§ MAJOR RASCHI beg to ask the President of the Board of Agriculture whether his attention has been called to the resolution passed by the Contagious Diseases Animals Act Committee of the Essex County Council with reference to the abolition of compensation for swine fever; and if he will act according to their recommendation.
§ *THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE (Mr. LONG,) Liverpool, West DerbyI have received the resolution to which my hon. and gallant friend refers, but I regret that I am unable to concur in the opinion expressed therein. It is doubtless necessary that the power we possess to slaughter swine in conformity with the provisions of the Diseases of Animals Acts should be exercised with discretion and due regard to the circumstances and requirements of each case, but Parliament itself has prescribed that whenever we do exercise that power, compensation according to certain prescribed rates shall be paid, and I could not propose that any change in the law in this respect should be made.