Mahakipawa Musings.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 21, Issue 90, 6 December 1910, Page 5

Mahakipawa Musings.

(From our Correspondent)

Not for very many years has tin's valley looked so well for grass aw at tlie present Reason. Cattle and horaea are in excellent condition. Ido not think sheep are doing quite so well, but that is not to say they are. doing badly. Never was such feed along the roadsides. Would it not rejo?ce the heart of the old pioneer sheepdealer of 25 years ago ? I fear the litigation in connection with cattle trespass bas caused much ill-feeling between neighbours, and there appears to be a revulsion of opinion. The chief complaint before was that the cattle broke down fences and got into crops; now it is pointed 1 out that when tbe grass is dry it will burn and destroy the fences. Then, again, the fern is taking charge. If people who want their cattle to run on the road sent a boy to look after them by day and shut them up at night, as people" do in country districts in England, I don't think any right-feeling people would complain. As it is, tbe grass that would do a lot of good will ho doubt go to waste. The crops all through the place look well, with very few exceptions, and at present promise an abundant harvest. Mr Harding, who has been ill many weeks, returned to duty about ten days or a fortnight ago. I understand he is. still under the doctor's hands. From the West of England comes the complaint that New Zealand is not sending Home sufficient beef and mutton. No-cheese can be got worth eating for less than 8d per lb, yreen bacon from the butchers 8d per lb. best joints of beef and mutton ( Jd per lb, bacon from the grocers Is, and Canadian lid- and this in a part of England where beef and mutton run from 7d to 7*£d. Many and loud are the lamentations that everything is on the rise. There is a scarcity of sugar, and talk of growing beet and erecting sugar factories. . Foodstuffs, my friends tell me, are rising in America, Germany, France, and elsewhere, since the letter left England, however, I see they have had a good season in America, and meat, etc., has fallen slightly. Draught horses, my correspondent tells me, are scarce. At one fair, where previously the market has been filled from end to end, there were not more than 40 horses. Good young cart horses from 3 to 6 years old are selling from £SO to £BO each; of course they must have plenty of bone and hair. He adds:— " There is a good deal of land in the market in this country, and fetching good prices, too, in {spite of the Budget. A great many of the big landholders are selling their land. The Marquis of Lanßdowne bas sold a big estate in Wiltshire; it fetched sitisfactory prices. The fanners bought their holdings in several instauces. Mr Walter Long, M.P., is also going to sell a portion of his Wiltshire estate, comprising several parishes. He is not going to sell "Rood Ashton," his ancestral residence, with several thousand acres attached, but has let it for a time to a great American beef man. The brewers in these parts have been making a big fuss about having a little more duty to pay ; they have spent a great deal of money in defending their interests, but they have t 6 pay. After all, better tax drink than food, in my opinion. Brewing companies own nearly all the public houses now. Some years ago there was a great boom in the trade; they bought up all the houses they pos°ibly could, at enormous prices, and now they have a little more tax to pay tbey are howling ' we shall be ruinud.' There is the Allen Inn, in a little West of England village, worth about £l5O as a private house ;fl a Brewery Co. gave £IOSO for it a few years ago. Also, the King's Head at High Ham (another village), an old •'ramshackle" house, was sold for £I4OO or £ISOO, I forget which. All our inns, with one exception, in our market town belong to the brewers." Another correspondent tells me business is very bad generally in the country districts of England, especially the retail trade. All shopkeepers are complaining. It is caused through the heavy taxation, both Imperial and local. Then one Government official comes along and says "you must do this and that," and another comes along and says "you must undo this and that" (I believe, now he mentions it, I have heard that complaint here in our towns and country). "I don't think," he say? (and it appeared to console him), " this Socialistic Government will survive another general election."