No. 4.] CATTLE COMMISSIONERS. 411 



What other remedy there is, except refusing to accept their tests, 

 I do uot know. They ought certainly to be exi)elled from any 

 veterinary associations to which they belong, although most of the 

 offenders belong to a class that do not join associations. Dealers 

 and drovers or breeders who sell cattle with fake tests ought to 

 be prosecuted for obtaining money under false pretences ; and a 

 breeder who will do such a thing ought to be expelled from any 

 breeders' association, and his cattle ought to be refused registry 

 in the herd book. 



A lack of honest}^ seems to be a national failing. Parents 

 should bring up their boys to realize that it is a sin and a disgrace 

 to steal, and that "a lie is an abomination to the Lord." Our 

 veterinary schools should lay greater stress on professional integ- 

 rity than at present ; and if some means could be devised for dis- 

 ciplining the rascals, even to revoking their diplomas, if that is 

 possible, it would be a benefit. "Honesty is the best policy;" 

 but my experience with men has been that a man who is not hon- 

 est as a matter of principle is not very likely to be so as a matter 

 of policy. 



Other obstacles to the enforcement of regulations retpiiring the 

 tuberculin test may be carelessness on the part of railroad compa- 

 nies in seeing that a shipper to a point outside a quarantine sta- 

 tion has a permit. It occasionally happens that a freight agent 

 may accept a shipment of cattle from a man who has not secured 

 a permit, without notifying the authorities in the State to which 

 the cattle are shipped. This can be remedied by reporting the 

 local freight agent to the general freight agent of the road, when- 

 ever such an instance is heard of ; and in time tiie work will be so 

 perfected as to have no such infringement of the rules, as they are 

 broken more from not understanding them than from any direct 

 intention to disregard the law. 



Another obstacle that will alwa^'S exist on a small scale is the 

 trading back and forth of cattle by farmers in adjoining towns 

 located in different States ; but the number of animals exchanged 

 in this way is limited. The necessary rules or laws may be en- 

 forced here to a certain extent, but there will alwa^'^s be a number 

 of instances where they will be quietly disregarded. 



I have necessarily confined myself chiefly to the condition of 

 affairs in New England, and more especially to jNIassachu setts, as 

 this is where my personal experience lies ; but what I have said 

 will probaltly apjily to a certain extent to other sections, and it 

 may be that the trials we have been called upon to endure may 

 result in making it easier for others later. 



