive euthanasia, which is often permitted, and active euthanasia, which is not substantive (or that the underlying principlethe doctrine of double effectis unreasonable or unsound); and d) permitting euthanasia will not necessarily lead to unacceptable consequences. Pro-euthanasia activists often point to countries like the Netherlands and Belgium, and states like Oregon, where euthanasia has been legalized, to argue that it is mostly unproblematic.

Similarly, Emanuel argues that there are four major arguments presented by opponents of euthanasia: a) not all deaths are painful; b) alternatives, such as cessation of active treatment, combined with the use of effective pain relief, are available; c) the distinction between active and passive euthanasia is morally significant; and d) legalising euthanasia will place society on a slippery slope,[53] which will lead to unacceptable consequences.[38]:7978 In fact, in Oregon, in 2013, pain wasn't one of the top five reasons people sought euthanasia. Top reasons were a loss of dignity, and a fear of burdening others.[54]

In the United States in 2013, 47% nationwide supported doctor-assisted suicide. This included 32% of Latinos, 29% of African-Americans, and almost nobody with disabilities.[54]

West's Encyclopedia of American Law states that "a 'mercy killing' or euthanasia is generally considered to be a criminal homicide"[55] and is normally used as a synonym of homicide committed at a request made by the patient.[56]

The judicial sense of the term "homicide" includes any intervention undertaken with the express intention of ending a life, even to relieve intractable suffering.[56][57][58] Not all homicide is unlawful.[59] Two designations of homicide that carry no criminal punishment are justifiable and excusable homicide.[59] In most countries this is not the status of euthanasia. The term "euthanasia" is usually confined to the active variety; the University of Washington website states that "euthanasia generally means that the physician would act directly, for instance by giving a lethal injection, to end the patient's life".[60]Physician-assisted suicide is thus not classified as euthanasia by the US State of Oregon, where it is legal under the Oregon Death with Dignity Act, and despite its name, it is not legally classified as suicide either.[61] Unlike physician-assisted suicide, withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatments with patient consent (voluntary) is almost unanimously considered, at least in the United States, to be legal.[62] The use of pain medication in order to relieve suffering, even if it hastens death, has been held as legal in several court decisions.[60]

Some governments around the world have legalized voluntary euthanasia but most commonly it is still considered to be criminal homicide. In the Netherlands and Belgium, where euthanasia has been legalized, it still remains homicide although it is not prosecuted and not punishable if the perpetrator (the doctor) meets certain legal conditions.[63][64][65][66]

A survey in the United States of more than 10,000 physicians came to the result that approximately 16% of physicians would ever consider halting life-sustaining therapy because the family demands it, even if they believed that it was premature. Approximately 55% would not, and for the remaining 29%, it would depend on circumstances.[67]

This study also stated that approximately 46% of physicians agree that physician-assisted suicide should be allowed in some cases; 41% do not, and the remaining 14% think it depends.[67]

In the United Kingdom, the pro-assisted dying group Dignity in Dying cite conflicting research on attitudes by doctors to assisted dying: with a 2009 Palliative Medicine-published survey showing 64% support (to 34% oppose) for assisted dying in cases where a patient has an incurable and painful disease, while 49% of doctors in a study published in BMC Medical Ethics oppose changing the law on assisted dying to 39% in favour.[68]

victimless crimes – Southeast Missouri State University

Posted: at 6:47 am

Victimless Crimes

Carol A. Veneziano, Ph.D., Professor, Southeast Missouri State University, cveneziano@semo.edu

A victimless crime is an illegal act that involves consenting adults and lacks a complaining participant (Schur, 1965). Such acts have been defined as illegal, but there is no victim that claims to have been harmed; either no harm has occurred, or if harm has occurred to those involved, it is negated because its willing participants have given informed consent to the activity (Stitt, 1988). Victimless crimes are also sometimes referred to as public order offenses. Although there has been some disagreement over which crimes are victimless, five of the most commonly identified victimless crimes are gambling, drug use, pornography, prostitution, and homosexuality. Additionally, abortion is sometimes referred to as a victimless crime, although this classification has been highly controversial (Brown, Esbensen and Geis, 2010). Adultery and fornication might formerly be referred to as victimless crimes, but in most states these acts are no longer crimes (Harcourt, 1999).

Victimless crimes have been the topic of heated debate, primarily centering on the question as to whether these acts ought to be crimes at all. The arguments take several forms. One of the controversies involves the importance of personal freedom versus societys imperative to uphold moral standards. A second issue addresses the problem of the concept of harm. Concerns are raised as to whether victimless crimes are harmful not only to the participants but to others in society, and whether such acts result in negative consequences that might not be immediately apparent. In addition, a final issue is whether attempts to control victimless crimes are helpful or detrimental to the criminal justice system and society in terms of cost effectiveness.

The oldest argument concerning victimless crimes concerns personal freedom. If the individuals involved are consenting adults, they should be free in a democratic society to engage in these behaviors, even if that conduct should be unwise for the individual (Feinberg, 1984). According to this perspective, the government should not be involved in enforcing morality and coercing its citizens to follow particular standards of behavior, thus interfering with their liberty. On the other hand, some scholars have argued that it is important to uphold moral standards in society. Such acts should be against the law because they are wrong (sometimes referred to as legal moralism). If a society does not have standards, there will be chaos. There are acts that are generally regarded as immoral in a culture; a policy that allows such acts would weaken the social cohesion and consensus about appropriate behavior and ultimately lead to the collapse of society (Devlin, 1965).

The second argument against victimless crimes is that they harm no one else, except possibly the individuals involved, who are free to do as they please. Some scholars, however, have argued that participants in these crimes do not hurt only themselves. The offenders families may be hurt, and victimless crimes could even lead to other problems where there are unwilling victims (Meier and Geis, 1997). For example, prostitution and homosexuality might lead to the spread of AIDS. Drug abusers might commit crimes to obtain drugs; pornography, it is argued, leads to the degradation not only of the participants but of women in general. In response, critics of victimless crime laws point out that families are often hurt by many acts a family member could commit, and people generally may engage in acts that are indirectly harmful to others, such as investing unwisely in the stock market, eating fast food that results in medical bills which increase insurance costs, and other practices that are not illegal. The law cannot begin to prohibit so many potentially harmful practices, so it should not forbid other practices that are less socially acceptable.

However, some researchers have indicated that victimless crimes are harmful in ways that do argue for their control and criminalization. The broken windows argument of crime prevention (Wilson and Kelling, 1982) has altered the harm argument significantly. This theory states that if such phenomena as minor disorderly conduct, prostitution, liquor shops, illicit drugs and the sale of pornography go unattended, serious crime will increase in a neighborhood. An area that appears disorderly, (broken windows), is vulnerable to invasion by criminals, thus affecting the quality of lives of its residents and with potentially devastating economic effects. Neighborhoods whose residents believe that they can regulate public behavior by informal controls tend to be areas which discourage potential offenders. On the other hand, areas which appear to tolerate disorder, where no one seems to care or to control the physical environment, tend to encourage other more serious types of crime. Thus disorder and victimless acts should be discouraged so as to protect neighborhoods and residents.

In the 1960s and 1970s, victimless crimes were being decriminalized in many states. As a consequence of the broken windows concept, some places, particularly large cities such as Chicago and New York, have made more aggressive efforts to apprehend those involved in victimless crimes. The rationale for this change in policy has been on the basis that victimless crimes lead to more crime which tends to discourage economic enterprises such as business and tourism, and to interfere with the quality of life of its residents (Harcourt, 1999).

The impact of victimless offenses on other crimes and on community economy has not been well researched. One empirical study was conducted concerning gambling, which has been made legal in many communities as a result of casinos. Analysis found few consistent findings. Crime rates increased significantly in some casino communities, remained relatively stable in others, and decreased in some communities. It was concluded that crime does not inevitably increase when legalized gambling is available, but that the effects of casinos on crime appear to be related to a variety of variables that are not yet well understood (Stitt, Nichols and Giacopassi, 2003). In order to examine the effects of legalization of gambling, as well as other victimless crimes, more empirical studies are clearly needed.

A further issue that has been the focus of considerable debate concerns the impact of victimless crime laws on the criminal justice system. The enforcement of victimless crime laws has been associated with police discretion and increased police corruption, and may also be associated with the violation of civil liberties against citizens (Acuri, Gunn and Lester, 1987). The enforcement of victimless crime laws might also lead its perpetrators to commit other crimes that they would not commit if these victimless acts were legal (for example, if drug use was legal, some perpetrators would not commit property or other crimes to obtain money for their drugs). Additionally the enforcement of victimless crime leads to increased jail populations at considerable cost (Taylor, 2001). Furthermore, there is concern that enforcement of victimless crime laws may divert time and funds for the criminal justice system from other more serious crime and more important issues. Since it is not even the case that police can be particularly effective at enforcing these law, some scholars argue that it is not worthwhile, since there are so many other pressing crime issues (Skolnick, 1978; Barkan, 1997).

Yet another problem is that victimless crime provides revenue for organized crime. Victimless crimes often provide goods and services (such gambling, prostitution, and drugs) for which there is considerable demand. Organized crime has been able to provide these desired commodities, and victimless crimes serve to fund these groups, creating a lucrative market and keeping such groups in business. The argument has been made that organized crime contributes to corruption of criminal justice officials; however, the counterargument has been that there would still be opportunities for corruption even if victimless crimes were legal. Yet, although the goods and services provided might not involve a complaining victim, it is the case that members of organized crime engage in other corrupt and dangerous criminal practices such as loansharking and extortion, thus contributing to the serious and violent crime rates. There are thus arguments both for and against legalization of victimless crimes with respect to the role of organized crime (Kenney and Finckenauer, 1995).

More subtly, the enforcement of victimless crime laws might lead to public disrespect for the law. If citizens believe that such laws are overreaching and interfere with their liberties, this perception might affect their general views of the criminal justice system. These laws are difficult to enforce, since they are usually not even reported, and provide goods and services that are in demand. As such, the laws are likely to be violated, weakening law abiding behaviors. If they are associated with police corruption and organized crime enterprises, negative views of the police and the law again seem likely to result (Skolnick, 1978; Kenney and Finckenauer, 1995).

Furthermore, it has been pointed out that victimless crimes tend to reflect the moral beliefs of the powerful, and as such reflect social inequality. Those citizens who influence lawmaking have tended to be white middle and upper class Protestants, and the laws tend to affect the poor and minorities. There are numerous examples. The temperance movement of the late 1800s and early 1900s was led by white Protestants who considered alcohol a sin and disliked Catholics, immigrants and the poor who used alcohol (Kenney and Finkenauer, 1995). When prostitution laws are enforced, poor streetwalkers are much more likely to be arrested than call girls who cater to richer clients, and prostitutes in general are legally more at risk than their male customers. Gambling by the poor, such as running the numbers has been illegal, but gambling on the stock market or in the casinos is legal (Barkan, 1997). Some drugs, such as tobacco and alcohol, are legal even though they cause harm. Recently drug laws have been criticized as racist, because the penalties have disproportionately affected African Americans, as their incarceration rates have risen dramatically relative to white drug users (Bobo and Thompson, 2006). The homeless tend to be arrested for victimless crimes for acts which actually involve maintaining survival without housing (Fischer, 1988). Given the inconsistencies, the perception can be created that the laws apply only to the powerless, and that victimless crimes are used as surrogates for other political issues concerning class and race (Dombrink, 1993).

A small number of studies of public perceptions of victimless crimes have indicated that the public finds these acts less serious than other types of crimes, ranking them relatively low in terms of crime seriousness (Miethe, 1982; Veneziano and Veneziano, 1993). A religious affiliation and a higher level of religiosity are associated with a stronger condemnation of victimless crime (Koster and Heike, 2009). However, victimless crimes are perceived to be harmful in a number of studies, to self, family and society (Veneziano and Veneziano, 1993; Harcourt, 1999). Other perceptual research has focused on the police. A survey found that police officers differ greatly in their use of discretion and that discretion is most often used for traffic violations and victimless crimes. Another study indicated that police did not view such crimes as a serious problem, and tended to believe that it is futile to attempt to control such acts (Wilson, Cullen, Latessa and Wills, 1985). Research with sheriffs found that they tended to believe that attempts to police public order offenses had a detrimental effect on their departments, but that they were unwilling to decriminalize such these acts (Kincade and Leone, 1993). More research in the area of perceptions would appear to be indicated.

Policies and prosecution of victimless crimes have changed significantly. Despite the debates that have conducted for decades, the trend has been that most victimless crimes have gradually been decriminalized, sometimes referred to as decriminalization drift (Brown, Esbensen and Geis, 2010). Adultery and fornication have been removed from state statutes. Abortion, although still a matter of great controversy, is legal under certain conditions. Gambling, once permitted only in Nevada, is legal today in almost all jurisdictions through lotteries and casinos. Homosexuality, while illegal in some states, is seldom prosecuted; the major issues in recent years have concerned gay marriage and policies concerning military service. Only streetwalker prostitutes, largely powerless and catering to the marginal client, continue to be prosecuted (sporadically) by the criminal justice system (Harcourt, 1999; Brown, Esbensen, and Geis, 2010). On the other hand, drug use, once allowed and even socially acceptable, is now punished much more severely, and increases in prison populations reflect this change in policy. Therefore, the prosecution of victimless crimes also reflects changes in attitudes and moral standards, as well as political factors and social forces, complicating the debate even further.

Victimless crimes highlight a significant number of issues concerning crime, morality and the criminal justice system. More research needs to be conducted in a number of areas, including: (1) perceptions of the public and police concerning various victimless crimes, including perceived seriousness and harm; (2) the impact of victimless crimes on other members of society, including quality of life issues; (3) the potential economic impact of the various victimless acts (both positive and negative), and the community factors that affect economic impact; and (4) further study of the effect of specific acts on police, other members of the criminal justice system, and on organized crime.

It seems unlikely that the debates concerning such acts as homosexuality, prostitution, drug use, gambling and pornography will be resolved. There are not clearly accepted definitions of consensus or harm or offender or victim concerning such acts (de Haan. 1990). The issue of harm is a major point of contention in the debate. It is not clear whether the concept of harm should be confined to the actions of the individuals involved, or whether potential harm to others or society should be a factor, and to what degree. Even then, the question is whether ignoring victimless crime does more harm than good versus prosecuting such acts, as either policy potentially appears to have both positive and negative consequences, for both citizens and the criminal justice system.

SEE ALSO: Prostitution, Gambling, Pornography, Drug Crimes, Homosexuality, Public Order Crimes, Abortion, Crime and Morality, Broken Windows, Decriminalization

References

Arcuri, A., Gunn, M. & Lester, D. (1987). Measuring police discretion. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 64 (3), 774785.

Barkan, S.E. (1997). Criminology: A sociological understanding. Upper Saddle River N.J.: Prentice-Hall.

Bobo, L.D. & Thompson, V. (2006). Unfair by design: The war on drugs, race and the legitimacy of the criminal justice system. Social Research, 73 (2), 445-474.

Brown, S.E. & Esbensen, F. & Geis, G. (2010). Criminology: Explaining crime and its context. New Providence, NJ: Matthew Bender & Company.

De Haan, W. (1990). The Politics of Redress: Crime, punishment and penal abolition. Boston: Unwin Hyman.

Devlin, P. (1965). The Enforcement of Morals. London: Oxford University Press.

Dombrink, J. (1993). Victimless Crimes and the Culture Wars of the 1990s. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice 9 (1), 30- 40.

Feinberg, J. (1984). Harm to Self: The moral limits of the Criminal law. New York: Oxford University Press.

Fischer, P. J. (1988). Criminal activity among the homeless: A study of arrests in Baltimore. Hospital & Community Psychiatry, 39 (1), 46-51.

Harcourt , B. (1999). The collapse of the harm principle. Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 90 (1), 109-194.

Kenney, D.J. & Finchenauer, J.O. (1995). Organized Crime in America. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co.

Kincade, P. & Leone, M. (1993). Victimizing the system: The sheriffs perspective on public order criminality and criminal justice. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 9 (1), 1529.

Koster, F., & Heike, G. (2009). Shame and Punishment: An International Comparative Study on the Effects of Religious Affiliation and Religiosity on Attitudes to Offending. European Journal of Criminology, 6 (6), 481495.

Meier, R.F. & Geis, G. (1997). Victimless crime? Prostitution, Drugs, Homosexuality, Abortion. Los Angeles: Roxbury Press.

Miethe, T. (1982). Public consensus on crime seriousness. Criminology, 20 (1), 515-526.

Schur, E. (1965). Crimes without Victims: Deviant behavior and public policy. Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Skolnick, J. H. (1978). The legalization of deviance. Criminology, 16 (2), 193208.

Stitt, B. G. (1988). Victimless crime: A definitional issue. Journal of Crime and Justice, 11 (2), 87102.

Stitt, B.G., Nichols, M., & Giacopassi, D. (2003). Does the presence of casinos increase crime? An examination of casino and control communities. Crime and Delinquency, 49 (2), 253-284.

Taylor, R. (2001). Getting tough on crime: What does it mean? Free Inquiry, 21 (3), 3233.

Veneziano, L. & Veneziano, C.A. (1993). Are Victimless Crimes Actually Harmful? Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 9 (1), 114.

Wilson, G., Cullen, F., Latessa, E., & Wills, J. (1985). State Intervention and Victimless Crimes: A Study of Police Attitudes. Journal of Police Science & Administration, 13 (1), 2229.

Wilson, J.Q. & Kelling, G.L. (1982). Broken windows: The police and neighborhood safety. Atlantic 256, 29-38.

Liberal Synonyms, Liberal Antonyms – Merriam-Webster

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1 not bound by traditional ways or beliefs Synonyms broad-minded, nonconventional, nonorthodox, nontraditional, open-minded, progressive, radical, unconventional, unorthodox Related Words advanced, contemporary, modern; forbearing, indulgent, large-minded, lenient, permissive, tolerant; extreme; impartial, objective, unbiased Near Antonyms hard, rigid, strict; doctrinal, dogmatic (also dogmatical); bigoted, blinkered, intolerant, narrow-minded; reactionary, unreconstructed Antonyms conservative, conventional, hidebound, nonprogressive, old-fashioned, orthodox, stodgy, traditional

2 being more than enough without being excessive Synonyms abundant, ample, aplenty, bounteous, bountiful, comfortable, cornucopian, galore, generous, plentiful, plenteous, plentyRelated Words extra, supernumerary, surplus; abounding, blooming, overflowing, plump, replete, rich, rife, teeming, wealthy; adequate, enough, sufficient; fat, fecund, fertile, fruitful, luxuriant, prodigal, prolific; copious, fulsome, lavish, profuseNear Antonyms deficient, inadequate, insufficient, lacking, wanting; meager (or meagre), niggardly, stingy; skimpy; least, minimum; light, slight, small; barren, infertile, sterile, unfruitful, unproductiveAntonyms bare, minimal, scant, spare

3 giving or sharing in abundance and without hesitation Synonyms bighearted, bounteous, bountiful, charitable, free, freehanded, freehearted, fulsome, generous, munificent, open, openhanded, unselfish, unsparing, unstintingRelated Words extravagant, handsome, lavish, overgenerous, profuse; altruistic, beneficent, benevolent, hospitable, humanitarian, philanthropic (also philanthropical); big, greathearted, largehearted, magnanimous, openhearted; compassionate, good-hearted, kind, kindly, samaritan, sympatheticNear Antonyms mean, petty, small; frugal, spare, sparing, thrifty; chary, stinting; acquisitive, avaricious, avid, coveting, covetous, desirous, grasping, hoggish, itchy, mercenary, rapacious; begrudging, envious, grudging, resentfulAntonyms cheap, close, closefisted, costive, illiberal [archaic], mingy, miserly, niggardly, parsimonious, penurious, selfish, stingy, stinting, tight, tightfisted, uncharitable, ungenerous

Liberal, Kansas – City-Data.com

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Zip codes: 67901.

Liberal city income, earnings, and wages data

Estimated median house or condo value in 2013: $89,800 (it was $65,400 in 2000)

Median gross rent in 2013: $651.

Liberal, KS residents, houses, and apartments details

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Ancestries: German (11.5%), Irish (4.2%), English (3.9%), United States (3.2%), French (1.8%), Scotch-Irish (1.0%).

Current Local Time: CST time zone

Elevation: 2836 feet

Land area: 11.1 square miles.

Population density: 1,900 people per square mile (low).

5,514 residents are foreign born (25.6% Latin America).

According to our research of Kansas and other state lists there were 42 registered sex offenders living in Liberal, Kansas as of June 21, 2016. The ratio of number of residents in Liberal to the number of sex offenders is 502 to 1.

Median real estate property taxes paid for housing units with mortgages in 2013: $1,495 (1.5%) Median real estate property taxes paid for housing units with no mortgage in 2013: $809 (1.4%)

Nearest city with pop. 50,000+: Amarillo, TX (137.5 miles , pop. 173,627).

Nearest city with pop. 200,000+: Wichita, KS (202.4 miles , pop. 344,284).

Nearest city with pop. 1,000,000+: Dallas, TX (375.8 miles , pop. 1,188,580).

Nearest cities: Tyrone, OK (3.1 miles ), Turpin, OK (3.5 miles ), Kismet, KS (4.1 miles ), Hooker, OK (4.5 miles ), Forgan, OK (4.8 miles ), Plains, KS (4.9 miles ), Moscow, KS (5.0 miles ), Hugoton, KS (5.0 miles ).

Number of permits per 10,000 residents

Latitude: 37.04 N, Longitude: 100.93 W

Daytime population change due to commuting: +843 (+4.1%) Workers who live and work in this city: 7,957 (82.2%)

Area code: 620

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Crime rate in Liberal detailed stats: murders, rapes, robberies, assaults, burglaries, thefts, arson Full-time law enforcement employees in 2014, including police officers: 50 (36 officers).

This city's Wikipedia profile

Liberal, Kansas accommodation, waste management, arts - Economy and Business Data

Work and jobs in Liberal: detailed stats about occupations, industries, unemployment, workers, commute

Based on data reported by over 4,000 weather stations

Liberal-area historical tornado activity is slightly below Kansas state average. It is 39% greater than the overall U.S. average.

On 5/5/1993, a category F4 (max. wind speeds 207-260 mph) tornado 19.6 miles away from the Liberal city center caused between $500,000 and $5,000,000 in damages.

On 6/6/1951, a category F3 (max. wind speeds 158-206 mph) tornado 0.9 miles away from the city center injured 3 people and caused between $5000 and $50,000 in damages.

On 2/15/1974 at 13:33:49, a magnitude 4.6 (4.5 MB, 4.6 LG, Class: Light, Intensity: IV - V) earthquake occurred 39.8 miles away from the city center On 8/10/2005 at 22:08:22, a magnitude 5.0 (5.0 MB, 4.7 MS, 5.0 MW, Depth: 3.1 mi, Class: Moderate, Intensity: VI - VII) earthquake occurred 212.3 miles away from Liberal center On 6/16/1978 at 11:46:54, a magnitude 5.3 (4.4 MB, 4.6 UK, 5.3 ML) earthquake occurred 277.7 miles away from the city center On 1/3/2007 at 14:34:38, a magnitude 4.6 (4.6 MB, 4.4 MW, 4.4 LG, Depth: 3.1 mi) earthquake occurred 219.0 miles away from the city center On 9/15/1995 at 00:31:33, a magnitude 4.1 (3.8 LG, 4.1 LG, Depth: 3.1 mi) earthquake occurred 124.3 miles away from Liberal center On 9/5/2001 at 10:52:07, a magnitude 4.5 (4.5 LG, Depth: 3.1 mi) earthquake occurred 203.7 miles away from the city center Magnitude types: regional Lg-wave magnitude (LG), body-wave magnitude (MB), local magnitude (ML), surface-wave magnitude (MS), moment magnitude (MW)

Causes of natural disasters: Floods: 4, Storms: 4, Tornadoes: 3, Winter Storms: 2, Hurricane: 1 (Note: Some incidents may be assigned to more than one category).

Birthplace of: Jerame Tuman - 2005 NFL player (Pittsburgh Steelers, born: Mar 24, 1976), Melvin Sanders - Basketball player, Antonio Hanson - College basketball player (Tulsa Golden Hurricane), Martin Lewis (basketball) - Basketball player, Wayne Angell - Economist.

Political contributions by individuals in Liberal, KS

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Notable locations in Liberal: Liberal Country Club (A), Liberal Wastewater Treatment Plant (B), Liberal Water Plant (C), Seward County Fairgrounds (D), Fairgrounds Speedway (E), Union Pacific Railroad Yard (F), Lowry Industrial Park (G), Sage Industrial Park (H), Village Plaza (I), Mid America Industrial Park (J), Willow Tree Golf Course (K), Liberal Municipal Court (L), KZQD - FM (Liberal) (M), Seward County Sheriff's Department (N), Liberal Police Department (O), Seward County Courthouse (P), Seward County Fire Department (Q), Liberal Fire Department Station 3 (R), Liberal Fire Department Station 1 (S), Seward County Sheriff's Department Jail (T). Display/hide their locations on the map

Shopping Centers: Southgate Mall (1), Western Shopping Center (2), Southgate Shopping Center (3), South Ideal Shopping Center (4), Randall Park Mall (5). Display/hide their locations on the map

Churches in Liberal include: Central Christian Church (A), Deliverance Power House Church of God in Christ (B), Iglesia de Cristo Maranatha Elim (C), Latter House Church (D), Risen Glory Church (E), Templo Puerta del Cielo Asambleas de Dios (F), Faith Tabernacle Church (G), Grant Street Church of Christ (H), Church For All Nations - Liberal (I). Display/hide their locations on the map

Cemetery: Liberal Cemetery (1). Display/hide its location on the map

Parks in Liberal include: Redskin Field (1), Bellaire Park (2), Mahuron Park (3), Country Club Acres Park (4), Tower Park (5), Southlawn Park (6), Cooper Park (7), Blue Bonnet Park (8), Harrison Circle Park (9). Display/hide their locations on the map

Tourist attractions: Baker Arts Center (Museums; 624 North Pershing Avenue), Coronado Museum-Dorothy'S House (567 East Cedar Street), Mid-America Air Museum (Cultural Attractions- Events- & Facilities; 2000 West Second Street), Chamber of Commerce (4 Rock Island Road), Tourist Information Center (220 East Pancake Boulevard), Liberal City - Convention & Tourism Information Center- Visitors Information Ce (Tours & Charters; 1 Yellow Brick Road).

Hotels: Kansan Motel (310 East Pancake Boulevard), Super 8 Liberal KS (747 East Pancake Boulevard), Best Western La Fonda Motel (229 West Pancake Boulevard), Motel 9 (230 West Pancake Boulevard), Tumbleweed Motel (488 East Pancake Boulevard), Liberal Inn Restaurant (603 East Pancake Boulevard), SLEEP INN (405 E Pancake Blvd), Branding Iron Club (603 East Pancake Boulevard), Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites (1550 North Lincoln Avenue).

Court: Seward County - District Court Clerk (415 North Washington Avenue).

Detailed information about poverty and poor residents in Liberal, KS

Educational Attainment (%) in 2013

School Enrollment by Level of School (%) in 2013

Presidential Elections Results

1996 Presidential Elections Results

2000 Presidential Elections Results

2004 Presidential Elections Results

2008 Presidential Elections Results

2012 Presidential Elections Results

Graphs represent county-level data. Detailed 2008 Election Results

7.93% of this county's 2011 resident taxpayers lived in other counties in 2010 ($28,619 average adjusted gross income)

8.28% of this county's 2010 resident taxpayers moved to other counties in 2011 ($34,275 average adjusted gross income)

Fatal accident count (per 100,000 population)

Most commonly used house heating fuel:

Top Patent Applicants

Total of 4 patent applications in 2008-2016.

Liberal, Kansas - City-Data.com

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What Is a Liberal – What Is Liberal Bias

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The most familiar and influential national party for liberals in the US is the Democratic party.

A few definitions from dictionary.com for the term liberal include:

You'll recall that conservatives favor tradition and generally suspect things that that fall outside traditional views of "normal." You could say, then, that a liberal view (also called a progressive view) is one that is open to re-defining "normal" as we become more worldly and aware of other cultures.

Liberals favor government-funded programs that address inequalities that they view as having derived from historical discrimination. Liberals believe that prejudice and stereotyping in society can hamper the opportunities for some citizens.

Some people would see liberal bias in an article or book that seems sympathetic to and appears to lend support to government programs that assist poor and minority populations.

Terms such as "bleeding hearts" and "tax and spenders" refer to progressives support of public policies that are designed to address perceived unfair access to health care, housing, and jobs.

If you read an article that seems sympathetic to historic unfairness, there could be a liberal bias.

If you read an article that seems critical of the notion of historical unfairness, there could be a conservative bias.

How do you know if a media presentation or book has a liberal bias?

When critics claim that the press is too liberal, they are often basing the claim on the belief that the press is voicing a view that is too far outside outside traditional views (remember that conservatives value tradition) or they are supporting policy that is based on the idea of "fixing" an injustice.

Today some liberal thinkers prefer to call themselves progressives. Progressive movements are those that address injustice to a group that is in the minority. Liberals would say that the Civil Rights Movement was a progressive movement, for example. However, support for Civil Rights legislation was, in fact, mixed when it came to party affiliation.

As you may know, many people were not in favor of granting equal rights to African Americans during the Civil Rights demonstrations in the sixties, possibly because they feared that equal rights would bring about too much change. Resistance to that change wrought violence. During this tumultuous time of change, many pro-Civil Rights Republicans were criticized for being too "liberal" in their views and many Democrats (like John F. Kennedy) were accused of being too conservative when it came to accepting change.

Child labor laws provide another example. It may be hard to believe, but many people in industry resisted the laws and other restrictions that prevented them from putting young children to work in dangerous factories for long hours. Progressive thinkers changed those laws. In fact, the U.S. was undergoing a "Progressive Era" at this time of reform. This Progressive Era led to reforms in industry to make foods safer, to make factories safer, and to make many aspects of life more "fair."

The Progressive Era was one time when government played a large role in the U.S. by interfering with business on behalf of people. Today, some people think the government should play a large role as protector, while others believe that the government should refrain from taking a role. It is important to know that progressive thinking can come from either political party.

Conservatives lean toward the belief that the government should stay out of the business of individuals as much as possible, and that includes staying out of the individual's pocket book. This means they prefer to limit taxes.

Liberals stress that a well-functioning government has a responsibility to maintain law and order, and that doing this is costly. Liberals would lean toward the opinion that taxes are necessary for providing police and courts, ensuring safe transportation by building safe roads, promoting education by providing public schools, and protecting society in general by providing protections to those being exploited by industries.

Conservative thinkers might see bias in an article that expresses a favorable view to taxes or to increasing government spending for initiatives like those mentioned above.

For more information on liberal or progressive values, go to Liberal Politics.

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What Is a Liberal - What Is Liberal Bias

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Liberal – RationalWiki

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A liberal tends to champion liberty, individual rights and equality, although it depends on what measures are being taken to realize those rights. Due to this, liberalism can fall under many branches, some even self-contradictory; for instance, classical liberalism favors limiting government action to promote individual rights while social liberalism (aka "progressivism") tends to favor government action to protect individuals. Unlike conservatism, its traditional political opposite, liberalism may be against the status quo, favoring changes to what liberals perceive as a better society.

A lot of liberals believe conservatives are trying to curtail women's reproductive rights, impose religion on society, and preserve and promote corporate power and power for the historically privileged. Some liberals attack conservatives as general-purpose scapegoats for any ills of society as seen from their liberal perspective. (A lot of conservatives do make for an easy target. See Ann Coulter for just one of many examples.)

Europeans typically use the term to describe politics that draw on classical liberalism's basic touchstone of the individual operating in a free market economy, a notion similar to modern libertarianism. These liberals oppose government regulation on the free market to promote flow of goods in the market.

The left-wing in Europe today, however, is closer to the American interpretation of liberal. Most developed countries in the West are more left-wing than the U.S., with government playing a bigger role in general, handling universal health care, work vacations, and comprehensive sex education. The common accusations of socialism in the U.S. would've fallen face-flat in European ears, as several socialist leaders stand a significant chance or have won in elections. Not only this, but Europeans are frequently puzzled why Barack Obama is commonly called a "socialist" by his detractors. (See also ad hominem.)

A prominent example is the United Kingdom's politics. The UK Conservative Party would be called out as "liberals" by Republicans (or "socialists" depending on their mood) in the U.S. They support continuing the NHS while they allow abortions and same-sex marriage. Meanwhile, however, during economic recession, the party proposes spending cuts, something more in line with conservative thought in the States.

In the United States, liberalism is typically used to describe politics on the centre-left side of the political spectrum. Liberals tend to favor equal rights gained by government. For instance, liberals often favor the public option, gay marriage, banning the death penalty, environmentalism, increased government regulation on corporations as well as trade union presence. On other issues, to promote individual freedom, they tend to favor reproductive rights and the separation of church and state, so they may advocate secularism, removing religious symbols in public grounds, and disallowing creationism to be taught at public schools. As a result, the vast majority of liberals vote Democrat, although the party is not solidly on the left. It's probably a lesser of evils option.

The term "liberal" is used rather... liberally in the US, but most American liberals are advocates of social liberalism, which veers centre to centre-left, though it may also refer to advocates of the Third Way (If slightly to the right of social liberals) or social democracy (If slightly to their left) on economics.

Over the past few decades, the GOP has near-successfully framed it as a synonym for "socialist." This is partially due to their use of bullshit scare tactics and partially a legacy from the second Red Scare, when some people with communist sympathies, not wanting to state their affiliation openly, called themselves "liberals" or "progressives" instead. Liberalism is seen as pure evil by the Religious Right and its counterparts overseas; these groups work tirelessly to depict supporters as Satanic monsters, and to make the very word into an insult. (As a possible result of this, fewer people identify themselves as liberal compared to the amounts of self-identified conservatives and moderates, instead identifying themselves with the name of their party.)

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Liberal - RationalWiki

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Financial Independence: The Final Stage of Money Management

Posted: at 6:46 am

This is the last of a five-part series about the stages of personal finance. These stories have intentionally been less polished than most articles at Get Rich Slowly. This is a chance for me to think out loud, to explore an idea with you in an informal way.

In February, I wrote that I was entering the third stage of personal finance. As I made my way out of debt and began to save, I had noticed that many people passed through similar phases of financial development. We took similar steps along the way. In my own journey, the progress looked like this:

Financial Independence is my ultimate goal. Its the state in which I will no longer have to worry about money. I would have enough saved so that I could do whatever I pleased. But what exactly does this mean?

Defining Financial Independence One of the underlying philosophies of this site is that different things work for different people. We each have different goals, different strengths, and different weaknesses. Though Financial Independence is the goal for many Get Rich Slowly readers, we each mean something different by it.

In Yes, You CanAchieve Financial Independence [my review], James Stowers states: No person is free, in an economic sense, who does not have adequate investment income entirely unrelated to work. In other words, Financial Independence means that you earn enough from non-work income to fund your current lifestyle. I think this is the traditional definition of the term.

But the classic Your Money or Your Life offers a little more nuance:

When you are financially independent, the way money functions in your life is determined by you, not by your circumstances. In this way money isnt something that happens to you, its something you include in your life in a purposeful wayFinancial Independence is being free of the fog, fear, and fanaticism so many of us feel about money.

If this sounds like peace of mind, it is. Financial bliss. And if this sounds as unattainable as being rich, it isnt.

[...]

Financial Independence has nothing to do with rich. Financial Independence is the experience of having enough and then someThe old notion of Financial Independence as being rich forever is not achievable. Enough is. Enough for you may be different from enough for your neighbor but it will be a figure that is real for you and within your reach.

Another view of Financial Independence is presented by George Kinder in The Seven Stages of Money Maturity. Kinder argues that when you understand what you want to do with your life, you can make financial choices that reflect your values. In his view, the final two stages of money management are what he calls Vision and Aloha. (Note that Kinders approach contains a spiritual element. He uses language in his definitions that some may find odd.)

With Vision we understand further that money is a conduit through which our souls flow into the world. We have produced as much as we personally need. We discover within us a capacity to reach out farther than we have ever imagined toward meeting the needs of our families and communities. We find no obstacle between what we want to accomplish and what we do.

[...]

Aloha conveys kindness, generosity, at-one-ness, and compassionWe give without expectation of return, understanding that living is giving. We know both the limitations and the power of money, yet money no longer agitates us. We rest calm before it. In that calmness we can serve one another from the natural generosity that lies within and waits to be offered tot he world.

In some ways, Financial Independence is just another term for retirement. Think about it. Most people retire at 60 or 65 because thats when they have enough saved to last the rest of their lives. If they dont have enough saved, they continue working. If they manage to save the money earlier, then they retire earlier. When you retire, youre essentially declaring that you are financially independent.

Moving forward What will Financial Independence, the fourth stage of money management, mean to me? Will it be a purely monetary state in which I have enough investment income to do whatever I like? Will it be the point at which I have enough? Or will it be something deeper, more spiritual, as suggested by George Kinder?

I dont know. In fact, I dont know if Ill ever actually reach this goal. But I intend to stick to the path, working my way through this third stage of personal finance, hoping one day to reach that destination.

Your turn: What does Financial Independence mean to you? If you were financially independent, what would you do? How would it change your life? Is this one of your goals? Why? If not, why not?

GRS is committed to helping our readers save and achieve their financial goals. Savings interest rates may be low, but that is all the more reason to shop for the best rate. Find the highest savings interest rates and CD rates from Synchrony Bank, Ally Bank, and more.

This article is about Planning, Basics, Planning, Retirement

Financial Independence: The Final Stage of Money Management

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Minerva Reefs – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Posted: at 6:45 am

The Minerva Reefs (Tongan: Ongo Teleki), briefly de facto independent in 1972 as the Republic of Minerva, are a group of two submerged atolls located in the Pacific Ocean south of Fiji and Tonga. The reefs were named after the whaleship Minerva, wrecked on what became known as South Minerva after setting out from Sydney in 1829. Many other ships would follow, for example the Strathcona, which was sailing north soon after completion in Auckland in 1914. In both cases most of the crew saved themselves in whaleboats or rafts and reached the Lau Islands in Fiji. Of some other ships, however, no survivors are known.

Both North and South Minerva Reefs are used as anchorages by yachts traveling between New Zealand and Tonga or Fiji. While waiting for favourable weather for the approximately 800-mile (1,300km) passage to New Zealand, excellent scuba diving, snorkelling, fishing and clamming can be enjoyed. North Minerva (Tongan: Teleki Tokelau) offers the more protected anchorage, with a single, easily negotiated, west-facing pass that offers access to the large, calm lagoon with extensive sandy areas. South Minerva (Tongan: Teleki Tonga) is in shape similar to an infinity symbol, with its eastern lobe partially open to the ocean on the northern side. Due to the lower reef and large entrance, the anchorage at South Minerva can be rough at high tide if a swell is running. The lagoon also contains numerous coral heads that must be avoided. While presenting an attractive area to wait out harsh weather occurring farther south, the Minerva reefs are not a good place to be when the weather is bad locally. This does not occur often, but it is important to maintain awareness of the situation and put to sea if necessary.

Scuba diving the outside wall drop-offs at the Minerva Reefs is spectacular due to the superb water clarity and extensive coral, fish and other marine life. There are few suspended particles and the visibility is normally in excess of 100 feet (30m) since there is no dry land at high tide. Of particular note are the numerous fan coral formations near the pass at North Minerva and the shark bowl area located by the narrow dinghy pass on the western lobe of South Minerva. The inside of the lagoon at South Minerva is also home to numerous giant clams. Divers at Minerva must be entirely self-sufficient, with their own compressor, and should also be aware that the nearest assistance is a multiple-day boat ride away in Tonga. Due to the vertical drop off and water clarity, divers must watch their depth carefully.

It is not known when the reefs were first discovered but had been marked on charts as "Nicholson's Shoal" since the late 1820s. Capt H. M. Denham of the HMS Herald surveyed the reefs in 1854 and renamed them after the Australian whaler Minerva which collided with South Minerva Reef on 9 September 1829.[1]

The Republic of Minerva was a micronation consisting of the Minerva Reefs. It was one of the few modern attempts at creating a sovereign micronation on the reclaimed land of an artificial island in 1972. The architect was Las Vegas real estate millionaire and political activist Michael Oliver, who went on to other similar attempts in the following decade. Lithuanian-born Oliver formed a syndicate, the Ocean Life Research Foundation, which allegedly had some $100,000,000 for the project and had offices in New York and London. They anticipated a libertarian society with "no taxation, welfare, subsidies, or any form of economic interventionism." In addition to tourism and fishing, the economy of the new nation would include light industry and other commerce. According to Glen Raphael, "The chief reason that the Minerva project failed was that the libertarians who were involved did not want to fight for their territory."[2] According to Reason, Minerva has been "more or less reclaimed by the sea".[3]

In 1971, barges loaded with sand arrived from Australia, bringing the reef level above the water and allowing construction of a small tower and flag. The Republic of Minerva issued a declaration of independence on 19 January 1972, in letters to neighboring countries and even created their own currency. In February 1972, Morris C. Davis was elected as Provisional President of the Republic of Minerva.

The declaration of independence, however, was greeted with great suspicion by other countries in the area. A conference of the neighboring states (Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, Fiji, Nauru, Samoa, and territory of Cook Islands) met on 24 February 1972 at which Tonga made a claim over the Minerva Reefs and the rest of the states recognized its claim.

On 15 June 1972, the following proclamation was published in a Tongan government gazette:

PROCLAMATION

A Tongan expedition was sent to enforce the claim the following day. It reached North Minerva on 18 June 1972. The Flag of the Tonga was raised on 19 June 1972 on North Minerva and on South Minerva on 21 June 1972.[4]

Tongas claim was recognized by the South Pacific Forum in September 1972. Meanwhile, Provisional President Davis was fired by founder Michael Oliver and the project collapsed in confusion. Nevertheless, Minerva was referred to in O. T. Nelson's post-apocalyptic children's novel The Girl Who Owned a City, published in 1975, as an example of an invented utopia that the book's protagonists could try to emulate.

In 1982, a group of Americans led again by Morris C. Bud Davis tried to occupy the reefs, but were forced off by Tongan troops after three weeks. In recent years several groups have allegedly sought to re-establish Minerva. No known claimant group since 1982 has made any attempt to take possession of the Minerva Reefs.

In 2005, Fiji made it clear that they did not recognize any maritime water claims by Tonga to the Minerva Reefs under the UNCLOS agreements. In November 2005, Fiji lodged a complaint with the International Seabed Authority concerning Tonga's maritime waters claims surrounding Minerva. Tonga lodged a counter claim, and the Principality of Minerva micronation claimed to have lodged a counter claim. In 2010 the Fijian Navy destroyed navigation lights at the entrance to the lagoon. In late May 2011, they again destroyed navigational equipment installed by Tongans. In early June 2011, two Royal Tongan Navy ships were sent to the reef to replace the equipment, and to reassert Tonga's claim to the territory. Fijian Navy ships in the vicinity reportedly withdrew as the Tongans approached.[5][6]

In an effort to settle the dispute, the government of Tonga revealed a proposal in early July 2014 to give the Minerva Reefs to Fiji in exchange for the Lau Group of islands.[7] In a statement to the Tonga Daily News, Lands Minister Lord Maafu Tukuiaulahi announced that he would make the proposal to Fiji's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ratu Inoke Kubuabola. Some Tongans have Lauan ancestors and many Lauans have Tongan ancestors; Tonga's Lands Minister is named after Enele Ma'afu, the Tongan Prince who originally claimed parts of Lau for Tonga.[8]

Area: North Reef diameter about 5.6 kilometres (3.5mi), South Reef diameter of about 4.8 kilometres (3.0mi). Terrain: two (atolls) on dormant volcanic seamounts.

Both Minerva Reefs are about 435 kilometres (270mi) southwest of the Tongatapu Group. The atolls are on a common submarine platform from 549 to 1,097 metres (1,801 to 3,599ft) below the surface of the sea. North Minerva is circular in shape and has a diameter of about 5.6 kilometres (3.5mi). There is a small sand bar around the atoll, awash at high tide, with a small entrance into the flat lagoon with a somewhat deep harbor. South Minerva is parted into The East Reef and the West Reef, both circular with a diameter of about 4.8 kilometres (3.0mi). Around both reefs are two small sandy cays, vegetated by low scrub and some trees[dubious discuss]. Several iron towers and platforms are reported to have stood on the atolls, along with an unused light tower on South Minerva, erected by the Americans during World War II.[citation needed]. Geologically, Minervan Reef is of a limestone base formed from uplifted coral formations elevated by now-dormant volcanic activity.

The climate is basically subtropical with a distinct warm period (DecemberApril), during which the temperatures rise above 32C (90F), and a cooler period (MayNovember), with temperatures rarely rising above 27C (80F). The temperature increases from 23C to 27C (74F to 80F), and the annual rainfall is from 170 to 297 centimeters (67-117 in.) as one moves from Cardea in the south to the more northerly islands closer to the Equator. The mean daily humidity is 80percent.

The Tuaikaepau ('Slow But Sure'), a Tongan vessel on its way to New Zealand, became famous when it struck the reefs on 7 July 1962. This 15-metre (49ft) wooden vessel was built in 1902 at the same yard as the Strathcona. The crew and passengers survived by living in the remains of a Japanese freighter. There they remained for three months in miserable circumstances and several of them died. Finally Captain Tvita Fifita decided to get help. Without tools, he built a small boat from the wood left over from his ship. With this raft, named Malolelei ('Good Day'), he and a few of the stronger crew members sailed to Fiji in one week.

Coordinates: 2338S 17854W / 23.633S 178.900W / -23.633; -178.900

The Danger and Bounty of the Minerva Reefs

Posted: at 6:45 am

Story and photos by Scott & Wendy Bannerot.

Few South Pacific voyagers miss a stop at the Kingdom of Tonga. The Vava'u Group attracts the highest number of visiting boats, with deep, protected passageways between a large cluster of picturesque islands, permitting relaxed cruising among lovely, sheltered anchorages. A growing number of boats venture south into the lower-lying, coral-strewn Ha'apai Group, and a steady annual proportion sail onward to the country's southernmost main island of Tongatapu for a stop at the capital town of Nuku'alofa. There they provision and procure New Zealand visas from the consulate before heading south to escape the November onset of cyclone season. By this time nearly all have heard of North and South Minerva Reefs, two rings of nearly submerged coral lying some 270 nautical miles southwest of Tongatapu, somewhat to the west of the rhumb line to New Zealand.

This position, and the existence of navigable passes into the protected inner lagoons of both atolls, plays on various portions of a seafarer's brain. No one wants to hear the roar of breakers dead ahead on a dark, stormy night or feel the crunching lurch of your hull piling forcibly onto a solid piece of real estate in mid-ocean. On the other hand, many dream of anchoring alone in tranquil, gin-clear lagoons teeming with sea life for a restful break during a passage, or of riding out a severe storm on the hook, protected from the brunt of the conditions by solid walls of coral. We were no different from anyone else, having made two passages between Tonga and New Zealand without laying eyes on either of the Minervas. By the time our third passage was imminent, we knew a stop was inevitable.

We'd arrived in Tonga's Vava'u Group again after 18 months in New Zealand, including a four-month return to the U.S. for medical and business issues that could no longer be ignored. During this time our 41-foot aluminum sloop Elan awaited us on an Auckland hardstand. Our first time through Vava'u, nearly two years before, had been late in the winter sailing season. We'd spent only one short week before the looming storm season compelled us to set sail. We knew we hadn't scratched the surface of what this group of islands had to offer, and our determination to do it justice on the second time around was strong. We'd sailed up the eastern quadrant of a fortuitously stalled high, fanned by southeasterlies coming over the starboard quarter on a direct 10-day shot from Auckland to Neiafu. We cleared customs one hour before my sister, her husband, and her father-in-law arrived at the airport on a long-planned visit from Wyoming. Our spirits soared as we loaded everyone's gear aboard and made ready to cast off from the fuel dock.

Ambitious plans to visit Fiji and Vanuatu fell by the wayside as two other couples came out to visit, we were adopted by several local families, and we accepted an invitation to participate on a local fishing boat in the annual billfish tournament. Before we knew it, we'd been in Vava'u's calm embrace for nearly the entire South Pacific winter. We'd had countless wonderful days, exploring Swallow's and Mariner's caves, photographing a mother humpback whale and her calf swimming laconically beside Elan, and spending time under and above water with some very special people and marine life. Suddenly the October spring window for the voyage back to New Zealand was upon us.

We fished and dived our way south through the Ha'apai and Nomuka Groups, and arrived in Nuku'alofa after an easy overnight sail. There we consolidated our crew with Kiwi friends Ken Kiddie and Hans Swete, who'd earlier committed to the trip south as a way of gaining their first offshore passage. The four of us plotted and dreamed about a stop at the Minervas over cold beers at Nuku'alofa's waterfront Billfish Bar, and we kept a sharp eye out for an appropriate weather window.

As if on cue, the progression of strong winter highs passing by to the south of us slowed and settled, and on a sparkling sunny afternoon we picked our way around Atata Island, out the channel through the reef, and set a course for North Minerva Reef.

The mystique of the Minervas Elan's hull bit into the ocean swell under full genoa and mainsail, close reaching into light south-southeasterly conditions. The trolling lines went out, and the conversation turned quickly to stories about the Minervas-boats that had survived the infamous Queen's Birthday and lesser storms anchored inside the reefs; shipwrecks and disappearances, either documented or suspected, in the vicinity of the reefs; and reports of abundant fish and lobsters, and of an unspoiled environment little-disturbed by humans.

Capt. H. M. Denham, aboard the H.M.S. Herald, surveyed the reefs in 1854 and named them after the whaling ship Minerva, wrecked on South Minerva after setting out from Sydney in 1829. The captain of the Minerva was not aware of a large, poorly defined area called Nicholson's shoals added to Pacific charts not long before departure, and was therefore quite surprised when the brig drove up hard on the reef at 0200 on September 9. Most of the 23-man crew, and a dog, made it from the wreck to the inner lagoon aboard two whaleboats, but the drunken whaling master and two crew refused to leave the wreck, despite the fact that it was under siege from heavy breaking seas. They survived the night lashed to the bowsprit of the broken hull, and the entire complement set sail the following day aboard three whaleboats loaded with water caskets and what provisions they could salvage from the wreck. One boat began leaking seriously, prompting one of the two remaining boats to sail off to save themselves. The remaining whaleboat eventually took aboard the entire crew of the sinking boat for a total of 15 men and the dog, leaving only six inches or so of freeboard. The desperate castaways, out of fresh water and food, sighted the island of Vatoa, an outlier of Fiji's Lau Group, on September 15 and reached the outer reef, making their way ashore after splintering the whaleboat on the coral. Eight of the men remained with the friendly locals, and seven repaired the whaleboat and set sail again only to wreck once more on a Tongan island before eventually making their way home to Sydney. The crew of the boat that hastily abandoned the doomed men was never seen again.

Another famous incident occurred on the maiden voyage of the wooden schooner Strathcona, sailing north soon after completion in Auckland in 1914, only to unexpectedly crash up onto South Minerva Reef on the sixth day of the voyage and break apart. The crew of 13 consolidated materials and constructed a raft to live aboard in the lagoon, and then the captain and three crew sailed the schooner's launch north to the nearest inhabited island, Ono-i-Lau, Fiji. Meanwhile a rescue vessel from New Zealand found the survivors on the raft at South Minerva, as well as the rescuers returning aboard a Fijian cutter to save their crewmates.

Many other wrecks on the two reefs are mysteries, with hulls and remains noted by passing vessels at various times and no signs of survivors. One such wreck was a largely intact Japanese fishing vessel that appeared in 1960 on South Minerva, the crew apparently taken off safely by the crew of another fishing vessel, whom they were able to contact by radio. This wreck was to play a critical role in what remains one of the most incredible maritime survival tales in recent history.

The tragedy of the Tuaikaepau Tuaikaepau was a 51-foot wooden cutter completed in 1902 at the same Auckland boatyard that later built the Strathcona. On the night of July 7, 1962, she was bound from Nuku'alofa for a refit in New Zealand, booming along close-hauled in boisterous southeasterly conditions. Experienced captain David Fifita commanded the seven-man crew and 10 passengers, mostly amateur boxers looking to make some money in New Zealand. The vessel smashed onto the eastern side of South Minerva Reef at seven knots in the darkness. This started a 14-week odyssey that would see only 12 of the men survive.

The 17 Tongans took refuge in the Japanese fishing boat wreck, constructed an ingenious water-distillation plant, and fed themselves by walking the reef flat to fish and collect seafood. Finally on Saturday, October 7, with three men dead, conditions becoming increasingly desperate, and hopes of rescue long gone, Fifita, his son Sateki, and ship's carpenter Tevita Uaisele embarked on an epic rescue mission in a small craft crudely fashioned (with no tools) from remains of the two wrecks. David set a course for due north, armed only with a compass, sextant, nautical almanac, and a crude chart engraved on a plank, and no way to measure time accurately. He navigated by sun shots and dead reckoning. By Wednesday they were out of food and water. On Thursday they managed to catch a seabird that landed on the tiller and drank its blood. They bypassed treacherous, reef-encircled Ono-i-Lau and Matuku, and at midnight the following Saturday, in greatly weakened condition, David calculated that it was time to head due west in hopes of reaching much larger Kandavu.

The mountainous profile of the eastern end of Kandavu jutted above the horizon at dawn, confirming David's emergency navigation skills and filling the severely dehydrated, starving men with hope. They sailed cautiously toward the reef, only to have an oversized breaking swell toss the sturdy wooden craft crashing over the reef, throwing the occupants overboard and capsizing the boat. This left little choice but to attempt a swim against the tide to the tiny outlying island of Nmbia approximately 1.3 nautical miles away. David's son disappeared two thirds of the way to shore. The two survivors dragged themselves up the beach, quenched their thirst with green coconuts, and hiked to a village to summon help for their crewmates back on South Minerva. After some confusion, word finally reached the Royal New Zealand Air Force station at Suva, and the commander ordered an immediate night flight Monday to drop supplies to the survivors on South Minerva, followed by a rescue via Sunderland flying boat the following morning. The supply flight likely saved the life of at least one of the weakened castaways, though one man had died the previous evening. Olaf Ruhen's Minerva Reef (Halstead Press, Sydney, 1963) is a worthwhile, highly detailed account of the entire ordeal, and voyagers can pick up the brief recent account Minerva Reef by survivor Fine Feuiaki in Tongan bookstores (Friendly Islands Bookshop, Tonga, 1992). Overnight at North Minerva Thoughts of the imperiled voyagers before us prevailed as light, fluky winds had us motorsailing for parts of the second and third days of the passage. By the third evening the southeasterly breeze stiffened. We made good time under double-reefed genoa and mainsail, and at first light sighted the white line of breakers along the north side of North Minerva that had been painting a radar target during the pre-dawn hours. Soon after, the left outrigger bait disappeared in a splashing strike, and Ken worked a 22-pound bull mahi mahi (Coryphaena hippurus, also called dolphin or dorado) to the gaff. We made our way into the wide, easy pass in the northwest corner of the submerged atoll at 0900 in good light and dropped the anchor 20 feet down to the deep fine sand. Soon the dinghy was in the water and we all piled in for a free-diving expedition to a series of nearby coral heads.

We already had plenty of fish, so we did some sightseeing and looked around for lobsters under ledges and domes of coral. The area teemed with fish, flourishing with the near total absence of hook and line or other fishing effort. We spotted only two lobsters, both far under the coral and inaccessible, before heading out the pass for a dive on the outside reef. Here the visibility was nearly limitless, the coral vibrant and dense. An occasional small gray reef shark wagged lazily by the steep drop-off below us, none bothering to investigate the newcomers.

As we motored back in the pass, taking advantage of the countercurrent along the margin of the now outgoing tide, we noticed Elan's mast swinging irregularly. Despite being inside the lagoon, the vessel was rolling. The shield of coral rubble on the reef crest was mostly submerged at this nearly high-tide stage, offering less opposition to wind-driven waves piling across the reef flat. The formerly placid lagoon now had a distinctly lumpy surface-plenty tenable, just not as comfortable.

We dined on fresh-grilled mahi mahi and turned in early, awakening to a thin overcast, slick calm morning. We decided to stow the dinghy, rig up some fishing lines, and make a slow, fuel-saving motorsail the 20-odd miles to South Minerva Reef. Hans bagged a school-sized yellowfin tuna, and we all enjoyed the sight of a small (150 pounds) blue marlin crashing the left outrigger bait, missing, then playfully grabbing a small tuna lure before leaping in a graceful arc to freedom. Exploring South Minerva A pack of hungry wahoo attacked our lures just off the northwest corner of South Minerva Reef. Their razor-sharp teeth luckily missed the monofilament leaders of our tuna/billfish lures before taking off, but not before one rocketed vertically, high above the deck with our hookless teaser clamped fleetingly in its jaws. We entered the pass, which was less distinct than North Minerva, but no problem if one follows the well-defined southwestern (right-hand) margin into the lagoon, avoiding the easily sighted coral heads as they crop up from time to time inside the lagoon. We picked our way around the inner rim of the lagoon, anchoring near a large, block-like aggregation of coral on the eastern side. This turned out to be the work of an Australian survey team. The location was not far from the site of the long-gone Japanese wreck used by the Tuaikaepau crew, and some boat remains were strewn in the area. We drank in the desolate seascape, barely punctuated by a jagged rim of reef. The muted hiss of breaking seas was the only sound as we tried to imagine being shipwrecked here for 14 weeks, surviving by foraging and by consuming tightly rationed portions of water, distilled with great daily effort, bearing the sorrow of watching crewmates slowly die, and somehow building a boat capable of a substantial bluewater passage-with no tools. Firing up the grill and the music system returned us to the present, and soon the aroma of sizzling marinated tuna steaks dominated our thoughts. We suspended the tuna carcass into the water from a rope tied to the port transom cleat and retired below for the meal-we'd done the same thing the night before with the mahi mahi carcass and found the rope cleanly severed in the morning. Just as we finished dinner, a loud splash accompanying a sudden lurch of the boat sent us all topside in time to see several gray reef sharks circling hungrily. We didn't need the bright arch light to see the dark silhouettes against the light sand bottom in the bright reflected light of the full moon, gracefully gliding in ever-tighter circles, then swimming off, only to wheel around and swim straight back in. We fed them the carcass after taking a few photos. Two solid days of non-stop reef walking, free-diving, dinghy fishing, and lobster hunting proved South Minerva to be every bit as bountiful and spectacular as we'd dreamed. We caught three different species of spiny lobsters during daylight hours hiding in shallow lagoon coral heads, at least two of which characteristically spend their days at significant depths on the outer reef at most tropical Pacific locations. Normally these are caught only at night by walking the reef flat on certain moon phases. Giant clams (Tridacna), increasingly scarce in most Indo-Pacific locations due to overexploitation, were abundant, as were innumerable other reef denizens of every description-brilliant blue starfish; colorful tropical fish species and moray eels; sea urchins and sea cucumbers; rich and brilliantly hued corals; big fat groupers or coral trout (Variola louti) arrogantly patrolling the pass. This was a chance to enjoy the natural South Pacific in all of its splendor, virtually unaltered by the strains humans exert on the planet. It was a good thing Ken and Hans were along, with the pressures of land jobs and responsibilities never far from mind. Otherwise our euphoria might have sorely tempted us to delay a prudently timed voyage southward. This trip should be made before tropical lows begin abutting to subtropical highs, spawning the hurricane-force easterlies not uncommon in later November and December in the vicinity of New Zealand's North Island. So, at noon on the third day after arriving, we exited the pass in calm, sunny weather, with the weatherfax showing favorable timing for a jaunt south, with the exception of one mild low developing in the Tasman Sea. We paused outside the pass long enough to do some deep-dropping with an electric fishing reel, catching a couple of delicious groupers from as deep as 750 feet. The low gave us light northerlies and was not showing signs of deepening, so we finished securing the deck and set sail for New Zealand at 1700. Heading south We'd had two fast, uneventful previous passages between Tonga and New Zealand but were no less mindful of the possibility of experiencing heavy conditions. The moon loomed huge and orange out of the sea off the port quarter on the first night, making the ocean surface glimmer. We caught a cow mahi mahi of about 13 pounds the next afternoon and entered the scattered deluges and shifting wind directions of the still-weak low the following afternoon. The center of the low passed below us before sunset, and we'd never seen more than 22 knots of wind. Favorable winds from light to not more than 25 knots settled in for the remainder of the passage. We fished two billfish lures during daylight hours and caught and released both a rare shortbill spearfish and a striped marlin on successive days. Two days north of our destination a pod of (mammal) dolphin came alongside, immediately followed by a modest-sized marlin blasting onto the teaser and a big strike on the right outrigger lure, which turned out to be a 70-pound-class yellowfin tuna. With that we retired the fishing rods and concentrated on making maximum speed over the last 250 nautical miles to Opua, rather than hover in what might be fairly termed the "screw-up zone" for this particular passage. Many crews tend to relax a little early, knowing they've nearly made it, only to get a pasting when the bottom drops out of a low as it passes over warm ocean currents just above the North Island.

We sailed into Opua exactly seven days after departing South Minerva Reef on a beautiful and sunny, though distinctly cool, late afternoon and retired to the quiet of the Kawakawa River anchorage after check-in.

Bright smiles lit the aft settee over hot soup and rum as we celebrated our good fortune, and the rarified afterglow of visiting a place as magnificent and remote as the Minerva Reefs.

Scott and Wendy Bannerot, based in New Zealand as they voyage the South Pacific, are the authors of The Cruiser's Guide to Fishing, recently published by International Marine in Rockport, Maine.

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The Danger and Bounty of the Minerva Reefs

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Queensland gold – gold maps

Posted: at 6:45 am

Pikedale (32km north-west of Stanthorpe). Records show that the auriferous reefs were small but fairly rich. They were worked by small parties, and were generally abandoned about the 30m level. No general statements can be made regarding future prospects of these mines as the factors leading to their closure are unknown. Near Warroo 32km further west, a gold-bearing lode was exploited to a reported depth of 60m until local smelting became unpayable. Texas (85km by road west of Stanthorpe). The old Silver Spur Mine, 11km east of Texas, produced considerable amounts of silver, lead, gold and copper, the zinc contents remaining in the slag dumps. Existing workings, to 152.5m depth, offer possibilities for further prospecting, but unwatering and reconditioning would be necessary. In recent years interest has been displayed periodically by various mining organizations. Warwick Fields. Warwick (256km by rail or 161km by road south-west from Brisbane) is the base for the following gold fields Talgai (34km west-south-west), Leyburn (45km north-west), Canal Creek (45km south-west), Lucky Valley (19km south-east), Palgrave (34km south-west) and Thanes Creek (39km west). With the exception of Canal Creek, which was purely an alluvial field, the history and present condition of these old fields are very similar. They have been practically worked out as far as alluvial gold is concerned. In the primary deposits, payable gold values occur in narrow shoots in small fissure veins which could not at the time of working be profitably followed much below 30m Where there is reason to believe that the shoots were not worked out further prospecting in depth might be justified. Moreton District. The low-grade gold deposit at Kingston (24km south of Brisbane) was worked for a number of years by a syndicate, but is now deserted. Gold occurrences near Ormeau (48km south of Brisbane), and Camp Mountain (16km west) do not offer much inducement for further prospecting. North Arm (117km by rail north of Brisbane). The discovery of auriferous quartz reefs in a hitherto unproductive series of volcanic rocks was made in 1929. Company operations were carried on till 1938 within a relatively small area, but all efforts to locate workable auriferous deposits further afield resulted in failure. It is of interest to record that the free gold is so highly alloyed with silver that it is almost white in colour and is associated with the rare mineral naumannite (selenide of silver). Gympie (170km by rail north of Brisbane) The highly auriferous reefing area at Gympie was confined to a heavily faulted strip about 3km long by 1km wide This small area has been responsible for a large proportion of the fields production. Operations were ultimately continued to depths of considerably over 600m on the Monkland end of the field. The mines of the main belt form an extensive connected group, now filled with water. Owing to the prohibitive expense involved in dewatering and reconditioning these mines, it is doubtful whether any of the connected group of workings can be deemed worthy of further consideration. Since the decline of major mining operations -about 1917, numerous attempts have been made to exploit blocks of shallow ground. Relatively few of these attempts have met with success. Far-many years production was maintained by cyanidation of old tailings, but this has now ceased. Mary Valley (south from Gympie). Alluvial and surface gold deposits were originally worked on a small scale near 1mbil (40km by rail from Gympie) and a small production has been won intermittently from quartz veins occupying minor fissures in granite. Glastonbury (13km west of Gympie). Gold-bearing quartz reefs occupying fissures occur in altered sedimentary rocks near a granite contact. They vary in thickness from a few cm to about 1m. The output from the field has not been large. Small-scale operations were formerly conducted by a company which operated a small battery and concentrating plant. Yabba Goldfield (32km north of Kilcoy); also known as the Jimna field. It was essentially an alluvial field, and is credited with rich returns in the early years from deposits on Jimna and Sandy Creeks. Reef-mining followed on a small scale for some years with two plants on the field. A few small reefs carrying fair values have been worked in recent years. Kilkivan (72km by rail and 48km by road west of Gympie). On this old goldfield, restricted but rich shallow alluvial deposits were worked and reefing followed. There has been little gold production for about sixty years, but a few men have been engaged near the town and on the Gold Top provisional field, 8km distant. Copper deposits were worked to a small extent at an early period at Mount Coora, Mount Clara and Black Snake. Re-opening of an old cupriferous gold lode at Black Snake in 1939 resulted in productive operations, with crushing, tabling, flotation and cyanidation plant on the ground, till 1949. Recently, several deposits in the area have been the subject of Departmental investigation by drilling. At Tansey Creek near Goomeri, an auriferous formation had been worked to a depth of 87m when work ceased in 1942. Recent dewatering and sampling indicated erratic distribution of values in the bottom workings. Marodian Goldfield (13km north of Kilkivan) Alluvial gold was found on Colo Flats and at Yorkeys Hill. Little work has been done on the field for many years. Nanango (209km by road north-west of Brisbane, and 27km from rail at Kingaroy), Gold deposits near the town, at the Seven-mile diggings (alluvial only) and also at Scrub Paddock (32km north-east) were worked at an early stage in the States history. The last period of marked activity included an attempt by an English company to work a group of auriferous copper veins at Scrub Paddock. Despite intermittent prospecting over the wide area available, no discoveries of note have since been made. Prospecting of small auriferous reefs and leaders has been carried out near Emu and Possum Creeks in the Blackbutt area without marked success. Small deposits of silver-lead and of gold-bismuth have been worked near Mount Langan in the same area. Proston, (116km by rail west of Gympie), Some gold prospecting has been carried out in the Boondooma area, some 32km west of Proston, but nothing of importance has been recorded. Gold and antimony have been prospected at Glenbar (40km south-west of Maryborough). Biggenden (87km by rail west of Maryborough), A deposit of magnetite at Mount Biggenden was worked intermittently for its gold and bismuth content until 1938. Paradise Goldfield (13km north-west of railway at Degilbo), Stanton-Harcourt Goldfield (18km north of Degilbo, and Mount Shamrock Goldfield (19km west-north-west of Degilbo). These three small goldfields were worked towards the end of last century. Apart from a small amount of prospecting, little work has been done for many years. A little gold was also won on the Chowey, Mount Steadman and Gebangle fields a few kilometres further west. In the Mundubbera district gold prospecting was formerly carried on at d**ehead (29km west) at Hawkwood (48km west-south-west) and at the old Brovinia diggings (64km south-west of Mundubbera) but no discoveries of significance have been made. Eidsvold Goldfield (224km by rail from Maryborough). A group of auriferous fissure deposits was extensively worked between 1888 and 1900. An unexpected collapse of the field followed failure of values in the deeper levels of the principal mines. Although the reef formations proved to be persistent in depth subsequent efforts railed to locate workable shoots. Activity since 1906 has been limited to intermittent small-scale operations. On St. Johns Creek, 26km south-west of Eidsvold, large quartz lodes have been worked spasmodically for antimony and gold. Cracow Goldfield (95km by road west of Eidsvold). Discovered in 1931, this field for some years has been the only major producer of gold in Queensland, apart from Mount Morgan. Total output of fine gold to the end of 1974 was nearly 19 000kg most of which came from the Golden Plateau mine. Long narrow ore-shoots in quartz-calcite veins were worked at the Roses Pride and Klond**e mines to depth of 40m and 45m respectively. At Golden Plateau a zone of quartz deposition up to 76m wide and nearly 800m long occurs beneath a sandstone capping. Several irregular tabular ore-shoots have been mined and the lowest productive workings are at the 252m level. Diamond drilling was successful in locating additional ore-shoots within the mine leases. In the Bundaberg district, mining for copper and gold has been carried out extensively at the Tenningering field (108km from Bundaberg, with Mount Perry as its centre), and Boolboonda field (90km from Bundaberg). Gold reefs have also been worked at Reids Creek. There has been very little mining in recent years although prospecting is being continued by several groups. Lode rutile has been found as shoad in the foothills of Mount Perry and traced to limited outcrops. A little gold has been won from a deposit at Swindon (22.5km east of Mount Perry), from which coarse alluvial gold was shed, but there is little prospect of other than small-scale production. THE STANTHORPE DISTRICT (GSQ Report 64) Gold was first discovered at Lord Johns Swamp (Lucky Valley Goldfield) in 1852. In 1863 rich but limited alluvial gold was uncovered on Canal Creek. Following close on the Canal Creek discovery were further finds at Talgai (Darkies Flat 1863-64), Thanes Creek (1869), Pikedale (1877), Leyburn (1872), and Palgrave (1877). Canal Creek was an alluvial goldfield only, where as both alluvial gold and reef gold were won from Talgai. Thanes Creek was primarily an area of reef mining; at Pikedale and Leyburn little or no alluvial gold was won. Little is known of the Palgrave field. The period of principal production was prior to 1905. Attempts at revival of reef mining in the 1930s were only moderately successful, and did not survive for long. Any future prospects appear to lie in further development or known reefs below the old shallow workings.

Alice River (or Philp) Gold and Mineral Field.

Gold was discovered in the upper reaches of the Alice River in 1903 by the prospector thingyie. From 1904 to 1909 mining was virtually confined to the Alice Queen and Peninsula King reefs, and since 1917 the field has received little attention. The total recorded production from 1903 to 1917 is 3.3kg of gold from about 2800 tonnes of ore, together with 14kg of alluvial gold. Between 1904 and 1909 the Alice Queen reef produced about 37kg of gold from 1570 tonnes of ore, and the Peninsula King reef about 31.1kg of gold from 632 tonnes of ore.

The two reefs lie within 1.5km of each other on a north-north-westerly line. The Alice Queen mine in the north is in a vertical quartz reef between 1 and 2m wide and over 100m long (Cameron, 1906). Of the two shafts, the southerly was 34m deep in 1906. The quartz from the mullock dump contains small grains of pyrite and stibnite. Felsite d**es trending south-southeast cut the altered Kintore Adamellite to the west of the workings. The Peninsula King reef is 0.5 to 1m wide. In 1906 several shallow shafts had been sunk along the line of the reef.

In the Potallah Creek Provisional Gold Field

only one reef, the Perseverance, has been recorded. It is situated in fine-grained schist of the Holroyd Metamorphics about 1km west of a stock of Kintore Adamellite. According to Cameron the reef trends north and is 75cm wide at a depth of 12m. The only recorded production is 18.26kg of gold from 593 tonnes of ore in 1903-04. A shaft was sunk at Potallah Creek in 1946; the reef at a depth of 33m is reported to have been 2m wide with a grade of 15.6g of gold per tonne.

Jensen recorded a small number of gold occurrences in the Potallah Creek area. Production of 0.16kg of gold is recorded from Olain Creek in 1914 (probably OLane Creek, 13km north-north-west of the Potallah Creek shaft).

Hamilton Gold and Mineral Field

A sma1l rush followed the discovery of gold by thingyie at Ebagoola early in 1900. Gold was found farther south near the Lukin River in the following year. Peak production was reached in the first year when about 470g of gold, 342kg from alluvials, was recorded. Mining virtually ceased during World War 1 and has been sporadic since. Total production from 1900 to 1951 was 291.58kg, made up of 1371.63kg of reef gold from 34196 tonnes of ore, 682.41kg of alluvial gold, and 237.54kg from the treatment of 19 256 tonnes of tailings.

Mining at Ebagoola was centred about the old townsite. The Yarraden mining area, about 15km south-southeast of Ebagoola, extends for 8km from the Lukin River southwards to Spion Kop; it does not include Yarraden homestead. Gold occurs principally in numerous quartz reefs.

Ball reported that the reefs in the Ebagoola area trend roughly north along the contact between the older granite (Kintore Adamellite), which he considered to be metamorphosed, and the schist and gneiss to the east (Coen Metamorphics). He believed that the reefs were related to the newer granite (Flyspeck Granodiorite); in the Yarraden area the reefs occur within the Flyspeck Granodiorite. In the Ebagoola area quartz occurs as leaders, veins, or compound reefs.

The leaders are up to 15cm wide and occur mainly in shrinkage cracks in the granite. Although they are of limited length or depth, and are seldom rich in gold, most of the alluvial deposits were probably derived from them. True fissure reefs, such as the Caledonia and All Nations reefs, occupy shears along the contact between the metamorphic and granitic rocks. The compound

fissure veins are associated with acid d**es, or with beds of quartzite, such as the May Queen reef.The water-table is generally at a depth of less than 20m in the dry season, and consequentlysulphides such as pyrite, arsenopyrite, galena, and stibnite are found almost at the surface. Mining was generally not profitable at grades below 47g of gold per tonne.

The most productive workings in the Ebagoola area were the Caledonia, Hamilton King, MayQueen, Hit or Miss, Violet, Hidden Treasure, All Nations, and Golden Treasure. In the Yarraden area the two most important reefs were the Golden King and Savannah. According to Cameron, the Golden King reef trends roughly north, dips vertically, and ranges from 15 to 40cm wide; it was worked over a length in excess of 300m to a maximum depth of 65m. Mining was almost continuous between 1901 and 1915, and was resumed in 1917 and 1921.

Recorded production is 239.84kg of gold from 7699 tonnes of ore. The Savannah reef lies about500m east of the Golden King and dips steeply west. It is more than 30m long with a steep southerly plunge. Mining was carried out to a depth of at least 38m. Between 1901 and 1907 and in 1912 a total of 2761 tonnes of ore yielded 156.51kg of gold. Attempts to reopen the mine in 1939-40 were unsuccessful.

*Minor production in 1930s included.

Other reefs of importance in the Yarraden area were; the Lukin King with a total production between 1901 and 1926 of 63.73kg of gold from 1631 tonnes of ore, the Gold Mount which yielded 2.99kg of gold from 781 tonnes of ore between 1901 and 1921, and thc Hiaki (or Haikai) which produced 39.22kg of gold from 1622 tonnes of ore between 1909 and 1918.

Alluvial mining was mainly restricted to the Ebagoola area and most of the production was before 1910. The gold was coarse, and was derived mainly from eluvial deposits shed from nearby reefs and leaders.

The Coen Gold and Mineral Field

was proclaimed over an area of 95km2 in 1892 and enlarged to 480km2 in 1898. Alluvial gold was discovered at Coen in 1876 and in 1878 there was a small rush from the Palmer River, but few miners stayed more than two weeks and the workings were abandoned in the same year. In 1880 Chinese miners attempted to work the alluvium without success.

In 1885 land was taken up for mining silver, and machinery was erected in 1886, but productive

reef mining did not start until 1892. Between 1893 and 1899, 16689 tonnes of ore crushed at Coen yielded 888.1kg of gold. Ball visited the field in 1900 and recorded mining activity at Coen town, at The Springs 15km to the south-east, and at Klond**e 13km north-east of The Springs.

According to Ball the reefs are from several centimetres to 1.5m thick, and generally trend north-west to north, with a steep dip. Most of them are fissure veins composed of quartz, but a few consist of siliceous slate; some of the poorer reefs contain pyrite or arsenopyrite.

The most successful mine was the Great Northern. About 1km south-east of Coen township; it has produced about three-quarters of the gold won from the field. Other productive reefs near Coen, which were mined mainly before 1900, were the Daisy, Hanging Rock, Homeward Bound, Lankelly, Long Tunnel, Trafalgar, and Wilson reefs. Between 1894 and 1899 the Great Northern mine yielded 230.85kg of gold with a high silver content from 4394 tonnes of ore. In 1900 activity at Coen came almost to a standstill when the Hamilton goldfield was opened, but gold continued to be won at Coen for many years, mainly from the Great Northern and from the treatment of tailings with cyanide.

The total recorded production of reef gold at Coen from 1892 to 1916 was about 2333kg, of which 2172.86kg came from the Great Northern mine, including 412.4kg from the treatment of 20 000 tonnes of tailings and mullock. The total amount of ore recorded between 1812 and 1916 was 28 185 tonnes, of which 26 234 tonnes came from the Great Northern mine. After 1910 production fell off rapidly, and in 1914 only 7 tonnes of ore was mined.

The Great Northern mine was reported to have been worked to a depth of 150m, but little work was done at that depth. The north end of the No.4 level, somewhere below 54m, was reported in 1909 to be 78m from the shaft. The reefs in the lower levels ranged in width from 75cm to 1.2m. After 1909 production came from small rich leaders in the hangingwall and footwall above the No.3 level possibly at 54m. Little is known of the mine after 1914, but attempts were made to reopen it as late as 1949.

Mining was carried out at The Springs, 15km south-east of Coen, from the early 1890s to about 1901. The main reefs were the Westralia, where 455 tonnes of ore were crushed for 19.56kg of gold in 1901, the Goolha Goolha, the Rothwell, and the Sirdar, where 207 tonnes of ore produced 13.41kg of gold beween 1898 and 1901. This part of the Coen Field was abandoned during the rush to the Hamilton goldfield in 1900 and 1901.

At the Klond**e, 13km north-east of The Springs, the Springfield reef yielded about 40kg of gold from 366 tonnes of ore between 1898 and 1902. The Klond**e lodes trend roughly north and occur in schist and gneiss of the Coen Metamorphics near their contact with the Lankelly Adamellite.

The workings at Coen and The Springs lie within or adjacent to the Coen Shear Zone. The zone extends for about 27km south-east of Coen and lies largely within the Lankelly Adamellite and along its southwest margin. The schistose sheared adamellite contains a little pyrite and arsenopyrite. Quartz reefs are common along the shear zones, and in the south they are up to 5km long and 100m wide. Most of the mullock dump at the Great Northern mine, which lies in the shear zone, consists of a breccia composed of fragments of silicified granite set in a matrix of white quartz; the country rock is sheared Lankelly Adamellite. The quartz and gold were probably deposited from hydrothermal fluids introduced after the rocks were sheared.

In the Blue Mountains,

40km north of Coen, which are not included in the Coen Gold and Mineral Field, gold was mined from some time before 1934 until 1951. The gold occurs in narrow quartz veins in granite. The total recorded production in 1935, 1938-46, and 1948-51 is 33.53kg of gold from 950 tonnes of ore; of this 17.5kg from 593 tonnes came from mines operated by Blue Mountains Gold N.L., principally the Golden Ladder and the Convict. One of the other major producers was the Yarraman mine. No mines were operating in 1967.

A small number of leases have been held in recent years in the Leo Creek area, 30km north-east of Coen, but no production is recorded. In the Nullumbidgee area a few kilometres to the north 3.5 tonnes of ore yielded 0.40kg of gold.

The small Lochinvar Provisional Goldfield on Tadpole Creek, about 18km southwest of Coen, is situated in Kintore Adamellite. The only recorded production is 2.2kg of gold from 50 tonnes of ore in 1904.

Rocky River Gold and Mineral Field

Alluvial gold was discovered in the Rocky River, 32km north-east of Coen, in 1893 by Lakeland. Reef mining began on Neville Creek (location unknown) in 1896 and the field was proclaimed in 1897. Between 1896 and 1901, 951 tonnes of ore yielded 142.64kg of gold. Interest waned in 1901 following the discovery of the Hamilton goldfield, but it revived for a short time in 1910 and 1911 when 57 tonnes of ore yielded 8 77kg of gold. Jack noted that only four people lived on the field in 1914, and there were no returns that year. No mines were located in 1967.

Hayes Creek Provisional Gold Field.

Jack recorded traces of gold in Hayes Creek, 60km northeast of Coen, during his 1880 expedition, and the area was later visited by thingyie and Campbell during a prospecting journey to Lloyd Bay in 1907. Shepherd records that the Hayes Creek field was discovered in 1909, but this probably refers to the start of reef mining on the Golden Gate claim.

Production has been small and spasmodic. In 1909 production from the Golden Gate claim was 37 tonnes of ore which yielded 6.81 kg of gold and a further 1.71 kg on cyanidation. In 1911 production from the field was 3.18 kg of gold from 21 tonnes of ore. Production in 1914 was

1.14kg of reef gold and 0.37kg of alluvial gold. The field was deserted in 1915. Some prospecting continued until 1938, and between 1938 and 1942 some 150 tonnes of ore were crushed for a yield of about 6kg of gold. In the early 1950s small parcels of ore are reported to have yielded between 80 and 120g of gold to the tonne, and one 4-tonne crushing returned 0.2kg of 850-fine gold.

Shepherd noted four sets of workings at the main centre at Buthen Buthen. At the Theodore lease a quartz reef between 30 and 35cm wide was exposed for 65m, with a strike of 140 and dip of 47 to the south-west; the reef contained a little pyrite and arsenopyrite. The 20cm reef on the Diana Lease contained pyrite and a little free gold; on the Campbell and Buthen Buthen leases Shepherd saw only shallow trenches and small shafts. At Companimano Creek, 6km south-south-west of Buthen Buthen, a quartz reef 90cm to 1.2m wide contained gold, galena, pyrite, and arsenopyrite.

The reefs in the Hayes Creek field are situated in a northerly trending shear zone in Kintore Adamellite; the valleys of the Lockhart and Nesbit Rivers follow this zone. In 1964 the valley of the Nesbit River between Buthen Buthen and Kampanjinbano (Companimano?) Creek was investigated as an alluvial gold prospect, and an almost enclosed basin on Leo Creek, 8km southwest of its junction with the Nesbit River, was also tested, but little gold was found.

Wenlock Gold and Mineral Field.

Gold was discovered in 1892 at Retreat Creek, a tributary of the Batavia (Wenlock) River and later at the site of Bairdville. Further prospecting, mainly between 1905 and 1911, disclosed several small alluvial deposits at Downs Gully, Choc-a-block Creek, and other nearby sites. The amount of gold produced up to 1910 has been estimated at 93 kg. In 1910 an aboriginal prospector named Pluto located a large lead at the base of the Mesozoic sediments overlying the Kintore Adamellite; the locality became known as Plutoville and was rushed by miners from Coen and Ebagoola. According to Fisher the early workings covered an area of about 350m2, and consisted of shallow alluvium and small reefs, which were worked to a maximum depth of 5m. Morton mentioned a shallow lead of cemented wash with rich gutters at the workings. Total recorded production from Plutoville is estimated at 190kg of gold. The Main Leader about 5km north-east of Plutoville was discovered in 1922 It consists of a narrow quartz reef with payable gold for over 300m along strike. The discovery became known as Lower Camp and later as Wenlock. Fisher described the Main Leader as a north-westerly trending fissure reef, with a few cymoid loops, which dips at 60 to the south in the north and 35 in the south. In the south it is cut by the Main Reef, a quartz reef over 6m wide.

The average width of the Main Leader is 20cm, and its walls are slickensided. It contains free gold to a depth of at least 100m, or about 30m below the water-table. Connah stated that the Main Leader is composed of quartz with a distinctive white and blue banding, and ranges in thickness from 2 to 45cm. Short rich shoots with a northerly pitch are common, and coarse particles of gold are evenly distributed in the reef, with a few rich local concentrations. Fisher estimated the average grade at about 50g of gold per tonne. The Main Leader occurs in Kintore Adamellite and is overlain by Mesozoic sediments and alluvium. The deep leads at the base of the Mesozoic sediments on the west side of the Main Leader also contain gold. Connah found that the main deep lead was a narrow rich gutter which spread out into a wide drainage channel trending west-south-west.

He has suggested that the extension of the channel beyond the workings is down thrown by a fault trending south-east. This may be the continuation of a post-Cretaceous south-easterly trending fault, downthrown to the west, which was mapped in 1967, 13km south-east of Wenlock. Total production from Lower Camp is estimated at 1089kg.

The Wenlock field was deserted during World War II. The claims along the Main Leader were amalgamated in 1946, but operations ceased again in 1952, partly as a result of flooding in 1950. Prospectors have continued to be active around the field, and in 1964-65 it is reported that 87.09 kg of gold were obtained from 2 tonnes of picked specimen stone.

Gold was first produced from the Claudie River Gold and Mineral Field

in 1933, the field was proclaimed in 1936. The gold was mined at Iron Range, Scrubby Creek, and Packers Creek. Shepherd (1939) gives the total production from 1935 to June 1938 as 17 331kg of gold from 6104 tonnes of ore and 1067 tonnes of tailings. Iron Range produced 13 421kg from 3753 tonnes of ore, Scrubby Creek 33.65kg from 1984 tonnes of ore and 1067 tonnes of tailings, and Packers Creek 544kg from 376 tonnes.

The largest reef, Gordons Iron Range, yielded 1084kg of gold from 2568 tonnes of ore. The average yield from the rest of the field was 162g per tonne. The field closed in 1942 for the duration of the war. A little mining was carried out after 1945, and between 1950 and 1953 the Cape York Development Co. attempted without success to develop a few of the mines at Iron

Range. Total recorded production from the field between 1934 and 1942 is 333.12kg of gold from 17100 tonnes of ore and 3221 tonnes of tailings. Production since the War has been small, but a little gold is still obtained from a mine at Packers Creek. At Iron Range the gold occurs in quartz veins and lodes in schist of the Sefton Metamorphics,

while at Scrubby Creek and Packers Creek the gold-bearing lodes and veins are in the Weymouth Granite. At Iron Range, the deposits are large but low grade in the iron-bearing schist, but small and rich in the adjacent iron-free schist (eg. the Iron Range reef); the reefs occur along fault lines in the schists.

South-east of Iron Range some of the reefs are parallel to the schistosity and others have components both along and across the schistosity; short ore shoots occur where the reefs intersect.

North of Iron Range the lodes, such as the Peninsula Hope and Northern Queen, are composed of crushed sericite schist with quartz stringers. Broadhurst & Rayner suggested that in the primary zone the ore shoots will prove to be lenses of silicified schist impregnated with sulphides, chiefly arsenopyrite. Rayner noted the discovery of a wide body of sulphide ore on the Peninsula Hope lease at Iron Range, and a CSIRO report on the treatment of arsenical gold ore from the Peninsula Hope mine gave the head assay of the ore as 18.2g of gold, 1.8g of silver, 4.4% arsenic, 20 7% iron, 9.79% sulphur, and less than 0.05% copper. The sulphides are arsenopyrite and pyrite, with some altered pyrrhotite and traces of chalcopyrite, sphalerite, and gold. The gold and sulphide minerals at Iron Range may have been introduced by the Kintore Adamellite, as elsewhere in Cape York Peninsula, or by the Weymouth Granite.

Gold was discovered in the Possession Island Gold and Mineral Field

in Torres Strait in 1896, and production began in 1897; Jackson described the mines he visited in 1901. All the workings are near the north-west coast, east and north-east of the monument to Captain Cook. Mining was carried on until 1906 when the leases were abandoned. Attempts were made to reopen the workings in 1919, and again in 1934-35, but without success. Recorded production between 1897 and 1905 is 155.42kg of gold from 7245 tonnes of ore, including some returns for the Horn Island Gold and Mineral Field. Four tonnes of ore yielded 0.09kg of gold in 1919.

Jackson noted that the main workings were located on two almost vertical reefs about 230m apart, which trend south-south-east. The reefs consist of quartz veins, up to several centimetres thick, in a matrix of fractured and altered welded tuft; the veins contain a small quantity of sulphide minerals. Jackson also noted severa1 shafts and small cuts, and records that a sample of ore, composed of vein quartz with galena and pyrite, assayed 57.95 g of gold and 33.9g of silver to the tonne.

Copper-staining associated with limonite has been noted in the chloritized and silicified welded tuff northeast and southwest of the abandoned workings. Northeast of the workings some galena and pyrite have been observed in joints. Alluvial gold was discovered in the eastern part of Horn Island in 1894 and the Horn Island Gold and Mineral Field was proclaimed the same year. Reef mining began in 1895 or 1896 in an area of about 0.5km2, 1km inland from the east coast. The mines are situated in altered and silicified porphyritic microgranite to the south of a stretch of sandy alluvium. Recorded production is 31.07kg of alluvial gold between 1894 and 1896, and 176.67kg of gold from 16 904 tonnes of ore between 1896 and 1900. The recovery of gold declined sharply in 1900, and by 1901 the field was almost deserted.

Most of the reefs are steeply dipping and trend east-southeast or southeast. They consist of closely spaced quartz veins in altered microgranite. Sulphide minerals were found in many of the reefs only 3m below the surface. Pyrite and galena are the most common sulphides, but some of the reefs also contain sphalerite and two contain chalcopyrite. The average yield decreased from 30g per tonne in 1896 to 20g per tonne in 1900. Sporadic production continued on a small scale until 1919, and prospecting went on at intervals until 1966.

Australian Selection Pty Ltd drilled three holes to depths of about 75m in 1963, but did not consider the prospect payable; an ore concentrate assayed in 1961 yielded 750g of gold and 440g of silver per tonne. In 1965 overburden was removed and 120m3 of alluvium were taken for sampling but the results are not known.

A visit to the mines in 1968 revealed a large open cut, probably on the Welcome reef, about 100m long by 50m across, and a smaller open cut, in the vicinity of the Dead Cat claim, with a timbered shaft in the bottom. In the smaller open cut the porphyritic microgranite is yellowish green and intensely altered; it is cut and silicified by numerous quartz veins. The altered rock contains small patches of sulphide minerals. In the larger pit the microgranite is less altered and contains fewer quartz veins; the sulphide minerals occur in small veins. Pyrite and galena are common, and chalcopyrite and a little wolfram(?) were also observed.

Elsewhere, minor amounts of gold are reported to have been won on Hammond Island between 1907 and 1909, and possibly until 1919, and on Thursday Island in the 1930s.

Extract from Bureau of Mineral Resources Bulletin No. 135:

CORDALBA AREA

Mining activity is recorded to the north-west of Cordalba on the southern side of the Burnett River. The area has been a small producer of gold and silver.

History

No official records are available prior to 1933, but it is reported that the Wild Irishman Mine was worked as early as 1883. Mount Ideal, near Cordalba, was prospected about 1895. Most mining activity took place in the 1930s.

Gold

Gold mineralization is recorded from three mines -Wild Irishman, Bull Ant, and Mount Ideal. The Wild Irishman Mine, 13 miles north-west of Cordalba, was first worked about 1883, but was soon abandoned. The lease was taken up again in 1933. The country rock consists of very altered, sheared sediments (Biggenden Beds) with quartz veins, intruded by aplite and granite of probable Permian to Triassic age. The intrusive rocks are sheared. Discontinuous reefs consist of vitreous quartz with minor iron oxide and arsenopyrite. They range in thickness from 18 inches to 2 feet. The reef system is parallel to the Electra Fault and appears to be cut off in depth by a parallel fault. In 1934, 80 tons of ore yielded 51.2oz of gold.

The Bull Ant Mine, 11 miles north-west of Cordalba, was prospected in the late 1890s. The reef consists of quartz and iron oxide; the country rock is sheared sediments (Biggenden Beds) with quartz veins. The mine is on a very wide shear zone. Low gold and silver values are recorded.

Mount Ideal Mine is on the west bank of Woocoo Creek, 2 miles south-west of Cordalba. The reef was probably worked about 1895. The country rock consists of altered sediments (Brooweena Formation) containing masses and veinlets of quartz with pyrite, arsenopyrite, and a little gold. Mineralization is confined to a faulted area of 40 feet by 100 feet. Gold values were found to be associated with siliceous material which formed only a small part of the mineralized zone. No workable ore bodies were located.

THE MUNDUBBERA 1:250 000 SHEET AREA

Three proclaimed mining fields and one provisional mining field lie within the Sheet area. Gold was also found in a number of other areas and some gold deposits were located outside proclaimed fields. Most of the gold was mined from reefs; however, alluvial gold was won from the Hungry Hill -McKonkey Creek -Coonambula area. Except for the lodes of the Cracow area, virtually all the gold occurrences are associated with the granitic rocks of the Permo-Triassic Rawbelle Batholith.

The auriferous quartz reefs occur in these rocks or in the adjacent country rocks. They are largely confined to the eastern and south-eastern parts of the batholith and the nearby Eidsvold Complex. The reefs occur in the less acidic phases, which may represent the oldest parts of the batholith. They do not appear to occur in any preferred structural orientation. Many of the reefs in hornfelsed country rocks are associated with acid or intermediate dykes and occur relatively near the contact with the batholith. Except for the Cracow lodes, the mineralization has been of minor importance.

Cracow Mining Field

Payable gold was discovered in 1931 by C. Lambert and partners, working under an incentive from the Government. Several mining companies operated the field and gold was won from the Golden Plateau, Golden Mile, Roma North, Roses Pride, Golden West, Dawn, Lamberts Surprise, Revival, and Klondyke. All but one mine had closed by the end of 1951. The Golden Plateau mine, operated continuously by Golden Plateau N.L. since 1933, is the only major producer and for many years Golden Plateau and Mount Morgan have been the only important gold producers in Queensland.

The total production to the end of 1972 was 1 453 144 tonnes of ore milled for a yield of 18314.33kg of gold and 19 036.29kg of silver. Average grade is approximately 12 9 per tonne. Annual production figures are listed in thee table.

The gold deposits occur in andesitic volcanics of the Lower Permian Camboon Andesite. The regional strike is north-north-west and the dip 25 west. The volcanics unconformably overlie acid volcanics of the Carboniferous Torsdale Beds which are intruded further to the east by Upper Carboniferous granitic rocks and the Permo-Triassic Rawbelle Batholith. The unconformity is exposed approximately 4km east of the Golden Plateau mine. Rhyolite dykes are associated with some of the gold mineralization; the remainder is localised by fault zones. The age of the dykes and the faulting is not known; however, a Late Permian to Early Triassic age of mineralization is considered most likely.

Although several small lodes have been worked on the Cracow field, gold deposition was confined mainly to the Golden Plateau lode system which Brooks (1965) considered to form a faulted link between the White Hope lode on the west and the Golden Mile lode on the east.

Within the Golden Plateau lode, irregular tabular ore shoots have been mined discontinuously over a length of 693m, a width of up to 15m. and to a depth of 252.5m. The lode system is terminated abruptly on the west by the north-north-west striking Golconda Fault and on the east by a fault of similar strike. These faults were probably initiated prior to ore deposition, but post-ore movement has also taken place.

The gold occurs as gold-silver alloy in a quartz gangue. Primary gold is seldom visible to the naked eye, even in high grade ore. Small quantities of sphalerite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, galena, bornite, and hessite are present.

The Golden Plateau lode is regarded as a hydrothermal replacement deposit. The mineral assemblage and gold fineness suggest that ore deposition took place near the base of the epithermal zone. Ore deposition seems to have been controlled by faults, and in many places appears to be related to rhyolite dykes. Brooks notes that nearly all ore shoots have one wall defined by a fault plane or fault zone. In the eastern section of the mine, ore shoots often occur adjacent to a rhyolite dyke, or they may be confined between a fault and a rhyolite dyke. The mineralization is Post-Lower Permian (Camboon Andesite) and pre-Jurassic ( Precipice Sandstone).

Between 1960 and 1971 diamond drilling by the Queensland Department of Mines on behalf of Golden Plateau N. L. resulted in the discovery of a major oreshoot in the Golden Plateau area and the proving of depth extensions of the main Roses Pride oreshoot. This major oreshoot has been the principal contributor to the production of gold and silver from the Golden Plateau mine since 1965. In 1969 Golden Plateau N. L. deepened the Roses Pride main shaft and drove a level a distance of 208.5m at a depth of 74m to follow up drilling results. In view of the marginal grade of the ore the company did not proceed with production.

Eidsvold Mining Field

Gold was discovered in the Eidsvold area in 1858, but early activity was spasmodic. The first prospectors claim was taken out in late 1886 over an area of land near the wor kings at Eidsvold head station on the north bank of the Burnett River. Initially . the mining activity was centred on Mount Rose ( later Eidsvold) and Craven Town, 5.6km south-west of Mount Rose on the Burnett River. The Eidsvold Goldfield, which included an area of 28.5km centred on Eidsvold, was proclaimed in 1887.

Gold was mined continuously in the field from 1887 to 1914, with the peak production in the period 1893 to 1900. The maximum gold produced in one year was 426.80kg in 1892. With the discovery of payable gold at Cracow in 1931, interest in the Eidsvold field was renewed, and gold was mined intermittently until 1950. The total recorded production between 1886 and 1950 is 3011.91kg of gold from 90 025 tonnes of ore.

The mineralization occurs in the granitic rocks of the Upper Permian to Lower Triassic Eidsvold Complex and in isolated areas within adjacent Lower Permian(?) hornfelsed sediments and volcanics of the Nogo Beds. The gold occurs in quartz reefs. Hydrothermal solutions from the reefs have resulted in the kaolinization of feldspars up to a few metres from the contacts.

The main reefs, Mount Rose, Stockman or Lady Augusta, Craven, and Maid of Erin, are all located in the Mount Rose area, just west of Eidsvold. Rands noted that the majority of reefs strike north-west to north-north-west and dip easterly at angles from 20 to 45 . The reefs consist of quartz and minor associated pyrite, chalcopyrite, and sphalerite (Maid of Erin reef), stibnite and cassiterite (Stockman reef), galena (All Nations reef), molybdenite ( Moonlight reef), and arsenopyrite.

The Mount Rose reef strikes east-north-east and dips 25 south-easterly. Rands reported the reef to average 75 cm in width, and consist of layered quartz, and interbedded clayey material, with the best gold occurring in the quartz.

The Lady Augusta or Stockman reef strikes north-west and dips 22 north-east, with the principal part of the reef dipping 65. Rands noted that the Empress Shaft on the Lady Augusta reef line was sunk to 247m, cutting through the probable extension of the Mount Rose reef at a depth of 119m. The Lady Augusta reef averaged 9 cm in width, but varied at depth from 15 to 20 cm. Generally, the gold occurs in hanging wall leaders in association with quartz and calcite. Rands also noted the occurrence of massive stibnite in a shaft south-east of the Augusta mine (523m due south of the court house and 91m north-east of the outcrop of the Lady Augusta reef).

Rands reported that the north-west-striking and shallow dipping Craven reef has a thickness of 18 to 20 cm and an average gold content of 122g per tonne. The Maid of Erin reef strikes north-west with a north-easterly dip and is approximately 1.2m wide. It contains little quartz and occurs at the contact between granite and diorite. The Lady Minerva reef. striking north-east and dipping approximately 27 south-east has an average width of 8 cm in the underlie shaft. Rands described the Lady Rose reef, which outcrops 362m north of the outcrop of the Mount Rose reef, as a 30 cm wide quartz vein with copper staining in an altered granitic formation within the granite.

During the early years of development of the Eidsvold field, prospecting parties discovered gold occurrences in several adjacent areas. The Queen Bee and Mount Jones prospecting claims were granted in 1887 for areas on the Burnett River, approximately 14.5km north of Eidsvold head station. Considerable development was undertaken, but the only recorded production was that for 1889 when a crushing of 10.16 tonnes of ore yielded 1.41kg of gold.

The Lady Amy claim, approximately 1.2km west of Eidsvold, was located on the line of a fissure in granite marked by a white kaolinized band striking 80 and dipping 15 south. In contact with this kaolinized band is a brown limonitic band up to 1.8m thick, which contains little quartz, but hosts the gold mineralization. A sample from the south-easterly dipping gold bearing formation yielded 4g of gold per tonne.

St John Creek Mining Field

Gold was discovered at St John Creek in 1888. This discovery, at first in alluvium and later in reefs, produced a drift in population from the dwindling Craven Town areas to the St John Creek area. The 5km2 goldfield situated 26km south-west of Eidsvold, was gazetted in 1890.Few reports on the area exist. The two main mines on the field, Perseverence and Burnett Squatter, were worked intermittently between 1888 and 1937. The total recorded production from the field since 1888 is 313.03kg of gold from 15 669 tonnes of ore milled. Peak production was achieved in 1890 when 98.35kg of gold were obtained from milling 7574 tonnes of ore.

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