Lord Burghclere, who was President of the Board of Agri-
culture in the Liberal Administration of 1892-5, has completely associated himself with Mr. Sonar Law's condemnation of the Government proposal to set up a separate Board for Scotland to administer the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act. His own experience convinced him that uniformity of action has been a main factor in eradicating the major cattle diseases in Great Britain.. Scotland, he observes, is not an island, and the fact that the only division between the two countries is a long land frontier "renders dual control a considerable danger should a difference of opinion occur between the two Departments." Such differences are almost certain to occur, and the delay which they would cause before an agreement was arrived at might be most disastrous to agriculture. Lord Burghclere concludes by declaring the arguments against dual
control to be overwhelming, and appeals to the Government when the Bill reaches the Lords to delete a provision directly threatening the more prosperous portion of a not too prosperous country. If Lord Burghclere had called it an insane pander- ing to Particularism we should not have complained.
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