Friday, November 4, 1892. 
clxxix 
from the Central and Associated 
Chambers of Agriculture, from the 
Shorthorn Society, and from the 
Smithfield Club, who represent the 
great mass of the agricultural 
interests of this countrj'. You will 
not have been surprised that we have 
requested you to see us to-day, on 
account of the general and well- 
founded alarm that has been created 
by the importation of Canadian 
cattle, by their dispersal in Scotland, 
and by the outbreak, soon after land- 
ing, of contagious pleuro-pneumonia 
in those animals so imported — some 
time at the end of September and the 
beginning of October last. In this 
case, as it will be seen, inspection — 
and I call your special attention to 
this fact — is perfectly useless. I 
tmderstand that it is admitted by the 
veterinary profession that the disease 
may be latent in the bodies of these 
animals for uncertain times — whether 
longer or shorter— and in some cases 
for a very long time before the 
disease is recognised; and, therefore, 
it is contended that inspection in 
cases of pleuro-pneumonia is of no 
avail. 
The 5th Schedule of the Contagious 
Diseases (Animals) Act of 1878 lays 
down distinctly that foreign animals 
are only to be landed at a special 
wharf at every port, and that “ they 
are not to be moved alive out of the 
wharf.” The only exception to this 
otherwise universal rule is in the 
case of any foreign countiy, in which 
the Board of Agriculture are satisfied 
“ that the laws thereof relating to 
the importation and exportation of 
animals, and to the prevention of the 
introduction or spreading of disease, 
and the general sanitary condition of 
animals therein, are such as to afford 
reasonable securitj' against the im- 
portation therefrom of diseased 
animals.” It is very evident from 
the action of your Board that the 
Board are not satisfied that this con- 
dition of things exists with regard to 
Canadian cattle, for you have, as we 
understand, given orders under the 
Act of 1890, not only for the 
slaughter of the animals landed at 
Dundee, but also of the animals 
which came at all into contact with 
the diseased stock. We ask you, 
then, to do that which we belie^ e you 
VOL. III. T. S. — 12 
are very ready to do, for the reasons 
stated — viz., to put into force the 
powers conferred upon you by the 
Act of 1878, and to rescind the 
special regulations under which, at 
present, Canadian cattle are exempted 
from slaughter at the port. 
May I add one word with regard to 
the operations of the Board of late, 
as I think the country in general can- 
not be too grateful for the active zeal 
and attention given to this question 
by the Board of Agriculture ? It has 
saved the country from an immensity 
of disease. It is very remarkable 
how rapidly the disease has been 
diminished by the action of your 
Board, and we cannot believe that 
the zeal and energy of the Board will 
be relaxed, or that there will be any 
break at this time in the continuity 
of action of the Board of Agriculture. 
It forms a very remarkable contrast 
to the laxity of previous years, espe- 
cially when the cattle plague invaded 
our country, and which, owing to the 
laxity of our then authorities, ob- 
tained such a strong hold upon the 
country. In my own county of 
Cheshire we lost 80,000 head of cattle 
from that disease alone, which shows 
what serious results arise from laxity 
in jirecautionary measures. 
Sir John Thorold said he had the 
honour of representing the Veteri- 
nary Committee of the Iloyal Agri- 
cultural Society. As far as he was 
concerned, he had nothing to add to 
the remarks of His Grace, that they, 
as representing the Society, had 
viewed with great satisfaction the 
action of the Board with regard to 
pleuro-pneumonia, and they feared 
that unless that .action was now con- 
tinued, the losses which the farmers 
had sustained, and the restrictions 
which they had sulTered, would have 
been suffered in vain ; and he hoped 
the President would immediately put 
in force the Act forbidding the im- 
portation of animals except for 
slaughter at the port of landing. 
Mr. Clare Sewell Bead at- 
tended in tl.e absence of his friend 
Mr. William Stratton, who was 
Chairman of the Cattle Diseases 
Committee of the Central Chamber, 
to represent the Central Chamber of 
Agriculture. He might also say, in 
passing, that he was Chairman of the 
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