Chapter XVI 



LEGISLATION 



VERY early in the history of the colony of New Zealand legislation 

 was passed to cope with animal and vegetable pests, which had been 

 introduced along with live stock, or in seeds and plants, and which 

 began to threaten the productivity of the new settlements. The pests 

 increased as rapidly, and in some cases much more rapidly than the 

 organisms they attacked or the plants they displaced, so that it became 

 necessary to take concerted action to eradicate them if possible, or, 

 at any rate, to keep them under control. In many cases the early 

 legislation was an utter failure, and this is shown not only by the 

 spread of the organisms themselves, but also by continual recurrence 

 of Acts of Parliament to amend the legislation previously passed. 



In the early days of settlement the various local legislatures did 

 not pass Acts, but Ordinances, and the first of these was a "Dog 

 Nuisance Ordinance" of New Ulster, passed on iyth July, 1844, by 

 the Legislative Council of New Zealand, sitting at Auckland. The 

 provincial districts of New Ulster, New Munster and New Leinster 

 (Stewart Island), were apparently not defined till 1848. On 28th 

 January of that year Sir George Grey by proclamation defined New 

 Ulster as that portion of New Zealand north of the parallel of latitude 

 running through the mouth of the Patea River, or about 39 46' S. 

 The Southern Province was called New Munster. This Act was 

 entitled "An Ordinance to provide a summary mode of abating the 

 nuisance of Dogs wandering at large in Towns." The method was 

 quite simple. The dog was to be seized, kept for a night and a day; 

 if claimed it was to be delivered to the owner on payment of a fine 

 of five shillings, and if not claimed it was to be destroyed. In suc- 

 ceeding years most of the Provincial Legislatures also passed "Dog 

 Nuisance Acts." This would seem to show that stray dogs were early 

 recognised as a nuisance and a danger to the community, and it 

 helps to explain the extraordinary abundance of wild dogs in later 

 days, for it shows that great numbers of these animals were allowed 

 to breed and to learn to find food for themselves. 



On 6th November, 1846, there was passed a "Duties of Customs 

 Ordinance," by which horses, mules, asses, sheep, cattle, and all other 

 live stock and animals, as well as seeds, bulbs and plants were admitted 

 duty free into New Zealand. (The italics are mine.) Not only was 



