192 CONTAGIOUS DISEASES OF DOMESTICATED ANIMALS. 



Boston, which, upon mspection, was fouud to be suffering from foot- 

 aud-niouth disease. In Marcli a shipment was received from Baltimore 

 in tlie same conditi(m. The publication of these facts led to a strong 

 popular demand upon the Government that absolute prohibition should 

 be applied to all cattle from the United States ; and in July, while I 

 was in London, Mr. Chaplin introduced a motion in the House of Com- 

 mons which was, to all intents and purposes, a demand upon the Gov- 

 ernment that such action should be immediately taken. In spite of the 

 opposition of the Government party, Mr. Chaplin's motion prevailed 

 by a majority of eight. 



I listened with a good deal of interest to the discussion which this 

 motion elicited, and, in common with all other Americans who took any 

 interest whatever in the subject, I regarded the vote by which it was 

 carried as a very threatening omen. Indeed, the agent of the Domin- 

 ion Government of Canada said to me the day after this vote was taken 

 that he was certain that within a week an order would be issued abso- 

 lutely prohibiting the landing of American cattle at British ports. I 

 set at once actively to do what I could to counteract this. The pretext 

 set up for this action was the presence of foot-and-mouth disease in the 

 United States. My position as an accredited representative of our De- 

 partment of Agriculture, and my opportunities for ascertaining the 

 facts as a member of the Treasury Cattle Commission, enabled me to 

 make representations touching the actual condition of our cattle that 

 attracted attention, and which I believe were quite generally accepted 

 as true. Through the London Times and by personal interviews with 

 members of Parliament and with the chief veterinary adviser of the 

 privy council, aided, I may say, by the efforts of others, I was able not 

 only to counteract the effect of the vote on Mr, Chaplin's motion, but 

 to bring about a much more satisfactory state of feeling, so far as the 

 security of the present condition of the trade is concerned, than had 

 I)reviously existed. 



1 was able to explicitly deny the existence of foot-and-mouth disease 

 in the United States, except in cases of direct importations from Great 

 Britain, which cases had been promptl}^ detected and closel}' quaran- 

 tined, and to state positively that the cases of foot-and-mouth disease 

 alleged to have been brought from the United States were due solely 

 to the infected ships which had brought diseased cattle to our own ports, 

 and without proper disinfection had been loaded with fat cattle for 

 Liverpool. 



The effect produced by this plain statement of facts was so consider- 

 able that Mr. Arnold called attention in the House of Commons to the 

 assurances contained in my letter in the Times of July 18th, and also 

 to one of a subseciuent date from General Carman, of the Department 

 of Agriculture at Washington, and asked the Government: " Whether, 

 in view of these facts, the present restrictions might not safely be re- 

 moved so far as cattle from the Western States were concerned." 



