§ LORD DUNKELLINsaid, he wished to ask the Vice President of the Committee of Council on Education, Whether it be true that the Cattle Disease still exists to a considerable degree in Belgium, Holland, and other parts of the Continent whence Foreign Cattle are imported to our Coasts, and sent up to London by Railway; and whether, if such be the case, it would not be advisable to order such animals for the present to be slaughtered at the Ports at which they arrive?
§ LORD ROBERT MONTAGUsaid, in reply, that it was true that the cattle plague did exist in Friesland, Franconia, Belgium, Switzerland, and other places. The recent outbreak in the metropolis had been attributed to a cargo of white cattle from Austria; but, as it was impossible to obtain reliable evidence in such cases, the Inspectors were not able to satisfy themselves on the point. The Order in Council required that all foreign cattle should be slaughtered at the port of arrival; but exception was made in favour of the Metropolitan Market, for which cattle might be landed at Harwich, Southampton, and the port of London (which included the whole of the Thames), and might then be transferred by railway, under certain restrictions, to the metropolis; but, on the other hand, no cattle could leave the metropolis; and by that means the mixture of British and foreign cattle was prevented.