THE Cromwell Argus. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1870.

Cromwell Argus, Volume 1, Issue 46, 28 September 1870, Page 4

THE Cromwell Argus. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1870.

As the number of settlers increases in the town and district, the number of cattle requiring to be fed increases. In the history of Cromwell, commonage was forgotten at the right time and the right place ; and now we have to pay the usual penalties of neglect. Our cattle are dying of hunger : those that survive the effects of a winter’s starvation are of no profit to the owners. The owners themselves are out of temper. The General Government was memorialised : the memorialists were referred to the Provincial Government, as having failed in its duty to the Province in this respect. And thus delay goes on, and all the while the evil is increasing. A deputation was sent to Dunedin some twelve months ago, and was graciously received. Some vague promises were made, and when the expense was paid, the very hopeful affair ended ; and we are now what we have been all along, pensioners upon the | bounty of Mr Loughnan for every acre of grazing ground beyond the town boundary. And whoever has failed us in the time of need, he has not. Gratitude to whom gratitude is due, is a law for cattle-owners and corporations, as well as for individuals. But how long is this humiliation to continue! When are we to feed our cattle without obligation to anyone 1 Our right to commonage should be as definite and as accessible as any other right. Many corporations enjoy such an inheritance without a sense of dependence on the generosity of station owners or occupiers ; and why not Cromwell I Further correspondence may be expected on this subject from the Provincial Government. But Governments are dull bodies to move. Before their inertness can be stirred into action, the cattle on the plain will be hunted off the run, or the owners subjected to a fine. The forecastings of the townspeople here seem to have altogether left out commonage rights; and so long as the eastern slopes of the Clutha were regarded as containing nothing better than beds of rotten slate, glaring mica, and other useless mullock, the mistake was unfelt. The future of Cromwell was classed among other colonial fu-1 tures, overcast with uncertainty j and “ sufficient for the day is the evil thereof” was for many years the only guiding motive. But we now find that we were mistaken on this point; and this one mistake led to many others, of which commonage rights are by no means the least. We now know that the veins of the vast terraces on the east bank of the Clutha are traversed by a network of gold. Here is a matrix pregnant with the precious ore, and only waiting for the delivering processes of efficient machinery to make the occult treasure manifest to the fortunate seeker. This has created a market for milk, butter, and beef, and multiplied manifold the customers seeking a supply of these articles. And, strange to say, our grazing area is becoming smaller every season. Meetings have been called to discuss this matter, but the result has hitherto been just nil. Will the Town Council take up this question afresh, and begin at the beginning 1 Let them insist upon the interference of the Provincial Government at once, and in such a way as shall put an end to all disputes, and shall so adjust the jarring claims on both sides as to give compensation to the squatter, and ample commonage to the owners of cattle in the district. Wo now kno .v that the Provincial authorities have power to deal with this question.