THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 1877.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2554, 14 March 1877, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 1877.

Whether it was wise to alter the tax j which was paid in England on all dogs • which were not used by shepherds, &c., J and convert it into a license though at a ! lower rate to keep a; dog, is a matter on which opinions differ. The upholders of the tax and the opponents of the license contend that sporting dogs.-or dogs kept for mere, pleasure, are luxuries, that luxuries ought to be taxed, and therefore dogs ought to be taxed, and that he who could afford to keep a dog for the pleasure of looking at it or shooting over it could easily,.afford to pay 12s 6d a year, whereas the:shepherds? dogs were actual necessities, for without them the shepherd's occupation would be gone, and that it was as unfair to tax these dogs, which j were necessary to their masters as a means of livelihood,; as it would be to tax the gardener for his spade or the carpenter for his saw, and we might add here as it is to tax the miner for his right to labor. Those who advocated the new system of a license of five shillings being required for every dog kept irrespective of breed pointed out the fact—and a fact it was—that owing to their immunity from taxation, shepherds frequently kept twice or three times as many dogs as they required or could look after, and that these became a great pest to their neighbors both from tkeir poaching propensities and their habits of chasing sheep in the lambing season. They, pointed also to the fact that though the sum charged was less, yet the tax would produce more, both because a larger number of dogs would be taxed, and also because the expense of collecting the. money would be less because it would.,be the duty of everyone instead of' making out a return for the revenue officer, to take but a license which could bo got at any post office, and the issuing of which could easily be made part of the duty .of any person licensed to sell stamps. The New Zealand Government have adopted the latter plan, but to make assurance doubly sure have decreed that,not only must the owner of thedog; be able to prove that he has paid fiVe shillings for his animal, but that the said animal must be a living testimony by wearing the badge for which hia master or mistress has paid. The collars are not handsome, and-as they cost about sevenpence halfpenny - each they cannot be very valuable, yet they are, it seems, sufficiently so to tempt people to steal them; Several cases of collar-stealine-hayeicome to our ears in: which, a; aog fias been aiiowea~coTuu;Ttuouii-Mi,-viaß^ leisure, his master feeling that he is secure from capture, at ;the hands of the police because he has paid five shillings for him, and returned home sans collar to be an additional expense to his owner. So prevalent has the practice become that some people rivet the collars on to the necks of their dogs. It would be- an excellent thing if one or two of these dog-collar : stealers;. were caught, .or wTJat would' 'answer the purpose almost as well if the dog ,on which the stolen collar had been placed were caughtUtself. Every collar is numbered, so the real owner could easily prove his fight, leaving the "owner, of the dbg to account for his possession 'of it. We believe one or two of these

convictions would tend a good deal to to put a stop to this practice, which is becoming a serious nuisance. .

Mb 7 Easle, at the recent meeting of the Acclimatisation Society in Auckland, has succeeded in carrying a motion that the Governor in Council should postpone the shooting season to May 24th, instead of allowing it to commence on May Ist as heretofore. Though the time for commencing is postponed the date at which the season* closes is to remain the same, thug curtailing the season by three weeks, and this in the face of the complaints which are made in some places about the damage done by pheasants. At home four months is the time (within a day or two) allowed for, shooting all kinds of gaipe, though partridges have to dare the double-barrel for five* months, and the stock of birds, save when disease sets in, is found to be';-maintained. . Here we begin pheasant shooting a month after they do in England"—though it is true, that the actual slaughter of pheasants does not as a rule tstke place until the leaves are off the trees—and the time, allowed is to be decreased by an additional three weeks. There are plenty of birds fit to shoot on the first of May, or even earlier, ■ though it is not to be expected that all birds of this season's hatching will be full grown, but if sportsmen and men with guns would only agree to .spare the "cheepers" entirejy, and hens partially, it would do more good for them than any prohibition such as Mr, Earle suggests. .-, „. ,