In 1931, he co-founded the Eastern Goldfields Tributers Association and became the organisation's secretary, in which capacity, in 1932-33, he was heavily involved in a major legal test case which, after being appealed all the way to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, established tributers' right to a half-share in the premium of gold found under tribute arrangements, resulting in substantial financial windfalls for the tributers.