EDITORIAL OBSERVATIONS. 
625 
or it will be continued only at the peril of those who aid or 
even permit its infliction. By an order of Council under 
the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act, owners of vessels, 
wharves, or cattle pens are bound under penalties to pro- 
vide for the comfort and safety of the animals which are 
confided to their care for the purpose of being conveyed 
from one place to another. Ships are to be divided into pens, 
landing places are to have appliances for feeding and water- 
ing; cattle trucks are to be provided with spring buffers 
and proper footholds ; animals are not to be overcrowded, 
and at.the principal railway stations there is to be a sup- 
ply of water. Gradually, step by step, these provisions will 
be carried into effect, and assuming everything to be in full 
working order, the question is, how far will the intention of 
the legislature be embodied in practice? At present we 
have to deal with one phase of a comprehensive inquiry, that 
which relates to the supply of water at certain railway 
stations where the principal cattle traffic is carried on. 
Admitting that the provisions are sufficient, and this may 
easily be the case as far as the mechanical arrangements at 
railway stations are concerned, there are practical difficul- 
ties in the way of ensuring that the animals shall get the 
benefit of the arrangements which are made for their com- 
fort. Some railway stations have for years had a good 
supply of water for the use of animals ; in some few favoured 
spots there are meadows and brooks adjacent to the line, 
and cattle waiting for the trucks are enabled to rest and 
refresh themselves in peace ; but unluckily the animals 
which most require refreshment, often even in these locali- 
ties, fail to get it. After standing all day in a hot and 
dusty market, beasts are driven up to the line only in 
time to be put into the trucks, in sight of the food and 
water which they need, and which are by a pleasant fiction 
(in this case, at least) provided for them. It may and 
does happen that a number of oxen and sheep are driven 
from their home a distance of ten miles or more to a mar- 
ket, stand there all day without food or water, and at night 
are driven to a station where the authorities are bound by 
law to furnish refreshment which may be so placed that the 
