§ MR. MONKsaid, he wished to ask the Vice President of the Committee of Council on Education, Whether the time has not arrived when the Cattle Market at Gloucester may be re-opened, regard being had to the fact that the port of Gloucester is an inland port, at which no foreign cattle have been imported during the last twenty years, and to the offer of the Mayor and Corporation of Gloucester to set apart land and sheds for the detention and slaughter of all foreign or sea-borne cattle which may arrive at that Port?
§ LORD ROBERT MONTAGUstated, in reply, that under the general provisions of treaties with foreign Powers, cattle, as well as other goods, cannot be prohibited from landing. In order, therefore, to prevent foreign cattle from mixing with British cattle, it was necessary to stop the markets at all ports. The Law Officers had it under consideration whether, under the exceptional circumstances of cattle plague and for the well-being of the country, the Privy Council might issue an order to prohibit importation, and therefore to open the markets at particular ports. In the case of Gloucester, however, another case arose—namely, whether such an Order of Council would override the local Act which gives free navigation along the canal to Gloucester. This case had only just been submitted to the Law Officers, and therefore he could not yet give a decided answer to the Question of the hon. Member.