The Invercargill Times FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 1863.

Southland Times, Volume 2, Issue 60, 5 June 1863, Page 2

The Inve r earg ill TTiesm es FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 1863.

A vkry short time bus elap^d since we endeavored to show tliat Southland v ould derive considerable advantage from an alteration in the cattle importation rules. We urged that the restrictions at present in force were calculated to exercise a baneful influence on tlie prosper ity of the Province, and We recommended that importations might be allowed from Gipps Land, that part of Victoria having hitherto been perfectly free from pleuro-pneumonia. By tlie last mail from Australia we liave received information that the dreaded disease has at leiyth made its appearance in the very district we pointed out. as one which might witli comparative safety be excepted from the operation of the rules. Our information was in tlie first place drawn from sources which were at the disposal of every man wlio might take an interest in the subject; but, previous to perming tim article to wliich we a'lude, advices had been received by us from quarters in wliich a more than usually correct fund oi information misjhthavo b.-en supposed to exist. This rec. Nt appearance of pieuro-piieu-monia in a district hi'herto untainted can by no means be tiken as damaging tbe fact that the pri; c of meat, is at tlle present time exorbitant, and likely to become in the future more so. Jf it is possible to obtain a larger supply of meat by a relaxation of the existing rules, it is also clearly debateable whether it is not better to run some risk of infection, rather than allow present, and prospective high prices to continue. If Gipps Land is not. for one moment to be thought of, there are other points from wliich cattle might be sent to New Zealand, without any very serious amount of damage being incurred ; and we contend that the object in view — that of cheapening a principal article of food to a population continually on the increase — merits far more consideration than it has hitherto received. Tt has not yet been shown that tlie whole of Gpps Land is infected, although the information is conclusive that in some parts the disease has shown itself in its most malignant form. At a meeting of the stockowners of Gipps Land, held for the purpose of taking into consideration tlie best means of freeing the district from so unwelcome a guest, a large majority were in favor of making the River Avon " the boundary line between tlle clean and unclean portions." The Argus says : '' A resolution was passed in favor of a petition to the Government to have this done, and also for the appointment of an inspector to examine all cattle before crossing that river.'' Tlie settlers to the North and East objected, on the grounds that cattle had already passed, and also because the appointment of an inspector would afford no real protection. On this point tbe Argus agrees with the minority at the meeting, because ofthe

difficulty which would be experienced in making a thorough examination of any cattle which it might be wished to put across the river. The fact that pleuro-pueumonia has broken out in Gipps Land will, in all probability, put a stop (for a time) to the cattle trade between that district and Tasmania and Otago ; but it should be borne in mind thafc the inspection which has hitherto taken place of cattle imported into Tasmania and Otago has been efficient, and that so well defined are the symptoms of the disease, that, although the difficulty may be great, it is quite possible to make a satisfactory examination of cattle supposed to be diseased. Whatwe in New Zealand have to consider is whether the risk attendant upon the importation of the cattle is or is not counterbalanced by the high prices which the present scarcity causes. Con • siderable numbers of cattle will in all probability be imported before long into Otago from Twofold Bay, and if the sister Province is content to run the risk, Southland should also do so, as sbe will be exposed to the same danger (by cattle travelling), without obtaining the benefits arising from direct importation. We are glad to see that our Victorian neighbors are making strenuous efforts for the eradication of pleuro pneumonia. An Act has been brought in by Mr Howard and Mr Snodgrass to amend tlie existing one, and should it be passed and carried into effect vigorously, there are grounds for hoping that in the course of a few years pleuro pneumonia will be a thing of tlie past, or at all events be so confined as no longer to operate as a bar to the opening of all the Victorian Ports.