14 



representative. Well, if they were not, all he could say was that it was the fault of the small men 

 themselves. It was their own apathy the apathy of those who had the power in their own hands and 

 therefore it was their own fault. In clause 3 of the Pastures and Stock Act of 1881, it showed that every 

 .small owner, it' ho took any interest in the election of the Stock Board, had the power in his hands to 

 have a voice in the election of that Board. And he not only had the power of electing, but he also had 

 the power of becoming a member of the Pastures and Stock Board if he were the owner of ten head or 

 more of large stock. He thought that that at once did away with the arguments which had been brought 

 forward that the Stock Boards were not representative. Then, again, it had been said that those Boards 

 had done little or no work. Prom a return issued from the Stock Department, dated the 18th of August, 

 18!)i5, he would quote, with the permission of the Chairman, and show what the Board had done. 

 Between the years 1891 and 1895 the Stock and Pastures Protection Board had destroyed 10,010,399 

 kangaroos, 8,851,3(59 wallabies, 138,428 native dogs, 4,574,050 hares, and 173,178 wild pigs. The amounts 

 collected during those years amounted to 500,205 Cs. 7d., while the amount of the Government subsidy 

 was 102,814 14s. Id., making a total of 723,080 OH. 8d. He thought those figures spoke volumes iu 

 favour of the administration of any Act being placed under the Pastures and Stock Protection Boards. 

 Not only had these Boards done good work, but, as had been pointed out, they had the machinery and 

 could be administered at the minimum of cost. They wanted if possible to relieve themselves of some of 

 the burdens which had been thrust upon, them by different Acts of Parliament. He thought that if they 

 could succeed in getting the destruction of rabbits put under the Pastures and Stock Protection Board 

 they would have no reason to complain. If the Act did not work, there was always provision made if a 

 Board did not do its duty that it should be taken over by the district. If people came to the Conference 

 and said that these Boards were not representative, it was simply because they did not know and had not 

 taken enough interest in the matter to find out whether they had got voting power, or what powers were 

 conferred under these Acts. He would advise those gentlemen before they lame to the Conference, 

 before they made rash assertions, to go home and read the Pastures and Stock Act carefully. 



Mr. BACON (Brewarrina) was in sympathy with the Honorable Rupert Caringlon's motion, but 

 before making any remarks on it he would like to ask the Chairman what would be the effect of the 

 motion on the Bill if it were carried. 



The CHAIRMAN said he had himself been trying to find this out, and the conclusion that ho had 

 arrived at was that if the motion were carried, clauses 5, 0, and 7 would be unnecessary. He could say 

 no more, as he had not read further to see what other effect it would have. 



A MKMUEU : Clause 8 would go out as well. 



The CHAIUMAN said he did not think that clause 8 would be done away with. That might be 

 discussed. 



Mr. BACON (Brewarrina) wished to endorse the remarks that had fallen from the Honorable 

 Rupert Carington and the other speakers, and he would suggest that the difficulty about the representation 

 of the Government might be met by the appointment by the Minister of six members to act as a central 

 Board with a Minister as Chairman, in the same way aw had been done in Queensland. This Board 

 would control the amount of money voted to the Minister by Parliament. This central Board would 

 have a controlling effect over all the Local Boards. He thought this might be introduced as a compromise. 

 If they passed this resolution moved by the Honorable Rupert Carington that the Rabbit Act be controlled 

 by the Pastures and Stock Act, then this central Board "under ministerial control might be afterwards 

 adopted as a compromise. 



Mr. GrADEjf (Dubbo) wished to make a few remarks with reference to this bogey-man, the small 

 holder. He could not exactly say that he was a small holder himself, but he had been elected by the 

 small holders ever since the present Act came into operation. That was many years ago. and there had 

 always been an endeavour to get a small man nominated, but they had such confidence in the existing 

 Board, and for those who had offered themselves, that they declined to come forward, and he was quite 

 convinced that if all the small holders were polled to-morrow they would return the same men. There 

 were many reasons why they could not come forward. In many instances they could not devote the time 

 or afford the small expense to attend ; but he felt quite convinced that this was merely a bogey, raised 

 not by the small men themselves but by men with some ultimate object in view. 



Mr. TAYLOR (Lands Department) wished to say a few words before the clause was put with a view 

 of objecting to it For his part he strongly objected to the administration of this Act being placed in 

 the hands of the Pastures and Stock Protection Board, simply because, he contended, they were not 

 representative. The Pastures and Stock Board consisted of eight members, five of whom were members 

 of the Sheep Board ; and every person who was the owner of 500 or more sheep was entitled to vote for 

 the election of a sheep director, but those who did not own 500 sheep had no vote. In addition to this, 

 he would like to point out that the Pastures and Stock Boards had had the administration of the 

 destruction of rabbits before, and the Act of 1883 was simply to take it out of their power. 



Mr. T. BROWN, M.L.A. (Budgerabong), very strongly objected to the motion to place the whole 

 control of this legislation in the hands of the Pastures and Stock Protection Board. As Mr. Taylor had 

 pointed out, the Pastures and Stock Protection Board had had the management of this pest iu its initial 

 stages, when, if effective measures had been taken, it might have been kept under control ; but they 

 failed to do anything of a substantial character iu that direction, and he could not see any hope of 

 anything effective being done in placing this measure solely under the control of the Pastures and Stock 

 Boards. Anybody who knew the working of this Pastures and Stock Protection Board knew that when 

 it came to legislation on the destruction of rabbits it was not a representative body. Possibly the small 

 holders might have certain rights under it, but they had never exercised those rights to any large extent. 

 Then there were Pastures and Stock Boards in the Colony at the present time for which the Government 

 had to nominate the members, because even the large owners did not think it worth their while to exercise 

 their rights. This occurred year after year. Then, again, the boundaries of the Pastures and Stock 

 Board were very extensive; and he contended that if they wished to deal with the rabbit question they 

 would have to get local machinery and confine it within as small an area as possible, and it would be 

 necessary to sub-divide the Pastures and Stock Board Districts into two, and perhaps three, Rabbit Board 

 Districts ; and if they carried this amendment it would bo impossible to do that. They would make the 

 boundaries of the Pastures and Stock Board the boundaries of the Kabbit Board, and they would make 

 Hie machinery that had been set up for the Pastures and Stock Boards the administrative machinery for 



coping 



