478 
Foot-and-Mouth Disease. 
that CA'en cattle-plague restrictions would not be absolutely 
effectual ; and in any case there is nothing to justify the belief 
that less severe measures would succeed. 
The presumption that legislation of a much less restrictive 
character may diminish the rate of progress of the disease with- 
out seriously interfering with the free movement of animals, has, in 
fact, been entirely negatived during the last three years, when foot- 
and-mouth disease has prevailed to a remarkable extent in the 
presence of restrictions quite as onerous as public opinion per- 
mitted, and even too severe to enlist general sympathy, or ensure 
general compliance, yet no impression was made on the progress 
of the disease, chiefly, it is admitted, for the reason that the 
provisions were not enforced ; nor could they be enforced. All 
that has ever been advanced in proof of the determination of the 
iocal authorities to carry them out is included in the statement 
of the number of convictions which had been obtained against 
persons who infringed them. 
The plain truth of the matter is, people will not submit to 
restrictions directed against an evil which they do not recognise 
to be of sufficient importance to call for interference ; and, 
plainly enough, stock-owners do not care enough about the pre- 
vention of foot-and-mouth disease to take the most simple and 
obvious precautions against it. The cry has always been, let us 
be secured from importation of foreign diseases, and then let us 
alone. In the mind of any unprejudiced inquirer no doubt can 
exist that this feeling is almost universal among farmers, a few 
breeders of pedigree stock alone being excepted. 
No hesitation can be felt in admitting the reasonableness of 
the claim to be protected against the introduction of the disease 
from abroad ; and the legislative restrictions on the foreign trade 
are based on a clear recognition of the claim. The measures 
which are enforced at all the ports where foreign animals are 
landed, are excessively severe, and their operation has been so 
effectual, that for one outbreak which has been traced to the 
movement of infected foreign stock, a thousand outbreaks have 
been traced to the movement of diseased animals from one part 
of the United Kingdom to another ; and such movement could 
not have been prevented without producing positive stagnation 
in the cattle-trade, which would have caused more injury than 
the unrestricted spread of the disease. 
Restrictions on the importation of foreign animals are justi- 
fiable on the ground that they form a comparatively small pro- 
portion of our total supplies, and are only beneficial to us so 
long as they do no mischief ; but the suggestion which has been 
often made to deal with Irish stock in the same way as 
foreign animals are dealt with is quite unpractical and never 
