No. 4.] REPORT OF CATTLE BUREAU. 197 



which provided that animals killed for food should he stamped 

 with a brand furnished to local boards of health through the 

 office of the Cattle Commission, on the ground that it made 

 an unwarranted expense for the smaller towns, that were 

 thus required to do meat insj^ecting for neighboring cities 

 which ought to stand the expense ; but they were re-enacted 

 by the Legislature of 1903 because it was thought that the 

 law was a good one, and ought to remain in force. 



These conflicting views, and the fact that in a majority of 

 the cities and towns no attention is paid to the provisions 

 of the law requiring that applications for slaughterhouse 

 licenses and the action taken thereon be reported to the Chief 

 of the Cattle Bureau, together with the lax manner in which 

 the laws relating to meat inspection are enforced by the local 

 authorities, are all arguments in favor of organizing a State 

 system of slaughterhouse licensing and meat inspection, 

 under the supervision of a competent central authority re- 

 moved from the influence of local politics, and at the expense 

 of the State, in order to relieve the small country towns from 

 the burden of providing a system of meat inspection for the 

 larger neighboring towns and cities. 



The present law, providing that local boards of health 

 shall order, through the Cattle Bureau office, a suitable stamp 

 for branding meat, is incomplete in that it does not make it 

 illegal for any one to provide himself with a similar brand, 

 or to have one in his possession or use the same, and does 

 not provide any penalty for an unauthorized person having 

 or misusing such a stamp. 



Most of the meat consumed in Massachusetts is brought 

 here from the west in refrigerator cars, or killed in abattoirs 

 here where the federal inspection is in force ; hence the bulk 

 of the meat consumed in this State has passed the inspection 

 of agents of the United States Bureau of Animal Industry. 

 That killed in the small local slaughterhouses, subject to lax 

 or incompetent inspection or no inspection at all, constitutes 

 but a very small percentage of the total amount consumed, 

 probably not more than 3 or 4 per cent, but this should be 

 under as careful supervision as the rest. 



The veterinarian of the Boston Board of Health reports 



