clxviii 
Monthly Council, Novemher 2, 1892. 
Agriculture might want a little more 
time before receiving a deputation 
from that Society. It certainly 
appeared to him (Mr. Dent) — if what 
was stated yesterday were accurate, 
and if it was really the case that 
animals imported from Canada were 
affected with contagious pleuro-pneu- 
monia — that it was absolutely 
essential that the importation of 
cattle should be stopped unless the 
animals were slaughtered at the 
port of disembarkation. (Cheers.) 
He was one of the Council who had 
questioned the utility or advisability 
of slaughtering in these cases ; but 
he was bound to say that under the 
direction of his right hon. friend 
(Mr. Chaplin) the matter had been 
carried out very vigorously, with con- 
siderable expense, however, to the 
country, but with, he thought, a 
reasonable amount of success. If 
this persistent slaughtering were to 
be carried out with a view to stamp 
out the disease of pleuro-pneumonia 
by slaughtering the affected animals 
in the country, he thought that they 
could not admit any foreign animals 
unless they were slaughtered at the 
port of disembarkation, because it 
was very clear that it was not 
easy to say whether the disease 
existed or did not exist in a 
foreign country. They had had 
every reason hitherto to believe 
Canada to be free from the disease. 
Yet it was certain that two or three 
animals had been found affected wdth 
the disease, and they had no reason 
to believe that they had been in con- 
tact with any animals in Scotland. 
Therefore they were led to the belief 
that the Board of Agriculture ought 
to take the matter very seriously into 
consideration, and get an Act of 
Parliament passed to provide that 
all foreign animals should be 
slaughtered at the port of disem- 
barkation. As long as it was thought 
necessary to carry out this system of 
slaughter for pleuro-pneumonia in 
this country, and to slaughter not 
only the animals affected with the 
disease, but the animals in contact or 
suspected of being in contact with 
diseased animals, it seemed a very 
hazardous thing that animals should 
be brought from foreign countries, 
over which they bad no control, and 
as to which they could not say whether 
the disease existed there or not, and 
be allowed to be dispersed over the 
country. He hoped that it would be 
convenient to His Grace the President 
and to some of the members of the 
Council to see the President of the 
Board of Agriculture on the subject, 
because he was sure that the Council 
were most anxious not in any way to 
embarrass tlie present Government in 
the administration of what was an 
exceedingly difficult duty. It w’Ould 
be better that they should go and 
talk the matter over with the 
Minister of Agriculture with the in- 
formation which they already had, 
and with the information in the 
possession of the Board. 
The President said that the feeling 
of the Council appeared to be very 
strongly in favour of a deputation . Of 
course, if this disease were contagious 
pleuro - pneumonia, there clearly 
seemed to be an argument in favour 
of the slaughter of foreign cattle at 
the port of landing. 
Mr. Chaplin said he was present 
at a meeting of the Central Chamber 
of Agriculture yesterday, and he was 
inclined to think that the arrange- 
ment suggested by Mr. Dent would 
be the best to adopt, viz., that the 
Council should concur in the pro- 
posal for deputations from the 
Chamber of Agriculture and the 
Royal Agricultural Society, which, 
although being separate and inde- 
pendent, could attend at the same 
time. He entirely agreed with what 
had fallen from Mr. Dent, that, if the 
facts were as stated, and as he (Mr. 
Chaplin) understood them — viz., that 
the disease had been ascertained to 
be contagious pleuro-pneumonia, that 
it had been found amongst Canadian 
cattle, and that it was clear that 
it had not been contracted since 
their arrival in this country — then it 
was of immense importance that the 
slaughter of all animals imported 
from Canada should be pressed upon 
the Board of Agriculture with all the 
force and with all the weight that that 
Council must necessarily command. 
Of course, he understood that it was 
a very delicate and difficult question ; 
one that required most careful conside- 
ration on the part of the Board of Agri- 
culture. That everybody would admit. 
