STATE HYGIENE 469 



expert advice the country can produce ; on it he should act, 

 and by it the Government should be prepared to stand or 

 fall. But Governments like individuals are selfish, and the 

 idea of loss of power is most repugnant, so that half-hearted 

 suppressive measures come into force which irritate, do 

 no good, and are turned over to the Local Authorities to 

 carry out, who, if it suits their purpose, evade them as far 

 as possible. 



But we must also look at the other side of the question. 

 A Government exercising a policy of benevolent despotism 

 is obnoxious to our constitution ; the Government exists by 

 the will of the people, so that those who urge the education 

 of the masses rather than that of the Government have 

 much on their side. In fact, it has been claimed that the 

 repressive measures enforced by the State in connection with 

 epizootics, have always been in advance of public opinion. 

 However this may be, and there is good reason for believing 

 that examples are not wanting, it shows how necessary it 

 is that public opinion should be educated, and possibly it 

 would be if we fully realized the importance of teaching the 

 history of our own country in schools, and allowed the dead 

 languages to lie in the natural grave they have dug for 

 themselves. 



We have not touched on the financial aspect of en- 

 lightened legislation, though whenever values can be 

 expressed in actual money they generally appeal to popular 

 imagination and common-sense. It has been estimated 

 that hundreds of millions represent the loss which this 

 country has sustained through the ravages of imported 

 diseases, and we may as well here note, that the large 

 majority of epizootics affecting our flocks and herds have 

 been imported from abroad, and are not natural to this 

 country. 



The earliest act of legislation recorded was directed 

 against scabies in sheep in the year 1798, but very little 



disease, and reflected on the ignorance of the veterinary profession in 

 not recognising this important factor. 



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