Report of the Royal Commission appointed to inquire into the administrative procedures for controlling danger to man through the use as food of the meat and milk of tuberculous animals.

  • Great Britain. Royal Commission on Tuberculosis.
Date:
1898
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the Royal Commission appointed to inquire into the administrative procedures for controlling danger to man through the use as food of the meat and milk of tuberculous animals. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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    in these matters are the London men really. The meat comes from the country now, and it is consigned to meat salesmen, and if the meat salesman does not like it he calls the medical officer's attention to it, and says : What do you think of this ? before offering it for sale, and the meat inspector says: That is not good enough, and he takes it as a seizure instead of a surrender. In our opinion, and in the opinion of any impartial men, it is not fair to treat it as a seizure, because it is voluntarily surrendered; and we asked Mr. Chaplin in that interview if he would mind taking up this matter, and make such an administration of the law as would enable the surrenders to be treated as surrenders and not as seizures. To sum up my opinion, and those whom I represent, we say, first, that the method of judging and deciding as to the fitness of consumption for human food should be similar in all districts and applicable to hawkers and to country districts as well as to town. The onus of this matter should not be put altogether on towns and cities. What we want is a universal system of similar inspection of competent inspectors, and not by plumbers and gasfitters and all these kind of men. We want either butchers or veterinary surgeons. I want it to be understood that our trade have no objec- tion whatever to meat inspection ; they look upon it as a safety rather than otherwise, but they want it properly and fairly done all round. The next point is that of plain cases, that is to say, of cases where, in the opinion of experts, there might be danger from human consumption, and they should be destroyed, but that they should be paid for, and also any expenses should be recouped to the butchers ; and, further, that where these cases were not patent when alive, that is to say, where a beast is not beginning to waste—you will understand me, Mr. Chairman, because you have some knowledge of this matter—in my opinion it is very difficult, almost impossible, to know about tuberculosis—unless a beast has gone into that stage when she begins to waste—why some very good cattle have tuberculosis, and it does no harm, but when it comes to the waste, then no man should buy it. That is the case with regard to all cows. With respect to that—as to the suggestion I am now making as to the compensation, I am glad to find that the leading Agricultural Societies of England and Ireland have adopted resolutions similar to our own with regard to compensation ; and also a sanitary Congress held at Newcastle lately adopted the same resolution. I will read the resolution that we passed at our Federation in our last meeting in Sheffield regarding this compensation question, and I have nothing to say with respect to it beyond this, that we have been passing them for seven years without any result. The resolution is as follows: That this National Federation of meat traders calls upon the Government to provide compensation to the owners of animals purchased at the full market prices—full market prices mark that!—we do not want compensation for anything of an inferior class purchased at full market prices, the carcases of which have been confiscated for tuberculosis. We consider that meat traders should be placed in the same position as agriculturalists as the public who pay for the protection of public health. That is our position, We are of opinion that a direct repre- sentative of the trade should have been appointed to act upon the new commission on bovine tuber- culosis, as we consider that practical experience should be combined with scientific knowledge in ,s order to obtain an amicable and satisfactory settle- ment of this important question, the present administration of which handicaps our native stock and favours foreign imported produce. That copies of this resolution be forwarded to Lord Salisbury, Mr. Balfour, the President of the Local Government Board, the President of the Board of Agriculture, «' and to the local athorities. Now, we had 70 delegates at that meeting, and they represented the principal towns of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and the Isle of Man, so that it was a very representative meeting. We sent all these resolutions I 04260. to the various gentlemen named, and we have replies, Mr- W. Field, just formal acknowledgements, from Lord Salisbury, M.P. from the Board of Agriculture and the Local Govern- ^ Nov l»9fi ment Board, and from Mr. Balfour, so that we have ' ' been in earnest about this matter, and you may take it that we intend and hope that some remedy may be provided for us in the immediate future. 351. (Dr. Thome Thome.) You have on several occasions referred to the question of confiscation in words such as these, that there is a hard and fast line as to confiscation now. You say : That all carcases in whatever degree of tuberculosis are seized. Again you say: They are confiscated if tuberculosis was found to any degree. Would you kindly name three towns where every animal that has tubercle, that is tuberculous in any degree, how- ever slight, is condemned, because the Commission would like to have special evidence from these three towns ?—If I said that I rather overstated it, because they cannot do it. It all comes to a question of the meat inspectors ; for, instance, if I am rightly informed, in such a place as Birkenhead and West Hartlepool and St. Helen's; there are three places that I can give you. 352. That every animal is condemned there ?—So far as I can understand it. You must remember that my position is that I cannot possibiy know everyone of those places, because I do not live there. 353. I only ask for three towns out of the whole kingdom ?-—I will find you out three. 354. Because your statements were so absolutely definite ?—Well, in some places I say. If I stated that it is an invariable rule it was not my intention because that is wrong, and I wish to correct it. In places like Leeds and Birmingham where butchers' juries are they have the power to do it; that is where it comes in. 355. Have they any power which the magistrate does not give them ?—No. But then the magistrate always coincides with the meat inspector and the Medical Officer of Health, and that is exactly where our difficulty lies. The magistrate, 'of course, has the law, and what we want is an amendment of the law. 35G. Well, then, I should like to ask another question. You were quoting someone who implied that the experiments made by the last commission had left them liable to a great source of fallacy, and that the animals used were especially liable to tuber- culosis, and might therefore have had latent tuber- culosis in them ?—Yes, Dr. Cox. 357. Would you allow me to finish my question ? Are you aware that the results on each kind of animal fed were tested by control animals which were killed, that 216 such animals were killed under precisely the same conditions as those which were fed with tuberculous meat, and not one of them became tubercuhised, do you know (hat ?—I know that. 358. How do you reconcile that with what you have said ?—It does not change my opinion in the least. 359. If none of these animals,, out of 216, de- velop tuberculosis, the pigs being taken from the same litter as those experimented upon, how can it be said that such a gross fallacy as you suggest underlay the experiments?—I believe what Dr. Cox says is right, because we know that guinea pigs and swine and rabbits are just the class of animals that are most liable to tuberculosis ; that is the experience of every- body. 360. But is that not the very reason why they took this precaution, so as to avoid that fallacy?— Probably. 361. You say that a great many continental nations take a different view from what we do in England as regards this disease and the use of tuber- culous meat ?—Yes. 362. And I gather that you consider that abroad they attach much less importance to it than in Eng- land ?—That is so. 363. Do you remember what the last Commission say : Provided every part that is the seat of tuber- culous matter be avoided and destroyed, and pro- D