REPORT ON THE TRANSIT OF STOCK. 461 



REPORT ON THE TRANSIT OF STOCK. 



By George Menzies, Trentham, Stoke-upon- Trent. 



[Premium — Ten Sovereigns.] 



The transit of stock, in its effects on the animals, is a subject 

 which hitherto has scarcely received that amount of attention 

 its importance demands. Until within a comparatively recent 

 period, the modes of transit were simple, and the attendant evils 

 were proportionally of less consequence. In modern times, how- 

 ever, conveyances for stock have been multiplied, and while these 

 have conferred incalculable benefits in many ways, they are yet 

 attended by evils of their own which have been too much over- 

 looked. Thus the mere fact that stock could be sent from 

 Belfast to Glasgow in eight hours, or from Aberdeen to London 

 in eighteen hours, seems to have so far satisfied owners of stock, 

 that they have practically ignored the evils of the systems by 

 which these results could be obtained, and have thought little 

 about, not only the discomforts and miseries the animals endure — 

 in other words, the diminution of their value — but also of the 

 more serious and lasting injuries, in the diseases that are thereby 

 produced and propagated. 



In considering this subject, it seems desirable to divide it into 

 three heads, viz., Transit by Eoad, by Sea, and by Railway, 

 adding a few observations on the subject of disease, in reference 

 to transit, after the various systems of conveyance have been 

 noticed. And before entering on details, it may be well to 

 mention here, in reference to legislation bearing on the subject, 

 that previous to the appearance of the cattle plague in 1865, 

 traffic in stock in this country was practically free of restriction 

 so far as the Statute Book was concerned. There certainly ex- 

 isted the Act 11 and 12 Vict., cap. 107, but it was little known, 

 and less used, and until the dire ravages of the cattle plague 

 called forth energetic legislative action, it might almost be said 

 that there were no laws for the regulation of traffic in stock, and 

 owners could move animals about, in health or disease, very 

 much as they pleased. Now, however, the powers of the Privy 

 Council have been renewed and enlarged, and constitute an 

 authority for the provision and application of regulations in 

 stock traffic, according to the exigencies of circumstances. At 

 the present moment, the foreign trade in stock is kept under 

 control, while in the home trade restrictions have been almost 

 entirely removed. 



We now proceed to notice the various modes of transit, and 

 first — 



Transit by Eoad. — The conveyance of the various descriptions 



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