STATE HYGIENE 479 



Central Authority, so valuable for the control and oblitera- 

 tion of disease as restrictions on the movement of animals. 



Carried out effectively by a Central Authority, with no 

 loophole for permissive legislation, the spread of disease 

 both in theory and practice is impossible. 



Like all other measures it must be thorough ; no senti- 

 ment must enter into the question, local hardships may be 

 great, financial losses heavy, but a deaf ear must be turned 

 to all these ; the larger question of the country's good must 

 always be the guiding principle. 



It is quite painful to read the annual reports of the 

 Assistant Secretary, Animals' Division, Board of Agricul- 

 ture, in which he deplores the absence of public spirit 

 among stock owners, the inefficiency and blindness of the 

 Local Authorities, the slackness of the police in carrying out 

 the Board's orders regarding the restriction of movements, 

 and the nominal fines imposed by the Bench for breaking 

 regulations. And yet the Board have powers granted by 

 Parliament which would bring the whole of the Local 

 Authorities in Great Britain into line in a few weeks, if they 

 were exercised. The Act of 1894 has only to be read in 

 this connection. Local Authorities, like individuals, should 

 be dealt with if they disobey regulations for the public good. 

 If the police fail in their duty the remedy lies in dealing 

 with the chief constable of the county, and where the 

 owner or person in charge is responsible for a breach of 

 the law, a full exercise of the penalties provided for the 

 offences should be employed. 



In other words, it is the duty of the Board to see that 

 Parliament is obeyed, and the confession of weakness in 

 bemoaning the slackness of the local machinery should 

 never occur. On the other hand, there should be published 

 annually the number of prosecutions throughout the country 

 for breaches of the Act, and the fines thus obtained should 

 be placed to the compensation account. This is our con- 

 ception of the real duties of the lay officials of the Board. 

 It is not the duty of the veterinary officers to be troubled 

 with questions of why a local authority fails to carry out 



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