§ MR. MYERS (Winchester)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Agriculture whether he has received a copy of a Resolution passed in the month of 634 May last by the Hants County Council praying for a relaxation of the muzzling order within the county of Hants; and whether, as there has been no case of rabies in that county for over six months, he will consider the advisability of relaxing the Order, at least in the inner portions of the county?
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE (Mr. W. H. LONG,) Liverpool, West DerbyI have received the Resolution to which my honourable Friend refers, but I regret that at present I am not in a position to give effect to it. A serious case of the disease occurred at Chichester some three weeks ago, the origin of which could not be traced, and there are other indications to show that, although the position has very greatly improved, the disease still lingers in the home counties area. I am naturally very anxious to avoid the necessity of re-imposing any of the Muzzling Orders now in force when once they have been withdrawn, and under existing circumstances, there must be a great danger that this would be the case, so far as East Hampshire is concerned.