Which is the Curse.

Otago Witness, Issue 2362, 1 June 1899, Page 19

Which is the Curse.

TO THE EDITOB. Sin,— ln looking back to the time when. tht pjesent Rabbit Aot a»d its amendments came into fojee, we find the inspector is invested with despotifi. power. This he may use, and on his word alone in many cases the magistrate must fine the Offender if he has not taken. sucl. means as the inspector shall direct in the destruction of the rabbits on- the property lit occupies. *

Up to aboxit six' years ago it was tire custom to put on men and pay twopence for large and one penny each for small skins when com pelled by the inspector to destroy their rab bits in the summer months. When we consider the amount expended and the loss Li curred in paying for these skins, which were of very little commercial value, one can easily understand our farmer friends looking upoii 'he rabbit inspector's visit with no . great favour. Not only are the occupiers compelled to put on men to destroy the rabbits, but the continual fear of being summoned, and knowing that there was no possible chance of their escaping the fine, which may range anywhere from one to one hundred pounds, according to the evidence brought against the defendant, one would naturally sin-pose that bur Government would appoint men of considerable experience as inspectors — men who thoroughly understand the Jiabit« and the best practical means of destroying this pest. Instead of this, we find men "who simply know nothing at all about their duties. It js not to be wondered at that the farmland funholder wiuh our Government toVepea, 1 de_ present act and compile a lie- cue fros.i beginning to end. As I have pointed out, this act was mads 1» cope with- the rabbit question when the rabbits were a curse to the landowners. It it now questionable whether' rabbits are a- curse or a blessing, when we realise that during the last few years the gigantic strides the freezing industry has taken in New Zealand. At the present time we have a market for all rabbits we can produce from February to November at prices ranging 'from f ourpence halfpenny in February to sevenpence halfpenny per pair at the present time. When we consider th» amount of money brought into the rolony and circulated throughout the poorer districts, which would otherwise have to be given ovei to the rabbits, it is really one of the best oi our local industries. Unfortunately C cannot give figures, but in the Daily Times -.1 May 8 we read that Messrs. Tonkin and Co., Dunedin (the pioneer rabbit exporters), claim to have purchased over half a million rabbits this season. Seeing the amount of money paid to the trappers for ther.e rabbits, their cost of transit by road and rail to the freezing works, the number of, men and horses en>ployed in the country districts, the advantage to blacksmiths, wheelwrights, sawmills, you might say almost all businesses, are benefited by it, besides the relief it is giving tho runholders and farmers. There are also many families where either the father or sons, or perhaps both, are now earning good wages where, had it not been for the rabbit export, business, they would in mai'y cases be ainon^ the army of the unemployed. The time for the general election will sotri be here, and I would advise all those interested in the rabbit question to support thu candidate who will assist ii< abolishing the present Rabbit Act. togethei with the rabbi* inspectors md agents, and enxrarags the rabbit export business. The thr/3 has now t, rived for a new order of thine:., and we must move with the times. We want a new Rabbit Act — not one to compel a man to poison th« rabbits when he can dispose of them to acl "vantage instead of letting thp carcases li* rotting on the ground ; not one in which th» magistrate is compelled to fine every farmol who is brought into court by the inspector ; but an act suitable to the present times, in which .the magistrate can decide whether the evidence brought before him shows whethej the defendant has done his duty or not. Therefore, Sir, I hopo your readers will • vote for the candidate who will support lh* rabbit export business and abolish the prese Rabbit Act. — I am, etc., ■ An Act of Justice