§ MR. MANSFIELDI beg to ask the President of the Board of Agriculture whether he is aware that the local authorities do not agree that the order for isolating the pigs in Abingdon Market was given on the 13th May, that the inspector, Mr. Anderson, frequently wired to the Board as late as 15th May to get the order, and that Mr. Elliott admitted in his letter that the order for isolation was given on 16th May, although the police did not receive the actual order to isolate till 18th May; and, under these circumstances, and as the pigs were taken from the owners and kept for two and a half months, during which time all but eight of them have died, will he agree to pay compensation as though they had been slaughtered.
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE (Mr. HANBURY, Preston)I stated that the order came into force on the 13th. It was of course given long before, as it is a standing instruction to all local authorities which comes into force directly an outbreak occurs. It is not the fact that the Board's inspector telegraphed to get the order either on May 15th or any earlier or any subsequent day. It is not the fact that the Secretary to the Board admitted that the order for isolation was given on 16th May. It is not the fact that the police did not receive the order till 18th May. The police superintendent is also the inspector of the local authority, and it was his duty to isolate, and he did isolate, the swine under the Swine Fever Order on May 13th.