The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-08-30
QUARANTINE.
To the Editor Of the Democrat

w WHGbnoT HlI1fHHbiLB has GVET UEDVEtt AIfEDL~
i've, or can ever be made SO, Is the question
now undergoing Il thorough discussion
among the people. II cannot be disguised
that recent experience has produced q large
prepnnderance OF popular and scientific opin-
ion against the effectiveness OF quarantine or
Of distnfecti61l. Admit the foreign origin and
importation Of the disease, the proofs Of the
long and tenacious adhesion Of It's germs in
oven healthy subjects, render der, saell Y, h -, .
yyfts yo a q roban s1flRgIGn Of III ltnprhsoagis srss
with foreign countries during the period Of
yellow fever incubation. Such total nom
intercourse with the outside world is not pos
sible under our political and social systems.
and superficial quarantine like that ereatsd
by the present law2 II the healthy passen-
gers by ships from infected ports can bear the
germ Of the disease in their systems for days
and weeks, after they have been passed and
permitted TO come to the city.-as appears to
be admitted by those who advocate auaran-
tine-~what hope can be iudulged that the
spark will not be- struck which, In conditions
of the atmosphere like the present, will kindle
u widespread couflagration like that which Is
flame Is not kindled in certain years Or In
certain localities, is only logically ascribable
10 the absence OF these mysterious and un-
known conditions Of the atmosphere or
localities.
That the germ Of yellow fever has been iu-
trodueed In all the Northern ports In the
same manner it got into New Orleans, Is
known to the faculty and the whole world.
That It is not propagated in Liverpool, IN
equally we'll known Dr.. Warren Stone who
delivered IL lecture on yellow fever to the
faculty Of New York In 1867, stated that he
never visited the hospitals In that city IN the
months Of August and September that he did
not find In The wards d number Of decided
yellow fever cases. They had got into the
city In spite Of quarantine. but they did not
communicate the disease in spite Of the abb
sence Ut all dfsinfeCtnnts.
We are not scientists, and do not propose TO
intrude into the domain Of Investigation,
which has already been occupied by the most
careful and profound cOllatOrs and investi-
gators Of the scientific world We only note
certain salient facts and Ideas which have
profoundly impressed the popular mind.
The gentlemen who have with so much en-
ergy and devotion administered the responsi-
bis office Of the Board Of Health have sub
iected the quarantine system to q thorough
test. And yet they have only, illnstrated the
ineffeieney Of the system. Their failure to
keep out the yellow fever has been Us signal
ns those Of preceding efforts in the same
direction.
The illogical and unsatisfactory conclusion
from the facts of past seasons, when the
disease did not spread, though its germ WIS
always here that such result was due to
quarantine, is met end refuted by equally
well-establshed facts, of the non-appearance
there was no quarantine or disinfecting pro-
ceSse5
The first quarantine ever established below
this city, at the English Turn, In 1878, under
the administration of Gov. ViIlere was most
vigorously, and in the then condition OF the
citys commerce and external Intercourse YVES
more effectively enforced than the present
system ever has been or could be.
What followed2 Every subsequent season
the grim visitant made his appearance with
renewed virulence and deStruCtiVene8s, until
at last the Governor, who had recommended
the doctors who had sanctioned, and the peo-
pie who had demanded it, were forced to cry
pealed In 1885, and strangely enough, for five
or six years after the repeal Of the quaran-
tine OF 1918, there was no yellow fever
epidemic in our city. But in 1882 and 1888 it
broke out again with terrible violence And
thereafter It's visits In epidemic form were
annual or biennial, until after q lul Of four or
five years, when suddenly, and at an unusual
period, It burst forth into the terrible pesti-
lence Of 1853.
Embracing, therefore, the whole period Of
the visitAtiOns Of this deSolating and mys-
terious disease, from 1913 down to the present
year, there are no facts or experience to en-
courage any hope Of or confidence In the
quarantine system.
That tscientificinquiry and study, guided and
Illuminated by the experience, the faithful
recordation and collection Of facts developed
In the present phase Of this disease, will prove
more successful In eliciting the truth in
regard to the cause origin and nature OF this
disease than similar inquiries made by
eminent scientists in the past That our able
faculty may, through patient inquiry and dis
c1sSion, arrive at some harmonious conclu-
sion and unanimity In their views and
theories, must be the ardent hope and prayer
Of all philanthropists.