The Supply of Meat to Large Toions. 533 



plague, tliougli in itself a great calamity, bad undoubtedly put a stop 

 to mucb that was cruel and pernicious ; and tbey hoped, as all hoped, 

 that that happy state of things might be lasting. 



Mr. Frere : A large Norfolk grazier has informed me that in the 

 spring he could only make 4s. 2rf. per stone of meat which was brought 

 up to London dead, while meat of the same quality in the London 

 live-meat market would readily have made 6s. per stone. Did the 

 difference of value arise from the nature of the case or from oui- state 

 of transition? I am under the impression that farmers are not likely 

 to slaughter on their own farms, but that abattoirs would be established 

 in the environs of London, and animals would at all events travel 

 to the railway stations on their own legs. 



Mr. Holland, M.P., adverting to the fact alluded to by Mr. Frere, 

 namely, the variation of price as between one kind of meat and 

 another, expressed his belief that it depended on the change of system. 

 No doubt, however, in com-se of time — when the dead-meat market had 

 been thoroughly established, and when, as the noble Earl who had just 

 spoken anticipated, a system of communication by telegraph had been 

 established, all these questions would be set right. He should 

 have liked very much to enter into several points involved in the 

 subject ; but, as the noble Earl had remarked, a committee, of which 

 he (Mr. Holland) was a member, was at that moment prosecuting its 

 inquiries. It was a committee to consider the trade in animals — not 

 only foreign, but home animals also — the question of quarantine, the 

 mode in which animals were brought into this country, and the mode 

 of their transit from place to place ; and he regretted that they had 

 not in Parliament the valuable assistance of their chairman (Mr. 

 Thompson) on that committee. It would very inconvenient and 

 contrary to rule for a member of a parliamentary committee to make 

 use of the evidence taken by that committee, before the inquiry was 

 closed and the report made; and he therefore felt his mouth to be 

 closed on the subject. He could only say that he believed the results 

 of the inquiry would be most valuable — that people would be asto- 

 nished to see with what facilities a change might be made as regarded 

 the feelings of a large population from one system to another ; the 

 new system being, too, far more efficient, far more effectual, far 

 more valuable, far more healthy, and far more civilised than the 

 old one. 



Sir J. Johnstone, M.P., fully believed that telegraphy would settle 

 many difficulties connected with the meat market. As an illustration 

 of the working of that system, he might mention that a day or two 

 ago an epicure went at 5 o'clock to Charles' (the fishmonger's) to 

 secure a fresh salmon. The fishmonger told him he had come at a 

 happy moment, for he had just received a telegram from Worcester, 

 stating that a salmon which had just been caught left Worcester by the 

 2 o'clock train. The result was that a fine salmon arrived in time for 

 the epicure's dinner. 



The Chairman, in summing up the discussion, said Lord Cathcart 

 had alluded to the charges made by railway companies for the con- 

 veyance of dead-meat since the breaking-out of the cattle plague. 



