Morning journal and courier., 1880-08-04
ANuNsUccEssFUL EXPERIMENT.


 The effort made by the British Govern ment to protect the English cattle raisers against competition from the United States has not, 1t appears, been very beneficial to the country, and it's result is strong argu- ment for free traders, well as encouraging to all interested in the prosperity of this country. The Order in Council requiring American live cattle, whether i'll or well, to be slaughtered soon after arrivalin any of the few English ports allowed for their debarka- ton was based on the false pretense illu- sion that 1t would save British cattle from contagious or infectious diseases imported from the United States, and that under this protection they would thrive and multiply to an extent equal to the British demand for beef. Last years experience upsets this beautiful theory. Not single case of Amer ican cattle disease has found it's way among British herds. Yet the latter are suffering badly from the distemper. The decrease in cattle and sheep in England the past year is given upon unimpeachable authority at l., 322, ,s65 head. During the very time that this depreciation was taking place 76, 117 cat tie were imported from the United States all perfectly well excepting 137 which were said to have pleuro-pneumonia The propor- tion of sick to healthy American cattle was far smaller than that which obtained among British cattle. Notwithstanding this we'll known fact, the British law called for the slaughter of all these healthy American cat tie, often before they had recovered from the effects of @ sea voyage, and at distance from the markets where American beef would most readily enter into consumption. The result was sheer waste of many tons of meat spoiled before market could be reached, and an increased price for that which survived these attempts to exclude it from British mouths
 But no Order in Council could prevent Englishmen buying American beef, whose ex- cellent quality they had become acquainted with, and though the restrictions on the for eign cattle trade have enhanced it's price it has continued to sell we'll On account of those restrictions it is estimated that British consumers actually paying more than e16, GOO, 900 year, which makes pretty dear protection. This is beginning to be felt in England, and not long ago large and infiu- ential deputation had an interview with Earl Spencer and MT. MundelIa to urge upon the Government the desirability of taking off the restrictions imposed by the late Government on cattle imported from abroad, and from America particularly. The deputation was introduced by MT. John Bright, member of Parliament, and the arguments put forth in support of their wishes were that the present restrictions enhanced the price of meat to the British consumer 1 Id. and 2d. per pound that out of many hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep imported into the country but very few suffered from either pleuro- pneumonia or foot-and-mouth disease; that at the ports of landing, where they were com pelled to be slaughtered, the authorities were capable of detecting any such disease should it exist and that under the present regula- tions as to the slaughtering of cattle at the port of debarkation, the offal and nu- tritious portions of the animals were lost to the consumer, and vast numbers of persons were thereby deprived of food. Finally, they urged the Government to release the food of the people from the thraldom of what was practically most unjust tax.
 The deputation did not get any satisfaction and there are at present no 1nd1cat1onS tna' the restrictions complained of will be re- moved. Whether they are or not, American beef will continue to be demanded in Eng land, and if the English can afford to pay SIG, ,00o, 600 a year for protection against it, the cattle exporters of this country can stand the small decrease in their receipts occasioned by the cattle order, or make it up in the dead-meat trade.