Untitled

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 98, 25 April 1878, Page 2

ThS Slaughter Houses Act, 1867, is now law,- and has. jtiot been brought into active opSraiion iii NelSoft because' aa.yefc no byelaws have been made. But this Want will soon be remedied. In places where the Counties Act is not in full operation the Governor may appoint a Resident Magistrate to administer the Act, who is to call to his assistance two Jusiices, and these three form together a " Bench of Magistrates," endowed with all the powers of a County Council. The Resident Magistrate of Nelson having been appointed by the Governor to administer the Act for the County of Waimea has, we are informed, with the assistance of Mr Barnicoat, J.P., Chairman of the County Council, and Mr Macmahon, J.P., Chairman of the Motueka Highway Board, framed a set of bye-laws, which have been forwarded to the Governor for approval. The Act itself provides that no slaughtering is to be allowed within half a mile of any borough ; that bye-laws may be made for fixing the license fee and the conditions on which licenses may be granted for providing for the good management, inspection aud cleanliness of slaughter houses, and for fixing the penalty for breach of any bye :la w or regulation. There is a penalty fixed by the Act for slaughtering without a liceuse. Notices of applications for licenses are to be published, and all licenses are subject to cancellation upon breach of any of the conditions or bye-laws. Inspectors are to be appointed who have under the Act very extensive powers, and are also entitled to a small fee for every animal slaughtered. There are penalties in the Act for destroying the brands upon any skin, for having carcases of cattle not accounted for, for obstructing officers, and for shooting cattle in any paddock so as to endanger human life. The Act is in force throughout the whole of New Zealand.