Mr. Olney to Mr. Patenôtre.
Washington, November 27, 1896.
Excellency: Referring to previous correspondence concerning the prohibition of the importation of French cattle into the United States, and particularly to your note of the 9th ultimo, relative to the conditions upon which the transit of certain American cattle from the French port of Boulogne to Basle, Switzerland, would be allowed, I have the honor to inform you that the Department has received a letter from the Secretary of Agriculture stating that upon careful consideration of the subject he is of the opinion that the French regulations, communicated by your above-mentioned note, would absolutely prevent the shipment of American cattle to Switzerland through France.
The regulations in question require that there shall be a certificate delivered by the proper authority attesting that the animals do not come from States in which Texas fever is prevalent, and that there has been no contagious disease in the place from which they have come. They require, secondly, a certificate that the cattle have been held in a Government quarantine station for at least forty-five days before shipment, and that they shall also be put to the tuberculin test. Notwithstanding these certificates and this quarantine and this tuberculin test, it is required that a French veterinarian shall accompany the animals in their trip across the Atlantic and during their transit across French territory until they reach the Swiss border, the said veterinarian to be compensated by the owners of the cattle; and, finally, that these exported animals shall not be allowed to be placed in any train having cars of French cattle.
The Secretary of Agriculture states furthermore that this country has no cattle to export to Switzerland except fat cattle for immediate slaughter; that such cattle can not be held in quarantine for forty-five days, first, because the expense is too great, and secondly, because their condition can not be maintained in a quarantine station during that period.
[Page 139]In addition to the expense of the quarantine, the French Government requires by its regulations that a tuberculin test should be made. The Secretary of Agriculture regards such a test as absolutely unnecessary with cattle that are simply shipped across French territory in sealed cars. He is also of the opinion that the requirement that a French veterinarian shall accompany the cattle from the time they leave an American port until they reach the Swiss border, imposes an additional expense which is also unnecessary after the certificate of freedom from contagion and the certificate of quarantine.
With reference to the requirement that such animals shall not be carried in any train having cars of French cattle in it, the Secretary of Agriculture observes that it is not likely that there would be any shipments of these cattle from this country sufficiently large to fill an entire train, and that this condition would require that the animals should be held at Boulogne until they could be taken by a freight train which would carry no French animals, and that this would require additional expense, not only for holding the cattle at Boulogne, but probably for a special train from Boulogne to the Swiss border.
The Secretary of Agriculture states, in conclusion, that it would not be profitable to ship American cattle under the new French regulations, and that they therefore can not be accepted by this Government as a concession of any practical value.
Accept, etc.,