" THOSE ACCURSED GAME LAWS."

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 6797, 2 July 1885, Page 3

" THOSE ACCURSED GAME LAWS."

Tub Normanby correspondent forwards to the t Havoera Slur tho following very pertinent remarks respecting the Game Laws of New Zealand : — A caucus of sawmillers was held on Thursday evening, and it is said that prices are to be raised considerably. It is quite possible that the recent decision against running sawdust into streams has contributed to this result, as any other mode of getting it away means considerable expense Ido not find fault with the decision, as the law seems clear enough ; but what is also clear is that we are fast drifting into a worse state with the accursed game laws than even England is in. There game has existed for centuries, and its protection or destruction is a matter of bargain between landlord and tenant. But here there is no bargain in the, matter ; a body of gentlemen, wellmeaning, but lacking accurate information, form themselves into an association, and claim the right to let loose any pest they please, and dare anyone to destroy it. If wild pigs annoy you, you may shoot them ; but if wild pheasants are ruining your crops you must grin and bear it, because they are game. A prominent member of the Hawera association remarked, not long since, that at least it would do no harm to stock the rivers with fish — a proposition which need not provoke dissent ; but " when, in the fancied interest of these fish, the law says that sawmill refuse which has for years been allowed to go into streams shall no longer go there, and that the public are to pay for keeping'it out (for that is what the additional cost will mean), it goes a little too far. Few people will believe that fish in the Waingongoro would be troubled by any quantity of sawdust that could be turned into it, and even if they were, tho refuse was there first and has the best right to remain. The whole subject of acclimatisation is most unsatisfactory, and will remain so until it is recognised that men are at liberty to destroy within their own borders things which cause them loss, for which there is no other redress, and that material interest must not be interfered with because those fond of fishing want some better sport than catching eels or mountain trout.