§ VISCOUNT WOLMER (Edinburgh, W.)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Agriculture whether he is aware that much inconvenience has been caused by the delay in the publication of the Report of the Departmental Committee Which was appointed more than two years ago to inquire into the question of tuberculosis; and whether he can inform the House when that Report may be expected?
§ DR. FARQUHARSON (Aberdeenshire, W.)May I ask whether the evidence taken before that Committee will be printed and circulated, and whether the 240 House will have an opportunity of discussing it?
§ *MR.H.H. FOWLERThe Report of the Departmental Committee on Tuberculosis was issued in 1888. The Royal Commission which was appointed in 1890 has not yet reported. I have communicated with the Commission, and the reply which I have received is that the Commission have not yet completed their inquiries, and that at present they are unable to state when their Report will be made.
MR. FIELDI beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether it is intended, pending the Report of the Tuberculosis Commission, to provide such compensation for animals suffering from tuberculosis and destroyed as already allowed under similar circumstances under the provisions of "The Cattle Diseases (Animals) Act, 1878"?
§ MR. H. GARDNERAs the hon. Member is aware, tuberculosis is not one of the diseases to which the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Acts apply. If, therefore, an animal suffering from tuberculosis is destroyed, it is, I presume, in pursuance of the provisions of the Public Health Acts, and on the ground that the animal is unwholesome or unfit for the food of man. There is no provision of the law which would enable me to provide for the payment of compensation under such circumstances, nor could I undertake to extend any of the provisions of the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Acts to the disease in question pending the Report of the Royal Commission.