Wire Netting v. Rabbits. TO THE EDITOR

Otago Witness, Issue 1901, 10 July 1890, Page 18

Wire Netting v. Rabbits. TO THE EDITOR

SlR f — Several letters have appeared in your columns on the rabbit pest lately. I think what Mr Chappie says about wire netting is correct, for if any one would take tie trouble to look at any farmer's crops where they lie alongside some rough ground of his neighbour's he would very likely soe that it was destroyed, although no rabbits could be found on his farm. Now, Sir, seeing this is the case, I think Mr Chappie will agree with me when I say that if the Government would buy all skins and give tbe £25,000 that it costs' for the department to the several counties to pay for skins, the pest would soon be a thing of the past, and the farmers that have their crops destroyed would have a chance of their boys making something to balance their loss. Mr Chappie thinks the whole country would have to bet open to rabbiters at all times.- Now it would be very* easy to stop at lambing time; and in < the case of persons who would not allow any one on their land to* rabbit, if any of their neighbours complained about* their rabbits, and the complaint was found, to have good foundation, then they should be made to olose up their properties with wire netting, or give the losers a right to sue for damages, and the. trouble would very soon be ended; for if there were, many rabbits ib would very soon tell on the crop,, and if a few got damages they wonld soon kill them, or allow them to be killed.— l am, &c, i Waihola, July 4. Interested. The High Schools Board's Tennants. TO THB EDITOB. Sib, — Those interested in the welfare of our settlers who have been reading the recent correspondence on this subject in your columns and those of the Otago Witness, can scarcely help feeling that the High Schools Board is, treating its tenants with extreme harshness and severity. To enable our struggling farmers to keep their heads above water, liberal concessions am being made on all sides by the Government and by private landlords ; the High Schools Board alone stands out in its demands for the uttermost farthing. The concessions asked by tbve tenants appear fair and reasonable, and no one denies that land values and farmers' earrnings have shrunk greatly since the settlers took up their holdings. ! In face of these facts, surely it is the duty o£ the board to honestly and fairly write down values, instead of evicting its tenants, because changed times have made the further payment 1 of extortionate rents impossible. The proposals., hitherto made by the board for the settlement of the difficulty are mere juggling with figures, which give little or no relief and throw credit, only on the ingenuity of the board's financial agents. Nothing but a fair and square writing down of values can possibly meet the case, and. it is to be hoped the board will see its way to doj this, but if not, it witf be high time for tbe com-; munity to bestir itself in the interests of settle-, ment, and take active steps for the demolition of " boards" of this kind, whose landed endowments are transformed into means of oppression. ' The Stats, as a landlord, finds some restraint to its rapacity in its sense of public interest, but experience is fast showing that "boards" and, similar "creatures of the State" are alive to nothing but the necessity of keeping up their yearly revenue without regard to public interest or human conscience. Trusting your able pen will take up the subject. — I am, &c, Mosgiel, July 4. Colonist.