The Problem of Scab. 2-11 



to Parliament by the Select Committee on Public Accounts last year, 



that : — 



" Your Committee, having taken evidence, has come to the 

 conclusion that the time has come for this cost (the expenditure 

 incurred in the control and eradication of scab) to be borne by 

 flock owners and not by the general taxpayer." 



The recommendation has speedily borne fruit, for the principle 

 has been affirmed by the Agricultural Advisory Board (representing 

 the organized farmers of the country), which advocates a change in 

 our present policy in the following resolution of the Board passed at 

 its last meeting : — 



" The Board recommends that, in order to effectively clear 



the country of scab a system of direct taxation of so much per 



100 sheep shall be imposed throughout the Union. 



' That stringent minimum penalties be imposed in respect 



of contraventions of the Stock Diseases Act and regulations 



thereunder in so far as scab is concerned." 



Herein, it seems to us, lies the germ of success. The person 

 most affected must realize, through direct taxation, that he is bearing 

 part of the cost of eradicating the disease, so that it may be his aim 

 to free himself from the burden of the tax by cleansing his stock from 

 scab. 



Tlie trend of events leading to the realization of the principle of 

 direct taxation has long been foreseen by those whose life-work has 

 placed them in close contact with the problem of scab eradication. 

 The value of ihe present policy of protecting areas which are clean 

 or nearly clean, and the placing of restrictions on areas in which there 

 IS much infection, is probably recognized almost generally. But, 

 however excellent this policy, experience shows that restrictions only 

 (which form the basis of the present legislation and regulations) will 

 n-?ver be the means by which scab can be eradicated. Restrictive 

 measures can, indeed, be the means of controlling an undesirable 

 thing within certain limits, but they will never entirely free a country 

 of that thing. Restrictions impose difficulties which affect the 

 methods of some, and so run counter to their personal interests. Thus 

 a restrictive measure not furthering the direct interests of an indivi- 

 dual is viewed askance and, in the nature of things, sometimes 

 e^^aded, so that a temporary gain by the individual propagates an 

 evil to the community which it is desired to overcome. To counter- 

 balance this tendency it is evident that, while maintaining the restric- 

 tions or punishment as now obtains, there should be a system which 

 induces the individual to keep a law which provides a direct reward 

 to those who do so. 



The control and eradication of scab is the duty primarily of the 

 farmer, not of the sheep inspector. The latter is appointed for the 

 purpose of aiding the farmer in the proper performance of this duty 

 and of protecting the careful farmer against the indifferent or the 

 unscrupulous one. In the same way the good citizen is expected to 

 observe the laws of the land he lives in and the policeman is 

 appointed to protect him from the danger of the lawbreaker and 

 thus aid him in duly carrying out his obligations to the State. A 

 very prevalent idea is that sheep inspectors are the people who are 

 chiefly concerned with the eradication of scab and that if their efforts 

 are unavailing the farmer cannot be blamed. This is an entirely 



