FEAR OF DISEASE

Manawatu Standard, Volume LV, Issue 131, 3 May 1935, Page 7

FEAR OF DISEASE

EMBARGO ON STOCK IMPORTS. RETENTION FAVOURED. Mr J. H. Mason presided at a meeting of the Feilding branch of the Farmers’ Union this morning, when, following a full discussion, a notice favouring the raising of the embargo against the importation of stock from England was defeated. Those present were Messrs G. Watt, J. B. Bradley, H. A. Stewart, A. J. Baxter, P. Simpson. H. D. Richardson, W. Page, T. Iwikau, T. Green, T. Cowdray, L. Knight, A. L. Brown, F. E. Tappin, Nairn, W. G. Clapham, and W. McLennan.

The Department of Agriculture forwarded a circular letter outlining the position in regard to the embargo on the importation of live-stock from Great Britain through risk of foot and •mouth disease. The department dealt with the matter fully and suggested there was' no risk of infection in New Zealand providing the necessary quarantine regulations 'were carried out.

Mr W. Watt said it seemed to liim that very little risk remained after all the precautions had been taken. Neither was it desirable to antagonise the English Government at the moment, and if the precautions were adequate Mr Watt could not see any risk in raising the embargo. Mr Richardson claimed that a.t the moment the wealthy breeder was able to get stock from England and there was no gainsaying that with the continuation of the embargo the breeder of only moderate wealth was penalised. Mr L. Knight agreed with this view, but wondered also whether the raising of the embargo would throw the door open for the importation of a class of stock that was not desirable in this country. The chairman pointed out that with matters a.s they were it cost a lot of money to get stock from England, and even the wealthy breeder had less money to spend in England on the stock he wanted owing to the cost of getting it out by the roundabout method.

The view that the embargo was going to be raised irrespective of the opinion in New Zealand was put forward bv Mr Stewart, who moved that the union favour the proposal of the department to remove the embargo. The bloodstock industry meant a great deal to New Zealand, and at the moment it was possible to create a favourable impression. in England in regard to the meat cpiota and levy discussions >by the raising of the embargo. Competitors of New Zealand m primary products bad been importing English stock all through the embargo in New Zealand, steadily building up their stock to be able to compete more strongly with New Zealand, and it was time this Dominion took up the matter of looking to its stock industry in turn. Mr J. 13. Bradley seconded the motion, claiming that with stock already able to come into the country bv backdoor methods it was infinitely more desirable to admit it through the front door. He thought that the risk of infection in New Zealand from foot and mouth disease was small, owing to its bacterial nature, and he could see no reason why the embargo should be continued.

CHARACTERISTICS OF DISEASE

While agreeing with the last speaker in most ot what lie had said, the chairman said he could not endorse what Mr Bradley had outlined in regard to the disease being bacterial. Mr Mason thought the disease was spread by t a germ which had remarkable powers of resistance, adding that the spasmodic outbreaks in England pointed to this. .Mi- Baxter contended that the previous speakers had stated the case very clearly, but at the same time he would not favour the embargo being lifted until su(t» time as the Government announced what it would do in the way of compensation and the steps it would take in the event of an outbreak of the disease. Mr Knight recalled a statement he had seen in the Press to the effect that as New Zealand was the only country in the world that had not been infected with foot and mouth disease the United States of America was considering taking meat from this country. He did not know whether the statement was only talk or whether it should be investigated. Mr McLennan said lie had previously been opposed to the lifting of the embargo, but with the precautions that were scheduled he thought importation was safe. . Stating that everything pointed to the time the virus of disease took to break out, Mr Brown considered that that the period of transport to Now Zealand, plus the quarantine regulatioiis, made tlio risk of an outbreak of the disease in New Zealand very slight. Claiming that new stud breeders were required and not new blood in the stock, Mr Page declared himself as opposed, to tire raising of the embargo. He instanced the case of the stud breeders of Jersey Island and in England breeding for generations oil the same blood, and thought New Zealand breeders should have arrived at a standard of type by now that should not require bolstering up by outside blood. In reply to this, the chairman said the climatic conditions in England and New Zealand were vastly different, and in the case of the latter new blood was required to keep the type of the stock at the best pitch. Agreement with these views was expressed by Mr Bradley, who, replying to Mr Page’s remarks, relating to Corriedale sheep, said that this was a breed which was an in-bred halfbred from the start and it required no new blood to improve it or keep it up It was imperative for most New Zealand breeders that they obtain fresh blood to build up their particular breeds. That the risk was not worth while was the opinion voiced by Mr C. E. Nairn, who stated that if the disease broke out in New Zealand and got among the deer it would never be stamped out. New Zealand was not like England, lie sakl, in the stamping out of diseases. , , The chairman wondered whether the members w r ere not looking at the matter in the wrong light. jirom the views expressed it would appear that tliev were all of the opinion that the lifting of the embargo would bring the disease to New Zealand, but m the speaker’s opinion the point to lie faced was whether the raising of the embargo and the quarantine regulations would be more likely to prevent the disease being brought here. tt had to be remembered, he said, that the risks was already existent by importation being allowed through roundabout methods. QUALITY OF MEAT. Beplving to the points raised, Mr Stewart refuted the suggestion that it was the big breeders who desired to have the embargo raised. In Mr Stewart's opinion the question was opposite as it was decidedly in the large breeders’ interest to prevent English stock coming into the country. In England, which bad Ant.ul Jinked biceds,

no building un Avas required, but the speaker was emphatic that unless New Zealand stock received a fresh impetus through the importation of new blood it ivould reflect itself in the quality of Ncav Zealand meat and lamb. Mr Baxter moved an amendment: That the branch, being of the opinion that no unanimity is likely to be arrived at by the farmers of the Dominion until" the Government indicates what measures for control and compensation it proposes in the event of an outbreak of foot and mouth disease and until adequate compensation and control is provided for, is of the opinion that the embargo should not be lifted. This Avns seconded by Mr Page and on being put to the meeting was carried by 10 votes to five. The report of the discussion, yesterday a.fternc'm, of the ManaAvatu A. and P. Association appears on page 2.