324 



Horse-Breeding Scheme. [august, 



of, we hope, from 12,000 to 15,000 young horses annually, so 

 as to keep a lien on the three-year-old horses. Then a report 

 would be made to the Board of Agriculture on the remainder 

 of the 12,000 to 15,000 young horses, which would be placed on 

 the register of young horses. Then we should know pretty 

 well what position we were in. 



" It is next proposed that the Board of Agriculture should be 

 assisted in carrying out the scheme by a consultative committee, 

 on which we hope to induce the representatives of the leading 

 societies who have done so much good in the past to give their 

 aid — such societies as the Brood Mare Society and the Hunters' 

 Improvement Society — as well as noble Lords and other persons 

 whose disinterested activity in the caus« is a household word. 



" There is only one matter I have not dealt with, and that is 

 the question of cost. The noble Earl opposite joined organisa- 

 tion and expenditure together. We can be responsible for 

 the organisation, and, with the help of the advisory committee, 

 we hope we may be able to do something practical. But 

 expenditure comes under an entirely different head. We have 

 worked out satisfactory figures among the departments con- 

 cerned, and I am glad to say that we have the entire co-operation 

 of my right hon. friend the Secretary of State for War, and of 

 the Army Council. The question of expenditure is now being 

 examined by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, though I need 

 hardly remind your Lordships that the commitments of the 

 Government at present are very large. It would be, however, 

 to the best interests of the nation that the Chancellor of the 

 Exchequer should have all his liabilities and all the requests 

 submitted before he gave any definite pledge, even on such an 

 important subject as this. The scheme will depend entirely 

 for its success on the support given to it by horse-owners and 

 persons interested in horse-breeding. I hope that, though 

 the scheme may not please everyone, it will receive support, 

 for it is by some such method as this that the country can alone 

 hope to deal with the question which has in days gone by been 

 a practical danger, and which is considered to be, in present 

 circumstances, a national disgrace." 



