LOAFING STOCK ON BARE PASTURES.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5273, 16 February 1878, Page 3

LOAFING STOCK ON BARE PASTURES.

(From the Sydney Mail, February 2.)

; When we state that travelling stock have become an unbearable nuisance, we simply echo opinions expressed in all parts of this colony, and when we state that immediate. legislation is required to deal with the difficulty, we but give expression to an opinion which will be heartily endorsed by every honest well-meaning stockowner in our midst. There are few persons, if any, that do not know tho pitiable condition in which inland districts are at the present'time. From the north, the south, and the west the Sanaa doleful tidings come daily of burnt up pastures, dried up water sources, and starving stock. It may be that there are residents in this city who cannot realise what the effects of drought in' the country really are. The reception which tho Travelling Stock. Bill, and Amended Diseases in Sheep Bill ’ met with in pur Legislative Assembly' some months back leads us to assume;, that even those who would be rulers of the, people are uninformed in this respect. One of these useful measures which would have saved thousands of poor animals from slow starvation wa? shelved mainly through the opposition of the advocate of poor men's rights,; Mr. Cameron.' Let us fancy the poor,but provident man, such as Mr. Cameron would depict, with a large family to support, and with but three loaves in his store to tido over a trying time. How . hard it- would seem if a

neighbor could legally, although uninvited, assist in demolishing this slender stock. ' There would - be an outcry, and Mr. Cameron would be the first to uplift his hands and voice and cry aloud for justice. Then let w consider the position of the provident,stockowner, the man who has a large piece of country for which he pays rent—small or large. He knows the capabilities of his laud, its power to support his stock, and he does not overtax its strength. The trying time comes, and with it unwelcome visitors. The loafers triumph, and possibly the provident stockowner is ruined. Are the cases we sketch not analogous ? It is time that a stop was put to the system which grants roving commissions to those who wish to become marauders. In another column will be found a statement that since our Southern border has been thrown open about 350,000 sheep have crossed the Murray. How many of these are at present loafing about on our almost exhausted pastures? Under our present laws sheep can be driven for grass aud water from point to point, being only compelled to travel six miles a day. Cattle in the same way can be driven, hut must travel ten miles in the same time. . Drovers of sheep are compelled to give at least twelve hours’ notice of their approach to holders of runs; but drovers of cattle are not thus restricted. We might quote a hundred cases to show how the law, loose as it is, is evaded.