The Sun.
London, England, 1866-02-16 00:00:00

therefore we gladly witness, in the large majority
against his amendment, a sign that members of the
House of different political views unite to put
down such hurtful tendencies.
Further onin the evening the Government were de-
feated on Mr. HUNT'S amendment, " prohibiting the
total removal of cattle until the twenty-fifth of
March, and the hon. member purposes to follow
up this suggestion by a string of exceptions to the
general rule. Sir G. GREY was against this propo-
sition, because he said that it would be so 1
difficult to supply " dead meat" to the great '
centres. Mr. LOWE spoke very much to
the point, for he said that the question to be con-
sidered was how far the House should embody
these regulations, instead of leaving them to the
local authorities ; and the hon. member further
impressed upon the House the necessity of dealing
at once with the subject, because time is precious,
and we cannot be too careful as to how
we employ it. " We may be able," said Mr. LowE,
" to improve the opportunity, but it can never be
recovered if lost. If we do not get the disease under
by the middle of April, prepare yourselves for a
calamity beyond all calculation. You have seen
the thing in its infancy. Wait, and you will see the
averages, which have been thousands, grow to tens
of thousands, for there is no reason why the same
terrible law of increase which has prevailed hitherto
should not prevail henceforth." Captain JERVIS
very truly stated that there would be no difficulty
in carrying a supply of dead meat for the
London market, because the great railway
companies would be able to provide for
the emergency. Lord ELCHO'S observations were
also much to the purpose, when he declared that
unless the amendment was agreed to the bill would
not be worth the paper it was printed upon.
Within the last few days he had attended two
meetings of a most influential character, and the
principle of this amendment was affirmed by both
of them. There were gentlemen representing the
railway interest of England and Scotland present
at one of these meetings, and they all declared that
" they would undertake to bring up any amount of
meat to the towns, as fish, a much more
delicate substance than meat to deal with,
was carried now, if the removal of live cattle were
prohibited entirely." So far it may be considered
that the bill has progressed even more rapidly than
might have been expected; but the great importance
of the subject has induced the leading members on
both sides of the House to form a neutral ground
on which they may meet and discuss the question
calmly and comprehensively. This is as it should
be, and we trust that the public will appreciate
the strong sense of duty thus manifested by
the new Parliament. It is only to be re-
gretted that the House did not meet
before Christmas, because so much time has been
lost ; but it is useless to revert to the past, and the
only thing now to be done is to make what use we
can of the present. So far as we can judge from
experience and observation, the bill, as at present
amended by Mr. HUNT'S proposal, offers a decided
check to the progress of the disease ; and should it
not work effectually, it will be easy during the ses-
sion to make further arrangements, if, unhappily,
this fatal disease should not be stamped out before
the close of the sittings of the House.