Mr. Townsend to Mr. Hay.
Brussels, December 12, 1899.
Sir: Supplementary to my dispatch of yesterday, No. 30, I have the honor to inform the Department that I have been permitted by the British minister to examine portions of the correspondence, covering a period of several years, which his legation has had with this Government on the subject of the prohibition against the importation of Canadian cattle into Belgium, as well as the restrictions to importation after said prohibition had been removed.
After a careful perusal of this correspondence, it is evident to my mind that the Secretary of Agriculture has been misinformed, and that there has been no order issued by the Belgian Government removing or lessening any of the restrictions to the importation of Canadian cattle, which are now exactly the same as those in force in regard to the importation of American cattle.
The idea that a regulation had been issued lessening the restrictions in the case of Canadian cattle imported into Belgium, which seems to have been conveyed to the Secretary of Agriculture, may possibly have [Page 101] had its origin in the fact that the decree removing the prohibition to the importation of Canadian cattle was issued by this Government on 16th October last and became effective on 15th November last.
The British minister informs me that this is the only order which has been issued by the Belgian Government in regard to the importation of Canadian cattle. The restrictions governing the importation of Canadian cattle in this decree, a copy of which is herewith inclosed, are the same as those contained in the decree of 25th May last, which removed the prohibition to the importation of American cattle.
The Department will observe after comparing the two decrees, which are herewith inclosed, that not only is the statement of the President of the Anglo-American Chamber of Commerce at Antwerp, to the effect that a discrimination had been made in favor of Canadian cattle, an erroneous one, but that in reality a discrimination was made, for a short period, on two occasions against Canadian cattle and in favor of America. The decree prohibiting the importation of Canadian cattle went into effect on the 7th of December, 1894, whereas American cattle were not prohibited until December 29th of the same year, and furthermore the decree removing the prohibition in the case of American cattle went into effect on May 31, 1899, whereas the decree permitting Canadian cattle to enter under same conditions as American only went into effect on November 15, 1899.
From the moment the decree removing the prohibition to importation of American cattle was issued, the British minister urged this Government to grant the same privilege to Canadian cattle, which from a purely sanitary standpoint he argued were equally worthy to enter Belgium. Since the publication of the decree permitting Canadian cattle to enter Belgium under the same restrictions imposed upon cattle from the United States, the British minister has urged upon this Government to extend the time allowed before slaughtering from three to ten days, and he has received a similar reply from the minister of foreign affairs to the one which I received and transmitted to the Department on 26th October last.
The communication above referred to, from the minister of foreign affairs to the British minister, which is of later date than the similar one to this legation, contains an additional reason why the Belgian Government is unable at present to extend the time of slaughtering to ten days, which is, that the stockyards and slaughterhouses at Antwerp would have to be greatly enlarged to accommodate the imported cattle for a period of ten days, and it is not considered advisable at present to expend the sum of money necessary to enlarge this property.
I will continue to urge upon this Government the necessity of extending the period of slaughtering to ten days, as the present restrictions are a serious obstacle to the growth and development of general trade between the United States and Belgium, and will keep the Department advised of any change in the existing state of affairs.
I have, etc.,
(Inclosures not translated.)