§ MR. NORWOODsaid, he would beg to ask the Vice President of the Committee of Council on Education, Whether he is aware that the provinces of Groningen and Friesland, in Holland, have been and still are free from the Rinderpest, and that stringent precautions are taken by the authorities there to prevent its introduction; and, whether the attention of the Committee is directed to the advisability of an immediate relaxation of the prohibition of the import of cattle from Groningen and Friesland?
MR. BRUCE,in reply, said, he believed it was true that cattle in these two provinces had been and still were free from the rinderpest, and that precautions had been taken to prevent its introduction into them. Applications had been made to Her Majesty's Government for permission, and they had in consequence directed inquiries to be made to see whether importations could be allowed from those provinces without any danger, and upon the result of those inquiries the decision of the Government would depend.