The Northern Advocate Daily “NORTHLAND FIRST” MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 1938. An Old Crime In New Guise

Northern Advocate, 1 August 1938, Page 4

The Northern Advocate Daily “NORTHLAND FIRST”

MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 1938. An Old Crime In New Guise

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THE Stock Act Amendment Bill, by which it will be necessary, subject to certain exceptions, for persons driving or conveying sheep to be able to produce an authority, in the form of a

consignment note, is one of the most interesting minor measures put before Parliament for a long time. It cannot, in any sense be termed a major piece of legislation, since it does not deal with any questions of broad national policy, but it does concern the sbeepfarmer very greatly, for it is designed, of course, to prevent sheep-stealing, and the fact that special legislation lias been deemed necessary to cope with this problem shows how serious it has become. • '

Townspeople hear vaguely of sheep-stealing, but are inclined to dismiss it lightly as just another rural grievance. It is only those who come into close contact with it, and realise the severity of the losses experienced by farmers in many districts, who know what sheep-stealing is. In some districts it has become such a menace that farmers have had their financial position jeopardised. Every muster reveals a shortage of sheep—six, ten, a dozen —which cannot be.accounted for except by the theory that systematic sheep-stealing is goingon. On big stations, the losses are on a greater scale. Mr. Ralph Lowry, of ‘ ‘Onramatna, ’ 5 a big station on the high country between Taihape and Hawke’s Bay, has experienced very severe losses, losing hundreds of sheep at a time. ... In high rugged country, sheep may be spirited away through mountain gorges, and, where the adjoining country is unsettled, it is difficult to trace them;but it is the new style of sheep-stealing which constitutes the more serious menace. Improved roads and fast, silent-running motor-trucks have given the sheep-stealer a mobility he never previously possessed. It is now a comparatively simple matter to raid a distant farm on a dark night and be far away at daylight. This sort of thing sounds fantastic, but it is going on all the time. How different these modern methods are from the simpler form of sheep-stealing practised in the days of the famous South Canterbury sheep thief, John MacKenzie, after whom the MaeKenzie Country of the South Island is named. MacKenzie must have been a descendant of the border rievers of Scotland. His forays into the wide and almost fenceless territory of the Rhodes Brothers’ great ‘‘Levels” station, where he had once been a shepherd, may almost have been an expression of an inherited instinct. To prey upon a station like the “Levels” was comparatively simple, for it was many miles from end t.i end. But MacKenzie had no motortruck to speed his stolen sheep on their way. His pace was the pace of the flock. But he was cunning, and he knew the country, and no one before him had suspected that beyond the hills lay a great basin of tussock country through which sheep might be driven to Otago. That was the MacKenzie Country. Its discoverer was caught and sent to prison, but, in his dark way, he contributed to South Canterbury’s progress. After the passing of the big sheep stations, the day of the sheep-stealer seemed to be over. Sheep-stealing as a serious crime has almost disappeared from the criminal calendar. Then came the motor-truck, and once again sheep-stealing became easy and profitable, so much so that a few years ago the farmers of the Rangitikei district offered a reward of £SOO for information that would lead to the conviction of the thieves. So far the reward has not been claimed. Sheep-stealing still goes on, but the system proposed in the Stock Amendment Act should help in suppressing it. Mr. W. J. Poison, M.P., argues that the legislation does not prevent anyone from stealing a stud ram from a paddock at night, but it does not pretend to do so. It will, however, require people conveying sheep by lorry to have a legal document proving their right to do so. It will be no use passing the proposed legislation, however, unless it is rigorously and systematically enforced.