London dairies, and from there spread rapidly all over the country, 

 Mr. Chaplin, therefore, asked by his motion that no animals from 

 countries where that disease was known to exist at the time should 

 be permitted to land in this country under any circumstances what- 

 ever. To this motion, Mr. James Howard, the Chairman of the 

 Farmers' Alliance, and his supporters in the House belonging to 

 the Alliance, ofiered their most strenuous opposition. But in spite of 

 this opposition on the part of the Farmers' Alliance and the Govern- 

 ment combined, Mr. Chaplin's motion was only defeated by a small 

 majority, whereas if it had received the support of the Farmers' 

 Alliance instead of their opposition there is no doubt it would 

 have been carried, and the country rendered free from 

 any further risk of imported diseases. To show you the im- 

 portance of this subject, however, I may mention that since 

 March last no fewer than 78 cargoes of diseased animals have been 

 imported into this country, so that we need not be much sur- 

 prised at the frequent outbreaks of which we read. Allow 

 me to give you one further illustration. Mr. Chaplin's 



tenants' compensation bill 



was read a second time unanimously in 1881, and although Mr. 

 James Howard opposed it on the second reading, he withdrew his 

 motion, and it was passed by the unanimous consent oi both sides 

 of the House. Not being able, however, to carry it through its 

 later stages, owing to the great pressure of Irish and other business, 

 Mr. Chaplin re-introduced it this Session. Mr. James Howard, 

 although he dared not divide against it last Session, immediately 

 blocked it, in the hope of stopping e\en its introduction. It is 

 due, however, to Mr. Howard to say that on the following day he 

 apologised and expressed his regret to Mr. Chaplin, saying that 

 he had done it in a lit of temper and vexation in . consequence of 

 his own Bill having been objected to by another member. Mr. 

 Howard, I believe, also offered to take it off, but too late, as his 

 blocking motion was on the paper of that day, and as Mr. Chaplin's 

 Bill could not be taken after half-past twelve o'clock by the rules of 

 the House, consequently unless it was reached before that hour he 

 would have been deprived of all chance of proceeding with the Bill 

 during the present Session. By a miracle of good luck, however, 

 the debate on the Irish question came to an end at half-past eleven, 

 and as Mr Chaplin's Bill stood seventh or eighth on the list he was 

 enabled to introduce it, and I am glad to say he has secured the 

 14th of June as the day for its second reading. It is to be hoped 

 that if the leaders of the Farmers' Alliance in the House of Com- 

 mons wish to persevere in their opposition to this and other Bills 

 applying to agriculture, they will adopt some other course of pro- 

 cedure than the unusual one to which I have alluded. Again there 



