Chapter 60.
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CHAP. 60.— An act for the establishment of a Bureau of Animal Industry, to prevent the exportation of diseased cattle, and to provide means for the suppression and extirpation of pleuropneumonia and other contagions diseases among domestic animals.May 29, 1884. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Bureau of Animal Industry. That the Commissioner of Agriculture shall organize in his Department a Bureau of Animal Industry, and shall appoint a Chief thereof, who shall be a competent veterinaryAppointment of a chief.
Duties. surgeon, and whose duty it shall be to investigate and report upon the condition of the domestic animals of the United States, their protection and use, and also inquire into and report the causes of contagious, infectious, and communicable diseases among them, and the means for the prevention and cure of the same, and to collect such information on these subjects as shall be valuable to the agricultural and commercial interests of the country; and the Commissioner of Agriculture is herebyClerks. authorized to employ a force sufficient for this purpose, not to exceed twenty persons at any one time.
The salary of the Chief of said BureauSalary. shall be three thousand dollars per annum; and the Commissioner shall appoint a clerk for said Bureau, with a salary of one thousand five hundredClerk, salary. dollars per annum. Sec. 2. That the Commissioner of Agriculture is authorized to appointAgents; duties. two competent agents, who shall be practical stock-raisers or experienced business men familiar with questions pertaining to commercial transactions in live stock, whose duty it shall be, under the instructions of the Commissioner of Agriculture, to examine and report upon the best methods of treating, transporting, and caring for animals, and the means to be adopted for the suppression and extirpation of contagious pleuropneumonia, and to. provide against the spread of other dangerous contagious, infectious, and communicable diseases.
The compensationCompensation. of said agents shall be at the rate of ten dollars per diem, with all necessary expenses, while engaged in the actual performance of their duties under this act, when absent from their usual place of business or residence as such agent. 32 Sec. 3. Rules and regulations. That it shall be the duty of the Commissioner of Agriculture to prepare such rales and regulations as he may deem necessary for the speedy and effectual suppression and extirpation of said diseases, and to certify such rules and regulations to the executive authority of each Cooperation of States and Territories, etc.State and Territory, and invite said authorities to cooperate in the execution and enforcement of this act.
Whenever the plans and methods of the Commissioner of Agriculture shall be accepted by any State or Territory in which pleuropneumonia or other contagious, infectious, or communicable disease is declared to exist, or such State or Territory shall have adopted plans and methods for the suppression and extirpation of said diseases, and such plans and methods shall be accepted by the Commissioner of Agriculture, and whenever the governor of a State or other properly constituted authorities signify their readiness to co-operate for the extinction of any contagious, infectious, or communicable disease in conformity with the provisions of this act, the Commissioner of Agriculture is hereby authorized to expend so much of the money appropriated by this act as may be necessary in such investigations, and in such disinfection and quarantine measures as may be necessary to prevent the spread of the disease from one State or Territory into another.
Sec. 4. Commissioner of Agriculture to make special investigation as to pleuropneumonia, etc. That in order to promote the exportation of live stock from the United States the Commissioner of Agriculture shall make special investigation as to the existence of pleuropneumonia, or any contagious, infectious, or communicable disease, along the dividing-lines between the United States and foreign countries, and along the lines of transportation from all parts of the United States to ports from which live stock arc exported, and make report of the results of such investigation to the Secretary of the Treasury, who shall, from time to time, establish such regulations concerning the exportation and transportation of livestock as the results of said investigations may require.
Sec. 5, Measures to prevent exportation of diseased live stock, authorized. That to prevent the exportation from any port of the United States to any port in a foreign country of live stock affected with any contagious, infectious, or communicable disease, and especially pleuropneumonia, the Secretary of the-Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized to take such steps and adopt such measures, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, as he may deem necessary. Sec. 6. Transportation of diseased live stock prohibited.
That no railroad company within the United States, or the owners or masters of any steam or sailing or other vessel or boat, shall receive for transportation or transport, from one State or Territory to another, or from any State into the District of Columbia, or from the District into any State, any live stock affected with any contagious, infectious, or communicable disease, and especially the disease known as pleuropneumonia; nor shall any person, company, or corporation deliver for such transportation to any railroad company, or master or owner of any boat or vessel, any livestock, knowing them to be affected with any contagious, infectious, or communicable disease; nor shall any person, company, or corporation drive on foot or transport in private conveyance from one State or Territory to another, or from any State into the District of Columbia, or from the District into any State, any live stock, knowing them to be affected with any contagious, infectious, or communicable disease, and especially the disease known as *Proviso*.
Splenetic or Texas fever not a contagious disease.pleuropneumonia: *Provided*, That the so-called splenetic or Texas fever shall not be considered a contagious, infectious, or communicable disease within the meaning of sections four, five, six and seven of this act, as to cattle being transported by rail to market for slaughter, when the same are unloaded only to be fed and watered in lots on the way thereto. Sec. 7. Notice to agents of railroads, etc. That it shall be the duty of the Commissioner of Agriculture to notify, in writing, the proper officials or agents of any railroad, steamboat, or other transportation company doing business in or through any infected locality, and by publication in such newspapers as he may select, of the existence of said contagion; and any person or persons operating any such railroad, or master or owner of any boat or vessel, 33 or owner or custodian of or person having control over such cattle or other live stock within such infected district, who shall knowingly violate the provisions of section six of this act, shall be. guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not lessPenalty. than one hundred nor more than five thousand dollars, or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
Sec. 8. That whenever any contagious, infectious, or communicable disease affecting domestic animals, and especially the disease known as pleuropneumonia, shall be brought into or shall break out in the district of Columbia, it shall be the duty of the Commissioners of said districtPleuropneumonia in District of Columbia. Duties of commissioners of district of Columbia. to take measures to suppress the same promptly and to prevent the same from spreading; and for this purpose the said Commissioners are hereby empowered to order and require that any premises, farm, or farms where such disease exists, or has existed, be put in quarantine; to order all or any animals coming into the District to be detained at any place or places for the purpose of inspection and examination; to prescribe regulations for and to require the destruction of animals affected with contagious, infectious, or communicable disease, and for the proper disposition of their hides and carcasses; to prescribe regulations for disinfection, and such other regulations as they may deem necessary to prevent infection or contagion being communicated, and shall report to the Commissioner of Agriculture whatever they may do in pursuance of the provisions of this section.
Sec. 9. That it shall be the duty of the several United States districtDuty of district attorneys under violations of act. attorneys to prosecute all violations of this act which shall be brought to their notice or knowledge by any person making the complaint under oath; and the same shall be heard before any district or circuit court of the United State or Territorial court holder within the district in which the violation of this act has been committed. Sec. 10. That the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, toAppropriation. be immediately available, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated, out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to carry into effect the provisions of this act.
Sec. 11. That the Commissioner of Agriculture shall report annuallyCommissioner of Agriculture to report annually to Congress. to Congress, at the commencement of each session, a list of the names of all persons employed, an itemized statement of all expenditures under this act, and full particulars of the means adopted and carried into . effect for the suppression of contagious, infectious, or communicable diseases among domestic animals. Approved, May 29, 1884.