A NATIONAL VETERINARY POLICE SYSTEM. 385 



Until such an institution is organized, the competitions should take 

 place before the members of the State Board of Health of each 

 State. They should receive a certain amount of pay per year for 

 official work, and in no case should they hold office after becoming 

 sixty years old. They should not be subject to pensions, as their 

 official positions should assist them in practice by guaranteeing to 

 the people their superior education. Local inspectors, while belong- 

 ing to the force, such as market and milk inspectors, should be paid 

 by the respective local authorities. State inspectors, ordered to at- 

 tend horse or cattle fairs or markets, should be paid for the time of 

 service by the respective associations. The State should fix the 

 price, which should be liberal, and allow for all traveling and inci- 

 dental expenses. 



"We can not expect any intelligent appreciation, on the part of 

 the public, of the value of such a sanitary system, unless we can 

 present them with reliable statistical information on the subject. 

 "Without statistics we can not tell to what degree such diseases are 

 domesticated in a given State, nor can we judge of our success in 

 combating them from year to year. To this end, returns should be 

 made quarterly by the district and local veterinary officials to those 

 of the county, and semi-annually by the latter to the State Inspector- 

 General, who should make an annual .report to the inspector-general 

 at "Washington, who in his turn should prepare a condensed annual 

 report of the condition and work done in the whole country — the 

 same to be a part of the report of the National Board of Health. 

 It must not be forgotten that this work of inspection is never to be 

 limited to contagious diseases of animals alone, but that most espe- 

 cial attention must be given to the study and observation of those 

 diseases and conditions which are either known, or are supposed, to 

 exert harmful or dangerous influences upon the health of mankind. 

 The true veterinarian is fully as much a guardian of the public 

 health as the medical hygienist. The curing of sick animals is by 

 far the most insignificant part of his work. Prevention is the true 

 strength of veterinary science. In this regard the veterinarian is 

 of far more importance to humanity than the medical practitioner. 

 The tables are exactly turned about in the two branches of medi- 

 cal science. The doctor is strongest in practice, the veterinarian in 

 the prevention of diseases. 



By the plan which we have proposed for a national veterinary 

 police code and organization, it is self-evident that the extension of 

 any disease over the country, or from one State to another, can be 

 very strongly combated. In case a contagious animal disease — we 



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