§ VISCOUNT CRANBORNE (Lancashire, N.E., Darwen)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Agriculture whether it has been brought to his notice that, whereas the foot-and-mouth disease restrictions were removed on Thursday, the 14th April, the Railway Company refused to transport cattle from Skipton to Blackburn on the following Monday, on the ground that they had no knowledge that the restrictions had been removed?
§ MR. CHAPLINI have no knowledge of the occurrence to which my noble Friend refers. An Order revoking the prohibition against the movement of animals out of Lancashire was issued on the 13th April and came into force on the following day. A copy of it was sent to the Lancashire Railway Companies on the day on which it was issued; but that Order did not affect the movement of cattle from Skipton, in Yorkshire, to Blackburn, in Lancashire, and I think there must have been some mistake on the part of some of the individuals concerned in the matter. I have made careful inquiry, and I cannot ascertain that there has been any failure on the part of the officers of the Board of Agriculture to notify with promptness the issue of the numerous Orders which it has recently been necessary to pass.