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THE THISTLE ACT

The spread, hitherto almost unchecked, of the fertile weed commonly known as the Scotch thistle begins to excite the alarm of those interested in the country districts. The Thistle Act which was passed in the sixth Session of the Provincial Council seems to have been allowed to remain almost a dead letter. Excepting such action as the Provincial Government has taken, viz., in the appointment of an officer under the Act, and in providing the necessary funds defraying tlie expense of " eradicating " and destroying noxious Thistles growing upon " any Waste Lands of the Crown, —lands " belonging to the Aboriginal natives, or on '■ any Public Load or Reserve," nothing appears to have been done.

Now the Act expressly confers upon the owners and occupiers of land the power of abating the nuisance, but the! owners and occupiers of land will not give themselves the trouble to do anything of the sort. It would he difficult in description to exaggerate the mischief which will inevitably result from this supineness. In other Provinces of New Zealand thousands of acres of the molt valuable land are being rendered utterly useless from the spreading of the thistle, and costly experience has thereat length proved the necessity of making strenuous head against it. The evil hero is comparatively in its infancy, and may by a little exertion he put an end to, but that exertion must be promptly made. One single year's seeding of the thistles now in process of growth in this Province will place the malady nearly out of the reach of cure. In our other columns will be found a letter from Mr. F. D. Rich, the Inspector under the Act, and we also reprint the Act itself in order that our country readers may see that they have the remedy in their own hands, and that by the very simple process of giving a '•notice" any owner or occupier of land within the Auckland District can compel any other owner or occupier of any land upon which thistles are growing to destroy such thistles under pain of a fine of not less than ten or more than thirty shillings for evey day that such thistles shall be permitted to grow after due notice. We earnestly commend the matter t > the consideration of our country readers, and hope that in the absence of any local organization for the conduct of rural improvement and police, every one who is interested in keeping his own farm or his district free from thistles will insist upon his neighbours doing each their duty in a matter of such general public concern, and will call upon the Government to perform it< part whenever any remissness appears. Laws of the nature of that now under consideration are inoperative or otherwise, just as those for whose benefit they are enacted shall choose. If the owners and occupiers of land in the Auckland district permit the spread of thistles unchecked, the blame and the loss will be their own. There can be no excuse' that they have not power to prevent it. An Act for discouraging the growth and spread of noxious Thistle*. \\\: it enactkd by the Superintendent of the Province of Auek'anil, with the advice and consent oi'llie Provincial Council (hereof, as follows: Penally after certain notice for allowing Thistles In grow. 1. Anv person who shall fail to eradicate or destroy any noxious Thistles growing on land situate within anv district, proclaimed as hereinafter mentioned, belonging to him or in his occupation, after he shall have received ten days'notice in writing, as hereinafter mentioned, shall be liable to be lined any stun not Jess than ten shillings or more than thirty shillings for every day that such Thistles shall be permitted to grow. Superintendent (o proclaim Districts. 2. Ii shall be lawful for tlie Superintendent, from lime to time, by proclamation in the Provincial Government Gazette, lo declare that this Act shall come into operation within any district. Owner or occupier of land within District mar/ serve notice. 3. It shall be lawful for the owner or occupier of any heid within any such district to serve the notice hereinbefore mentioned by delivering the some personally to,or leaving thesameat the last known residence ot, the person owning ov occupying the land within any such districts whereon any such Thistles shall be growing, ' Incase no occupier notice tu bepulished in newspapers. 4. In case anv such Thistles shall be growing upon anv unoccupied lam!, or upon land theowernship of which cannot be ascertained, then ii shall be lawful for the owner or occupi* r of any land within any such district to cans.; a notice i<> be published in two eonsccutivc numbers of each and every newspaper published within the Province of Auckland, in the form or to the dtVclin Schedule A to this Act annexe.!. If Thistles nU destroyed Justices may make order. !>' If the. Thistles upon any such land as Inst mentioned shall noi be eradictated or destroyed within fourtec.: oa\s from the date of the last publication o! such ue,ice. ii shall be lawful for any Resident Magistrate or two Justices of the Peace having jurisdiction within die district to make an order authorizing any person or persons to be therein-named, to enter into or upon such land and eradicate or destroy all noxious Thistles

growing thereon, and in case it shall be proved on oath to the satisfaction of any such Resident Magistrate or any two such Justices that any costs have been incurred in eradicating or destroying such Thistles, it shall be lawful for the said Resident Magistrate or Justices ta make an order under his or their hands for the rcnavi mentof such costs to the persons or persons who shall have incurred the same, which order shall be filed with the Clerkof the Resident Magistrate's Court skin? nf Auckland. 8 * Costs ordered to he a charge on the Land. 6. Any persom who shall enter upon the occupation of any land in respect of which any such order shall have been made as aforesaid, and continue in occuna tioii thereof for one week after the amount so ordered to be paid shall have been demanded, shall be liable to pay the same to the person or persons named in such order, or to any one of them. a For the purposes of this Act Superintendent may direct an expenditure. 7. It shall be lawful for the Superintendent todireet any sum or sums of money out of any approprhtjo madefor such purpose by the Provincial Council tota laid out and expended in eradicating or destrovin'c an noxious Thistles growing upon any Waste Land's of tlfl Crown, lands belonging to the Aboriginal Natives 0 on any Public Road or Reserve. ' ■§£, l J oucr to appoint person to enter upon lands f tir t j purpose of ascertaining the existence of Thistles. 8. It shall be lawful for the Superintendent to authoize any person or persons to enter upon anj land situated within any such districts for the purpose of ascertaining the existence of such Thistles therein and eradicating or destroying the same; and no person whe acting under such authority, shall be deemed at respasser. Fines to Lit recovered in a summary «•</». 9. All fines imposed under the authority of this Act shall be recoverable in a summary way. Short tide. 10. This Act may be cited and referred to as rim "Thistle Act, 1857." le Schedule A. Whereas certain noxious Thistles are growing on unoccupied land in " V\,S ■ -t i-ii 7 i district, the owner of which land cannot be ascertained by me after reasonable, enquiry : • This is to give Notice, that if the Thistles on such unoccupied Land are not eradicated or destroyed within the time limited by the Thistle Act, 1857", the said Thistles will be destroyed at the expense of such Owners.

THE AUCKLAND CATTLE SHOW. We have to remind our readers of this Show which will take place tomorrow at Newmarket' and which will be wound up in the timehonoured Anglo-Saxon fashion—by a Dinner. Notwithstanding the short notice and sundry differences of opinion relative to the best time of the year for holding such a Show the entries are numerous in every branch excepting Pigs—the pets of the natives, the abhorrence (in a wild state) of the settler—but certainly deserving- of more than eight representatives if only from the fact of being about the first European animal naturalized in the Colony. Of horses there are 65 entries—Horned Cattle, 70 —Sheep, 120. There will also be several lots of Agricultural Implements and Machinery exhibited (among them not merely the best Ploughs, but also the very latest improved description of American Heaping and Mowing Machine). The Band of the 58th will be in attendance by permission of Col. Wvnvard. " Oh the Roast Beef of Old England" being selected by Mr. Davis, we understand, as the opening piece of the day.—From the correspondence we elsewhere publish at the request of the Committee it will be seen that Mr. Dilworth's " Southern Division Cup" will not be competed or entered for at this Show, but that Mr. Dilworth still holds his very liberal offer in trust for a future exhibition. It is not at all improbable, from what we hear, that a very favourable opportunity will occur in March for carrying out the views which prompted the offering of this prize. Meanwhile we hops the promoters of the present Show will have fine weather fcr thei rgatheriug tomorrow. Bank Holidays.—Hitherto we have had no special Bank holidays except in case of a proclamation from the Governor in honour of some extraordinary event. Now thatthere are two Banks, the employes seem to be desirous of an occasional holiday: and they seized hold of St. Andrew's Day for the initiation of the new system. To this, there can be no particular objection, provided a system be acted upon —St. George and St. Patrick receiving the like honour —and a longer notice of the forthcoming holiday than three or four days being given. For want of such longer notice, inconvenience and annoyance have, to our personal knowledge, been caused in more than one instance, but "not to any very serious extent. As suggested by a correspondent of the 7>Vv//>/rPr the proper way to decide upon fixed Bank holidays would" be to have a consultation between the Bank Managers and the Merchants and Traders of the Province,— perhaps also with the General and Provincial Governments,.—and fix upon some four or six davs in the year on which the Banks audpublic offices shall all be closed. We have a strong leaning to the old couplet, "All work and no ploy, Makes' Jack a dull hoy," and we shall therefore be glad to join in the movement for a few public holidays: we shall be ready even to enter into bonds to write no leading articles on those work-tapu'd days, which will be quite as welcome to us and the community generally on the commemorative days of the Leek, the Shamrock, and the hose, as on that devoted to the glorification of m Thistle. The example set on this occasion by the Banks has already proved infectious:-* number of the leading merchants and traders, and the Provincial Council also, have resolved to keep holiday in honour of the Cattle Show. Tub Phuv.kciaL CoUJfCTL met yesterday afternoon. Tlie Speaker and 1!) members were presen . Tlie minutes of the hist meeting were read; aner which two Messages (5 and 6) from the S>P"£ tendent were read; the former inclosing W revised Standing Rules ami . Orders approved -the latier containing sundry correspondence, with inclosures, relative to Immigration Zealand, partly between t he General Go mnjMJJ and pduly between the Provincial J**s*£Hl and The applicants, viz.: "Jacob F-fgMj liberated African, now residing at St. Uei« > and to whose diameter his Excellency bnie per sonal testimony), Mr. Montefiore of tins City lagent for a projected German immigration J, -J Dr. Stafford of this city (as agent lor a »«p body of intending Canadian immigrants). correspondence was read on the motion P«lh<n—A number of notices of given for this day, by Messrs. Pollen, Merriman, Griffin, and Lee ; but tius rival of the -Kate Kearney* with SontgJ papers, of late dates, presents us from iw-WJ [hem in to-day's impression. The mairrmt»* of to-day's debate bids fair to centre mm r. dlemas'a motion fur a committee ot tlit bouse to consider and reply to hj» Honor dress, upon whieh Mr. Busby has■**«££• amendment questioning the legality o« tlie »»F intende.it carrying „u the without an Appropriation Act......i" ,••..,,, Mr. WooHi Dr.W len replied that djWJ ot the Wliiu township into thejnarLet depend in some measure on the Royal W* Steamers making the Manmkan * P o^^ lir. Pollen Iwndedia Mr. Bedffljode^ cation fov his expenses' money at *****£ thd i ixth session; read by the Clerk- l?™ was lu

I reS mondenc3 moved for by Mr. Kelly at a subiient period of the sitting, in accordance with ee .]......0n the motion of Br Pollen, the n °hlic transmitted in Message fl, were Lferrcd to a select committee, viz.: Messrs. fi ibV Boylan, Dignan, Munro, Lee, Dilworth, Hid the mover On the motion of Mr. Griffin, ttLwe 19, Soss - 5 ; (covering the Pensioners' fctition case) was referred to a select committee, •x '—Messrs. Marson, Munro, Kelly, O'Neill, i, l the mover. On this motion, considerable and 4,1 letimes warm debate ensued, cause ; by perianal misconceptions, subsequently explained, and the amendment of Mr. Wood, a rider was °liled to the motion, directing the committee to 81 hitler by which Government (the Imperial, /\>»ial, or Provincial) compensation should be the petitioners Mr. Boylan's motion, seconded by Mr. Buckland,relative to A. McPherson's Ptiti' l ", was agreed to nem. con Consider''hie discussion ensued on Mr. Dignan's motion J, nn address to the Superintendent to place #IOOOO on the .Estimates for permanent public Ilice?. The desirability of better accommodation ul safer location for the Provincial documents lis admitted on all hands; but after an explanation b* l* r « Pohen relative to the pending negotitioiis between the General and Provincial Government, for exchange of sites and offices, |,f r j)ignan withdrew his motion. During thedisnjgioo Mr. Griffin drew attention to the disraceful state of the Resident Magistrate's Court, ..-iii'T to its contracted dimensions ; anil the founcil unanimously concurred in cue necessity for >m enlargement of its bounds Mr. Wood's motion relative to the Scrip issued under the Vftval and Military Scrip Act, ll!o(>, was seconded hv Mr. Boylan and carried; and Mr. BueklaruPs motion as to the workiug of the Cattle Branding » c t was seconded by Mr. Middlemas, and carried. The Council then adjourned, with the understanding (at. the suggestion <>f Mr. Buckland) that Thursday should be a closed-day on account of the Cattle Show. AUCKLAND LAND ASSOCIATION No. 3. A meeting ot the Committee ol this Association open to the members generally, was held on Monday evening. Another drawing for shares to.de place, when holders of the following shares were declared entitled to the amount of the same. £ s. (I. fl73_(Ktt 1 ( > shares. ... ... 200 0 0 529-533 3 " 100 o o 7B_ 07 10 '• L'CO 0 0 completing the drawing of J. 1,020 for [)(J shares held by fourteen members. GENERAL MEETING. The first half-yearly General Meeting was also held on the same evening. Mr. Lepine, in the absence of the President and Vice-President, having been called to the chair, the Secretary (.Mr. Hansard) read the reports and statements provided hv the rules, which, being duly certified < hv the auditors Messrs. Duke, Lepine and Speight, | > were unanimously received and adopted. i ' These accounts showed the receipts from the ' 23rd May to the 14th November, (2(1 weeks) to ' be£l,BsG 10s 8d ; the expenditure, on nccount of preliminary expenses and management £l'l 185.7 d. [ —£Bl.') had been already paid over to members, , and a balance of £1)08 12s. Id. eiuraged to mem- , hers already drawn ur who drew the same evening. This being all the business on hand, after a few cbngratylntorv words from the Chairman, on the 1 well working of the Association, the Meeting j broke up. '

Saint Andrew's Day.—The anniversary dinner of the St. Andrew's Society took [dace on Monday evening, at the Royal Hotel, (Mr. Palmer's). About forty gentlemen were present. J. W. Bain, Esq.,officiated as chairman, ami J. A Gilfillan, Esq., croupier. After the cloth was drawn, the customary loyal, complimentary, local, and national toasts were proposed and responded, to the intervals being rilled up by the performance of the national anthem, the most favourite Scotch airs, and some English and Irish tunes.

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZ18571202.2.8

Bibliographic details

New Zealander, Volume XIII, Issue 1213, 2 December 1857, Page 2

Word Count
2,772

THE THISTLE ACT New Zealander, Volume XIII, Issue 1213, 2 December 1857, Page 2

THE THISTLE ACT New Zealander, Volume XIII, Issue 1213, 2 December 1857, Page 2