(Witness: Melvin.) Doctor MELVIN. Yes, sir. Then, again, he reports on any disease which he may observe among the cattle. In former years it was quite frequent that Texas fever would develop among the cattle. The CHAIRMAN. What is the Texas fever? Doctor MELVIN. They would contract the disease en route to that country either on cars or steamers that had previously carried southern cattle, and by the time they reached there, or sometimes before, the disease would develop. Those cases he would report on, and we would proceed to investigate to see if we could ascertain the source of infection. Our system of inspection, vessel regulations, inspection of vessels and cattle previous to shipment, and the management of southern cattle in this country, all these together have resulted in the diminution of loss in export live stock from 10 to 15 per cent to less than one-half of 1 per cent. The CHAIRMAN. Does not the English Government have inspectors that inspect these cattle also? Doctor MELVIN. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. And no cattle can be landed without it passes their inspectors? Doctor MELVIN. The inspection is made after the cattle are landed. The CHAIRMAN. The inspection, at any rate, is made before they are slaughtered? Doctor MELVIN. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. So that, before the cattle reach the consumer in Great Britain, they have gone through an inspection by the inspectors appointed by Great Britain? Doctor MELVIN. They are inspected simply with reference to contagious diseases, not as to whether or not they are fit for food. It is merely an ante-mortem inspection, not a post-mortem inspection, simply to determine whether the animals are afflicted with a contagious disease which might be communicated to their own animals. The CHAIRMAN. The English Government pays no attention whatever to the question of the fitness of the cattle for food? Doctor MELVIN. No, sir; not the General Government. The CHAIRMAN. Is that a matter to which the attention of our inspectors is especially directed? Doctor MELVIN. As to the fitness for food? The CHAIRMAN. Yes, sir. Doctor MELVIN. That inspection is made before shipment from this country. The CHAIRMAN. So there is no need of that at the other end? The CHAIRMAN. Is there any occasion for an inspection on the part of your Bureau in Great Britain, except what may be verified by the English inspectors? Doctor MELVIN. We consider it very important. The CHAIRMAN. Is there any occasion except for the purpose of verifying their inspection? Doctor MELVIN. As I explained the other day, in addition to the inspection of cattle it is necessary for them to report in case of any unusual state of the cattle en route. The CHAIRMAN. I want to confine this right now to the question of inspection. Is there any occasion for the inspection by your (Witness: Melvin.) Bureau in Great Britain except for the purpose of verifying the inspection made by the inspectors of Great Britain, so far as the inspection proposition is concerned? Doctor MELVIN. And furnishing us with information regarding any unusual condition which might exist and which we would not get from the English veterinarians. The CHAIRMAN. What unusual conditions? I do not understand that you inspect for the purpose of ascertaining the food value. Doctor MELVIN. For instance, there might be a question which has recently come up with reference to the shipment of pregnant cows, whether or not this shipment was objectionable to the English people. Our inspectors on this side inspect the cattle and when they are not far advanced, that is what we consider within two months of parturition they would be passed. We would pass them in this country at that stage. It might be possible on account of the trip, storms, etc., that these animals would have an unusual number of cases of abortion and arrive in an objectionable condition; anything of that nature it would be their place to call to our attention in order that we could increase the inspection here, tighten it up, and make it less objectionable to the English Government. The CHAIRMAN. I do not see why that information could not be communicated here directly by them. Doctor MELVIN. They do not do so. The CHAIRMAN. You have to have somebody there to call attention to it? Doctor MELVIN. Well, it might come in an indirect way. A great deal of our information that our inspectors collect does not come from English officials direct, but we get it from those in the trade. The CHAIRMAN. If there was not any complaint on the part of the English officials or on the part of the consignees there would not be any occasion for the additional investigation? Doctor, MELVIN. We try to anticipate any objection on their part rather than to wait until they make it, because it might be made in such a way that it would be very hard for us to remedy it afterwards. The CHAIRMAN. As to the matter of shipping at various stages of gestation, of course, if it is once determined that a cow is in such an advanced stage of gestation nobody will ship it. That simply takes care of it in the future. That would not arise later on. Doctor MELVIN. That would be true. The CHAIRMAN. I do not fully appreciate the importance of an inspection in Great Britain after we have already once inspected here and when the British inspectors are also inspecting. Doctor MELVIN. The claim by English veterinarians that pleuropneumonia existed in this country would be considered a very serious matter. The CHAIRMAN. Yes, sir. Doctor MELVIN. And unless our veterinarians were there to verify their diagnosis or disprove their diagnosis we would have no redress whatever. The CHAIRMAN. That comes right down to the question of verification? Doctor MELVIN. It has occurred in former years in a number of instances where the English veterinarians pronounced our cattle. (Witness: Melvin.) infected with contagious pleuro-pneumonia where by our system of inspection and tagging of export cattle we were able to prove conclusively that they came from a section of the country, perhaps in Nebraska or Kansas or from some other far western State, where pleuro-pneumonia had never existed-never been found. The CHAIRMAN. That would contraindicate the existence of it, but not demonstrate it? Doctor MELVIN. The demonstration of it is very largely a matter of information, because until within the last few years it has been impossible to know the cause of the disease. The CHAIRMAN. You have not been able to demonstrate the manner in which it is transmitted? Doctor MELVIN. You could not prove it, as in the case of tuberculosis, where you find the particular bacilli and demonstrate it in that way. The CHAIRMAN. That is the organic change? Doctor MELVIN. Yes, sir; in contagious pleuro-pneumonia. The CHAIRMAN. I appreciate the fact that the work of our inspectors in Great Britain is in the main incidental or auxiliary to the inspectors appointed by Great Britain and for the purpose of verifying their results. Doctor MELVIN. I would consider their services mainly supplemental to the inspectors whom we have in this country who are engaged in the same kind of work-that is, in the inspection of export cattle and vessels. The CHAIRMAN. As a rule, do they examine individual cattle for the purpose of ascertaining their physical condition? Doctor MELVIN. Very frequently. The CHAIRMAN. Unless in the first instance some abnormal conditions have been disclosed by the English inspectors? Doctor MELVIN. Very frequently; yes, sir. It is usual, however, for all to remain away from these cattle except those who have to tie them up and care for them until after the English veterinarian has finished his inspection-that is, where the cattle are already tied up, as during the night. In the daytime, however, Doctor Wray would be present and see the cattle as unloaded from the vessel-probably at the same time that the English veterinarian was there. He has been there when the English veterinarian was not there. It is not often that the English veterinarian proceeds down the river to see the cattle. The CHAIRMAN. For the reports of your inspectors and the work of your Bureau do you have the calendar year or the fiscal year? Doctor MELVIN. Our reports go by the fiscal year. The CHAIRMAN. For the year ending December 31, 1905, how many actual examinations of cattle were reported by Doctor Wray? Doctor MELVIN. He does not make a formal daily report. He reports by letter and weekly reports. The CHAIRMAN. How many letters did he write calling attention. to the fact that he had made examinations of individual cattle? Doctor MELVIN. I would not be able to say. I do not think there were many letters from him on that account. Our cattle were landed in very good condition. (Witness: Melvin.) The CHAIRMAN. Has the Department any way of knowing how many individual cattle were examined by Doctor Wray as indicating the amount of work he has actually been obliged to perform in the discharge of such duties as he has there? Doctor MELVIN. We have a weekly report that he makes for each of the various ports where cattle are landed. At Deptford and at London he will collect his own information. At Liverpool our inspector there will collect the information. The report shows the number of cattle, the vessels they were shipped on, the shipper, the consignee, the number lost en route and the cause, if he can ascertain the cause, of the loss, and then there is another column for remarks, where, in case there would be any extraordinary report, he would make a note of it. The CHAIRMAN. Would he make a note if he made a physical examination of any cattle? Doctor MELVIN. In case there was any unusual circumstance he would otherwise he would not. The CHAIRMAN. How long has Doctor Wray been there? Doctor MELVIN. Sixteen years. The CHAIRMAN. I wish you would look back over the files of the Department for, say, five years ending December 31, 1905, and give us a statement of what the record shows as to how many physical examinations he has been called on to make during that time. Doctor MELVIN. I do not think that would show the work of the Doctor, because The CHAIRMAN (interrupting). I do not know whether it would or not. Doctor MELVIN. That information has not been recorded by him. The CHAIRMAN. I do not know. I would like to have what the records show on that point. I do not know what they would show. That seems to be the larger part of his work, if I get it correctly. I do not know what the records will show, but if you will be kind enough to give us what the records show on that point we will be obliged. Doctor MELVIN. In the five years ending December 31, 1906, Doctor Wray has reported the arrival at London of 1,446 vessels, carrying 700.376 head of cattle, 84,857 head of sheep, and 6,502 head of horses; nearly 95 per cent of these were American animals. He has also reported upon the arrival of 814. vessels at other British ports carrying 161.077 head of cattle, 35,647 head of sheep, and 1,654 head of horses. He has also rendered about 100 special reports relating to the losses of animals at sea, the conditions other than normal of all those landed alive, and, when occasion required, the post-mortem findings of diseased animals at slaughter. This office has no information regarding the reports of the foreign veterinarians concerning the condition of American cattle landed in Great Britain, and is therefore unable to determine the number of instances where the opinion of Doctor Wray differs from that of the English veterinarians. For several years there has been no report made to this Government regarding the finding of contagious pleuropneumonia among American cattle. (Witnesses: Melvin, Zappone.) Doctor Melvin concerning Doctor Wray's work. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY, Washington, D. C., January 21, 1907. DEAR SIR Referring further to your request for information as to the nature of the services performed by Doctor Wray in addition to his inspection of animals from the United States, I would state that he acts as the foreign representative of this Department in various matters pertaining to agriculture. Many questions have been referred to him for investigation; and all agricultural matters which he considers of interest to the Department are called to the attention of this Office. During the prevalence of the foot-and-mouth disease in New England it was principally through his representations to the English Government, by direction of this Office, that the ports through which American cattle were exported, outside of New England, were kept open for live stock for England. There was very great danger at that time that all live stock from the United States would be prohibited entry into the United Kingdom. His familiarity with the work of this Department, and particularly of this Bureau, enables him to make such representation as could not otherwise be obtained. Doctor Wray has always held a high place in the veterinary profession of this country, and at the time of his selection for service abroad was the State veterinarian of Maryland. Very respectfully, Hon. CHARLES E. LITTLEFIELD, A. D. MELVIN, Chairman Committee on Expenditures in the Agricultural Department. The CHAIRMAN. I wish you would go right on and explain further about his work. I understand the employment of Doctor Wray, by this report, shows 365 days of employment in the year, he having a per diem. Has the Department ever taken any steps to ascertain whether or not, as a matter of fact, independent of the services performed by the doctor, he is really actually employed there 365 days in the year? Doctor MELVIN. No; we have to leave that to his own statement, because we have no one else there to supervise his work. Mr. SAMUEL. You have no reports to verify his statements? Doctor MELVIN. No, sir; he might very frequently visit Deptford and he would not make a daily report for that work. The CHAIRMAN. Has the doctor always filed certificates covering every day in the year? Doctor MELVIN. He makes weekly reports. The CHAIRMAN. Do the certificates for his compensation cover every day in the year? Doctor MELVIN. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. Will you look in the book for the same five years, so that we can see about that? Mr. ZAPPONE. The statement called for is as follows: Services of Dr. W. H. Wray. Fiscal year 1902, worked 365 days, at $12.50 per day. Fiscal year 1904, worked 366 days, at $12.50 per day. $4,562.50 4,562.50 4,575.00 4, 562.50 4,562, 50 Mr. SAMUEL. Are the conditions such that they must of necessity make Sunday examinations? The CHAIRMAN. He says there are some cases. |