The Wairarapa Daily. TUESDAY, APRIL 18,1882.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 4, Issue 1051, 18 April 1882, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. TUESDAY, APRIL 18,1882.

We publish, in another column, an interesting letter on the working of the Rabbit Act, from Mr R. S. Hawkins. We have, on a former occasion, drawn attention ' fo the large numbor of nominal penalties .which have been inflated in our local in the administration of- this Act. There is another phase of this important question on which 'we should have \been glad to have had the opinion of our correspondent, and that is, whether the legislature has acted wisely in placing the interpretation of the Act entirely in the hands of our Resident Magistrates. Can a Pastoral Magistrate, in a Pastoral District, he expected to act ■ as a public persecutor. Should a man who has,' perhaps, during a judical experience of twenty'years in an R.M, District, and has formed'a large circle of old friends, be expected to commence a vigorous crusade against them, bej cause an Act of Parliament is passed in which a considerable latitude is given. Years ago, before rabbits were a pest in the Wairarapa, we experienced in,the way the Sheep Act was toned dd,vn in our local courts a foretaste of what the Rabbit "Act is now,. -The •evil was corrected in the, former case by the legislature making minimum penalties substantial ones, and by recognising the Inspector .rather than the Court as an expert. We anticipate that to- deal efficiently with the rabbit evil, the Government will either have to alter the Act, or to issue .stringent instructions to Magistrates. As : .thecourse would be objec'tionable,'it as wort)i yhile considering whether the former one cm be adopted. The administration of this Act to be profitable must be strict. It will be easier to change the Act than to harden th'ejheart. of a humane Magistrate. Hie principal alterations which would be necessary would' be making the Inspector the judge of what constituted steps" instead of

the Magistrate, and making the minimum penalty a substantial, one,' If this were done, where we have now twenty cases in our courts, taking up an interminable time, there ; would, perhaps, be only one, ■ . .

We published yesterday the official explanation of the Ministerial crisis which resulted in Sir George Grey being packed off home and Mr Whitaker being sent tor, It may be regarded as a sort, of 1 Gubernatorial apology.' We would have liked to have exonerated Sir. Arthur Gordon from blame, but when he formed an opinion that his Ministry did not possess the contidence of Parliament and based his subsequent proceedings on this conviction ho trenched, in our opinion, on the privileges! of Parliament and placed himself in a false position. We believe Mr Whitaker will be able to form a Ministery that will have the confidence of the House and the country.. He is a shrewd sensible man of the world and is just the person to extricate his party from the trouble it has been, subjected toby the illness of the Premier and the blunders of the Governor. The Ministry will we understand be reconstructed , without any material alteration excepting of course the omission of Mr HALL's'name." Mr Bbyoe is expected to resume office,'