§ COLONEL BARTTELOTasked the Vice President of the Council on Education, What steps he has taken or is taking to prevent the spread of the cattle disease? Very great excitement prevailed throughout the country because several eases of disease had occurred at Newcastle, Leith, Hull, and Hartlepool.
§ MR. W. E. FORSTERsaid, he could only reply by repeating the answer he had given to the House a few days ago. The interest in the subject was, however, so great that he could not be at all surprised that the Question had been put to him again. The seventh cargo of diseased animals had arrived at our ports. Two of them had arrived at Deptford, one at Hull, one at Leith, two at Newcastle, and one at Hartlepool. Pour of these cargoes came direct from Cronstadt—namely, those arriving at Deptford, Hull, and Leith. Three others came from Hamburg. In the first cargo the animals were Russian animals; in the last two cargoes—certainly in the Hartlepool cargo, and he believed also in the Newcastle cargo—there were no Russian animals. The steps taken were these—the import was entirely prohibited from Russia. It was a most serious matter to prohibit entirely the German import. The effect of prohibition would be immensely to diminish the supply of meat in the country, but more especially in London, and nothing but the most absolute necessity would justify it. In consequence, however, of its being clear that the cattle plague must exist at Hamburg—although he was informed that the German authorities themselves did not believe it to exist there—it had been thought right to cancel the Order admitting animals from Schleswig-Holstein into the interior of this country. And, further, an Order had been issued that all sheep coming from Germany must be slaughtered at the port of landing. Special 380 directions, moreover, had been given to the Inspectors to watch the cargoes coming from Hamburg. He was very glad to have that opportunity of removing a misconception which existed with regard to the late import of Schleswig-Holstein animals into the Port of London. It must not be supposed that the large import of animals took place solely in consequence of the relaxation of the Order a month ago, and the admission of the animals into the interior. The importation of them had just begun, and consequently they would not have come, under any circumstances, before, though it was true that it would be more convenient to the trade, and probably more profitable, that they should go into the interior without restriction. The fact was, the Government was placed in a most difficult position between, on the one hand, the natural fear of the home producers, and, on the other, the idea that the restriction had something to do with the high prices of meat. But if he had done what he had been asked to do—that was, if he had allowed all German animals to be taken into the interior—he could not see what would have prevented the cattle plague from spreading all over the country. The disease generally took, at least, seven days to make itself evident, and as the passage was only one of three or four days' duration from Hamburg, it was evident that but for the restriction the disease would have spread over the country.
§ COLONEL BARTTELOThoped that the right hon. Gentleman and his Colleagues would continue to use every effort to prevent the introduction of the disease into the country.