CATTLE FROM CANADA. 2. Notwithstanding anything in the animals order of 1886, unless and until the board of agriculture otherwise order, chapter 32 (foreign animals not subject to slaughter or quarantine) of the said order shall not apply to cattle brought from Her Majesty's Possessions in North America, and such cattle shall be subject to the provisions of part 1 (slaughter at port of landing) of the fifth schedule to the contagious diseases (animals) act, 1878, and to the provisions of chapter 30 (foreign animals subject to slaughter) of the said animals order of 1886. AMENDMENT OF ARTICLE 151 OF THE ANIMALS ORDER OF 1886. 3. The following provisions of this article shall be read in the place of article 151 of the animals order of 1886, and shall be deemed to be article 151 of that order (namely): CONDITIONS OF LANDING. 151. (1) The landing of foreign animals at a landing place for foreign animals under the provisions of this charter is subject to the following conditions: First. That the vessel in which they are imported has not within twenty-eight days before taking them on board had on board any animal exported or carried coastwise, from a port or place in any country other than Her Majesty's Possessions in North America (provision as to which country is made by the second condition of this article), or Iceland, or New Zealand, or the Channel Islands, or the United States of America (provision as to which country is made by the third condition of this article), or the Isle of Man. Second. That, in the case of the landing of cattle, the vessel in which they are imported has not within twenty-eight days before taking them on board had on board any cattle exported or carried coastwise from a port or place in Her Majesty's Possessions in North America. Third. That, in the case of the landing of cattle or swine, the vessel in which they are imported has not within twenty-one days before taking them on board had on board any cattle or swine exported or carried coastwise from a port or place in the United States of America. Fourth. That the vessel in which they are imported has not, within twenty one days before taking them on board or at any time since taking on board the animals imported, entered any port or place in any country other than Her Majesty's Possessions in North America, or Iceland, or New Zealand, or the Channel Islands, or the United States of America, or the Isle of Man. Fifth. That the animals imported have not, while on board the vessel, been in contact with any animal exported or carried coastwise from any port or place in any country other than Her Majesty's Possessions in North America (provision as to which country is made by the sixth condition of this article), or Iceland, or New Zealand, or the Channel Islands, or the United States of America (provision as to which country is made by the seventh condition of this article), or the Isle of Man. Sixth. That none of the cattle imported have, while on board the vessel, been in contact with any cattle exported or carried coastwise from any port or place in Her Majesty's Possessions in North America. Seventh. That none of the cattle or swine imported have, while on board the vessel, been in contact with any cattle or swine exported or carried coastwise from any port or place in the United States of America. (2) And the animals imported shall not be landed at a landing place for foreign animals unless and until (a) The owner or charterer of the vessel in which they are imported, or his agent in England or Wales or Scotland, has entered into a bond to Her Majesty the Queen in a sum not exceeding one thousand pounds, with or without a surety or sureties, to the satisfaction of the commissioners of customs, conditioned for the observance of the foregoing conditions; and (b) The master of the vessel has on each occasion of importation of foreign animals therein satisfied the commissioners of customs, or their proper officer, by declaration made and signed or otherwise, that all the animals then imported therein are properly imported according to the provisions of this article. INTERPRETATION. 4 In this order terms have the same meaning as in the animals order of 1886. SHORT TITLE. 5. This order may be cited as the animals (amendment) order of 1892, No. 9. COMMENCEMENT. 6. This order shall commence and take effect from and immediately after the twenty-first day of November, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-two. In witness whereof the board of agriculture have hereunto set their official seal this fourth day of November, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-two. [L. S.] T. H. ELLIOTT, 5017 September 14 The animala (amendment) order of 1892, No. 8. Secretary. No. 969.] Mr. Foster to Mr. White. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, November 21, 1892. SIR: I inclose herewith a copy of a letter of the 16th instant from the Secretary of Agriculture, in relation to the restrictions upon the importation of American live cattle into England. The facts stated may be communicated so far as necessary to base upon them the specific inquiry with which Mr. Rusk's letter concludes, as to the status of Canada under the British contagious diseases (animals) act. Protest against treatment of American cattle may be reserved for the present. I am, etc., JOHN W. FOSTER. [Inclosure to No. 969.] Mr. Rusk to Mr. Foster. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, Washington, D. C., November 16, 1892. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 14th instant, inclosing a copy of dispatch No. 812, from the chargè d'affaires at London covering copy of a note addressed by him to the Earl of Rosebery, relative to restrictions upon the importation of American live cattle into England. Concerning this subject I would state that since my former communication to you an inspector has been sent to each one of the farms from which the cattle came that composed the lot shipped from Cincinnati, one of which was alleged by the English inspectors to be affected with contagious pleuro-pneumonia when it was slaughtered at Deptford, on October 12, 1892. All of these farms were found to be free from disease, and it is conclusively shown that there never has been any pleuro-pneumonia in the localities where they are situated. It may be stated with equal positiveness that none of these cattle could by any possibility have been exposed to the contagion of that disease on their way to the vessel which transported them to Great Britain. It should also be added that a specimen of the affected lung of the animal in question has been received from our inspector at London, and carefully examined by the experts of this Department. This specimen presents a small area affected with inflammation, but it has none of the peculiar appearances of pleuro-pneumonia. It is the kind of lesion which might be expected to follow from an injury to the animal or exposure to drafts or changes of temperature on board the ship. Such alterations of the lungs are not uncommon with animals which undergo the discomforts and exposures incident to long journeys by rail and steamship, and there is no doubt that they will be found in a small proportion of American bullocks as long as they are shipped across the ocean. They have also been observed in English cattle shipped to the United States. This being the case, it becomes a serious question if such unimportant and noncontagious affections are to be accepted by the Government of Great Britain as sufficient reason for continuing the restrictions upon the live-cattle trade which have been in operation for so long a period. It simply means that an unjust discrimination is to be enforced for all time against one of the most important branches of our trade with that country. Against such a discrimination this Government has a right to protest in the most vigorous language at its command. It has recently been stated by the press of Great Britain that a cow shipped to that country from Canada was officially pronounced to be affected with contagious pleuro-pneumonia, that over 100 head of cattle exposed to it have been slaughtered, and that an order has been issued requiring all Canadian cattle to be slaughtered on the docks where landed. With these official statements before this Department it becomes necessary to consider what restrictions are to be placed by this Government upon cattle coming into the United States from Canada. By the expenditure of a large sum of money we have eradicated pleuro-pneumonia, and I am positive that the country is now free from the contagion of that disease. It is an imperative duty to protect our herds from it in the future, and if Canada is officially declared by the British Government to be an infected country, there is nothing left for us to do but to enforce quarantine regulations in connection with all shipments of cattle from Canada to the United States. I should like to be informed if the Government of Great Britain has any reasons to offer why the United States should not apply the same measures to Canadian cattle coming to the United States which are enforced when such cattle are landed in England or Scotland. Personally, I am of the opinion that the same error has been made in diagnosing the disease affecting the Canadian cow which was made in connection with the American bullocks, and for that reason I have delayed the quarantine restrictions in the hope that a further investigation would be made and a more liberal policy adopted by the British Government. If such is not to be expected, however, then I see no alternative but to apply the same regulations, and for the same reason, to cattle imported into this country from Great Britain and its dependencies. Requesting that the proper representation of this subject be made to that GovernI have, etc., J. M. RUSK. ment, No. 906.] Mr. Lincoln to Mr. Foster. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: Referring to your instructions numbered 969, of November 21, and to Mr. White's dispatch No. 860, of December 6, 1892, I have the honor to inclose herewith a copy of a note which I have received from Lord Rosebery in reply to that which Mr. White addressed to his lordship on the 5th of December last, relative to the restrictions upon the importation of cattle from the United States to Great Britain, and of which a copy was transmitted to you in his dispatch aforesaid. I have, etc., ROBERT T. LINCOLN. [Inclosure to No. 906.] The Earl of Rosebery to Mr. Lincoln. FOREIGN OFFICE, January 28, 1893. SIR: With reference to my note of the 12th ultimo to Mr. White, I have now the honor to inclose a memorandum containing the observations of the board of agriculture in reply to Mr. White's note of the 5th of December respecting the importation of cattle from the United States into this country. In view of the facts set forth in this memorandum, the board feel it to be their duty to maintain the position which, as it seems to them, has been amply justified by the result of the systematic arrangements recently made for the examination of the lungs of the United States cattle after slaughter; and, with every desire to meet to the fullest possible extent the wishes of the United States Government, they feel that it is at present impossible for them, consistently with their public duty, to permit the free entry of cattle from the United States. E. GREY (For the Earl of Rosebery). I have, etc., [Subinclosure to No. 906.] Memorandum of the board of agriculture. The board have given very full consideration to the various matters to which Mr. White refers in his note of the 5th ultimo. They regret that the experts of the United States Department of Agriculture do not concur in the verdict pronounced by the veterinary advisers of this department with regard to the conclusion to be drawn from the appearance presented by the lungs of the diseased animal landed in this country from the steamship England, on the 7th of October last, but that case is by no means an isolated one; and in view of the fact that, since the 1st of October last, the veterinary advisers of the board have declared in the clearest and most distinct terms that in no fewer than thirty-two cases the lungs of cattle imported from the United States present the characteristic symptoms of contagious pleuropneumonia, the board are of opinion that they are bound, in fulfillment of their statutory obligations, to maintain in regard to cattle arriving from the United States the existing requirement of slaughter at the port of arrival. In the foreign office note to Mr. White of the 30th November last, a list was given of six cargoes landed in this country subsequently to the arrival of the England, among which nine diseased animals were included, and the following further list is submitted of ten cargoes, comprising twenty-two animals, which proved on examination of the lungs to have been affected with pleuro-pneumonia: The suggestion is made in Mr. White's note that the lesions detected are such as might be expected to result from an injury to the animal, or from exposure to drafts or changes of temperature on board ship. In this connection, the board observes that, in all the instances in which pleuro-pneumonia has been discovered in United States animals since the beginning of October, the animal showed no symptoms of illness upon landing. In ordinary cases of inflammation of the lungs, symptoms would be present which could not fail to attract attention, but it was not until the animals bad actually been slaughtered and the lungs examined that any suspicion of the presence of pleuro-pneumonia existed. Mr. White refers to the fact that the cattle landed from the England were traced back to certain farms in Cincinnati, and that all those farms were found free from disease. The board have no knowledge of the precise steps taken to ascertain that this was the case, but as Mr. White has already been made aware semiofficially, the board can not resist the conclusion from personal observation that there is a very considerable risk of error in the identification of a particular set of lungs with a particular hide, and consequently that information derived from a "tag" as to the place of origin of a diseased animal may be entirely fallacious. In any case, however, the board do not consider that the nondiscovery of disease in the reported place of origin would justify them in setting aside the conclusions drawn from actual examination of the lungs. With regard to the fear expressed by Mr. White, that it may be necessary for his Government to enforce quarantine regulations in respect of animals imported into the United States from Canada, in consequence of the recent withdrawal of the privilege hitherto accorded of free entry into this country in the case of cattle arriving from the Dominion, the board point out that Mr. White is not accurate in supposing that Canada has been declared by the board to be a country infected with pleuro-pneumonia. The withdrawal of the privilege in question was rendered necessary by the arrival in this country from Montreal of three animals affected with pleuro-pneumonia, the board being bound to infer from this occurrence that either the laws of Canada relating to the importation and exportation of animals, and to the prevention of the introduction and spreading of disease therein, or the general sanitary condition of animals in that country, were not such as to afford reasonable security against the importation of diseased animals. The Canadian government, however, have stated in the strongest possible terms that pleuro-pneumonia does not exist in Canada; and, if this be the case, the conclusion must be that the disease was brought by some means or other across the Canadian frontier. The only fact that is within the absolute knowledge of this Department is that diseased animals were brought into this country from a Canadian port, and the board are not in a position to formnor are they required to form-any opinion as to the place where the disease originated. Mr. White refers in conclusion to the possible application by his Government of the same regulations with respect to cattle imported into the United States from Great Britain, as well as from its dependencies, as those which are now enforced in this country against cattle arriving at British ports from the United States and Canada. The board have never attempted to minimize the extent to which pleuropneumonia has prevailed in this country, but it may be observed that in the past, when the disease was very much more prevalent in this country than it now is, the imposition of the existing quarantine regulations was considered by the United States Government to afford an adequate measure of security, and it would be difficult to understand on what grounds it can be considered necessary to resort to still stronger measures at a time when pleuro-pneumonia in Great Britain has reached a point much lower than has ever before been recorded. The effective character of the contagious diseases (animals, pleuro-pneumonia) act of 1890 in suppressing this dis ease has been clearly shown. In the last complete year, before the act was passed, there were in the United Kingdom 582 outbreaks; in the year 1891 there were only 326, and in 1892 the number of outbreaks further fell to 126. In view of these figures the board feel that the imposition of stronger protective measures by the United States Government at the present moment can only be attributed to a desire to bring indirect pressure to bear upon the board to take a different view of their statutory duties than the facts above referred to clearly warrant. JANUARY 23, 1893. No. 1049.] Mr. Foster to Mr. Lincoln. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: Referring to your dispatch, No. 897, of the 13th ultimo, relative to the restrictions upon the admission of American cattle into Canada, I inclose for your information a copy of a letter dated the 2d instant, from the Secretary of Agriculture, reviewing in detail the grounds upon which this Government claims that this country is now entirely free from pleuro-pneumonia. You are instructed to communicate the purport of Mr. Rusk's letter to the foreign office. I am, etc., JOHN W. FOSTER. [Inclosure to No. 1049.] Mr. Rusk to Mr. Foster. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 26th ultimo, inclosing a copy of dispatch No. 897 from the United States minister at London relative to the restrictions upon the admission of American cattle into Canada, this dispatch being accompanied by a copy of a note from the Earl of Rosebery on the same subject. Concerning this dispatch and also a former one, No. 857, from the chargé d'affaires ad interim at London, which inclosed a note of the same tenor from the Earl of Rosebery relative to the admission of American cattle into Great Britain, I desire to state in the most positive terms that this Department does not admit the correctness of the opinion of the Canadian minister of agriculture that pleuro-pneumonia exists in New Jersey, nor the conclusion of the veterinary officers of the board of agriculture that animals affected with this disease have been found among cattle shipped from |