POLITICAL NOTES

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 17 July 1924, Page 5

POLITICAL NOTES

RABBITS AND WEEDS. MINISTERIAL WARNING. (By Telegraph.—Special to Star.) WELLINGTON, July 16. Included in a big budget of questions discussed in the House to-day were some relating to the rabbit and noxious weed pests. Several members urged the Government to greater activity. The Hon. W. Nosworthy, Minister for Agriculture, told them that" lie was being urged to force the pace at a time when farmers were recovering from the slump and labour was dear. He was being asked to deal with weeds and rabbits and do it all at once, and it was not a fair thing to himself. “But,” lie continued, “I am going to' try a policy of putting my foot down and telling my officers that, seeing that Parliament has given me power under various Acts in regard to rabbits and noxious weeds, to exercise that power and see how we get on. Members have asked for it and I must do it.”. He referred to some of the difficulties, ’such as oil the Wairoa lands, which were leased by Maoris to Europeans when of blackberry, and had been handed back to the natives ’ a perfect jungle of blackberry. It would be unfair to the natives to order them to remove it immediately. He advocated that the Minister of Justice review the penalties imposed by the different magistrates in connection with rabbit nuisance prosecutions. Mr. Macpherson (Oamaru) stated that farmers and settlers feel they are treated inequitably, in so far as a culprit who smilingly pleads guilty v is only convicted and ‘ fined £1 to‘£'s, while the unfortunate who has proved / to the court that he had used all the available labour he could secure and spent in money all he could afford is hried any sum from £2O to £SO. The Hon. C. J. Parr, Minister for Tustice, lin replying, said that as a decision of a stipendiary magistrate :annot be carefully examined without x complete knowledge of the evidence ’t follows that it is practically impossible to carefully examine all the decisions given during the past twelve - months by stipendiary magistrates throughout New Zealand in connection with the suppression of-the rabbit pest. Furthermore, as local conditions largely affect the amount of the fine to be inflicted in anv particular case of this sort, the Minister would have to lie fully acquainted with the local condi- 1 "ions affecting each case before he could decide if the penalty inflicted was a proper one or not “In any case a wholesale investigation of magistrates’ decisions is, in my opinion, extremely •mdesirable. The Penalties Remission Act of 1908 urns specially passed to - deal with cases where the nenalty appears to be excessive, and if any monetary penalty inflicted is considered to 'ie excessive it is open to the defendant to appeal for a remission, and any application will be dealt with on its" merits. CONSUMPTION DECREASING. The Miinster for Health, in informing the Hon. David Buddo that the Health Department closely co-operates with other health services in collecting .information regarding the progress of treatment for consumption, added that in New Zealand this disease shows a steady and satisfactory tendency towards decline. To-day the death rate ' from tuberculosis in New Zealand compares more than favourably with that of most- other countries. LIBRARY SUBSIDIES. The Minister for Education announced, in reply to a question from the member for Hurunui, that provision is being made on this year’s estimates to reinstate the £3OOO subsidy to public libraries in country districts, which was withdrawn as one of the economies during the war.