636 YETERINAEY HYGIENE 



enforce when it is giving in return a quid pro quo. We all 

 know why this measure failed, but there was no need to 

 purchase this costly lesson had common-sense prevailed, 

 and a firm policy been adopted. 



Compensation backed up by a policy of thoroughness in 

 every detail will get rid of any disease ; it would free 

 England in a few weeks' time from tuberculosis or glanders 

 if expense were no object ; but assuming the money and the 

 machinery existed, to what extent is it wise to carry this 

 system of paternal government ? 



When the bread-winner of the family is taken away is 

 compensation for his loss expected from the State? The 

 case may not be on all fours with the destruction of the 

 poor man's horse or cow, but the principle involved is much 

 the same. 



The fact is that it is incumbent on all to make provision 

 against disease and death, and as we have previously 

 expressed it, compensation is not an unmixed evil. A man 

 does not keep horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs to look at but 

 to make a profit out of. Is there any reason why a portion 

 — a small portion — of these profits should not be devoted 

 to insuring himself against loss by disease or accident ? Is 

 it not, in fact, an economical measure which should if 

 possible be enforced, or at any rate encouraged by the 

 State? Would not a mere fraction of the money spent 

 annually in drink, gambling, or amusement be sufficient, 

 if all stock-owners insured, to prevent the State always 

 being looked to for relief when epizootics occur ? 



We hold no brief on behalf of the State, nor do we hold 

 it entirely free from blame in this and allied matters ; it is 

 its duty in certain cases to direct public thought and 

 opinion, and not wait until public opinion compels it to 

 move. It was not public opinion that gave us our present 

 Sanitary Laws imperfect as they are ; it was the pressure 

 exercised by the State, which awoke to a sense of its duty 

 as the result of increasing density of population, and the 

 invasion of disease. 



What we advocate is a system of insurance, whether it is 



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