This is not the Minister's Bill as it was suggested by the cattle trade, in order to provide funds to compensate people whose cattle were slaughtered in the outbreaks of disease that occurred in 1925-26. Many members will remember that I raised this matter three years ago in this House, and tried to impress upon the Government the necessity for compensating the owners of these cattle. I pointed out the great hardship and injustice these people suffered, and that it was a disgrace that the British Government, the Northern Government and our Government should not have arranged to compensate people whose cattle were slaughtered three or four years ago. The cattle trade did not ask for the Bill, but as it is the best way out of the difficulty they accepted it. It was my intention to move some amendments, but I have been requested by the cattle trade to accept the Bill as it now stands, and to ask the Seanad to pass it without amendment. The cattle trade is responsible for the measure, and it is their privilege to tax themselves to provide the funds to pay compensation and to guard against other contingencies of the same kind which might arise. The Bill is not contentious, and I ask the Seanad to pass it.
SLAUGHTERED ANIMALS (COMPENSATION) BILL, 1928—SECOND STAGE.
As one who was interested from the start in this matter, and who took a deep interest in trying to see that these people would be paid for their cattle, I hold stronger views on the matter than perhaps my friend Senator Counihan. I always thought that where cattle were slaughtered in the public interest there should be no hesitation in paying for them out of the public purse. It was in the public interest these cattle were slaughtered, and England, with all her boasted sense of justice, should have paid for them. The claim was a very deserving one, and as England has so long been identified with our cattle trade I thought it a very small position to take up, to refuse compensation for the sake af four or five thousand pounds, when already over five millions compensation had been paid to cattle owners in England. It was miserable to refuse to pay because an Order in Council was passed contracting out of liability. The cattle trade, with the concurrence and approval of the Minister for Agriculture, got this Bill introduced. I am glad that it is non-contentious. It is in the interest of the cattle trade that it should be passed, and we all hope that the fund that is to be provided will be ample to meet all future demands.