§ * MR. J. M. WHITE (Forfar)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Agriculture—(1) whether he will lay upon the Table the official Reports of the alleged recent cases of pleuro-pneumonia 554 in two Canadian cattle recently landed at Deptford; (2) whether he is aware that a meeting was held in Glasgow on Friday last, at which Principal Williams, of the New Veterinary College, Edinburgh, exhibited limelight views of sections of the lungs of cattle, showing the difference between healthy lungs and those affected by contagious pleuro-pneumonia and by bronchial pneumonia, and demonstrated that the lungs of suspected Canadian cattle were different in appearance from the diseased sections thrown on the screen; and (3) whether, in view of the conflict of the opinions of the Canadian and British experts with those of the exports of the Board of Agriculture, and in view of the assertion of the Dominion Government that contagious pleuro-pneumonia has never been known, and cannot be found, or any trace of it discovered in any part of the Dominion, he will accept the invitation of the Dominion Government to send one or more veterinarians to Canada at its expense to elucidate the facts?
§ * MR. WALTER LONGThe report made to me by the Chief Veterinary Officer of my Department is a very short one, and could not conveniently be presented as a separate Parliamentary Paper. I shall, however, be glad to supply the hon. Member with a copy, and to allow him to make such use of it as he thinks desirable. In reply to the other questions of the hon. Member, I would say that I have seen a report of the meeting to which he refers, and that I am aware of the views which Principal Williams holds on the subject. The conclusions at which my predecessor arrived, after hearing much scientific evidence on both sides, appear to me, however, to be fully justified. It does not seem to me to be likely that the despatch of veterinary surgeons to Canada, as suggested, would be of assistance, my action being based upon the actual detection of disease in the cattle landed in this country.
§ * MR. WHITEasked whether, in view of the fact that the biological science resulted largely from practical experiment, the right hon. Gentleman was prepared to carry out experiments in regard to this matter when suspected cattle were landed?
§ * MR. WALTER LONGsaid, that he did not think there was necessity for any experiments. The officers of the Board of Agriculture were perfectly satisfied that the conclusions they had arrived at were correct, and having confidence in them he did not think that the Department was called upon to make further experiments in this particular class of cattle disease.
§ MR. D. KILBRIDEasked whether it was not quite possible that the disease might be developed in the cattle in the course of transit from Canada to Great Britain?
§ * MR. WALTER LONGsaid, that cattle might be shipped from Canada showing no sign of the disease, which might develop on the passage to this country, but it would be discovered on their being landed here. The duty of the Government was simply to see that no diseased cattle were lauded in this country.