226 
The Outbreak of Cattle-Plague. 
and the Government would certainly have to consider these- 
circumstances before coming to any decision on such a Resolu- 
tion as that before the Council. 
The PRESIDENT remarked that the prohibition of the im- 
portation of live stock would affect a very large interest known 
as the fellmongers' trade, which was dependent upon the im- 
portation of hides, horns, and hoofs, and it would be a serious 
thing to destroy such an enormous industry. 
Mr. CHARLES Howard cordially supported the Amendment- 
There was a very strong feeling in the Midland Counties, as 
well as in the North, that pressure ought to be put upon the 
Government in reference to the importation of foreign cattle. 
He trusted that the Council would pass a very firm Resolution, 
as, in his opinion, the breeders and feeders of cattle in England 
ought to be considered more than the consumers of foreign offal. 
The English farmers within the last few years had lost more 
money from foreign diseases than the worth of all the foreign 
cattle which had been imported in the same time ; and the 
farmers were not now in a position to bear the burden of another 
outbreak of cattle-plague. 
Professor Brown spoke a few words on the general question. 
It had been suggested that the importation of foreign cattle 
should not be permitted, as a temporary measure at least, the 
object being, presumably, either to limit the extent of the 
present outbreak, or to prevent the introduction of fresh centres 
of infection. The action already taken by the Privy Council 
had practically met these objects, as the importation of all 
animals from countries from which cattle-plague could come 
had been totally prohibited, while animals from some other 
countries must be slaughtered at the port of landing. The 
c ountries from which animals can still be imported, and pass 
into the interior of the country, have protected themselves from 
cattle-plague for at least a hundred years, in which, indeed, so 
far as is known, the cattle-plague of our time had never ap- 
peared. It had been apprehended that possibly cattle-plague 
maybe imported into this country by sheep; but, as a matter of 
fact, this has never occurred, and it therefore would seem super- 
fluous to provide for a contingency which had never yet arisen. 
Mr. Bowen Jones's Resolution, if put in force, would necessitate 
the re-modelling of the arrangements at all the landing-places 
in Great Britain, with, perhaps, the exception of Deptford, and 
would therefore have to be discussed and passed in the House 
of Commons before it could be adopted. If the English 
Government were to pass an Order such as had been suggested, 
it might fairly be alleged that England had broken faith with 
the Governments of those foreign countries which had agreed to> 
