SPECIAL MEETING. 19 



way. They may bring all the rotten cattle they please from 

 any State outside of INIassachusetts across our borders ; we 

 cannot tell them they shall not; it is utterly impossible. 

 We tried that with Spanish fever. We passed a law here 

 in Massachusetts saying that certain animals from Texas 

 and the Plains should not come into Massachusetts ; the 

 State of Michigan passed a similar law; Kansas passed 

 a similar law. We thought we were all right, but the cattle 

 men rebelled against it, cari'ied the question to the Supreme 

 Court of the United States, and it was there declared that 

 such a law was unconstitutional ; that no State could tell 

 another State, "You shall not bring your cattle into our 

 territory." Massachusetts got over it in this way : they 

 said, "You can bring your cattle in, but when you get 

 them on to our territory we will seize and quarantine them. 

 AYhen they get on to our temtory, then we can take them 

 and do what seems to us good to do with them." That is 

 the way our Massachusetts law is arranged. Men bringing 

 cattle from Texas or the Plains are liable to bring Spanish 

 fever, and our law says they shall not be driven on any road 

 in Massachusetts, but shall be taken and slaughtered in 

 Massachusetts immediately on their being unloaded from the 

 cars. That is the way we manage them. 



Here you have two constitutional points. One is, the 

 United States government cannot go into the State of Penn- 

 sylvania and slaughter their cattle, but the United States 

 government and the State of Pennsylvania can do it. The 

 United States government and the State of Massachusetts can 

 say to the cattle men, "Your cattle may come across the 

 borders of the State and then we will encircle them, quaran- 

 tine them, and if we find them infected we will kill them." 



Now, this resolution in relation to the Bureau of Animal 

 Industry is all right enough. The plan of that Board was 

 to do this thing in conjunction with the governments of the 

 States. The government of the United States is to pay the 

 bills, and the several States are to make the laws. 



I su})pose the real object of this meeting was to get all 

 possible infonnation. I have not seen Mr. Chcever until 

 now since he came from the West. I did not know what 

 report he would bring to the Cattle Commissioners in regard 



