188 
CATTLE TRAFFIC. 
tion of the whole system of regulations applicable to the 
cattle trade. According to the view which the breeders of 
home stock adopt the most ready and simple way out of the 
difficulty is to slaughter all imported animals by the water¬ 
side ; in fact, to universally establish the system which now 
obtains at all the ports except the port of London. It is 
quite worth careful consideration whether those cattle only 
which come from infected countries, or countries of transit 
like Austria and Prussia, should all be slaughtered at one 
depot, or at several; and also whether the exemptions in 
favour of cattle from France and Spain should be extended 
to animals from other countries which are not countries of 
transit, and where cattle plague is not naturally existent. 
We are met here, however, by the awkward possibility of 
other infectious diseases than cattle plague being introduced. 
Foot-and-mouth complaint, lung disease, and sheep-pox, are 
among the contingencies which farmers wish to avoid; and 
hence it can hardly be expected that they will abandon the 
idea of slaughter of all imported fat stock at the landing- 
places, or the plan of quarantine, which practically means 
exclusion, of store stock. There are many objections to the 
system of slaughter on the wharves. Temporarily, at least, 
it would lessen importation and derange trade ; it would not 
absolutely prevent communication of infection by indirect 
means; and if cattle plague should break out in so limited 
and populous an area as a crowded foreign cattle market, 
with daily arrivals of fresh stock taking place, a very pretty 
mess the business would amount to. 
The plan, however, has the merit of being free from com¬ 
plexity, and it is besides the only one which will satisfy the 
deniands of the home breeder; any other arrangement, pre¬ 
sumably, must involve complicated machinery, which is 
always liable to get out of order. 
In some way which shall be decided upon, as open to the 
least objection, contact between imported and home-bred 
stock is, we will assume, to be effectually prevented; the 
second consideration, then, presents itself, viz., the unre¬ 
stricted movement of all stock which can be certified to be 
free from infectious disease. At this point the essential 
difference in the position of home-bred stock, as compared 
with that of imported animals, becomes apparent. Foreign 
cattle reach our shores tainted with a suspicion which can 
only be removed by their residence here for a time, while 
cattle bred and fed in the country are constantly under ob¬ 
servation. In respect of every homestead in the country it 
is, or can be, easily known whether or no the animals on the 
