552 LEGISLATION 



definite power to make regulations. (By some oversight this Act 

 seems to have been overlooked when the Consolidating Act of 1908 

 was passed.) In the following year "The Fisheries Dynamite Act 

 1878 " was passed to prohibit the use of dynamite or other explosives 

 in public fisheries, whether marine or inland. 



In 1884 an Amendment Act to that of 1867 was passed; and in 

 the same year "The Fisheries Conservation Act," which gave power 

 to make regulations for the protection of marine and fresh-water 

 fisheries. In 1892 an Amendment Act to this was passed, giving, inter 

 alia, power to acquire land for fish hatcheries. Further Amendment 

 Acts were passed in 1903, 1906 and 1907. Then in 1908 "The 

 Fisheries Act" consolidated all previous enactments. Among other 

 provisions it prohibited the casting of sawdust or any saw-mill refuse 

 into any waters, which has always been a sore point with saw-millers. 

 (It apparently did not make any reference to refuse from flax-mills, 

 which, in quantity, is a very deleterious substance.) It also fixed 

 definitely close seasons for trout fishing, viz., from ist day of May 

 in each year to the following 3th day of September, and fixed the 

 annual licence fee at ^i for men and 5$. for women and for boys 

 under sixteen years of age. Licences to fish for perch were also 

 provided for. This comprehensive Act of 99 sections is practically 

 the complete law on the subject. An Amendment Act of 1912 deals 

 chiefly with the encouragement of the whale fishery ; but Section 9 

 authorises the construction of ponds for breeding and rearing trout 

 for sale, a branch of industry which has not been really started to 

 any extent in this country. A further small Amendment Act in 1914 

 completes the legislation on this subject. 



I have already referred to early legislation directed towards the 

 suppression or mitigation of the trouble caused by the vigorous 

 growth and wide extension of thistles, gorse and broom. These, 

 however, were only a few of the plants which soon got out of hand, 

 and became a serious problem to the country. Spasmodic efforts to 

 deal with the difficulty culminated in the passing of "The Noxious 

 Weeds Act" in 1900. This was "An Act to prevent the spread of 

 Noxious Weeds, and to enforce the Trimming of Hedges." This not 

 only required owners to keep their land free of certain weeds, but 

 also to clear the road-lines within their properties, and half the width 

 of the boundary lines; with power to inspectors to enter upon the 

 land, and, if necessary, to do the work at the owner's expense. The 

 law has been more honoured in the breach than in the observance, 

 and the Government has been itself one of the greatest offenders, 

 some areas of Crown lands being perfect nurseries of weeds, which 

 have sowed the country all round. Maori lands, too, have been an 



