Insurance of Livs StwL 545 



fundamental fact on wliicli were based tlie arrangements wlilcli were 

 made by the legislature for slauglitering, and which had been carried 

 out with tolerable efficiency throughout the country, for the purpose 

 of stamping out the disease. While the number of cases that occurred 

 weekly was now reduced below a thousand, it was important to bear in 

 mind that only fifty-one weeks ago there were hardly any cases at all 

 in this country, and that there should therefore be no relaxation 

 whatever in the pains and care bestowed in cndeavoui'ing to thrust out 

 the disease, lie was sorry to hear Dr. Crisp's observations, charging 

 with inefficiency the class of gentlemen who had in so many instances 

 been called upon to cope with the cattle disease — he meant, of course, 

 the veterinary surgeons. 



Dr. Cuisp : Pardon me ; it was of the non-veterinary siu'geons that 

 I spoke, not the veterinary surgeons, who, I believe, deserve the 

 utmost praise. 



Mr. Frere wished to say a word by way of explanation on one 

 point connected with the discussions on cattle plague. At the earliest 

 meeting of the Society at which the subject was considered, Mr. 

 Spooner called attention to a plan for giving compensation for animals 

 which died of rinderpest. He (Mr. Frere) had reason to believe that 

 that gentleman desired that his scheme should only apply to the case 

 of animals which were lost before an Act of Parliament was passed 

 authorising compensation, but he was not so rejiorted; neither was 

 he so understood at the time, or care would have been taken that in 

 the 'Journal' of the Society it should appear that he referred only to 

 such losses. Such losses would, he trusted, still be kept in view, and 

 a desire manifested to give largely and liberally from private soiu'ces 

 what might be necessary to supplement the national gTants in the 

 case of those who had not the benefit of the law of the land. 



Major Thompson thought it was only during this summer that the 

 subject under consideration could be handled with any chance of 

 success. The plague might possibly soon leave this country; and 

 then their chances of forming a national insiu'ance company would 

 fall to the groimd. There would perhaps never again be so good an 

 opportimity of carrying out such a project. On the importance of 

 forming a society of that kind he need not dilate. He should like to 

 know how a man who had lost a large portion of his stock by the 

 cattle plague could be expected to invest the last remnants of his 

 money, if he had any left, in the repurchase of fresh animals, unless 

 he could insure his new stock, so as to be secure against fresh losses 

 of the same kind. They all knew that farmers could not ciiltivate the 

 land without stock. They must have stock to convert their straw and 

 green crops into maniu-e, for they could not gi'ow corn without 

 manure ; and therefore he thought it was abundantly evident that an 

 insm'ance office was much needed. There were some 26,000 farmers 

 who had lost stock. Generally speaking, farmers invested a large 

 portion of their capital in their occupations. There was no such 

 seductive speculation as fiirming : there was always something to be 

 done on the farm, and the tenant was always laying out his money. 

 But if a farmer who had lost his animals could not purchase fresh 



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