American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1881-09-10

| into, and report upon. the subject oil
| plcuro- pneumonia among cattle in this
country, together with the best means
to be employed to secure the removal
of the British embargo on our cattle
traffic. has returned home from the
Saratoga meeting OF the Comm ission.
| The Commission was appointed by
| Secretary Window under the SuDdry-
| Civil Appropriations bill passed by the
last Congress, and consists of Prof
James Law, of Cornell University; DR..
Thayer, of West Newton, Mass, and
J. Ii. Sanders, of Chicago. Prof. Law
has had n large experience with the
disease, and is considered eminently
fitted for the responsible position con-
ferred on him. DIR. Thayer is also prac-
| tically conversant with the disease,
| having had charge of the work OF
stamping it out in Massachusetts. Mr..
| Sanders is editor of the National l. Ue
| Stock JOarnd and is man of much
reading and experience. The Commits
| sion met at Saratoga few DAYS ago.
and organized by the choice of Prof
Law as President, and Mr.. Sanders as
Secretary. Several DAYS were spent in
laying out the work to be done. A
summary of its conclusions is herewith
presented:
The primary object of the Commits
sion is to suggest some means by which
| the British Government may be assured
that none of the cattle inn orted from
this country have the contagion, which
assurance will warrant it in removing
the present restrictions on the trade
Under the law, at present, all cattle re-
ceived from the United States must be
slaughtered at the point OF debarkation
with n ten DAYS after their arrival, re-
gardless of their condition or the state
of the market. Under this restriction,
it is est mated that cattle are orth
from SO to S25 per head less than they
would be if they could be taken inland
and kept till their condition and the
state of the market were favorable
The annual loss thus entailed upon
Amer can breeders and shippers is es-
timated at from 81, 000, 900 to So, 900, O)O.
Many of the members OF Congress
thought that strict inspection at the
port OF export wOuld remedy the evil;
but the committee was of the opinion
that any inspection, however rigid,
would be useless as far as giving the
British Government an assurance of
freedom from the disease is concerned.
So long as there is any pleuro-pneumo-
mia in the country, and so long rs an
unrestricted traffic is permitted be-
tween the infected and non infected
districts, an inspection would go for
nothing, owing to the insidious nature
of the disease. 1t fastenS upon an an
imaI and incubates from thirty to nine
ty DAYS before making its appearance,
and an animal which, to I'll apr earance,
is perfectly healthy when put on board
a vessel, may show the disease on the
way, or after debark alton.
1t has always been claimed, and the
Commission holds, that the disease does
not exist west of the Alleghanies. The
British inspectors claim, however, that
they have been able to trace the disease
to herds of cattle from the West.
Either they are mistaken or the Com
mission is, and one of the pieces of
work which the latter has set before
itself is to determine definitely the
exact truth of the matter. To this end
it has decided to make searching in
vestigation among the herds of the
West, paying particular attention to
the swill. dairy and distillery cattle,
among which it most probably exists. if
at all. Until that is done, no man can
speak with authority sufficient to justify
Great Britain in removing the embargo
on Western cattle.
The Commission has devised system
ofregistration and numbering by which,
if the English authorities will lend their
cooperation, it will be possible to trace
every animal landed upon British soil
to the American farm on which it was
fattened. Whether or not this coop
GRAFTON can be secured will be known
in few days.
The Commission has ordered the
preparation of a circular to be sent to
the Governors of States, Sc retaries of
agricultural societies, and the general
public. setting forth the danger of the
traffic in Eastern dairy calves. 1t is
among these and these only that the
disease is believed to generate They
are cooped up and crowded together,
and fed on Stops, and the disease is
known to exist all along the coast from
New York to Washington, and is grad
ually being carried by contagion into
the interior. The West has thus far
escaped it, because the only cattle
heretofore brought from the East were
of the finer breeds, which were more
carefully kept and were not affected.
Last year, however, large trade in
these dairy-farm calves sprang up, no
less than 10000 of them having been
sent to various Western points through
Chicago q one. 1t is the danger of con-
from this source to which
the Commission proposes to call atten-
ton.
1t will also make a searching investi-
cation into the sanitary condition of the
vessels in viii h cattle are transported
to England, to determine whether they
may have anything to do with original
ing the disease. Chicago Times.