Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878] MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1893.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4355, 27 February 1893, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878]

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1893.

Being the extended tiiie of the Waiuaiupa Daily, with which it is IDENTICAL

A new light has been thrown on the

administration of (he Babbit Aot by Judge Bichmond. For the past ten years, under successive Resident Magistrates, the Inspector has practically been the Judge in the Court, when rabbit prosecutions Lave been before ,it; and cvidenco has only been allowed lo be brought forrvard by, defendants in mitigation of penalties, Now, as we understand it, Judge Richmond's decision reverses the posi-1 lion, the fiat is taken away from tho

Inspector, and the Court alone will decide cases upon evidence and not upon an Inspector's opinion. We are ! disposed to believe that the Judge's opinion is correct, although it upsets all preconceived ideas on the subject, for there is no clearer-headed man on the Supreme Court Bench than His Honour Judge Richmond, The ttev, J. C. Audrew, who apparently has been kiokiDg against the pricks for

years, has also, without doubt, a clear vision, and has missed his vocation in not being an Attorney-General. We regret the turn things have taken, on the ground that the task of suppressing rabbits will now become a very difficult one for Inspectors. In certain districts like tho Whareamn, where small settlers cannot live and the land must be occupied for many years to come in largo blocks, tho suppression of rabbits is a practical necessity, If inspectors possessing autocratio powers could not cope with the difficulty, how are they to fight it now that their strength is taken away by the new interpretation of the Act. Babbits aro increasing in the W»irarspß, and we flhould be sorry to m the progress of the district arrested by a further development of the pest, The Government will

probably do little because the work of extermination is unpopular with the Labour party, and by the time a new Ministry comes into power the mischief may have grown to such dimensions that half a million of money will not cover its ravages, We congratulate Mr Andrew on his victory, bat we also venture to hope that in {lis hour of triumph he will not allow himself to be eaten out of house and home bv rabbits.

One or two. callow oalislhenic votaries of this town have been indulging in threats against the Park Trustees through the medium of a sympathetic literary Tadpole, These youths must not be blamed because it is a scientific fact that an undue strain in obtaining an abnormal niusculardevelopmentmaybeactieved at the expense of intellectual growth. The circumstances under which the Masterton Park Trustees have forfeited the confidence of these juvenile athletes are as follows: The Trustees, when the Park is used for public sports and entrance money ic collected at the gates, charge a fixed fee to the society using tho grounds. Snob foes constitute almost the entire income of the Trust aud pitiably amount to about £2O a year. Societies using the ground are apt to look upon this feo as a grievance though they do not show how the Park is to bo maintained without an inoome and they do not oven suggest that the £2O per annum whioh the Trustees enjoy is an eitravagant incomo which requires to be reduced, The callow athletes to whom we refer, however, went so far as to claim ut right to hold their sports on the Oval without payment of any fee to the Trustees. They wero persuaded to study the Act and then they modified their idea by expressing their willingness to pay a half fee. This liberal offer not being entertained thoy directed the Secretary of the Park Trustees to call a meeting for a certain day at which they would eeo the Trustees and of course brinij them to ibeir bearings. The Secretary did not deem it expedient to carry out this his duty in letting the Park had already been clearly defined for him by tho Trustees. Botbe callowcbirpersdid at last what they ought to have done at first, they paid the fee and in spite of the inclement weather collected twenty pounds in gate money. Now these callow champions threaten a monster petition to Parliament to repeal the Act and unseat the Trustees, and we sincerely trust that they won't be satisfied with chirping. We should be glad to see them take the action they suggest because it would tend to bring out into prominence the claim the Masterton Park Trustees have on the gratitude of the public. These Trustees have freed the Park from a debt of £4OO which once hung like a millstone round its neck and they made the Oval and its immediate surroundings at a cost of about £2OO, and quite recently they spent more than they receive from the Amateur Athletics in repairing the fence round the Oval, so that public sports could be advantageously conducted there, But for the intelligent enterprise and quiet labours of tho Trustees there would be no Oval for these callow chirpcrs to frisk round, However, the Trustees am very glad to seß these finches of the grove making a full and free use of the Oval for training purposes, and they are unlikely to take too seriously the menaoes whioh thoy utter. They will give them all reasonable encouragement to pursue their healthy pastime and at leisure intervals to go for them by monster petition or in any other way that may seem good to their Tadpole adviser,