PARLIAMENTARY INTELLIGENCE. 22 7 
eases Act of Ireland, and into the constitution of the veterinary 
department of Great Britain and Ireland. 
Mr. Bassett seconded the motion, observing that this was a ques¬ 
tion affecting the consumers as well as the breeders, and giving 
examples from the statistical returns of the enormous havoc made 
among cattle by the disease. 
Mr. Denison, on behalf of the railway companies, pointed out 
that much of the delay arose from the packing of cattle in railway 
trucks by the drovers, so that after they had been taken out, watered, 
and fed, it was impossible, from the increased bulk:, to get them into 
the trucks again. 
Mr. Barclay bore testimony to the admirable way in which the 
local authorities had worked the Act. He observed that the total 
value of the cattle of Great Britain was ^6115,000,000 sterling, 
double the value of the registered shipping, supplying animal food 
to the country to the value of ^645,000,000 sterling, while the im¬ 
ports amounted to only 12 per cent, of the whole production, 
which would show the magnitude of the interest to be dealt with. 
He believed that if the energetic measures adopted in Scotland were 
used in the north of England and other parts the disease would be 
almost exterminated. He thought it would be advisable to have 
only one local authority in each county, in order to simplify the 
working of the Act. (Hear, hear.) The opinion of the Scotch as 
well as of the Norfolk farmers was, that the great source of the 
disease was Ireland ; and he thought the best mode of dealing with 
that evil was to have all cattle inspected prior to their embarkation 
at the Irish ports. 
Mr. J. Howard said there could be no question that the Con¬ 
tagious Diseases Act was a well-conceived and vigorous attempt to 
deal, not only with imported, but also with established disease among 
our live stock. But there was a prevalent opinion that the Veteri¬ 
nary Department of the Privy Council had been inert, and had not 
taken adequate steps to trace the origin of the disease. During 
the last summer and autumn the Royal Agricultural Society prose¬ 
cuted an inquiry into the causes which produced foot-and-mouth 
disease among the cattle imported from Ireland, and it was satis¬ 
factorily proved that the system of inspection was totally inadequate 
for its purpose, and that the provisions of the Act were systemati¬ 
cally ignored across the Channel. (Hear, hear.) During the last 
year, in the small county of Bedford 38,000 animals were attacked, 
and 800 died; the total money lost not being less than .3660,000. 
He was glad to find that the Government had consented to the 
appointment of a Select Committee, and believed it would prove 
satisfactory to the public. 
Mr. W. E. Forster said, when his hon. friend Mr. Read brought 
forth a similar motion to the present one last year, he told him that 
he considered it too late then for such an inquiry, but that in the 
next session he would not onlv assent to, but welcome it. While 
he was conducting the Bill through the House he was congratulate J 
on acquiring so much power; but he replied that he felt tliat^B 
XLYI. 16 
