234 Circular Letter as to Tuberculosis, [june, 



the amount of the compensation will depend on the result of the 

 examination. 



9. The compensation payable by the Local Authority for an animal 

 slaughtered under their direction in cases in which the post-mortem 

 examination does not show tuberculosis is a sum equal to the full value 

 of the animal and a further sum of twenty shillings. 



10. Where tuberculosis is found the proportion of the value of the 

 animal payable by way of Compensation to the owner is made to depend 

 upon the extent of the disease which is present. The Royal Commission 

 of 1898 made certain recommendations with regard to the meat of 

 tuberculous animals (see pages 20-22 of their Report), and the Local 

 Government Boards for England and for Scotland adopted those recom- 

 mendations and issued circular letters in the year 1899 for the guidance 

 of Meat Inspectors as to the degree of tubercular disease which, in their 

 opinion, should cause a carcase of an animal, or part thereof, to be 

 seized under the Public Health Acts. The Board of Agriculture and 

 Fisheries have accordingly adopted this classification as a basis by 

 which the proportion of compensation payable under their Order is to 

 be determined. 



11. The degrees of tuberculosis described in Article 7 (4) of the Order 

 are those which in the opinion of the Commissioners justify the seizure 

 by Meat Inspectors of the entire carcase and all the organs thereof. 

 Wherever such conditions are certified to exist the compensation is 

 fixed at a sum equal to one-fourth of the value of the animal or the 

 sum of two pounds, whichever sum is greater, after deducting from this 

 compensation one-half of the costs incurred by the Local Authority for 

 any valuation of the animal by a valuer appointed by the Board or for 

 any examination of its carcase by a veterinary surgeon other than the 

 Veterinary Inspector. For convenience these conditions are described in 

 the Order as " advanced " tuberculosis. In all other cases of disease, 

 namely — in those where a carcase, if otherwise healthy, need not in 

 the opinion of the Commissioners be condemned under the Public Health 

 Acts except as regards the portions containing tuberculous lesions — the 

 compensation is to be a sum equal to three-fourths of the value of the 

 animal after deducting from this compensation one-half of the costs of 

 valuation and examination as in the preceding case. 



12. The Order prescribes the precautions to be taken in respect of 

 the milk, &c, of suspected animals (Article 8), and their detention and 

 isolation whilst under suspicion (Article 9). Provision is also made in 

 Article 10 of the Order for dealing with suspicious animals exposed in 

 Markets, Fairs, or Sales. 



13. The Order has only been made after very careful consideration 

 of the liabilities which are thrown upon the Local Authority. The 

 Board believe that public opinion is favourable to the adoption of con- 

 certed measures designed to check the spread of tuberculosis throughout 

 the country, and no such action can be satisfactory which fails to make 

 provision for dealing with the disease in the animal. Heroic measures 

 in this connection would only defeat their own object, but a well-devised 

 scheme for gradually reducing the prevalence of tuberculosis in animals 

 should, the Board feel, carry with it a full measure of public sympathy 

 and support. The payment to agriculturists of reasonable compensation 



