Editing Eureka Rebellion (section)

====Legislative Council calls for Commission of Inquiry====

La Trobe decided to cancel the September 1853 mining tax collections. The Legislative Council supported a Commission of Inquiry into goldfields grievances. It also considered a proposal to abolish the licence fee in return for a royalty on the gold and a nominal charge for maintaining the police service.{{sfn|Clark|1987|p=64}} In November, it was resolved by the Legislative Council that the licence fee be reinstated on a sliding scale of 1 pound per month, 2 pounds per three months, 4 pounds for six months, and 8 pounds for 12 months. License evasion was punishable by increasing fines of 5, 15 and 30 pounds, with serial offenders liable to be sentenced to imprisonment. Licence inspections, treated as a great sport and "carried out in the style of an English fox-hunt"{{sfn|Clark|1987|p=68}} by mounted officials, known to the miners by the warning call "Traps" or "Joes", were henceforth able to take place at any time without notice.{{sfn|Clark|1987|p=67}}<ref>{{cite act |date=1853 |legislature=Victoria |title=An Act for better management of the Gold Fields in the Colony of Victoria }}</ref>

The latter sobriquet was a reference to La Trobe, whose proclamations posted around the goldfields were signed and sealed "Walter Joseph Latrobe".{{sfn|Craig|1903|p=255}} Many of the police were former convicts from Tasmania. They would get a fifty per cent commission from all fines imposed on unlicensed miners and grog sellers. Plainclothes officers enforced prohibition, and those involved in the illegal sale of alcohol were initially handed 50-pound fines. Subsequent offences were punishable by months of hard labour. This led to the corrupt practice of police demanding blackmail of 5 pounds from repeat offenders.{{sfn|Clark|1987|p=67}}{{sfn|Barnard|1962|p=260}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sovereignhilledblog.com/2014/02/21/alcohol-on-the-goldfields |title=Alcohol on the Goldfields |date=21 February 2014 |access-date=18 June 2022 |publisher=Sovereign Hill}}</ref>

Miners were arrested for not carrying licences on their person, as they often left them in their tents due to the typically wet and dirty conditions in the mines, then subjected to such indignities as being chained to trees and logs overnight.{{sfn|Historical Studies: Eureka Supplement|1965|p=33}} The impost was most felt by a greater number of miners, who were finding the mining tax untenable without any more significant gold discoveries.{{sfn|Barnard|1962|p=260}}

In March 1854, La Trobe sent a reform package to the Legislative Council, which was adopted and sent to London for the approval of the Imperial parliament. The voting franchise would be extended to all miners upon purchasing a 12-month permit.<ref>{{cite act |date=1854 |legislature=Victoria |title=An Act to extend the Elective Franchise}}</ref>