THE BABBIT QUESTION.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1718, 24 June 1884, Page 2

THE BABBIT QUESTION.

'(to THE EDITQIt.) . ■ . N . Sir,-I beg to suggest to Mr 11, S. Hawkins iiri easier way of exterminating the rabbit than .by ferrets, viz,: population,.an.(lsnijdl. farm settlement, Let the" Government liold on to all public lands—sell none of them, but lease them at* lttiminal rentals to anyone that is willing- to take them np, and make the'leases'perpetual as long as 'tlio : ,conditions : aro fulfilled. By, this system people would only take up as much land as they could work profitably, and they would also have the. advantage, of having, tlieir. ready, capital to work the land with, , instead of having to sink-, every, farthing, .thev possess to buy .fi'dm some hungry land shark, who, by virtue of a long purse, has been' able; to monopolise the land at a nominal,figure from the Government. Mi* H, says lie made his observations re rabbit extermination on a run thirty, miles long. Just imagine, sir,'in a

, CDUiitl'y like this, tWd individuals being able to mohopolise. thirty/'miles of country I 'l'wotifd like to ask Mr H, .'(who is a belter hand at figures than I am) how many families could be'maintained on tho above-mentioned thirty "miles of land* if it were cut up into small runs and farms (according to the nature of tho country),- and whether'it' woulckequire any- ferrets to keep the rabbits down ? And I would also like to know, if- New- Zealand goes on increasing her population'afc the same rate during the next ten years that she has during the past ten, and two, individuals are allowed to monopolise thirty miles of ground, how: many people will have a legal right to live in the country (by virtue- of possession), and- how many of as will be here merely on sufferance ? The cloven hoof is already showing it; self, A few weeks back . there , was nearly £ column of advertisements signed by squatters in hood, Mr H. I tliitik, amoiig the number, prohibiting people from going on their ground tq shoot game, under the penalty of. trespass,- : ■ : . ' One word, to settlers on small plots (the legitimate" squatter). Whenever yon see a.ferret or any natural r enemy of the rabbit in. your poultry yard .or elsewhere—kill it, You need '. not make: a .fuss about it, 01' culHn : f hewspapev reporter .to record .the The squatters' and land inonopsis| (of whom; our House of Representativesare cluofly composed)- h:\ve passed an Act saying you shall be lined if you do so. . What do they care about your poultry being destroyed 1 Nothing !. If it trespass on their, ground they Can legally , poison it, Heads, I win: tails, you lose ! Do all you can to foster, the rabbit, as by so doing you are helping - to- break the baGk ef land monopoly, and prevent its disciples ■ getting rich too quickly; If you are a small farmer, cultivating'as much'land as. will keep you a.id your family, the rabbits will never hurt yon, and your bays will'be able to earn more by potting those that come on your ground and selling (he skins, than ever they will by ferret breeding. Effectually destroy the rabbit and you make the monopolist.master of the situation, and in, a "few generations lie will ha ve as great a power in his hands as the. landowners (the atistocracy) in "the old countries. What is the cause of all the poverty, degradation, and wi'e.toh< edness among the masses there V Land monopoly I ' We may not feel it in our time, but as sure as the earth revolves round the sun, wo are sowing the seeds of misery to future generations, in allowing the public estate of this glorious country to bo swallowed up by:a hindful of money land Yours, Ac,," ■ Snip,