§ EARL FORTESCUE, in calling attention to the outbreak of Cattle Plague in Essex and Yorkshire, and asking the Lord President what steps have been taken to prevent the spread of the disease, said, that the importation of live cattle was a trade which had sprung up in our own time and was one of the results of the adoption of the principle of free trade. Up to the passing of Sir Robert Peel's free-trade measures this country was free from the formidable cattle diseases which were known in other countries—one of which was known 808 as the rinderpest. That disease in former years was not known in England, but was confined to the eastern parts of Europe. But the great facilities for conveyance by railway had brought the disease nearer and nearer, until finally it was introduced into this country. Now, the whole supply of live cattle and sheep to this country was very small in comparison with the immense numbers of the herds and flocks which were reared and kept in it. The last Return—that for 1875—showed that the live cattle in the United Kingdom were about 6,000,000, sheep 30,000,000, and pigs 2,000,000; while only 169,000 oxen and bulls, 58,000 cows, 34,000 sheep, 44,000 calves, and 43,000 pigs, in round numbers, were imported in 1876; so that the whole of those imported were as to cattle about one 24th part of those in this country, as to sheep about one 30th, and as to pigs about one 50th. He believed that the importation of live cattle and pigs, and certainly sheep, was, so far as they were for the purpose of slaughtering in this country, retrograding rather than increasing, for he found that the Returns for last year showed several thousands fewer than in 1875; while, on the other hand, the importation of meat was constantly and largely increasing. His own opinion was that the requests of the joint deputation of members of the Farmers' Club and of the Central Chamber of Agriculture to the Privy Council for greater protection, for foreign animals to be allowed to be landed at specified ports and not removed alive but slaughtered at the places of debarkation, ought to have been granted. Such were the main requirements which were laid before the Lord President by those bodies in June last, and to which the noble Duke returned an elaborate answer. The result proved that what was done inadequately met the necessities of the case. The recent discussions at the Central Chamber of Agriculture and Farmers Club showed that the reply of the noble Duke was considered by the farmers of England most unsatisfactory. But further, after reference to the present importation of meat from America, the Resolution passed at that meeting was that, in view of the altered circumstances of the times, it was very desirable that the slaughtering should take place at the ports of embarkation, and that only 809 those animals should be excepted which were intended for store stock, and entered as such, and that these should be subjected to strict quarantine at the port of debarkation. His own belief was that without the slaughtering on the other side of the Channel of all animals intended for immediate conversion into meat, the very valuable flocks and herds in this country would be very inadequately protected against disease. He had been an earnest free-trader long before any of the present and many of the late Government became converted to free trade; but, he contended, that while fully supporting the principles of free trade, and admitting that it might be requisite to allow a certain quantity of store stock to be imported into this country, it was desirable from many points of view that no fat animals should come over for immediate slaughter here, but that they should be killed abroad and come here as meat. In connection with this subject there was another question which he was very earnest their Lordships should consider—and that was the cruelty inflicted upon the animals under the present system. Last year he supported the Bill to restrict the practice of vivisection; but the evils prevented by the Act were small as compared with the sufferings of animals which were imported from the Continent. If any of their Lordships had had the misfortune, as he himself had, to witness a debarkation of stock, and especially of fat stock, they would beyond question have been satisfied that the interests of humanity would be immensely promoted by the abolition of a process which inevitably entailed a dreadful amount of suffering on the poor animals. As many of their Lordships must be aware, when there was stormy weather at sea the hatches of the ships in which stock was being conveyed here had to be closed; and at the end of the voyage a number of animals were frequently found to have been suffocated. Where suffocation had not taken place, the animals were found to have suffered severely; and he could not believe that in the state in which they must necessarily be after a stormy passage they could be very desirable food for consumption in England. Now, when they found that dead meat could be imported so successfully from across the Atlantic, he considered that there could be no difficulty 810 in bringing such meat over from Hamburgh, Holland, or France. For his own part, he should rather eat meat so shipped than the Meat of animals whose physical condition had been impaired by being tossed about in the hold of a vessel at sea. Therefore, for the protection of their own herds and flecks, and on the ground that meat from bruised and fevered animals could not be in a good state to eat, it was highly desirable, he argued, that all animals, except those for store stock, should be prohibited from coming alive into this country. He had been told that in one English county alone the loss of property, in the shape of cattle, which had taken place in consequence of cattle disease had amounted to at least £2,000,000 sterling. If that were the case, it would surely be sound political economy, as a simple matter of insurance, to take the precautions which he had indicated. There was another consideration to be taken into account—namely, that in consequence of the existence of this disease the markets of Australia and other countries would be closed against the importations of stock from this country, and so our very profitable export trade of animals, few in number but very high in price, would be seriously interfered with. There had been an outbreak of the disease in the Metropolitan district and another at Hull, and he hoped that the noble Duke would listen to the appeal made by the Central Chamber of Agriculture. He would like to add to his Question on the Paper this—Whether any further steps were intended to be taken by the Government with a view not only of meeting the present outbreak of cattle plague, but of preventing, so far as precautions could be carried out, the importation of it into this country hereafter?
THE DUKE OF RICHMOND AND GORDONI am not at all surprised at the anxiety manifested by the noble Earl (Earl Fortescue) to get information upon the subject-matter of the Question he has addressed to me. It is of such immense importance, and the consequences of this disastrous disease on a former occasion were so dreadful both to the producers and consumers of meat in this country, that it is astonishing to me that similar Questions should not have been put to me earlier in the Session. But while I have no doubt that not one 811 only but that many of your Lordships desire to hear some statement on behalf of the Government in reference to it, the introduction of it comes very appropriately from the noble Earl, who holds the honourable position of President of the Central Chamber of Agriculture, which includes among its members some of the most eminent agriculturalists in the Kingdom. Reading only the Question on the Paper, I was not prepared to hoar the arguments and the speech of the noble Earl on this occasion as to the prevention of the cattle plague and the origin of its introduction into this country. I think that the noble Earl is not quite correct in one of his statements—that it is only since the year 1846 that animals have been allowed to be imported free into this country, and he will pardon me for correcting him on this point. From 1833 to 1842 there was strict prohibition; from 1842 to 1846 they were admitted on payment of a small duty; and from 1846 to this time they have been admitted free from duty, but, as everyone knows, under certain regulations. I hope the noble Earl will also pardon me if I venture to differ from his statement that it is only since 1844 that the disease known as the rinderpest first appeared in this country. I believe that many years ago there was a complaint which affected the live stock of this country, which if not absolutely the same as the rinderpest was very like it. The noble Earl has referred to an important document which I have received from the Central Chamber of Agriculture. One suggestion made in that document is that all animals shall be slaughtered at the port of debarkation; but the noble Earl proceeded to indicate his opinion that that will not be sufficient—in fact, he would practically prevent the importation of all stock into this country.
§ EARL FORTESCUENo, not all; fat stock.
THE DUKE OF RICHMOND AND GORDONSo far as I have been able to ascertain up to the present time the great difficulty in this matter has been to distinguish between fat stock and store stock; and to say that we should prevent the introduction of fat stock—that we should only allow animals to come in as store stock—is to declare that a thing should be done which it would be almost impossible, if not quite impossible, to do. The noble Earl is a Freetrader; but if 812 such a proposal as that were carried out, it would really be going back to the days of protection—days, however, which I am not here at the present moment to discuss. It is proposed that all animals shall be slaughtered at the port of embarkation; and the noble Earl tells us that slaughter at the place of debarkation will not satisfy him; and then he states that the importation of American meat has solved the difficulty, and that we ought to take measures to insure that all meat, of whatever character, intended for food in this country should be imported in a similar manner. I am far from saying that that would not be advantageous; but up to this time there has not been sufficient experience in respect to the trade between this country and America as to the manner in which the supplies will be brought forward to enable us to say that the experiment has been completely successful. The noble Earl in the course of his remarks alluded to the importation of meat from France. Now there is nothing to prevent France from doing that, and France is a great country for the rearing of stock, and could provide this country with a quantity of dead meat; and certainly as the sea passage need not exceed two hours there is nothing to prevent France from following in the course adopted in America. What I desire now to do is to give a short history of the recent outbreak of cattle plague. The noble Earl says that if all traffic in live animals had been prevented the plague would not have been introduced into England. But there is this remarkable circumstance on record which contradicts that statement. The noble Earl is aware that all animals from this country were excluded from Ireland at the time of the cattle plague. Nevertheless, it did break out in that country. Every endeavour was made to find out how it got into Ireland, but unsuccessfully. The first outbreak this year was on the 15th of January. There was a paragraph in The Times stating that the cattle plague had broken out in Germany; and without waiting for any official confirmation of that report I telegraphed to the inspectors at the various ports to be especially careful in regard to the stock which came under their inspection from abroad. The same evening a cargo of cattle arrived by the ship Castor at Deptford from Hamburg, and unfortunately the 813 plague was discovered amongst that cargo. One animal had died on the voyage, and when the ship was inspected other animals were found to be affected by the disease. On the following day I directed all the rules laid down by the Privy Council to be applied and put into operation at once; and the whole of the animals were slaughtered and their carcases destroyed, and all the men who took part in the work had their clothes disinfected before leaving the premises in which it took place. I want the House and the country to know exactly what steps were taken to prevent this disastrous disease spreading over the country. On the same day an Order in Council was passed which scheduled sheep and goats coming from Germany, and they had to be slaughtered at the port of debarkation. I issued a Circular to all the local authorities, informing them that the cattle plague had broken out at Hamburg, that an infected cargo had been landed at the port of London, and directing them to examine stock and to make inquiries, and that all doubtful cases should be dealt with without delay. Having caused all the animals brought by the Castor to be slaughtered, I took upon myself—somewhat exceeding, perhaps, my powers under the Act—to request the authorities to detain that vessel until it was thoroughly disinfected. I instructed the Inspector at Deptford to see that the disinfection had taken place; and I induced the owners of the vessel to consent that for the space of one month they would not carry cattle on beard. Then information reached us that sheep and goats might come to this country from Germany through Belgium and France, and that caused me to take another step—namely, to issue an Order in Council scheduling sheep and goats from those countries. Further information having reached my Department that the cattle disease was spreading in Germany, an Order in Council was issued on the 27th January altogether prohibiting the landing of cattle, hides, or meat from Germany, France, and Belgium. These precautions were taken in consequence of the prevalence of cattle plague in foreign countries. Up to that time it was done only by way of caution, because we had no intimation that any cattle plague had appeared in this country except at Deptford. On the 30th January a suspicious case occurred in a 814 cowshed at Limehouse, and our Inspector reported to us that it was cattle plague. All the animals in the same shed were slaughtered and their carcases destroyed the same night. A communication was made to the Metropolitan Board of Works, from whom we have received every possible assistance. A cordon was drawn round London on the 31st January, and no animals are allowed to go outside the metropolitan district. That was necessary because of a market which was to be held next day, in order to prevent the possibility of affected animals being taken to any part of the country. On the 1st February I communicated with the Commissioners of Police and the railway authorities and informed them of the Order in Council, so that they should take the greatest precautions to prevent the disease spreading. Then on the 2nd February another Order in Council was passed to prevent any fairs and markets within the district being held except by special licence. On the 3rd February there was an outbreak at Poplar and another at Bow, and then I sent Inspectors to visit all the dairies at Bow, and I sent another Circular to all the local authorities throughout the country stating that the cattle plague was spreading in the Metropolis, and directing them to examine all the stock in their districts, so that in case of any outbreak they might act promptly. There were further outbreaks at Poplar, Millwall, and Blackwall. On the 8th February we heard that a disease had appeared at a place near the frontier of the Netherlands, and though we know that the Government of that country do their utmost to protect their frontier, still we thought it our duty to issue an Order in Council placing the Netherlands in the list of scheduled countries, and prohibiting the importation of cattle, sheep, or goats from that country except for the purpose of immediate slaughter. The disease spread to Hackney Wick, and then we heard of it on the 9th of February at Stratford, outside the metropolitan district. It spread in a very small way, but still it did spread. I then thought it right to issue an Order in Council giving local authorities power to regulate the holding of fairs and markets and the movement of cattle in their districts. We thought it better that they should have that power and act for themselves, as they would best 815 know the requirements of the localities, and time would be saved by enabling them to act with promptitude in each case instead of having to communicate with the Privy Council Office in London. To prevent the disease spreading in Essex the local authorities availed themselves of the power so conferred, and in four petty sessional divisions prohibited the movement of all cattle except by special licence. Since the outbreak at Limehouse all the cowsheds had been examined, and I hope the disease has been confined to a certain area. I believe the Orders in Council which have been issued have been sufficient to enable the local authorities to act with promptitude, and I am in hopes that as regards the Metropolis the disease has been or will be stamped out. Unfortunately, however, on the 17th February a case broke out at Hull. We despatched an Inspector to that place, and pointed out that cattle should not be allowed to go into the country, and the local authorities have adopted the advice of our Inspector; but the disease did not stop with one case, as on the 20th or 21st of February other cases were reported from the same locality. Great alarm arose there, and no wonder, as that was the county in which the disease was so disastrous on a former occasion. I took upon myself, therefore, to advise that an Order in Council should be passed at once stopping all the fairs and markets and all movements of cattle in the East Riding of Yorkshire. I took upon myself that responsibility without waiting for the local authorities to do so, not from any distrust of those authorities, but because a large fair was to be held next day in York, and consequently, unless we acted it could not be stopped, as the local authorities would not have had time to do so. This then, my Lords, is what has taken place in the Metropolis and at Hull. Every precaution which could be taken has been taken to prevent the spread of the disease. We have been assisted by one of the most eminent veterinary surgeons in this country, Professor Brown; and we have also been greatly assisted by the Inspectors of the Privy Council—Messrs. Cope, Courtenay, Ricketts, and Captain Tennant—one and all have given their best energies in carrying out our Orders, and in giving information to the various local authorities throughout the country. There- 816 fore, in summing up this matter, I will point out the present state of affairs. It is this. From Belgium, Germany, and Russia the importation of cattle is prohibited, and sheep and goats from thence must be slaughtered at the port of debarkation. From the Netherlands and France all animals must be slaughtered at the port of embarkation. Therefore the only countries, from the extreme North to the South of Europe, from which cattle can be admitted at this moment—then to be detained for the space of 12 hours to be inspected, and, if free from disease, to be admitted into the country districts—are Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, and Portugal:—and it is a remarkable fact that in none of those countries has cattle plague been ever known to exist. Therefore no arrivals can come to this country at present from countries in which cattle plague is known to exist. I hope your Lordships think that every possible precaution has been taken, and promptly taken, in dealing with this most disastrous plague, and that the Department over which I have the honour to preside does not go to sleep, but is always ready to take the most prompt and most effective measures in these emergencies.
THE EARL OF KIMBERLEYsaid, in reference to the disease being in Ireland on a former occasion, when he was Lord Lieutenant, that though it was not possible to trace the manner of its introduction, and though it was not introduced there by the importation of any cattle, yet the supposition was that it was taken across by drovers who passed from one country to the other; and who, having been to the markets in England, carried the disease back with them. It was well known that there was a large exportation of cattle from Ireland to this country. He had heard with much satisfaction the statement of the noble Duke of the active measures taken to prevent the spread of the cattle plague in this country, and he hoped that they would be as successful as the measures adopted in Ireland some years ago, for though the plague broke out in three different places it was prevented from progressing beyond them.
§ House adjourned at Seven o'clock, till To-morrow, half past Ten o'clock.