Department of State,
Washington, April 28,
1890.
No. 248.]You are at liberty to communicate the contents of the letter of the
Secretary of Agriculture to Her Britannic Majesty’s Government in such
form as you may deem best, and to ask at the same time for permission
for the Department of Agriculture to station a chief veterinary
inspector at London and subordinate inspectors at Liverpool and Glasgow
to inspect the live stock arriving at those ports from this country. You
will state to the foreign office that the object of this request is to
enable this Government to promptly trace the origin of any disease which
may be found among live stock imported into Great Britain from the
United States.
[Inclosure to No. 248.]
Mr. Rusk to Mr.
Blaine.
Department of Agriculture,
Washington, April 24,
1890.
Sir: Referring to your letter of the 19th
instant, transmitting the dispatch of Mr. Lincoln concerning the
restrictions imposed upon the importation of American live stock
into Great Britain, I have the honor to state that at present there
are no laws by which the requirements of the British Government can
be complied with as regards the importation of sheep into the United
States. There is a bill now before Congress which, if passed, will
give the Secretary of Agriculture authority to make the necessary
regulations.
As to the number of inspectors that will be required to represent
this Department, it appears that a chief inspector at London, with
one subordinate at Liverpool and another at Glasgow, will be
sufficient, and I would therefore request that three inspectors be
indicated as the number probably necessary to properly inspect the
live stock arriving there from this country.
Concerning the continued discovery of disease among our cattle which
is considered by the English veterinarians to be contagious
pleuro-pneumonia, it may be said that such cases have recently been
reported among cattle from Baltimore, and yet there has not been a
case of this disease discovered in Maryland in nearly a year. During
this period a quarantine has been maintained, all animals that died
of disease have been examined, and all slaughtered at Baltimore have
been inspected. So confident am I that the plague has been
eradicated that the quarantine now in force there will be removed on
the 1st of May next. The information now furnished this Department
by its inspectors indicates most positively that the contagion of
pleuro-pneumonia has been eradicated from this country, with the
exception of a small area on Long Island, which is in strict
quarantine, and where affected herds are slaughtered as soon as
discovered. It is, therefore, inexplicable that cattle should be
shipped from Baltimore affected with this disease.
These facts should, I think, be plainly presented to the British
Government, for, even if they are unwilling to accept them as
conclusive at present, it will prepare the way for a demonstration
of our position when our inspectors are established at the ports of
debarkation, and when each case can be critically examined.
Very respectfully,
