§ THE EARL OF DERBYdesired to call the attention of the noble Earl the President of the Council (Earl Granville) to a point in the Order in Council of the 24th March which he could not help thinking had been somewhat misinterpreted, or, at all events, that an effect had been given to it which had hardly been contemplated by us framers. Among various very proper provisions which that Order contained was one providing that no dung, hay, straw, or other articles used on farms, either for the food of animals or for or about any infected beasts, should be removed from an infected place without a licence certifying that they had not been in contact with any diseased animal. No one knew better than the noble Earl the President of the Council that farmers in the immediate neighbourhood of London were absolutely dependent upon being able to send their produce into the London market; but under such an Order as this not only no hides, skins, or so forth might be removed, but no articles of food for animals could be removed, a matter entailing great hardship on these farmers. A case had recently happened to Colonel Talbot which had given rise to very great inconvenience. In that case application was made to a magistrate for the ne- 1866 cessary licence; but the magistrate replied that though he would be very glad to do anything he could, yet he should not feel justified in taking the responsibility of certifying that the articles sought to be removed had not been in contact with any diseased animal. If it were necessary that the magistrate in each case should have to certify from his own knowledge, it would be absolutely impossible that any traffic could go on; the whole traffic of these farms would be absolutely and entirely put an end to. If the food required for the cattle could not be removed from one part of the farm to another, the cattle would be starved. Even milk necessary for consumption would be prevented from coming into the metropolis. He could not help thinking that this had been carried to an extent beyond what was anticipated by the Order in Council, and he believed some alteration would be necessary, or else the whole of the farms in the neighbourhood of the metropolis would be hermetically sealed. He thought it was necessary to give more enlarged powers to the local authorities, their present powers being insufficient.
§ EARL GRANVILLEsaid, it had not been the intention of the Council in making the Order to prevent milk from healthy animals from arriving at its destination. No doubt in all cases of this kind great individual hardship was occasioned for the general good; but he thought there was ground to believe that the magistrate to whom Colonel Talbot applied in this instance was unnecessarily timid. The very essence of the Order was to protect the farmer from the litter and other matters calculated to spread the disease, and the intention of the Privy Council was to allow competent witnesses, such as magistrates living on the spot, to come to a conclusion as to whether it was or was not perfectly safe to allow such things to be removed. After the statement of the noble Earl, he thought there would be no difficulty in Colonel Talbot's obtaining the licence to which he was entitled.
§ THE EARL OF DERBYasked, whether it would be necessary to make a separate application to the local authorities for each ton of hay or each load of mangold wurzel, even if it had not been in the neighbourhood of or about any infected animals? If that should be so the application would be a practical impediment to the farmer in carrying on his business.
§ EARL GRANVILLEsaid, it would clearly be almost impossible to take up the 1867 time of the magistrates with separate applications on account of every single ton of hay or load of produce that had to be removed; but, on the other hand, it would be extremely dangerous to give a licence that would apply to a whole farm.