COUNTRY CHIT-CHAT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XII, Issue 4254, 2 July 1875, Page 3

COUNTRY CHIT-CHAT.

[WRITTEN FOK TIIK " WKKRLV XIKRALD."J

As the time has arrived and being the month for holding tho annual Highway District meotings, it behoves the settlers belonging to the various districts to begin to consider what aro their own duties and responsibilities in connection therewith. It is not by bringing a cantankerous spirit of carping into their midst will they gain the benelits which this little modicum of local self-government was designed to give. Petty jealousies must be laid aside for mutual good, and a fair discussion of tho business brought before them should be indulged in, temperately and in good faith one to another. For want of this many meetings become of an acrimonious character, the best men are not elected, and frequently a year's mismanagement of tho road rates estate is the result, and the spectacle is laid before tho country's view that tho country settlers aro not yet equal to a full measure of selfgovernment. Of course there aro and ever will be a many sellish, short-sighted people among tho community, but they are and always will be amongst the miuority. For instance, it will be found that ono man is anxious to be elected a trustee for the purpose of getting a fancy bit of road made, of no use ouly to himself, which is a fraud upon tho general interests of the ratepayers. Another is desirous of office because he happens to be tho owner or occupier of a good number of acres, and therefore should be a big wig in the midst of his neighbours, when most likely he is of an illiterate and uabusincss-liko nature. Another will, for some personal reasons of his own, actually go round and beg proxies for his own election, and succeed in getting them too, from small settlers, who do not like to say no, and from absentees who do not care who or what meu comprise the Board if they will only vote and advocate the smallest possiblo tt.te; and then there aro small cliques of would-bo contractors and their abettors, who put out all their power aud blandish - meuts to accomplish having the control of the district funds. The power to obviate aU these mischances being successful is in the hands of tho ratepayers themselves, by simply attending personally at the meetings and being determined to sanction only all measures for tho benefit of the district as a whole, and setting their faces against all proxy giving, as that has been proved as being ono of the roots of the evils which have been practised in very many instances, and elect only for trustees meu who take tho honor as a trust to act impartially and honestly for tho ratepayers generally, and possessing sullicieut common sense to understand and fully comprehend the provisions contained in tho Highway Act. There is a further power now given to Highway Districts by the gazetting of the new Fencing Act. It will be observed, it will devolvo upon the ratepayers at tho annual meeting assembled this year, to appoint two persons to act as " fence-viewers for the district. In this Act are some very important alterations made, and it should be the business of tho chairmau of every outgoing Highway Hoard to procure a copy of this Fencing Act, and be prepared to explain its clauses aud meaning to tho ratepayers. It will depend greatly upon the selection of two good, practical men, who arc well acquainted with the district aud ita fences, and so constituted as to be able to form correct opinions and give righteous judgment without a scintilla of favouritism, as they will be tho arbitrators of all difficulties accruing between neighbour and neighbour as regards the dilapidation, erection, aud state of fences all through the district. Sheep are still being landed here from reported scab-infected districts, and if anything goes wrong from want of rigid inspection, the province will be liable to stiller frightfully. It is, of course, presumed that Mr. Lewis, the sheep-inspector, and staff arc taking every necessary precaution ; still it is not impossible that incipient disease niny escape detection. Would it not be wise, to make quite safe, to enact for the present that every sheep should be dipped from the flap's side. In many cases prevention is better than cure. Is not this a particular case that should be mtt with particular action ?

Very strange it is how sonic people who ride a particular hobby, or are possessed of some peculiar mania, will seize on a passing event, distort its facts to suit their morbid tastes, aud thereon inllict their diatribes on the public in the shape of newspaper correspondence. It has just broke out again in the shape of "pheasant on the brain," illustrated by pictures from game laws, and the recent "case at WaiuKu, , ' referred to as an instance of gross wrong and extortion to a poor country settler. The case was fully reported through the Press, and the simple facts are these : —Constable l'arker, prosecutor under the Animals Act, v. V. 1). I'cntuu, for shooting and being in possession of a hen pheasant in April, being a month belonging to the close season. The defendant did not appear, but sent a letter to the Court (which was duly published with tho proceedings), apologising for non-attendance, admitting he had committed a breach of the law and came within the letter of its power, and ending his letter by the following peculiarly couched paragraph:—".Singular that inacommnuity of civilised people should exist a law making tho eating of an old pheasant in April au offenee punishable with a line four times as great at is usually imposed on a man who beats his wife to a state of insensibility."* lie was fined £10 and costs, and very projjcrly fined too. The learned defendant was on a visit to Waiuku, and delibe rately and defiantly broke the law, thus setting &o bad an example before the unthinking settlers' eyes, because everybody would give him credit for being fully awaro of almost every clause and every Act passed by the Legislature of New Zealand. How anyono can think tho lino was otherwiso than juet, from the simple facts, I cannot imagine. The reading of tho last few lines of his letter certainly gives a colouring to the making believe it was some innocent unfortunate settler who was ignorant of all law that was mulcted in the penalty,—and therefore the protection of pheasants is a great hardship to farmers. The small per-centago of harm they do is counterbalanced by tho unknown extent of good they do. These croakera against what they call game laws, sport, recreation, and easy, health-giving relaxation, arc very few is my iirm belief, but they live long, and croak, croak, croak is their repeated mental pabulum. There is only one alteration in the Act as required by the general body of farmers, and it is this, — for them to be allowed (with permission) to shoot on one anothers , farms—now a farmer can only shoot over hia own holding—or give permission for tho season to some one other person, and then not to shoot himself during tho time such permission lasts. Farmers desire to be in the position to shoot over any neighbour's farm, free from licence, from whom they have permission ; and also to hold tho power to invite their neighbours to shoot over their land. They consider this their right, inasmuch as they subscribed to the society for the introduction of birds, and they in a great measure feed them. They would be very sorry to see the protection to pheasants done away with, as then they would soon bo exterminated by these pot-shootist, anti-game law individuals having it all their own way. Any representative representing a country district, bringing into tho House, next session, an amendment to the Act, as herein stated, would gain tho thanks and good wishes of the bulk of the farmers, both old and young, from one end of the province to the other. OCfCETNATDS.