BUREAU OF ANIMAL. INDUSTRY. 203 



control of the Federal Government relating to " diseases of animal 

 life" and all departments and bureaus (excepting those in the War 

 and Navy Departments) " affecting the * * * biological * * * 

 service, or any questions relative thereto." This language is so broad 

 as to cover work relating to plant life, such as forestry, the growing 

 of field crops, fruit culture, etc. To place work of this kind in a 

 department of public health is so preposterous that it is doubtful if 

 the advocates of the measure really intend to do this ; yet such is the 

 meaning of the language employed in the bill. 



Much of the work of the Bureau of Animal Industry relates to 

 such subjects as the breeding and feeding of live stock and poultry, 

 and dairy practice and methods, including the manufacture of cheese, 

 butter, etc. Obviously, such lines of work have no place in a depart- 

 ment or bureau of public health, and their control can not be fairly 

 regarded as in any way essential to the establishment and proper 

 conduct of an efficient public-health organization. 



Other bills pending before Congress, not so sweeping in scope, 

 provide for the transfer to the proposed department or bureau of 

 public health of the veterinary work of the Bureau of Animal In- 

 dustry, including the meat inspection; but such a division and trans- 

 fer would, in m}'^ judgment, seriously impair the efficiency of the 

 service. Experience in this and other countries has shown that work 

 such as the scientific investigation and the eradication of diseases 

 of animals and the meat inspection should not only be performed by 

 veterinarians but should be under veterinary control and direction. 

 It is no reflection upon the medical profession to say that a physician, 

 no matter how capable, is not qualified, without proper veterinary 

 training, to conduct or direct such work. 



The Bureau of Animal Industry is essentially an agricultural 

 organization and deals primarily with agriculture, and its logical 

 place is in the Department of Agriculture, even though some 

 branches of its work have an important bearing on the public health. 

 Even in the portions of the Bureau's work of which the protection 

 of human health is an important object, the problems are mainly 

 agricultural and must be attacked from the agricultural side. 



The production and conservation of the public food supply are of 

 the highest importance to human health, but the measures by which 

 such production and conservation are accomplished are mainly 

 agricultural. In other words, while the end is a matter of public 

 honlth, the moans of accomplishing that end constitute an agricul- 

 tural problem; and the Department of Agriculture is certainly the 

 most appropriate agency for carrying out such agricultural means. 

 To maintain an adequate supply of food-producing animals to meet 

 the needs of the people, not only must methods of breeding and feed- 

 ing live stock be studied and ai)plied, but diseases of animals must 

 be studied and combated; and all this work is an integral part of one 

 great problem and should not be divided. 



The large amounts expended by the Government for the protection 

 of the health of live stock are sometimes contrasted with the small 

 appropriations for protecting and promoting the health of the people. 

 Such comparisons are fallacious and misleading. The money a impro- 

 priated by Congress for the work of the Bureau of Animal Industry 

 is not appropriated because of any sentimental feeling for the wel- 

 fare of the animals themselves, but the real object is to provide a 



