The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1865-08-29 00:00:00

THE CATTLE DD3ELSE.
A (*linty meeting was convened at the Shirehall, on
Saturday defteineet Lift, to consider the best means
to he adepted to avert Cr control the "cattle plague."
There wit/tibial, attendanse of otook-owners and others
interested in the question, amongst whom we noticed t
The High Sheriff (Mr. J. Brymer) in the chair, Lord
Dig, the Hon. W. H. B. Portman, M.P., MnJ.
Meyer, M.P., Mr. W. Swetridge, Mr. T. Baser, Ilk
O. W. Farm, Lient.-Coloael Steward, Mr. E. 14
Kindecsley, Mr. F. C. Menai' (ender sheriff), Mr.
" F. Hodges, Mr. G. J. Wood (President ot the Dwelt
Farmers' Club), Mr. J. Pope, Mr. G. J. Andiewc, Mit
H. Look, Mr. R. A. Damen, Mr. E. Pope, Mr. W.
Sprake, Mr. G. Warry, Mr. Wallace Pyte, the Rev. J.
Maher, Mr, Pitfield, Mr. A. Banister, Rev. H. Mottle,
Mr. W. Foot, Dr. Aldridge (the Mayor of
_

Dorchester), 1

Of any animal being infected, an Inspeetdr having
power to order its immediate destruction shonld be
be gilled in, and two practical men bating assemol the
value toe owner should receive lids. Or ;Ohs., or such
Proportion as might be greed upon for the artielep of
aamoiation. He considered that email Meta ntoilld be
be much more manageable, tl% *.toti be sorry (,r 4,etn
to think that he had &inlet* oppose " tooth and n ,
the propreition liuhmitted to them Its had %headed to
get information on the various points he had mooted.
If a majority of the meeting were in favour of `the
formation of a county association he should: have no
objection to subscribe to itifttorts`,tut at the same hate
the, beet means
he Wight& enunty'aMocistien 411 VI not
of preventing the spreading of thediseetaremnaget their
cattle. Lord Doy..utentioned the ellidr day that in
Anatria, there Was a compulsory sy.tem inetivence for
cattle. He believed that the lethal o! the so* ety Were
far more atringont than they would like to stthnilt Im;
that the inspectors laid down Arbitrary tegtVationa for
the management anti feeding of animate while in hiteltk,
and any member not complying with thern wan not OW
titled to receive any benefit froth the socierr. Hit
thought that plan was ont of the one-AMC li. lilngland.
He could not refrain from expres,ing hit opinion that
each poor la* ettloit ehduld feint a society within
, itself for the puilie4 of preventing the disea.e, or
thould form a district in which to take the best
measure, to parent its spread, and to make outupensa-
tion to thove who 'offered by it.
Mr. H. C. GOODDEN made some remarks in favour of
taking the poor lair areas as separate distriots for
dealing with the threatened rititation.
Mr. G. J. WOOD maid that the provisional committee
appointed at the meeting on the previous Saturday
when they met two hours azo felt that they had two
great objects in view, the first being to put thentselt
right with the county, in,,ainneh as a county meeting
was called, and it appeared to them upon due tit-littera.
tion that they Gould do no less than frame a VesOlti'l,n
of the kind now proposed f r the formation of a cutinty
assocation. Stich a a .ciat on in heel wottld scarcely
be • nullity. because there were important Measures that
would have to be transacted, and whit% it ellemed to
them could not be parformcd without the appointment
of & committee 3c anb.contlidtte by the astoeiation.
Such a roupoAttott ho understood was to come
before %heel that day. Another object they had in
vow wan the formation a mutual assurance company
Which was also to be submitted to the ineet'ng. It
'neared to them that the ext,4enoe of the two inritu-
, although Atter might be kept distinot, would, in
a great measure, be oorinected, and certainly have
reference to the same great ot.ject. A county &stools.-
tion, they thought, shottld be formed, without which,
they could imaroely hope to obtain or keep the material
and motai amistenee and influents- of the nobility and
gentry of the (aunty. (Appian-el. Anybody Who
*mai take the trouble to go into the matter *meld
find that a mutual a-suranoe society properly forihoi
and aoomaaty aitsorlaion for preventing be Mitigating
the calamity oh the cattle plague were dittit.et fioni
each other. A mntital assetranee tompiny was very
important. Al hough the association might be oared
county a•sociation, they *mild .ee by the proposi ions
to be aithmitted to them, that it was intended it /Mould
work losdly, anti refer especially to the poor law
unions of the county._ _

Mr. J. FLOT ER, M..P., said he thonght that Mr. Wood
had an,wered ROlll9 of the he would not mill them
objections raised by his hon. ordleagne, Me, Portmau
and Mr. Ferrer, but some of th 14. 111111111 i which had
been presented for their consideration on that important
question, which IA °mild Assure them was fully di,-
pieced by the provisional committee when
they met to t ante the resolntions, vit., whether i
the ueociation should be formed at oboe for
the eonnty or merely for different distrinta, either
taking separa.e onions or forming two or three
unions into a distrieS, and to making district assoche
,ions instead of ore ter the whole *minty. One reason
why they *might a oounty association for general
purpout preferable writ that they wished to induce
action so far as they could throughout the whole county.
(Rear, hear.) If anything were to be done towards
prevention or mitigation of this disuse it mast be by
means almost, he might say, universal, and at any rate, ,
very generally adopted. It would be of no avail for
one part of the county to toke motion and another part
to do nothing at all. There touhl be no question that
however, whenever, or whereVer the disease originated,
it did spread with greet tatitity end rapidity; therefore,
if one part was evaded and another left unprotected,
no good would result, That was one lesson why they
approved of a county association. Another oonsidera.
non wu this, Aid it was se-11 known to all who were
ligesent that some anion districts were comparatively
pear and others much more wealthy; and in a
Integer, if it should be an, of great suffering and
nation, the generous hand of the *aunty should
, c rallpy.
parts.openeclAp
alleapnl...des.r icia,lyit: n
o those
o,
ii
'Stu tipeestions of the association, he fully concurred
4ftskfiesteke of his hon, colleague and Mr. Purer.
practical measures were adopted they could
be, no doubt, better eartfed into effect in a limited
locality amongst neighbours who were well known to
each other. Of course they must look to keeping down
their prelimivary expenses, as Mr. Portman justly said,
and a good deal would be done in thst respect, and had
already been done by Mr. Andrews who had kio44
assisted them in the liberal spirit he alwaye did in ags‘
cultural affair.. A good deal meat be effected by questa
personal exertions, and that, no doubt, could be better
done in limited lot dities. If the meeting shimifft
Pus a resolution for entering into mutual assurance,
that he believed mast be Worked in *mall areas, because
there were local proceedings which moot be taken such
as the inuring a man's stook, and if the rattle dirieue
should break out probably it would be met ih the first
instance by the inembeis of the agog:dation going to
inspect tire stook affected. According to the Der la
rules two members *ere to be appointed. It was
agsvione in that case that the arrangements must be
made within. limited area. All those matters would be
serried on in the localities which might be deride lon, and
he did not himself see as bed been it ready obeerved,
that there was any objection to the formation of the
Comity Asmoiation on the principle Chet the county
should be worked in district*, If a County A eaociation
were formed and • committee appointed, eomprising the
most van-hunt agriculturets, lie was not sure but that it
would be likely to give conlideooe to the county gene-
rally; for, if in a separate association difficulties
should arise, and questions should be mooted which the
locality might hardly feel able to deal with itself, then
they night be referred to the general committee, we-
bbing"( of members from the several divisions of the
county. He thought that • degree of confidence weld
be placed in their decis ons, which might not be placed
in thou of the loaal committees. (Hear, hear,) He was
quite willing, and he believe? Lord Dighy wits to, to
modify the resolution, or, if the Meeting should decide
.nit the proposition, he *as Most ready to bow to
iiit decision. (Applause)
Mr. Elfuotten, of ling, said that he rose to make a
sgestion. He oould not help thinking that there had
much - advanced on both sides,
-1 evil, and in proportion
a Scope in which they
'pithy and suberiptions.
- cable, With ritgiad
sh.,i the practical
I impossible for a
successfully. He

good
that il

k-.;.;-

national

be .o%rried
shonld '

county association
of subsctiptiont,
.nd the supervision
insuranoe societies,

.a which

speotori.

A power and means would be able to take all the
Aperient meestires emessary for arresting the disease
It 40014. AhotHer Festoon that
streak him wltii Mitt it Hie disOese appeared in one
comae of the toasty, thereby, of course, threatening the
whole omuty, if there were no county essociation, there
vreuld be no power to deal with that disease see, the
I cal committee. If the diem.e appeared suddenly atone
point, icy at Bridport, the local and the centrel
associations might use all their power in tostently ar-
resting it and taking me antes for its.uppreesion. It was
for those reasons he was in favour of sc.,roty [MOW' WOO'
and he thought that if it were framed in a proper
manner it would be productive of greet good, and lie
hoped, under Providence, be tee means of pleiretititter
that dreadful disesee from visiting their favoured,
country. ( Appl ese. )
Mr, johle Poles, of Symontisintry, eald : Although his
anxie'y might lose° been stretched to the reediest Pint
by the phservetielle he had Mired, ye:, he felt certain
that the et:limey *Mild he carried out some
efray oh °thee, Ali erho had addreesietel the meeting
edheufred Viet a oonnty .141400i4Vi,1i work. ri in distri tu
%meld be highly henefieiel. His idea wee that they
should get an honorary secretary in every union of the
jeounty, all worklug together hernioniously, and each
'individual in the county deriving protection from
the extended area which the county would afford
them. He felt, as a practical farmer, a crisis hung
over their heeds • he thought, and perhaps m iny
others did, that if the cattle plague should visit
them, his position and his future comfort.. were at stake.
Now he believed all would admit thet it was a very
sound Christie° principle that no •man diseerredly
, possessed property, or held it, that woeld not stand
I forth in its defence, and he asked them a* owners of
estile not to allow one of them to fall or to be reinede
, witheitt extending to hen the ir al in a peeuidary denote
fora geest number amid help • few. (4 pplauset) Let
'them therefore tothbilte and do everything they. Itonld
I under Provideeoe to evert the dreadful Benuree. Having
done that then emirloienoes would be clear, and they
box to the decisiMi of Alinigtstly God. He had
great pleasure In seconding the proposition.
Mr. G. J. Woo!) spoke iii favour of the formation *f-
a county mutual assurance society, and remarked that
the sin ngth of arrineurrance company lay in the 'timber
of its members and the extent of its area; for inetance,
if they had 10,000 cattle insured they would be a much
stronger society than if they had only 2 000, therefore
lie had some confidence in proposing the resolution as
put into Lis hands " That a mutual insurance society
for protection against loss by death of any cattle by the
' cattle plague' be formed • and he had no doubt that
in a abort tune • set of rules would be (famed and pre-
sented for adoptioo, ntodifimtion, or rejection by the
farmers of the smutty of Dorset.
Mr. B. Ogees seconded the resolution and remarked
that eeerybodY.mest see the desirability of it. Be was
iii favieur of a limited area, but that was a battle whish
would have to he fought by the committee.
Mr. J. Preettit area he had received a letter from Mr.
Gerard Sturt, M.P., who was at pres rat in the north of
England, who said it was only the great dietance whit%
prevented his presence at teat meeting ; however, not
being an experienced agriculturist he should not have
added moot to the information of the meeting, but he
wets ready and desirous of meoperatiug with them, and
of ftuintiog in earrying out any Mee...tittle they
think it desirable to *kik
Tire Hoth WI Hi B. r N OitTgA, Min, thought they
had now brought Shatters to something like a practical
point, and he said that if she resolutions were trerried
seriatim, he would suggest that the rules should
be framed and • copy of them sent to the clialonan of
each Bard of Guardians in the county for oonsideretiort.
Mr. GOODDiN seconded the proposition.
Mr. FARItZIi said he confessed that his own ideas of
what had been proposed had become clearer than they
were, earl he wee happy to say that the result .o far as
he was concerned was that be should be able more
cordially to join in the measures, than at first he felt
lie could, but yet there were certain points for discussion'
At that moment there wee • meting at Blandford on
the subj.* another at Warehatti On Tuesday, lint One
at Sterwintter On TheradaY. It would bb important at
such meetings te DS in • position to state in what
relation local associations would stand to those
proposed on the present occasion. Perhaps some
gentleman would inform hion. Speaking simply as
an Individual, his own feeling was to pay the utmost
deference to the county association, to be most obliged
to it for any suggestions it might make, but most
respectfully to decline being overruled by it. Hs bad
great respect for • large body of men, but much greater
for • small one, and while taking their advice and
suggestions, be should not film to feel bound
by the rules or to be ['object to the decisions of
an inspector sent by the collective wisdom of a county
c..cociatioo. At the smile tithe he had little doubt
but the lotsl sweeties would be happy to adopt the rules
the tenth' board might suggeat. He could not quite
agree with Mr. Wood as to the bent fits of the exteut of
assurance. No doubt that was a very strong principle,
but he would allow; him to observe that there was
oaaaber concurrent with ft—the extent must not be Ito
large as to be incompatible with tlie hOst cirel'ul
sedulous supervisioni They mttst guard ag.inet tbei
slightest stlipieion of fraud. A life instinnoe company
veldt extended are& Obtained it larger number of good
lieu, bet tektite in I greater area teethe introduction
of bad lives was a very different matter.
Mr. J. Fee y se, M.P., mate that Mt dokibt the
'question Mr. Parrer had raised went itery much to the
root of the working Of the whele aasociatioe, viz., how
44r the central committee was to centrel the operations
of the distritit eisoceations. He did not apprehend
Ithat there wu the slightest difficulty in saying that eaoh,,
locel society shoald be as free as possible to work in its
lawn way—(hear, hear),—but they must Lim allow the
bentral association the liberty of working as it thought
hest Should, unhappily, the disease break out, and
luiporteet cells be matte for money, It must remain with
the central committee to determine the principles ttpdn
which the looal societies should partitipste in the funds
of the county assotietitin. This would be where the,
pineh woUld eolite-e-hoiv far the local committees actieg
epee Clews different from those of the general Isom-
elittee would be in a position to exp oh from the latter
the help they might think they deserved.
The Hon. W. H. B. Poetonee suggested that when a
copy of the proposed rules was sent to each Board of
Guardians, that each Board should decide whether or
sot that poor•law union should abide by them, and
receive the moisten.* of the central association. If any
refused complience, let it be with the understanding
that they must not expect help from the county
association.
Mr. M. Witeiette reiri.rted that the present meeting
was • late ebeeinbly of the farmers of the neighbour-
heed, but it was not a hogs county meeting, and what
waa done there must be modified by that fact. There
was a large meeting at Blandford at that time, and
none present knew the views entertained there.
He should be glad to be enabled to
Igblio to Sturmlpeter
and other reams with some oitt linoeriedee
of what course it was deteren hed to take in
relation to the disease. If the meeting recommended
the formition of a county asemiationlwell and good,
but on the other hand there were many present no
doubt who were members of Boards of Guardians, and
they well knew that within the haat few weeks,ciercular
bed hid. gent to each Board by the Bath and West of
England Society together with rifles slid regulations,
wbereir, it was especially Anted out as the result of
great Ontleeleration by most isompetent members of the
Council, that it was almost Impossible to work a county
association, bet that it must be on a smaller area, sod only
other day North Lancashire), where there was a
they had to fail hack upon the Poor
Fie meet conkers that at present he
what they had before them.
thought the central committee and
as tea might work harmoniously
whether it was proposed to
society, or load Inetheticie
to think that district moo-
Ate at onwlehth of the expense
not, however, say one word
• r whieh eniga render great
- [dr all would be glad to get help
4 it4ll,
Ir. J.

I 0.42!141.1:,71%.1}71-VO-iit.i g

imociation,

societies

inquired

I that a county in.
locally in districts as