IRISH CATTLE TRADE. (Hansard, 2 April 1914)

§ Mr. WEDGWOOD BENN
I beg to move, "That this House do now adjourn."

§ Mr. DUFFY
I assure the right hon. Gentleman that nothing but the interests of my constituents would induce me at this late hour to prolong the sitting, but I have to call attention to a matter in which the powers of his Department are being exercised at the present time. It is the fact that foot-and-mouth disease exists in certain parts of Ireland, and so anxious are we to assist the right hon. Gentleman in stamping out the disease that none of us are prepared to criticise the conduct of his Department when they confine themselves to endeavours to schedule areas and streets where the disease is known to exist; but it is quite a different matter when, without scientific warrant they issue a wholesale Order prohibiting the farmers in the South and West of Ireland from disposing of their stock. Such an Order means the positive ruin of the farmers and merchants who happen to live within the prescribed area, and I protest against the unfair boundary line drawn recently by the right hon. Gentleman. Since the Order was issued on 27th March it has inflicted enormous loss on my Constituents. The important fair of Loughrea, advertised for 27th March, was rendered absolutely abortive by that Order. The April fair is the most important one of the year, and, without a day's notice, without a single bit of warning to the people to prohibit the fair, for that is what the Order really meant in its effect, and to destroy the whole of the cattle trade at a time when the trade of store cattle was at its height in a county absolutely free from disease for thirty years is absolutely incomprehensible. Having destroyed the Loughrea, Fair, the Department now propose to scourge the entire county of Galway by prohibiting the fairs at Athenry and Ballinasloe. I can assure the right hon. Gentleman that if he retains the line drawn from Drogheda to Oranmore he will ruin absolutely the farming industry and all other industries that centre round the county of Galway.
May I submit to the right hon. Gentleman three considerations which may, and should, induce the Department to shift the line of demarcation. The first is the scarcity of fodder in Galway. At this time of the year the fodder is absolutely used 1498 up: of grass there is none, as owing to the size of the holdings the supply of hay and straw is always timed to last the farmers up to the spring fairs. All the feeding stuffs at this moment are practically exhausted in the county of Galway The second consideration is the imperative necessity of the farmers disposing of their stock at the present time. First, they want to meet the special obligations that press upon them at this time, and there is a special necessity to sell the stock in order to provide, themselves with hay for the coming year. Owing to the beneficent legislation of recent years, a great majority of the farmers have had their holdings increased, and, in order to work the farms profitably, they were obliged to raise money in every manner possible. They had to dispose of their stock in the early days of April, so, as to have the meadows free to produce hay for the coming year. If the right hon. Gentleman persists in preventing these unfortunate people selling their stock in the coming fortnight they will have no hay on their farms, and they will have no money to discharge the obligations which specially press upon them at this time of the year, and which they are accustomed to incur at this period when they enter into arrangements for the supply of manures. The third consideration is that the overwhelming number of farmers who have stock to dispose of are small farmers who in recent years have had their farms increased in size on the strength of that security they have raised money at the banks, and if you prevent them now realising their stock you strike a deadly blow at the credit of the farmers all over the country. I am sorry to say the first to suffer from that would, in my opinion, be the Land Commission. I hope the right hon. Gentleman will consider these points. They are of supreme importance, not only to the county of Galway, but to all the towns along the entire route. I hope he will be in a position to make an announcement which will bring relief to all in the neighbouhood of Athenry and Ballinasloe.

§ Mr. T. W. RUSSELL (Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture, Ireland)
The House would hardly gather from the hon. Member who has just spoken that the act of which I have been guilty has been that I have freed one-half of Ireland and enabled it to export stock which could not be sent out of Ireland before I made the Order. That is really what the Depart- 1499 ment has done. The House would never have gathered that such an operation had been performed. Half of Ireland has been made free, by drawing that line, to export stock to Manchester, Birkenhead and Glasgow. The only question that arises is whether the line has been properly drawn. I think the House will agree that in drawing it very great difficulties arise, no matter how you draw it. Everyone on the wrong side of the line complains and objects, and says he is ruined. The line has been drawn with three things in view. In the first place, we have desired to bring as many districts above the line, that is, into the free district, as it was possible to do. We had to take into account the scheduled districts, that is to say, the districts scheduled for the disease. We have to keep the line as far from those districts as it is possible to keep it. Secondly, the line had to be drawn with a view to the possibility, first of all, of police guardianship, because there is no use in drawing a line if the police cannot guard it. The line was drawn in consultation with the police. The third thing is that we had to draw the line with a view to the capacity of the veterinary staff of the Department to deal with the subject and the circumstances arising out of it. I am far from saying that the line, as drawn, was a perfect line. I have met a large deputation to-day of Irish Members, and I have been in constant communication with my officers in Dublin since then. So far as we have gone, I have been able to bring some relief to the districts which the hon. Member (Mr. Duffy) represents. The line runs right across the country from Oranmore in the west to Drogheda in the east. and all above the line, that is, northward of the line, is free, and stock can be sent from the ports of Belfast, Londonderry, Dundalk, and Sligo.

§ Mr. FIELD
To be killed.

§ Mr. RUSSELL
Fat cattle to be slaughtered within ninety-six hours of their arrival. I must say that when the line was drawn, very great difficulties arose. Towns were divided into two. I find that half of Athenry is on one side of the line and half on the other. I believe that Ballinasloe, which is the centre of a great fair, is in the same difficult position. What I have arranged to-day—of course, it will have to be confirmed by my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Agriculture here—is to alter the line, 1500 bringing it from the Shannon, at Athlone, round by Loughrea on to Athenry. That will get rid of the difficulties of Athenry, the difficulties of Loughrea, and the difficulties of Athlone. That will show hon. Members that we have no pleasure in putting people to inconvenience, and that we are anxious to get a condition of affairs that will give as little trouble as possible. Mullingar is the last town of importance on that straight line. We have arranged with the local authorities for the holding of the two fairs. They profess to be perfectly satisfied with that arrangement and, of course, that arrangement will stand. That does away with the objection so far as the four towns on the line are concerned. I do not know that more could have been done at present. There are other proposals which my officers are engaged in examining now, and I hope to come to terms with hon. Members on that also. The second matter that arises is the opening of ports. We have opened four of the principal ports, and there is a demand, and I think a tolerable reason for the demand, that ports such as Ballina, Westport, Newry, and Coleraine should be opened. Coleraine will be opened at once, which will give satisfaction to hon. Members opposite. Our difficulty about the ports has been that our whole veterinary staff has been grappling with this disease. None of these ports are large, and we thought that it was more important to have the staff fighting the disease where it exists than to open ports which are very important locally, but which are not large ports for the export of cattle. I quite agree that we ought not to disrupt the general trade any more than we can help, and I shall in the course of a few days be able, I think, to announce that Coleraine, Westport, and Ballina will be opened, and in due course Newry.
I now come to Drogheda. There are difficulties about Drogheda which do not exist anywhere else. Drogheda is in a very awkward position, and the line comes in very curiously there, because at present the cattle are absolutely driven down to Drogheda to the railway station on the way to Dundalk, and they pass the very ship which Drogheda people say they ought to take. The real reason why Drogheda has been closed is this: Eight of the cows which have carried the infection all through the country—and we have not received from the people of the country 1501 the assistance that we ought to have got in tracing and dealing with these cows—have been traced to Drogheda and found in Drogheda. It was quite impossible for the Department to open the port of Drogheda with such a state of affairs as that existing. At present I am unable to give any assurance until, at all events, some days have elapsed when the period of incubation is finally worked out as to the port of Drogheda. But what I really want to impress upon hon. Members is this: This is a very serious outbreak of disease. We have had more than fifty cases in the county of Cork. They are not only serious cases, but it is the most virulent type of disease that there has ever been in Ireland. We have had twelve or thirteen cases in Tipperary, and it is spreading in Tipperary now. There were three yesterday. We have had three cases in Kildare, and, worst of all, we have now had a case in county Dublin. I appeal to Hon. Members not to tie our hands in dealing with this great peril, because it is a great peril. Hon. Members may take it for granted that the Department is really seriously exercised about this matter. We are very anxious to remove the restrictions. Our first duty is to 1502 stamp out the disease, and I trust hon. Members will not press me unduly. Even to-day we have done a good deal of what hon. Members have asked, and whatever remains, if it can be done with safety, will be done as soon as possible.

§ Mr. GINNELL
The right hon. Gentleman began his remarks with something in the nature of a complaint that anything should be said in this matter. He has taken considerable time to elaborate his scheme for drawing a line across Ireland, but he failed utterly to explain what sort of line he draws with reference to the town of Mullingar. He may take it from me that the people of Westmeath are wholly dissatisfied with his line. Mullingar stands some fifty miles from the nearest case of disease this year. On what theory does he include Mullingar or any part whatever of Westmeath in the restricted area beyond the limit of fifteen miles?