Frederick T. Frelinghuysen to Charles R. Lowell, October 1, 1883

No. 246. Mr. Frelinghuysen to Mr. Lowell.

Sir: I inclose herewith a copy of a letter addressed to this Department by the Acting Secretary of the Treasury, in relation to a statement alleged to have been made recently in the House of Commons by Mr. Dodson, chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, to the effect that the American quarantine system in relation to cattle diseases gives no security against the conveyance of disease by men attached to quarantine stations and by articles taken out of quarantine yards, and that the system takes into consideration only the animals themselves. You will observe that the Acting Secretary of the Treasury calls attention to the report of the Treasury Cattle Commission of the 21st ultimo, in regard to the foot-and-mouth disease among the cattle of the United States, which, while it admits that this disease did exist in herds of cattle imported from Great Britain, emphatically denies its present existence among the cattle of this country.

I will thank you to lose no time in calling the attention of the foreign office to the statements contained in the inclosed copy of the letter of the Treasury Department on this subject; and in so doing you will communicate copies of the circulars accompanying that letter, and invite the special attention of Her Majesty’s Government to the stringent regulations governing the quarantine of cattle which are thereby established.

I am, &c.,