The Waikato Times. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1878

Waikato Times, Volume XII, Issue 1017, 31 December 1878, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1878

upon such sheep. Every person re- 1 fusing or neglecting to deliver or cause to be delivered such return as aforesaidjshall be liable to a penalty fdjng twenty pounds. Tlie jj^eotor shall, m the month i every year, transmit to iiial Treasurer a statement-, "rcoui the returns funtishe.J tn pursuance of this section, of the whitel nuflSfcter of sheep and lambs within h fs: district. A schelulo is appendelcf to the Act showingthefortn m which such return must bo made. The provisions for the regulation of infected sheep do riot materially differ from those of preceding acts, until we come to section 3!>, which gives to the Inspector the power of cleaning, at ' the owner's expense, sheep which the. owner has failed to cleiinj Wjter } reasonable notice; Power is given m the Act to the Governor ; to.' declare, by notice jn the ' Gazette,' which districts are clean, and. which infected districts, and clause. 40, which is novv gazetted for general information. In this clause, a penalty of not less than £10, or more than £100 attaches to any psrsoua who introduces, by land, sheep from a clean district into any other ; district, clean or infected, or from one infected district into another infected district, unless he shall hold a clean certificate for such sheep, and unless he shall have given to the Inspector of the district into wliiclx they are to be introduced, at least. seven days notice, stating m such notice fcbe number Ojf sheep> and the point at whicV and the day on which it is intended they shall cross the, boundary of the district. Section 57 will not apply very generally to this district ; still, we may as well draw attention to the fact, that any occupier of any run (a run means any sheep station, or farm or other land) exceeding ;"»00 acres m extent, and hot substantially fenced, must give twenty four hours notice to the occupies of all the adjoining runs, of his intention to do so, before yarding his sheep, for the. pur pose of dipping 1 or dressing, cutting 1 and tailing, or shearing, or removal from the run^ Section 68 provides for the treatment of sheep infected with lice, and gives to the Inspector similar powers, as m the case of scab.

:- Equal and exa'pt justice to all men, Of whatever state or persuasion, religious or ijolitical. * * * * ♦ Here shall, the Press the People's right maintain, . - ..dhawed by influenofl andunbribed by gaia. .

Amongst the. measures affecting country districts which passed both Houses of the Legislature m Uie session just concluded was the Sheep Act. It is not our intention (o enter /fully into the several provisions of the Act, but merely to draw general, attention to soine parts of it, which Lave, been recently. published m the ' New Zealand Gazettee ' as coming into operation on the Ist of January next, arid with the nature of which it is desirable that owners of sheep should be made at once. acquainted. According to Clause 15 of the Acly it shall be; lawful for any •Inspector of Sheep, when he considers it necessary to decide satisfactorily on tho condition of any sheep, to call on. their owner to make a declaration according to Schedule B of the Act, jmd Clause 15 fixes the penalty for neglect or • refusal to make such declaration or for makirjga false one. The declaration to be made is m the following form :— " I, —, of — , do hereby solemnly declare that I have .made, to the best of. my belief a musi e.»'of ■ all the sheep m my charge, and that niy sheep, marked — , being — m number, now being, at — , have not within three months been mixed with any infected sheep, nor depastured oii any ran, nor placed m any yard, enclosure, carriage or tract m which there were any infected sheep and I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true. r , . . The Act provides for the irnposi- !' tion of a rate upon all sheep which will be levied annually to the extent of two shillings for every" hundred sheep or fractional part of a hundred sheep or. lambs owned by any I person on the last day of May m each year. This rato willbe payable on the Ist day of September m each year, and unless then paid may be sued for and recovered m any court of competent jurisdiction. In order go ascertain exactly what sheep a settler possesses, clausa 21 of the Act provides that every owner of sbeep Shall, between the first and thirtieth day of June hi. every year, deliver or cause to be delivered to ■'MVe Cl nwf. Inspector a written return ut the number of sheep and laimbs of ; each sex exceeding three mon;hsold owned by him on the thirty-first day of May preceding, speeifving m such returns the ear-marks and brands