The Dunstan Times. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1873.

Dunstan Times, Volume 601, Issue 601, 24 October 1873, Page 2

The Dunstan Times. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1873.

<pnpntli the TJuleof '.fen evitrelT just the punis mightier than theawoßD.

The decision of the Government to sell the leases of the Gold-fields commonages, leaving ample reserves for the depasturing of great catt'e. the property of miners, agriculturists, and other residents, must not be looked upon as an aruitrirr measure Writing on the subject some years unce, when the Wakatip runs wore proposed for sale, we were met with a peat deal of opposition, and it was only thiou hj the most strenn ats exertions of interested parties that the sale was witheld, and tb< Government constrained to pve the comm on age system for great and small cattle another trial. This, after "ome five years, has proved a failure f. ttle revenue has been collected ir-m the country occupied by flock-owners, who have managed to monopolise the country amongst a few, doing no good to anybody but themselves, while they have assisted much to k<>er> up the price of meat by overstocking the country with sheep so that (he keeping of great cattle in a condition fir for the but-her has been an iinpo-sibibty ; at the same time, the greed of the *• shr-epists” has In en such that, through over-crowding, their fl cks would not fatten, and the consequence was th t meat, instead of being reared upon the gold-fields, required to be imported from a distance at a very heavy cost. At the Wakatip, we are creditably informed, the whole of the commonage was in the hands of some dozen cockatoo squatters—nr “sheepists,” as they have been lately designated. The number of sheep owned by them gave them so complete a monopoly of the country that they were virtually in posses on of runs without paying for them, their only contribution to the revenue being the amount of assessment on such returns as they chose to furnish, and which could nor. have inclndeu anything like the number of stock actually depastured. These men made no improvements, erected no sheep-washes, no wool-sheds (or what can be designated such), kept no shepherds, emp'oyrd no labor except at shearing time, and over-run the country purposely for wool-growing, from which no local benefit was derived except the e-pending of the shearers’ earnings among a few shanty keepers. It. is said that the Governmeet. have reserved ninety-five thousand acres as a commonage for great cattle at the Wakatip, upon which no sheep will be allowed to wander. That, to the owners of stock, will prove an immense boon ; to farmers especially, who no doubt fully appreciate the action of the Government in removing the objectionable small cattle from their commonage. In the Tuapeka district affairs were apparently much the same. Sheep were gradually wedging out great cattle, and farmers and miners placed at similar disadvantages. We have no doubt but that the sale of the leases will be vig ronsly opposed, and strong measures resorted to to prevent it, and those interested will find numerous sympathisers ; but, in justice to the community at large, the action of the Government is a wise one, by calling upon those who have enjoyed a monopoly of the public estate, considerably below its real value, to contribute their equitable proportion We do not. imagine that capitalists will come ‘n and outbid local occupiets —the areas to be leased are much too small for that; while, at tue same ime, we feel assured that bases of clocks will fetch tluir v..lue, and the

revenue be duly augmented thereby, ft is the interest of every tax payer that each person should contribute his equitable share. The burthen must be equally borne by all, whil • nothing ten be more objectionable or ridiculous Iran the fostering of a lot ot itinerate 'ool-growers at the public expense, if squatters themselves are objectionable, the new order of sheepists must be far more so The grazing of great cattle is almost important item to the farmer, and equally so, only in a less degree to the miner. Milk and butter arc indispensable to the table where there is a family of young children, and those necessary articles of food, owing to the feed being so nipped off by sheep, have, dining the winter months, been almost unprocurable. Many a miner, settled in the back gullies in the ranges, manages to eke out a comfortable living for himself and faniih with the assistance of a few head of cattle, and loud have been his complaints upon the encroachment of sheep. Farmers turning their diy cattle out on commonage find them reduced to a nv re bag of bones from the same causes, thus rendering one of their sources of income peifectly unavailable. The sale of the leases of runs wi'l obviate (bis, and fat btef, at a »ednced price, will become a more plentiful article than has been the case these last lew years.