Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-02-27
LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE.
Fallibility OF the Tuberculin Test Pro-
vided For In Vermont Laws.
10 the Editor of the Free Press:

TO the Editor of the Free Press:
l was sorry that Mr.. Higbee wrote the
letter in which he had so much to say
about infallibilty and absolute infallibility.
God is omnipotent, omniscient and omn-
present and therefore intallible and it
becomes us to speak of such things
with humility. | have fairly good
opinion of the cattle commissioners
but had never thought of them as
being possessed of any of the divine
attributes. From my standpoint all
of the talk about infalliblity is 'abso-
lutte" nonsense. All of us arc OF the earth
earthly. In his last letter the word only
occurs twice and that is n great gain.
When the present law was made our law
makers evidently believed the test was
reliable but not nfall!blc and so they pro
vided that In case an animal should be
killed that did not have the disease, the
State should pay full value for it.
All l know about the disease 1 learned
In the town of stowe. First and last there
has been a large number killed in this
town-only n very few I'm the last few
years. In Willston and vicinity the dis
ease Is the same. the test is the same ana
the same board acts for the whole state.
And so l assume to know something about
the disease there. From what l know of
the results here i believe the people there,
If they would be manly, and fair and try
to get rid of the disease instead of hug
cling it to their bosoms would always be
glad that they did so after it was over In
his letter, Mr.. Higbee gives Il very good
description of some of the post mortcm
examinations of cases in the early stages
but he says nothing about cases in the
later stages. If the cases that he de-
scribes had lived so long as another year
they would have looked very differently.
If the destruction in Williston and vicinity
has been more wide spread than in other
places, 1t is because the people nursed the
disease instead of trying to get rid of it.
Mr.. Higbee says 1t is not claimed that
the farmers in Chittenden county are dis
posed to own diseased cows or TO sell
unwholesome milk or butter.
Bobby Burns says:
O would some power the giftle gle us;
To see ourselves as others see us.
If the outcry that has been made by the
writer's in that vicinity does not mean that
the owners of sick cows wanted to be let
alone and to be allowed to keep their sick
cows and to sell the milk and butter from
them-heaven help us to understand what
1t does mean.
I cannot investigate in a scientific way
The new position that DR. Koch has taken.
| propose to walt and see. In the mean
time as for me and mine we do not want
TO use the milk and butter from a case
of bovine tuberculosis that Is almost ready
to break down and we would not use the
milk from cow that we knew had the
disease in her udder any way, and the
only way to find out where the disease is
located is by Il post norton examination.
Mr.. Iligbee puts me in a dilemma when
he says the board assumed to the farmers
that the test was nfallible. They have
not done so in other places-Mr. Hitch
cock admitted that it was not in the Free
Press and it was an insult to the inteili-
gence of the farmers if they did SO.
want to be allowed to think that there Is
some mistake about it. l cannot under
sand how the board could have been 50
dictatoral and cruel to the d2Symen when
everybody knows that the moment they
stepped outside of the law they were in
your hands and it is understood that you
rather want to have law suit.
"Out of a clear sky the thunder bolt fell''
says Mr.. Hiybee The law in regard TO
this matter was not a new one. The fact
there were lot of sic, COWS there was
well known. The milk from some of the
sick cows it was reported was being sold
in the city of Burlington. | know of one
man that took a herd Of sick cows down
there and sold them because he knew that
the dairymen there were behind the times.
1t is understood that the dairymen here
were let alone until circumstances COM
PEELED the board to take some action.
There are lots of people that think the
board did not hurry the matter, but were
very slow about 1t. | believe it Is a fact
as Mr., Higbee claims that human life is
lengthcning n very little but that Is no
reason why all sanitary measures should
be given up, Mr.. HiCbcc says If this thing
continues no one who has money to loan
will dare to loan it to a dairy farmer and
take mortgage on his stock The fact
is ii would be much safer to take a chattcl