Thank you for correcting the text in this article. Your corrections improve Papers Past searches for everyone. See the latest corrections.

This article contains searchable text which was automatically generated and may contain errors. Join the community and correct any errors you spot to help us improve Papers Past.

Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image

The Tuapeka Times AND Goldfields Reporter & Advertiser "Measures, not Men." SATURDAY, 20th JULY, 1912 THE STATE OF PARTIES.

■Said Charles the Second tit his restoration : "it in my o wn lnuli that 1 had nut toiim back sooner, for I jiiid nobody, who does ik>l tell nu h.lias always longed ior „» v return." Aixorduiji to current accounts tlio gibe of the Alcrry Mouaich loiay well '■v echoed with slight modifications by -\ir ilassey upon whom the heavens ruin showers upon showers oi congratulatory telegrams. l'robxbly tkeru in exceeding joy iu some quarters analogous to that which greeted the return of the mast astuw of the Munrts. During their long reign „[ ■JI years those dour republicans of »he Liberal i'arty decreed mu , lv u n ordinance of riHtmtion against Unpopular vices of drinking aU d gaw.Mmg. -V mar J agi>m,mt i MS ailiioto( , with ilea for legislative roform niay be more acceptable at the present juncture to the large class which chafes at lawn interfering with its comforts and diversions. It is no t likely, how'•yw, that th 0 long doferrod restoration of a laigsea-lairo r*gimo will result i n R general relajsatioa of morals, M it did * tht ttftoriotl tMO

of the restoration of Monarchy. The ladies and the No-lice n s<> League* will look a fter that. Besides, some may assert, the Massev Ministry T.-'dl not stand leng enouirh to interrupt for any lengthened period the course of experimental legislation for which Xcw Zealand has been so lons celebrated. This is a theory which tic sign- oi the times do not, m onr opinion, countenance. Seemingly the majority o! rural settlers won d prefer t ( 'retain (he services of Mr Masset and liisj colleagues till the end at least of the present Parliament. And even in the larue cities, which are the strongholds of the "Radicals and Labourites, powerful support is forthcoming frr the new Government. Moreover the Reform Party is organising vigfrously, and will rally to itstandard many of those' •.lectors ivho, with mo 'Radical proclivities. were induced to join hands with tlv Liberal Party by the hitter's seemingly impregnable popularity at the triennial prlls. The railsitters know where to sit now—for a time. They will shift to Mr Massey's end of the seesaw plank. As to the aforesaid once mighty Liberal Party, the hiv-ing-off of Labour and internal complaints have left it prostrate at the feet of the conqueror. It beiran to get indigestion a 3 soon as it relaxed the. health-giving exercise of organising work and took renegade* to its iiosom. The recruits gained;from the party in natural opposition to Radicalism have, been the worm in the bud, the canker at the root of the tree, the codlin-molh grub in the core of the rosy apple of Liberalism. In search of place and power the time'serving opportunists burrowed into the once compact organism and deposited the seeds of discord. The late defection of a faction of the Liberals may be thus explained and, to some extent, excused. For a party that puts in power over the heads of long-fried and trusty serarits a threa years' reeiuit d-serves betrayal. But the protest of Mr Millar and hie coadjutors 'was ill-timed. It should have been made when the late Prime Minis ler wm taken into the Cabinet of Sir Joseph Ward. The Liberal Party has for the tim '.x-itt'i ruined itself by its own faulty tactics, though we are free to 'admit that were an election to come about within a short period, it would possibly bo substantially defeated at the pells.

A BAD GAME LAV•Why were oposeums let loose in this country ? Why are they protected by the authorities,?, Settlers in the Cat • tins district are passionately asking these questions, and nobody sirms to have a reasonable answer to i?i\c iheni. If the mischievous little marsupials were introduced to provide sport thoir introduction was a mistake, for all the sport thpv nfford has little fascination in it for'even the most ardent slaughterer of wild beasts. Being nocturnal in their habits, in their native land they can only be shot on moonlight nights by the sportsman getting them in a lino with himself and the pvooD. Th« Ke.v Zealacd buth U so iull of thick undergrowth and the foliage of the trees is so dense that it must be difficult to " moon " Mr 'Possum of Maoriland in his favourite haunts. Hunting ithom with dogs destroys tho «uw which a ro the only valuable part of than, while trapping animals is not generally called sport among the cognoscenti. -ff e a re thus M to the inference that some vaguo idaa of country led the .authorities to encourage the iatroductio» and propigation of opossums. But if, while developing into, a valuable "asset, thes» little produeere of desirable furs seriovtkf retard % <fev«lopm»nt oi tk»

oilier profitable industries, their proleciion promise.; to be a very wasteful experiment. According to reports irum people living on the scere of their depredations, a wooded area ot seme fifty square, mdas is infested by them to the extent of at least ten opossums per act*:. Tins estimate ot their abundance is equival. Nt to th, a-seriion that no loss than &!U,UUI> festive phalangers—1 0 give them their scientific name—are disporting themsi Ives among the leavy coverts oi the t'atlins iorcst, and incidentally destroying gardens and robbing settlers' cows of their feed. Whether ' this statement, is an exaggeration or not iB hard to say, but we ha\'e heard from unimpeachable authority that campers in the bush find thorn quite, as numerous and noisy on line nights as they used to bo in early digging days in the primeval Australian bush. The damage these marsupials can do in a garden retp&ires to be seen to be believed. They soon devour a bed of growing vegetables, and when these are absent in winter, regale themselvts bountifully on the hark of fruit trees. 'And they have the advantabe over rabbits that, being climbers, wire netting cannot keep them o ut. Acclimatisation has made some rather alarming 'blunders in New Zealand, but most oi these have been excused on account of the amount of indirect good gained by the destruction of insect and other pests, and fceeause healthy sport has been thus encouraged, ibut where is the justification for the introduction and protection of the pernicious possum V To make him a commercial asset for all time the Government would have to proclaim the Catlins district as a State 'possum preserve. If the Government is not prepared to do this, it is time, by all accrunts, *hat the hunting of the little pests 'Was legalised. The fact |is there is not sufficient suitable land to spare in this Dominion for the cultivation of fur-bearing forest animals. Our restricted forests are required for timber, and when cleared i for settle ment 'by dairy farmers. There is really rJ o room for Mr 'Possum.

Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TT19120720.2.15

Bibliographic details

Tuapeka Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 5962, 20 July 1912, Page 2

Word Count
1,152

The Tuapeka Times AND Goldfields Reporter & Advertiser "Measures, not Men." SATURDAY, 20th JULY, 1912 THE STATE OF PARTIES. Tuapeka Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 5962, 20 July 1912, Page 2

The Tuapeka Times AND Goldfields Reporter & Advertiser "Measures, not Men." SATURDAY, 20th JULY, 1912 THE STATE OF PARTIES. Tuapeka Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 5962, 20 July 1912, Page 2

Help

Log in or create a Papers Past website account

Use your Papers Past website account to correct newspaper text.

By creating and using this account you agree to our terms of use.

Log in with RealMe®

If you’ve used a RealMe login somewhere else, you can use it here too. If you don’t already have a username and password, just click Log in and you can choose to create one.


Log in again to continue your work

Your session has expired.

Log in again with RealMe®


Alert