The Southland Times. SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 1864.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 11, 25 June 1864, Page 2

The Southland Times. SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 1864.

Pleuro-Pxeumokia in spreading amongst the cattle in the Province with a rapidity which sets at defiance any steps which have been taken by the Government to check its ravages. Reserves for quarantine ground are no sooner made, aud the infected cattle driven there, than, breaking bounds, they disperse in all directions, carrying disease and death into healthy herds. This is a consequence in the very nature of things. Cattle used to run in a certain district, if driven off to another, invariably make back for their old grazing grounds on the first opportunity ; it takes time to accustom them to the new place, — constant and careful shepherding to prevent their breaking away. This entails considerable expense in the employment of stockmen, whose business would be, until the new arrivals became settled down, in some measure in their fresh pastures, to watch constantly, even night and day. Such an expense is, in the present state of the Provincial exchequer, impossible, and thus we fear all the precautions hitherto taken will be rendered futile. Even the inspectors appointed are honorary, travelling in the discharga of their onerous duties at their own expense. That those duties have been faithfully discharged we are glad to bear testimony to. Mr. Joins- GTbieve, of Branx holm, has proved himself particularly energetic in the discharge of duties which are daily becoming more burdensome and disagreeable. "Well acquainted with the symptoms of this insiduous and fatal malady, he has not only to contend with the disadvantages he labors under of travelling through a large district, over roads rendered doubly impracticable by the season of the year in which the disease has shown itself most virulent, but has to undergo opposition, and in some eases abuse, from the owners of the cattle, which his practised eye assures him are doomed, though to the owners they appear fat and healthy. Taking all these circumstances into consideration, the future of cattle owners looks gloomy enough. Not only will the disaster fall heavily on the master of large nerds, but will tell most crushingly on the small settler; who, encouraged by the system of Hundreds, has invested'all his savings, to the detriment of the legitimate cultivation of his land, in cattle, running at large over a wide area, which, at any moment, may be invaded.-: by some stray : beast, broken, perhaps, out of the quaran-/ tine ground. ■ Thus, the fruits of years' of industry and self-denial are swept away in one night Now; that this scourge 'hM gained ground so firmly, it ; is difficult to determine the. best means of preventing its spread. There is, ! ;hpWeyer, 'another; and even more alarming feature.. . are informed by most creditable authority, that, at the present time, there are at least a thousand head of cattle on the Mataura Plains, seemingly fat and well

| conditioned/ wliich are all .more- orjess'' 1 diseased. It seems 4;hat, at^ 1 the spread of pleuro-prieiinioiiia,' the; large' i cattle holders "are naturally anxious N to get rid of their fat stock, even* •at-^greatly^^ieduced'wprices^:« s *Af.-'«paaiic. , has spread- amongst them, and all , are I. anxious to; part with so priecafipjis;,a' ; property. Numbers have been driven to town to be near, .,the. Vi market .; f it clean before, they have teen Mxed^witn'iiiseased ones, so that now, it is impossible "to | determine whicn : are*' clean '^of 'other-' wise. The butchers; not- lunnaturally, fearing no supervision,!..;andvs.slaughtering I in different yards -at considerable distances apart, are hot "too onquisiiave as to whether the bullock offered for sale at. a low figure is quite free from disease. •So long as the . animal looks jprettrf 'fat;, but little time is wasted V.inVift^mrih'g vthe'' district it came from, or whether there was any probability v of its ; ;having /mixed with diseased beasts. The -meat is sold at a rather remunerative 'price]- arid 'the con-' suiner, with every morsel ~he"partakesofr introduces the seedsiof disease,. and some-: \ times death, into his system. Medical inquiry has proved that even slightlydecomposed meat is injurious as human food— how much' more so^ then, is meat infected with thi& particular disease. ' In committees of inquiry on the subject at home, the highest medical testimony has declared that, to the strong man in robust health, such f ood , , is highly dangerous y and to young children,, or, weak constitutions, it is death. ' In pdnedin, lately, it was supposed that one of the causes of the large mortalit} r in that city resulted from the use of unwholesome meat. Animal food . is a ; . ; necessary of s life to the British colonist. . Whether he considered it as such in the mother country or not, in the colony the consumption among all classes is great. Nor, when attainable, does he confine himself in partaking of it during one meal only ;. generally he indulges three timeß a day ; children, also, have meat given them in a colony at a far earlier age than is deemed advisable at home. Thus, any thing which corrupts this largely used article of food strikes a deadly. blow at the well-being of. hundreds, all the more dangerous, because so insidious. If we cannot prevent the spread of the disease: amongst the cattle in the Province, we can at all events prevent the dissemination of disease and death amongst human beings, by taking care that infected meat is not sold. The only Ordinance in operation in the Province under which any supervision of the various slaughtering-yards can be exercised, is the " Slaughter-House Ordinance, 1847," of the G-eneral Government. At the time this Ordinance came into operation, fortunately pleuro-pneu-monia was unknown in the Colony, consequently all its provisions were intended to apply solely to the prevention of crime in the shape of stolen cattle being slaughtered. For this purpose it is well adapted. Inspectors are appointed, whose business it is to inspect cattle slaughtered or to ' be slaughtered, on notice being given them ; but their attention, is particularly called to the outside of the animal ; its skin is the only matter of interest to them ; the color, braud, and sex are what they have to do with. As to the lungs, they are not required to trouble themselves on the subject, u or are they, in all probability, qualified to judge whether the animal is diseased or not. We understand that there are several inspectors of slaughter-houses appointed under this Act, throughout the Province — members of the Police Force, whose sole duty it is Ito ensure that none but legitimately obtained cattle are killed. Their S instructions do not extend to examining the dead carcase, nor do we suppose that, on examination, they could decide whether the animal was in a healthy condition or not. We want some other Ordinance to meet the peculiar exigencies of the case ; and the sooner it is passed the better. We would suggest that its provisions should render it compulsory on all the j butchers in the towns to slaughter cattle in one public yard, (to be declared by the Government) , under a heavy penalty ; that an inspector, thoroughly acquainted with the disease in all its stages, should be appointed, whose duties it would be to attend, at certain hours, during which, only cattle should be allowed to be slaughtered. This inspector should carefully examine the carcase, and if the slightest disease were perceptible, forfeit it, and see it either buried or burnt. Such an appointment need not cost the G-o---vernment anything. The officer could be paid by a certain fee on each animal killed, which, while not being top heavy a burden on the butchers, would amply compensate a qualified inspector. To force all the butchers to slaughter in one yard would no doubt be considered by them an inconvenience, but one more than compensated by the. safeguard such a proceeding would ensure to the public health. Nor is the number of cattle' slaughtered each month so large as to render inconvenience great. The. retail price of meat has not fallen, while the wholesale price has considerably, and'is/likely, under present circumstances, to fall .still lower., If we must pay high for meat, let : us'ih justice have it wholesome. . The appointment of , an inspector pt Blaughter-yar;ds specially for" this' putpose, who should -be paid in the ; way ■■■•we -have;- stated, would answer very well; in- Invercargill, where the number of- cattle slaughtered monthly is (sufficiently^ large to pay, : byrjfees. the salary of siicn. an officer. intHie country districts,: or; Bmall;towns,; wherexthe^consump-: tion is trifling, a different provision might, be made.^.Thus. •at J OampbelltownT the SKeep Inspector, who ought. to know something of the diseases of cattle, could be called on "to inspect any Slaughtered at : beings made, 'compulsory i ' ■ o.that: > .the ; :animaL bd killed in his presence, and the lungs to him ; also, mihe in-: tenor, tne present; inspectors act in 1 a similar manner. If not well acquainted with the disease, they would surely be able to determine whether the

luiiffs are m a ae&lthyMt&te.iit&thm weroM j exhibited toj^epil ajai^t.Wt^tinaa^feod_^ pepeet them. for^^otKer reason, itr""*" would be advisable to calFtlie Provincial Cotmcil^together^at^once^aiid^pass^oine-^^,, such Act, by which, .the -public .could-W,