OPOSSUMS ON RANGITOTO.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19976, 19 June 1928, Page 10

OPOSSUMS ON RANGITOTO.

TRAPPING LICENCE TERMS. REPLY MADE TO OBJECTION. The grant by the Rangitoto Domain Board to its caretaker of the sole rights to trap opossums on the island is objected to by a correspondent, who points out that last season £9OO was obtained from the sale of skins from the island. The correspondent protests against the granting to one man of what appears on the surface to be a very profitable monopoly, especially when many of the unemployed would welcome such an opportunity. An explanation by the board's chairman, Mr. E. Aldridge, throws a different light on the matter. The caretaker, he was appointed to perform certain duties, and accepted certain responsibilities for the nominal salary of £5 a year, from which he has, to pay to the board £3 a year for rent of a shack. As a "setoft" to his acceptance pf the position he was granted the sole right to trap opossums, but he has to pay to the Government a royalty of Is a skin, and to the board 10 per cent, of his total sales. The board hopes by the arrangement to increase very greatly its revenue from this source. In previous seasons the practice has been to grant two licences at £lO each, the board also receiving from the Government a sum of 3d on each skin, 'I his amounted to £27 last season, and the total revenue was, therefore, only £47. Assuming that the results this year are about the same as last, the board will still receive £27 from the Government, plus 10 per cent, from the caretaker, or £9O, and in addition will have (he caretaker's services almost gratuitously for a whole year. Actually the board anticipates doing better than this, but the result will depend largely on whether it proves a favourable trapping season.