PECULIAR VIEWS FROM A HIGH OFFICIAL. 
579 
PECULIAR VIEWS FROM A HIGH OFFICIAL. 
Oakland, Cal., Sept. 26, 1896. 
Editors American Veterinary Review : 
Gentlemen . Enclosed you will find, a clipping - from the 
San Francisco Chronicle , the result of a conference by Major 
H. E. Alvord, Chief of Dairy Division of the U. S. Bureau 
of Animal Industry, with the health authorities of SanFrancisco. 
We have heard and read many long"-eared demonstrations 
but the statements contained in this article are beyond doubt 
considering the source, the most sottish and idiotic we have 
ever heard. 
For the past five years a few earnest and hard-working vet¬ 
erinarians have been unceasingly laboring to bring the subject 
matter of the eradication and suppression of contagious and in¬ 
fectious animal diseases in this State down to a practical and 
scientific basis. The work done in these few years has just com¬ 
menced to bear good fruit, more especially with regard to the 
weeding out of our dairies the tuberculous cow. Most of the 
larger cities on this coast have been prevailed upon by the veter¬ 
inary and medical professions to adopt ordinances compelling 
dairymen to obtain a license before being permitted to dispose of 
their milk within the city limits, and before a license is issued 
to them they have to furnish or present a certificate of health 
from the city veterinarian. Some of our cities have had these 
ordinances in force for the past six months, and while in a man¬ 
ner they work a temporary hardship on the dairymen, the results 
meet with the unanimous approval of the veterinary and medi¬ 
cal professions and the public at large. 
In our municipality (Oakland) such an ordinance as de¬ 
scribed above passed our City Council by a unanimous vote and 
is now in the hands of our Mayor, who, if reports are true, has 
vetoed it, just because he has been counseled so to do by just 
such antiquated old fossils as this Major Henry E. Alvord. Is 
it not discouraging to see the results of five years’ labor thrown 
to the winds by a few idiotic statements from the lips of a man 
whose official position should prevent him from making an ass 
of himself, even if he does not know any better. 
We have an idea, Mr. Editor, though an impracticable one, 
we are sorry to say, that some legislation is needed to provide 
guardians or keepers for some of these mossbacks that are hold¬ 
ing, m Washington, some of the most important offices in the 
gift of the American people, and these keepers or guardians 
