Deputation to the Board of Agriculture. 
XXXI 
and presented arguments and statistics 
in favour of the maintenance of the 
existing law. 
Mr. F. S. W. Cornwallis said he 
had the honour as President this year 
of the Royal Agricultural Society of 
England to attend with his colleagues 
on behalf of the Society in support of 
the important object of the Deputation. 
They were unanimously requested to 
attend by the Society’s Veterinary 
Committee, who had for many years 
past taken an active part in the 
effortg to eradicate the contagious 
diseases of animals in this country. 
The Royal Agricultural Society, as 
his Lordship was aware, was keenly 
interested in the valuable pedigree 
herds and flocks of the stock owners 
of this country ; and the freedom of 
these herds and flocks, as well as all 
descriptions of farm live stock, from 
contagious diseases was a matter of 
the most vital national concern. 
(Cheers.) The Act of 1896, by which 
for the first time foreign animals 
were definitely excluded from landing 
in this country, except for slaughter 
at the port of debarkation, was the 
final outcome of many years of 
strenuous agitation on the part of 
agriculturists and stock owners, 
dating from the disastrous outbreak 
of cattle disease in the sixties. As 
his Lordship knew, the farmers of 
this country had also suffered incal- 
culable losses from pleuro-pneumonia 
and foot-and-mouth disease. Both 
these diseases were imported into 
this country from abroad, and they 
were still prevalent in foreign 
countries. 
The Society which he represented, 
and he thought he might add, the 
whole of the stock owners of this 
country, were of one mind that any 
lessening of the restrictions at present 
in force against the importation of 
live cattle would create a widespread 
feeling of alarm, would affect most 
prejudicially the country’s important 
export trade in pedigree live stock, 
and would have ruinous and dis- 
astrous effects upon what was at 
present the most hopeful and 
remunerative feature of British 
agricultural industry. (Cheers.) By 
the operation of the existing law in 
the past, pleuro-pneumonia and foot- 
and-mouth disease had been eradicated 
from this country, and they felt that 
if they were to maintain their present 
freedom from these diseases, it was 
essential that the present law should 
be maintained in force. They felt 
also that if through any relaxation of 
the present law these diseases should 
be again admitted, the compensation 
that would have to be paid to stock 
owners for animals slaughtered would 
be almost incalculable. It was ex- 
tremely difficult to place an accurate 
value upon the pedigree live stock of 
this country. In fact, the value of 
tins class of stock to owners and to 
the country generally was. practically 
inestimable. 
The late Mr. T. C. Booth stated in 
evidence before a Parliamentary 
Committee that the losses in his 
celebrated Warlaby herd from re- 
peated outbreaks of foot-and-mouth 
disease alone amounted to no less 
than 30,00(B. In 1888, the De- 
partmental Committee on Pleuro- 
pneumonia reported that pleuro- 
pneumonia was an imported disease, 
and was not indigenous • to this 
country ; that it was an incurable 
disease communicated by contact 
between living animals only ; and 
that its treatment should be of a 
preventive and not of a curative 
nature. He would therefore point 
out that if the present law was re- 
pealed a great feeling of insecurity 
would be created in the minds of the 
breeders of live stock throughout the 
country. (Hear hear.) They had to 
look also not only at the position at 
home, but to the effect which any 
such action would be likely to have 
in other countries, and especially to 
the regulations which foreign countries 
might impose for the admission of 
live stock exported from this country. 
(Cheers.) 
Other speeches in support of the 
object of the deputation were made 
by Lord Northbourne (British 
Dairy Farmers’ and Southdown Sheep 
Breeders’ Associations), Mr. John 
Treadwell (Bucks. Chamber of 
Agriculture), Sir Oswald Mosley 
(Shorthorn Society and National 
Cattle Breeders’ Association), Mr. F. 
A. Channing-, M.P. (Central Chamber 
of Agriculture), Sir John Cottrell 
