SOUTHLAND'S PROPOSED ENCROACHMENT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2894, 1 September 1909, Page 37

SOUTHLAND'S PROPOSED ENCROACHMENT.

ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY ON GUARD. SOME FRANK SPEAKING. The proposal, made by the Stock Com- | jnittee of the Southland Acclimatisation ■ .Society, that the society extend its district by taking within its boundaries that por--tion of the Otago acclimatisation district in which the Southland fish hatchery is situated, was brought before the council -of the Otago Acclimatisation Society at its meeting on Friday, and it caused xa.-iie frank speaking. The Chairman (Mr R. Chisholm) eaid that doubtless members had seen the paragraph in a daily paper stating that it was --the intention of the Southland Society to Oafce action in the direction of having the boundaries of the Southland Acclimatisation Society made identical with the boundaries of the Southland survey district. This meant that the Southland Society ■wished to take a considerable portion of the Otago Society's country. The action of the Southland Society was, he considered, in extremely bad taste, in view of all that the Otago Society had done for it. Some time ajjo the secretary of the Southland Society wrote saying that it had not in- its district a oreek suitable for the purpose of a fish hatchery, and, as it wished to establish such a hatchery, it was desirous of obtaining from the Otago Society .permission to build its hatchery on a suitable stream on the Otago side of the Mataura River — the boundaiy. The Otago Society, in a very coiu--teous manner, readily cranted the re-

' quest, and the hatchery was constructed. For thfs" work the Southland Society in some way (such a" thing was most unusual) obtained no lea* a grant than, £1000 from the Government,. The chairman proceeded to refer very warmly to the position now taken uftby the Southland Society, which, "not content with obtaining this creek and taking advantage of the kindness of the Otago Society, must attempt to al*o get possession of the land all about it. It was a very ungenerous kind of way of expressing thanks. Personally, he did not think there was a chance of this request being granted, in making a comparison between the amount of fishing water held by the two societies, it was seen that Southland had three times as much as Otago. Taken altogether, Otago had very little fishing water, and if Southland were to succeed in this attempt, they would be deprived of a portion of what little they had. The Southland Society, to his mmd, was very like an octopus, seeking to gather unto itself all it possibly could. It certainly shoVed that the southern organisation was energetic, but he hoped that the Otago Sooiety would show that it ako was wide awake, and not prepared to allow this proposal to pass unchallenged. In connection with -.thia matter he had received a letter from the "Anglers' Association: — At a special meeting of tie Otago Anglers' Association the following resolution was ctrriea^unanimously:-" That the Otago Anglers' Association protests most empn*facalfy against the suggested alteration to yre bouidi^s of the Southern Acclimatisation district as- brought forward by the Southland Society." In bringing this resolution under your notice my committee desires at the same time to state the reason which has led it to pass the above resolution. In the first place, the Southland Sooiety has a much greater extent of fishing waters than th« Otago Society, and in view of the new regulation gazetted by the Government in Tegard to half-yearly licenses having the effect cf making the haifyearly licenses only available for th-e dastrict in which it is issued, my committee would point ou* that many of its members not being in a position to avail themselves of tße fishr.g at the early part of ths season are thu9 either compelled to- take out a full £1 lioensp. or be restricted to the society's own district. This they "consider a needless restriction, and to have the district further curtailed a3 suggested by the Southland Society is therefore most emphatically cbjected to. My committee would ba glad if you oan give it information as to the reason or by whose instigation the new regulation -in regard to half-yearly licenses has been made, as in the opinion of my association it appears parochial and undemocratic in the extreme. It may also be pointed out that the most equitable way to judge the extent of area due to the several societies would be on a population- basis rather than on a geographical one. My association also begs leave to affirm that a large river such as the Mataura is the only reasonable dividing line from an angler's point of vie*. Otherwirs, if the line of demarcation be by survey lines emdlesa trouble would ensu« over many small streams, parts of which would be in one district and part in another Trusting your society will resist in the ' utmost any attempt that may be made to interfere with, the present districts.— A. E. Jenkins. Tha Chairman eaid that, as regards hal'ycarly licenses, a very strong protest would be made at the Conference of Acclimatisation Societies (held in Wellington) against this o,rder-in-Council being drawn up and gazetted without any reference being made to the societies concerned. It had come bearing on the question of boundaries. Regarding that, what action did they propo-« to take? The Southland Society had made no move yet, but there was no harm in the Otago Society being firet in the field. It was moved that the executive draft a strongly word ad protest, and forward came to the Southland Society. Members protested against this. The motion should be sent to the Minister of Internal Affairs. The Southland Society had ignored them, and they would ignore the Southland Society. The Chairman said it would peem that tho proposition was sprung upon the Southland meeting, and his own opinion was that they realised they were acting in a remarkable way, and were only hal fh^arted about it. They might send the Southland Society a resolution. Members : No, we will not recognise them, sir : we will eimplv pass them by. The Chairman detailed som* of tho many favours received by the Southland Society at the hands of Otago. The Otago organisation had always done its utmost to help the other— had, for instance, supplied the latter for a long time with c\a at 2s 6d per 1000, which barely paid the cost of transit. Some other members referred to other favours. A large herd of deer, which was presented to the Southland Society within recent years, wa-s mentioned. And this, said the chairman, dramatically, this is the thanks we get. It was unanimously resolved that the suggested resolution bo drafted and sent to the Minister of Internal Affaiis.