398 
TWENTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING 
lation to protect the poor, oppressed, down-trodden veterinarian in different 
States, and the effect of such legislation upon his well-being, besides some of the 
interesting incidental matters which were brought out by the replies I received. 
As far as I have been able to ascertain there are but 'four States in the Union 
where laws have been enacted regulating the practice of veterinary medicine, 
and in all of them the law is quite similar. These States are New York, New 
Jersey, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. A description of the law in one State will 
answer for all, so I take the privilege of reading the letter on the Wisconsin law 
by Dr. Y. T. Atkinson, of Milwaukee, Assistant State Secretary for Wisconsin, 
following with comments upon the letters of the Assistant State Secretaries in the 
other three States. The following is Dr. Atkinson’s letter: 
Milwaukee, August 25, 1890. 
Austin Peters, Esq., M.R.C.V.S., 
j Dear Doctor :—Yours of July 10th received in my absence, hence the delay 
in answering. In reply : Chapter 347 of the Laws of Wisconsin for 1887 is, I am 
told, a copy of a law which was in force in New York at the time our law was en¬ 
acted. It provides that no person shall be considered a veterinary surgeon nor 
allowed to give expert testimony as such, or to collect fees for services by process 
of law except their credentials be recorded in the Veterinary Register kept in the 
office of the Register of Deeds of the county in which the practitioner resides. 
Such credentials may consist of, 1st, a diploma from a regular college; 2d, a cer¬ 
tificate of memberahip from a duly organized Veterinary Medical Association; 
3d, an affidavit of five years practice prior to the passage of the law. 
In its workings this law is practically no good. Our State Society has de¬ 
generated into a society of empirics. At the last meeting there were only three 
graduates present, of whom I was one and remained only long enough to sever 
my connection with it. 
You ask what the standing of our veterinarians is. It would be hard to 
strike an average, but I think the graduates, as a rule, command the respect of the 
communities in which they reside and that the profession is gradually assuming 
the important position to which it is entitled. 
Concerning protective laws, my observation does not lead me to believe that 
they are likely to be of much service to any practitioner who is worth protecting. 
It has always seemed to me that a man who could not compete with a quack suc¬ 
cessfully would not be likely to reflect much credit on his associates in the pro¬ 
fession even if the quack were removed from competition with him. 
Hoping that I may have the pleasure of meeting you in Chicago next Sep¬ 
tember, I am, 
Very cordially yours, 
V. T. Atkinson, State Secretary, U.S.V.3I.A. 
Dr. Atkinson’s letter is so good that any comments of mine upon it would 
only take away from its effectiveness. 
In New Jersey, Dr. Autenreith, of Jersey City, thinks the law fails to be of 
any practical benefit to the profession at large, as its provisions are too vague and 
indefinite ; the most hopeful feature about it to him is that the legislators of the 
State do recognize the fact that in time the existing laws may prove a nucleus 
for the development of further legislation, which may prove more useful and effi¬ 
cient in the advancement of the profession in that State. So far, the New Jer¬ 
sey law, which was passed two years ago “ has proven to be of no special benefit, 
though perhaps it may have inspired more confidence on the part of the laity in 
the qualified veterinarian, to such as know of his existence.” 
Dr. Kooker, writing for Pennsylvania, says that the law in that State has 
