POLITICAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 5, 22 August 1911, Page 5

POLITICAL.

SCENIC RESERVES. WANTON DESTRUCTION THROUGH CARELESSNESS. The wanton destruction of scenic ; Vreserves through sheer carelessness is commented upon by the inspector \in his annual report. He says that the damage by tires still continues. Along the Main Trunk railway a good deal of the proposed reservation near Owhango and Kakahi was much damaged, and probably many other b* places, as the drought was exceptionally continuous. “That these fires are often caused through carelessness, and sometimes wilfully,” he says, “there is no doubt. The present legislation is sufficiont to act as a deterrent, if not preventive, if it were enforced. The fact is that people nave enjoyed immunity for so long that .they are quite indifferent to the damage they do the property of the State. I would, for £ next summer, suggest the employof special rangers, whoso sole duty should be to follow up cases of burning of public forests and reserves for the purpose of bringing safe actions against offenders. For an expenditure of £2OO or £3OO in one year on rangers thousands of pounds’ worth of forest might be saved. It would also bo well to always have conspicuously printed in Land Guides a notification of the penalty for burning forest on the lands of the Crown. At the beginning of every summer there might, for comparatively small expense, bo notifications in the daily press of the Dominion warning people about burning on Crown property. I am afraid that much of the damage by fire is caused by men who should know bettor. Mon forming now roads, to make things easier, will frequently burn scrub and fern along the grade V lino, and take no trouble to prevent its devastating the whole adjacent country. Lately at Waimarnio the meanderings of a rabbiter were marked by the blackened areas cf tussock and scrub land he had burned off to make his work easier. Surveyors, too (I am sorry to say), often do groat damage in this respect.” After describing the manner in which fires destroy the fertility of the soil, ho says: “We have treasures in our scenic reserves which in years to come will bo thoiight priceless by our successors. If it is largely our scenery that makes this Dominion one of the most delightful countries in the world, surely it is worth while to make strenuous attempts to preserve what nature has so lavishly supplied.”

LAND FROM SAND-DUNES. V WHAT CAN~BE DONE. Tho importance of dealing with the sand-drift on the New Zealand coast can bo ganged from, the statement of Dr. Cockayne that roughly speaking there are 290,000 acres in the North Island, and 24,000 acres in the South Island occupied with more or less moving sand, virtually a desert, hut capable of being turned into a source of wealth to the nation. Dr. Cockayne has prepared a comprehensive report on the methods adopted to prevent the serious encroachments made on tho coast by drifting sand. His conclusions regarding tho present state of knowledge and activity are that, although certain owners of dune areas are fully aware of the sand drift evil, and are making brave efforts to overcome it-, these are in no few instances misdirected. Others, again, are doing nothing;: they re- > cognise the need for action, but have i no idea as to'tho methods to be purSome even hold the most strange or dangerous views, such as that the sand did not originally come from the sea-shore, or that a belt of shrubs will stop a wandering dune. “Even where the best successes have been won,” adds Dr Cockayne, “there has been only a planting of marramgrass (Ammophila arenaria) or treelupin (Lupinus arboreous), which is at most but a makeshift, except under special circumstances. The final treatment of dunes should assuredly be afforestation, and yet by many this is thought to be impossible, and, except in a few specially'favourable localities, nothing of the kind has been attempted. “Tho dunes of New Zealand are of

special scientific importance. Those of the Old World have been materially by the many centuries of Pt man’s occupation. Their reclamation ■was for the new and unnatural conditions. But in New Zealand there is an opportunity of observing what nature; quite unhindered, has done for their fixation. The native duneplants are also of much interest, since- some are endemic and also of quite remarkable form, while their value as ‘sand-fixers’ is by no means generally appreciated.” - NOTES BY THE WAY. The Acting-Prime Minister has been asked by Sir William Steward whether, in view of the very unsatisfactory proposals of the Representation Commissioners in regard to many of the electoral districts, -the Government will introduce a Bill—to be passed as a Bill of urgency—to extend the margin of difference as to the population quota, so as to enable the Commissioners to amend their proposals, and adjust the proposed lioundaries in such a manner as u- will preserve, as far as possible, com-•-‘thufaity of interest. n ' Mr. Field has asked Sir James Carroll whether he can devise and bring down this session an amendment ot the- electoral law to destroy or lessen the huge advantage, which wcalfca and influence now possesses and exerts to the fullest extent at election times, in the ownership and command of motor-cars for the conveyance of electors to the poll. It has been suggested to the Government by Mr. Hanani that it should place a vote on the Estimates tins session for the purpose of procuring a supply of radium for the treatment of cancer and other, diseases. The claims of the West Coast or the North Island to representation in the Legislative Council are urged upon the Government by Mr. Newman, who points out that there is no member of the Legislative Council resident between Wellington and Hawera. The advisability of sotting up a Royal Commission to investigate the sj question of the increased cost ,of hv- ■ ing, and generally to make such recommendations on the subject as m a} be deemed advisable, is suggested by Mr. Hanan.