Poachers and Penalties
Four men were charged at the Lower Hutt Court with [1] taking indigenous birds, to wit, 27 pigeons and 1 tui; [2] trespassing on private lands (the Wellington Corporation Waterworks Reserve of Wainui-o-mata) in pursuit of native game; [3] obstructing a ranger in the execution of his duty. The cases were heard by a Bench of three Justices; all four men pleaded guilty to all the charges, were convicted, and fined £5 each on No.1, and convicted and discharged on Nos 2 and 3. Here, again, the Bench completely failed to realise the gravity of the offences. Native pigeons and tuis are protected absolutely throughout the Dominion, and recently three men were charged before a Magistrate at Raetihi with taking pigeons, convicted, and fined £15, £10 and £5. The last-mentioned penalty was reduced to the minimum because the man was a returned soldier. The obstruction of the ranger consisted in the refusal to give names and addresses when requested by the ranger after production of his warrant. As the men were miles away from anywhere, and the ranger was alone and a stranger to all of the men, the refusal meant immunity from prosecution. The ranger, however, seized two pea-rifles and the fore-end of a gun, in addition to
the tui and several pigeons. After several weeks of systematic work, and an expenditure of some £10, four men out of several were traced and identified. This offence was a serious.
