THE LATE ALLEGED SCAB CASE.

Waikato Times, Volume XII, Issue 950, 25 July 1878, Page 2

THE LATE ALLEGED SCAB CASE.

Sib,—Many thanks for the persistency with which you have advocated the-f ullest investigation of the recent alleged scab" case. JTou will still more oblige if you will insert the following. Ido hope some good will come of this matter if well .ventilated, and not allowed -to drop by my fellow settlers as a nine days' wonder, namely, that such a monstrous injustice shall never happen again, that one inspector shall give a farmer a certificate that his sheep, aro free from scab, aad another inspector shall condemn them as scabby, and make the unfortunate owner pay for the incompetency of one of them. I must take exceptions to your saying "of Mr Lewis' skill and experience, there can be no doubt." Take his "skill" first: Mr Lewis promised to come up and show our Inspector scab in my sheep ; his reasons for not coming, as stated in Court, was, that I had time "to pick out the scabby sheep," and so make things all straight for him. Now, sir, apart from the animus shown hy the man, in making such an assertion, as if Mr Runciman and myself were a couple of rogues, trying to frustrate justice, a me-e tyro in such matters would know it could not possibly be done, scab, like any other contagious disease, running through the sheep in all stages. So much for MiLewis's skill. His experience, such as it is, he lias had to pay for. I have heard of his mistakes before. I have also heard that Mr Lewis was appointed Sheep Inspector years ago in the dark ages—l mean in the time of Superintendents, as a reward for his support of the late John Williamson. The appointment was freely commented on in the Press of the day. Mr. Lewis' s attitude in Court when being unexpectedly faced with the skin of the sheep he had previously testified to as having an eruption as big as the palm of his hand, &c, and not finding which, he tried to get out of the dilemma by saying ohe skin had been changed, and gave us the trouble of making him own it was the identical skin picked out by himself. It did not seem to make any impression oii the Bench, but it did on myself —Tours, &c, Thomas Jolly."