THE STATE AS FARMER 91 



district abattoirs — covering in well-thought- 

 out completeness the whole country — with 

 our present system ? I will take a passage 

 from ' The Meat Industry,' vol. iii. p. 815, 

 referring to Dr. Dittmar's Report, bearing 

 upon the latter. 



Owing to the more advanced state of public 

 opinion in Scotland [it is said] there is a greater 

 proportion of slaughterhouses under proper control 

 than in either England or Ireland, and in order to 

 increase this number the local Government Board 

 might be empowered by law to call upon all local 

 authorities to provide such premises where it was 

 shown to their satisfaction to be required. The 

 plans of such buildings, as well as the arrangements 

 for administration and staffing, should be submitted 

 to the Board for approval. ' It is essential in the 

 interests of the public health that public slaughter- 

 houses should be instituted, and the cost of their 

 upkeep forms a legitimate charge against the public 

 health rate of the district they serve. A proportion, 

 if not all, of the expenditure can be met by means 

 of slaughterhouse dues, but, except in the large 

 centres of population, these sources of revenue will 

 not meet all the expenses of an efficient slaughter- 

 house service.' In Dr. Dittmar's opinion, boroughs 

 of over 6000 inhabitants are capable of supplying 

 efficient administration for meat inspection, and he 

 advises that in areas of four or five miles from any 



