The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-09 00:00:00

HERTFORDSHIRE.

At the meeting of the magistrates of the Hertford
petty sessional division on Saturday, Mr. Brandram,
of Chapmore-end, and several other leading farmers
attended, for the purpose of representing the incon-
venience to which they would be put by the recent
order of the Quarter Sessions. Mr. Brandram said
the farmers felt that very stringent regulations were
necessary, but they thought there were inconsisten-
cies in the order which pressed with peculiar hard-
ship upon them. Cattle were allowed to be sent for
any distance along the public roads to the nearest
railway station, for the purpose of being carried
" through or out of" the district ; but they were not
allowed to be sent by the farmer to the butcher's
slaughterhouse. This appeared to him to be an ab-
surdity, for there was no more danger in sending
cattle along the roads for one purpose than for an-
other, and the farmer would suffer seriously if he
were hindered from sending his oxen to the butcher
who might want to purchase them.
Mr. Baker (the chairman) said the Bench had no
power to alter the order of the Quarter Sessions.

Baron Dimsdale remarked that the Order in
Council allowed cattle to be carried by railway, and
the Quarter Sessions had merely made the necessary
provision that they might pass along the road to the
nearest railway station, if the owner had a certifi-
cate of health.

Mr. Brandram—But there is this inconsistency in
the order, that I may send my oxen to a railway
station, but must not let them stop at the butcher's
slaughterhouse, which they have to pass ontheroad.
I think it would have been well if the magistrates
had consulted some practical farmers before they
issued their order.

The Chairman acknowledged that there was a
good deal of reason in what Mr. Brandram said,
but remarked that the subject was surrounded with
difficulties.

Mr. Brandram—l wish to put a case to the
Bench. Suppose I sell half a dozen bullocks to a
butcher at Ware, the order allows me to send them
by the most direct road to the railway station at
Hertford, which is several miles from my farm ;
and I want to know whether, when they arrive
at Ware, I may take them out of the railway truck
and drive them to the butcher's. I presume the
order allows me to do this,-beeause it says that beasts
may be driven along the road to the nearest railway
station, for the purpose of being conveyed by rail-
way " through or out of the jurisdiction of the
court." Does not the word " through," in contrast
with the words " out of," mean that cattle may be
conveyed through a portion of the jurisdiction of
the court ?

Mr. Robert Dimsdale said that the permission to
take cattle along the public road only applied to the
cases in which they were going to a railway station.
Cattle could not be removed from a railway station
along any highway or public road.
Mr. Enever, a farmer and dealer residing at Es-
senden, said he had hired the feed in several parts of
the neighbourhood in which he lived, and had a con-
siderable number of cattle lying about. Some were
in the park of the late Baron Dimsdale, and some in
other places. The term for which he had hired the
feed in these places had not expired, but it would
shortly do so, and he sought the advice of the ma-
gistrates as to what he should do under the circum-
stances. The order of the Quarter Sessions pro-
hibited the removal of cattle from one place to
another ; and what he wanted to know was whether
when the term of his hiring was up, and the owners
of the lands where his cattle now were turned them
out into the roads he might drive them home, or
whether he must leave them in the roads to starve.
Mr. Abel Smith—The order of the Quarter Ses-
sions comes in force from the 6th of January ; and,
therefore, I should think you may take your cattle
home to-day.
Mr. Enever—l cannot do that. I have business
in Hertford, and cannot get home in time.
The Chairman said that the magistrates in Petty
Sessions could do nothing in the matter, and that
application had better be made to the adjourned
Quarter Sessions on Saturday next.
Mr. Enever—Well, gentlemen, if I get into
trouble, I hope you will recollect that I have been
here for your advice.
Mr. Brandram intimated, on the part of the
farmers present, that they would attend before the
Quarter Sessions to present their remonstrances on
Saturday next.