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just the same if every separate piece was valued. The taxation was gd. per sheep and the Crown could 

 estimate at once what the amount of their taxation would be on the number of acres which were public 

 lands at id. per sheep on every 10 acres of land. The Crown would know how much they had to pay 

 each year. He was firmly of opiuion that it was the best proposition for the Crown and for the people. 



Mr. BACON (Brewarrina) desired to refer to the second part in which the Minister said some 

 gentlemen expressed a doubt as to his (the Minister's) sincerity in making money available on public lands. 

 He wished to state, in explanation, that in following the Minister's own statement that he was perfectly 

 sincere and would do his best to get the Bill passed in the shape they put it, he was subject to the vote of 

 Parliament. He did not in any way intend to refer to the presant Minister, but to the lack of administration 

 on the part of past Ministries, who never putthe compulsory clause in operation in fact, never did anything. 

 He referred to a place where the public lands simply swarmed with rabbits and the private owners could 

 not put them down. The stock routes were infested, and he knew of places where the Minister had never 

 made any payment. He would like to refer to another point where ho had been misrepresented. One 

 gentleman stated that in his district there were 500,000 acres of public lands, and when they were 

 discussing the question of assessing these lands at one sheep to 10 or 20 acres, he made a hurried 

 calculation and found that the Minister would contribute 50. Estimating the public land of the Colony 

 at 20,000,000 acres, at id. per sheep the Minister would pay 2,OS3 at oue sheep to 20 acres. He 

 had stated that the contribution would be very small, and at 10 acres to the sheep on 20,000,000 acres 

 it would be only about 4,000. That did not seem a very large contribution. He only wished to set 

 himself right before the Minister with regard to what he stated about this matter of the money being 

 available. 



Mr. T. BROWN, M.L.A. (Budgerabong) said that as he was the author of the clause which the 

 Minister had taken exception to, he would like to make some explanation. He thought it was a perfectly 

 fair and just provision. In the Minister's Bill it was proposed to constitute separate .Rabbit Boards, and 

 the franchise was a very wide and liberal one, but the Honorable Rupert Carington brought in a motion 

 which placed the whole control of this Act in the Stock Protection Board under which the maximum 

 members of the Board are elected by sheep-owners with the minimum voting power of 500 head of sheep ; 

 and this would mean that a large number of contributors under the proposed legislation would be completely 

 excluded from the administration of the funds they would have to contribute, and in order to safeguard 

 their interests and to carry out the principle that there should be no taxation without representation, for 

 the time being he moved that clause ; but to alter that franchise and to enable those men to come under 

 the operation of this Board, does not mean merely an alteration of this Act but an alteration of the Stock 

 Protection Act in that direction. The small owners will very willingly welcome an alteration in that 

 direction. All that they require is to have a voice in expending the money they are to contribute. This 

 resolution was simply to conserve their rights until such time as an alteration was made. 



The MINISTER FOR LANDS said that Mr. Bacon had been at some pains to point out that the 

 path pursued by the Crown in the past would give some idea of its possible path in the future, and that 

 the Bill did not propose a sufficient burden on the Crown. He was sure they would pardon him for 

 reminding them that the history of the past twenty years proved that the Government of the Colony had 

 not been behindhand in providing funds for rabbit destruction. In seven years there had been paid from 

 the Consolidated Revenue no less than 503,000 towards rabbit destruction, but altogether 831,457 had 

 been expended in the attempt to exterminate the pest. He thought the statement of those figures would 

 disabuse the minds of anyone as to Parliament not being willing to vote supplies for that purpose ; but 

 there grew up a feeling in the minds of the public that money was being spent from the Consolidated 

 Revenue without gaining any commensurate return in rabbit destruction, so that it behoves any Minister 

 at this time to look before he leaps, and not pledge the Parliament of the country to an expenditure 

 which on analysis will not be proved to be fruitful. That is why the Bill must be drawn in this way. 

 Parliament has had such an experience of rabbit destruction that it will trust no Minister with the power 

 to expend moneys until its consent has been obtained. Since that time they had constructed 956 miles of 

 barrier fencing, at a cost of 48,800, and during the last twelve months he had caused 110 miles of 

 fencing to be constructed in order to prevent the wave getting into the northern and western districts. 

 It had been represented to him that the fence from Narrabri to Mungindi was essential for that purpose, 

 and on that ground the State coutribiited one-half of the cost. These facts show that the Government 

 are not inclined to stand still as long as they can see some return in value for the State expenditure. It 

 may be that clause 32 does not provide anything that is necessary ; but this Conference has met here in 

 order to improve the Bill, not to condemn it entirely because some acute man could find a fault 

 here and there. If they went into arithmetic, and the figures did not pan out as they would like, that 

 is no reason why it should be condemned. If they put it at 10 acres to the sheep, they have provided 

 for the Minister to expend 10,000 that is the sum he had put in and if he had blundered, they 

 also had blundered. First of all, with regard to the municipal districts. Rabbit destruction being 

 under the control of municipal councils, he did not see any necessity for the Stock Protection 

 Boards to intrude themselves into municipal districts. The borough of Broken Hill had at times 

 had a rabbit plague of quite a different character from the plague as they get it. He had had to 

 close the public schools in consequence of the rabbit plague. The plague had very often to be dealt 

 with, having regard to the health of the inhabitants. The rabbits when poisoned came there to die, 

 and it made it insanitary for the school operations to be carried on. There ought to be no interference 

 with the municipal councils administering the Act. He did not think they should oppose the proposal 

 for State representation on these Boards. The more the Government is required to find money, the 

 more the Government will say they must have representation on the Boards. They could not expect tho 

 Minister to go and vote like a landowner for the members of tho Board. There must be some dignity in 

 the Government. They had had experience of the men the Government had appointed to tho different 

 Boards in the country. The Government were likely to insist upon having some representation on these 

 Boai'ds, so that the taxpayers of tho community who had provided some portion of the money might be 

 represented. He hoped they would excuse him coming there to-day, as ho did not want in any way to 

 interfere with them. 



The Minister then withdrew amid acclamation. 



The CJIAIUMAX thought Mr. Carruthcrs was very earnest in his intentions to help 1he Colony to 

 get rid of this rabbit pest. They must take his word for the public expenditure that would be incurred, 

 and he did not think the Minister would be behindhand when the time arrived. He should have liked to 

 see the Minister there after they had discussed the whole of the franchise. Mr, 



