The Daily Telegraph. TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 1883.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3715, 12 June 1883, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph. TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 1883.

Till'; presence of large numbers of rabbits at the southern boundary fence of the province shows that the precautions taken some time back to check the invasion of the pest were none too soon. Something more than the advance guard of the invaders seems to be now on our borders, and there is only a short lino of rabbit proof fencing, round which they can soon make their way, to keep them from swarming over the AVainui country. A meeting of tho settlers in the Porangahau and adjoining districts has been called for next Tuesday afternoon. The subject for discussion will be of serious importance to tho whole of the sheepfarmers in the province. Better far for them to have to deal with scab or any other disease to which sheep are subjected than to have to clear the country of rabbits. All who have visited the pest-ridden districts of Otago will agree that no greater curse can befall a pastoral country than that which now threatens Hawke's Bay. Under the Act of ISBO, that was repealed by the Rabbit Nuisance Act of the following year, some steps were taken by the Commissioners to avert the evil. The fence was erected at Waimate, ferrets imported, and a man placed at the boundary to rear ferrets, to keep the fence in order, and generally to keep rabbits out of the country. We believe these precautions have been continued to the present time. It is now roporLcd that tho Akiteo country is full of rabbits, and that they are extremely numerous just on the other side of the fence. What has the boundary keeper been about, and of what use have the ferrets been, will no doubt be questions that will bo asked next Tuesday at the meeting. But there is another point that it will bo well for the meeting to attend to, which is nothing less than to call the attention of the Government to tho manner in which the Act has been ignored in the Akiteo runs. If the Akiteo country is too far from the Inspector's quarters on the Wellington side, it might be judicious to petition the Governor to alter the'boundary of the Hawke's Bay district so as to extend it to the Akiteo river. It is little less than a scandalous crime that rabbits should have been permitted to increase and multiply as they, apparently, have done in that country. It is plain a'morc energetic inspection is urgently demanded, ;;.nd if it cannot bo secured from the Wellington side the settlers should try and obtain it from tile Napier end. Under section 3 of the Act it is provided that tho Governor may from time to time alter and redefine any district, and this, y/c think, would be done on proper representations being made to the right quarter. Section Q gives power to the Governor to appoint so many persons as he shall think lit to be Inspectors, and such other officers as he may deem necessary, and from time to time assign any district or part of any district to any Inspector. And an important section is that any Inspector may be appointed to act within more districts than one. It will thus be seen that there is ample elasticity in tho Act to meet the requirements of the settlers, the chief of which is to get the oounti-y more vijjorcas-ly deult with than at present.