§ MR. BACKHOUSEasked the Vice President of the Council, Whether he 1126 has any information of a considerable increase in the Foot and Mouth Disease among Cattle, and if it has assumed a more virulent form; and, whether any further measures can be taken to prevent its spread?
§ MR. W. E. FORSTERsaid, his Department had no statistical information with regard to the increase of the foot and mouth disease. The reason why they had no such statistics was, that they found themselves at the beginning of this year compelled to give up obtaining returns of the exact state of the disease throughout the country, in consequence of the reports which they received from many local authorities, to the effect that they did not wish to incur the expense of making those returns, and that they did not consider them necessary. The information in the possession of the Department showed that the foot and month disease was prevalent at the present time; but he was not aware that it was more so than on one or two occasions during the last two or three years. It was, however, prevalent, and was in some districts more virulent than hitherto. In reply to the second Question, he had to say that the only measures which the Department could take to prevent its spread were to remind the local authorities, which had been done by Circular letter, of the power which they had under the Orders in Council to make regulations with respect to the movements of animals, and to secure the more effectual disinfection of the premises in which diseased animals had been. A Circular had been sent out calling the attention of the local authorities especially to those provisions, and although in the latter part of last year, the different counties throughout the country had the power of issuing those regulations only about 50 per cent of them made use of them. It really lay, therefore, with the various districts throughout the country to take steps to put a stop to the disease. Two or three years ago the Department tried to make the issue of those Orders compulsory, but the opposition which had been met with from many counties rendered it absolutely necessary to replace them by permissive Orders. He could only, in conclusion, express a hope that the powers which they possessed would be used by the different counties.