The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-05-07
A NATIONAL QUARANTINE.
fNau york Heraid May 81

From the tone Of the debate In the Senate on
Wednesday II may BE- regarded as ~ eae ig fr
the ESTABLISHMENT Of q national duaraantine VIII
pass this year. It is very likely that inc meas meas
nre debated should not pass tnat IL T. ins're ar
i've, clumsy and unsatisfactory In every par
ticuiar, and In Its attempt TO Pc Logical PROPOSES
impossible applications OF g theory gopd
9nonsh n IT. fsa ae ssa Bat ns %
has wasted upon topics without national I'm.
portanee and Of no interest except In the grey
game OF political dckering the time that snonld
of a measure Of this nature. and the conse-
duent elaboration Of a law that would &C.
IS little as possible beyond the strict line Wnleh
1t 10 necessary to follow. Last years deyasta-
ton In the Mississippi valleyg gave US glimpse
volved In the calamity Of one section; yet the
whole autumn and winter was permitted 70
pass away with little action on this suDJecs Of
subsidized, and now the hot season is upon the
Southern people as little protected as ever
But the Southern congressman have aired their
yocabularies grandly on the necessity OF keep
ing from the polls the troops who are 10 the
Indian country.
against national quarantine Is that the port
Of New York has very good quarantine a.
ready, and the attempt to organize anaran-
convenience, aud, therefore. no such attempt
should be made. Another reason is that quar-,
antine s source Of great inconvenience snd
discomfort, and is worse than many maladies.
Fifty travellers from Cuba or Europe may De
kept for week on a hospital ship at some port.
and rather than That dread tnconvenience ;. let
the fever come and 1900 people die. That Is the
nature OF Mr.. Hoar's argument And get anofh er
Senator urged that by the quarantine bill ac-
tnaly proposed board q healta ae,ng nnaer
| over commerce. But under the quarantine sys-
| tens that exist officers acting under State
| authority and under State law, have and exer-
else. and generally without dispute. an equal
and similar authority over commerce., Some
| body must exercise such an authority. and 1t is
perhaps as little likely to be abused by ma
| tional board Of health as by any other body.
while 80 long as 10 is not abused. 50 long as the
power is directed legtimately to the object It Is
| designed to accomplish, nobody will be dis
| turbed as to its source.
| Mr.. Hoar's shallow argument is against all
| quarantine whatever-aRa the principle q
auarantine-and 1t presents against the appif-
| cation of quarantine reason lmainly derived
| from that application as made IN the days when
cona ys1g ~ phssea r to n
| them. and when the contrivances Of that sort q
preventive medicine we're all equally clumsy
IS as bad or worse than crime because cases
were once determined By the ordeal OF hot fat
| No fact is more certain or can be more GER
tain than that well conducted quarantine
can absolutely exclude from a country. or
| from given district some Of the most vtru-
lent Of known maladies; and u quarantine
as yellow fever. what pueriiity. 1t ID to weigh
that great result: against 81, trivial fact as
| the detention OF q Few individuals for q lew
| days at q quarantine station. Both the plague
| lately active In Russia and the yellow fever con
stantiy spread to countries in which they never
originate. They are the products OF certain
points OF the earth's surface just Gs particular
/ fruits are the products OF certain soils or Ger
| tain climates. At those points they originate
through some action Of the sun upon the soil o.
on decaying substances. and people there
breathe the poison, Naturally Ia such place
quarantine would be vain But to any other
place the disease must be carried, and from any
point to which 1t must be carried It may be ex
cluied by proper quarantine. In such coun
tries these maiadies are produced by emana
tions from the bodies of diseased persons: ant
Ii is as possible to exclude them as to collect
duty on any imported article.
Objection made to quarantine on the score. o
State rights 10 the suolimest absurdtty tina
has been heard of for some time. ever
Ia Congress-. It must be conceded that In tn
days when the Southern men made thei
great clamor about state rights they nat
substantial grounds In reason for their. claim
but the truth Is that 1t ts an anomaly for an,
State 10 have over foreign commerce. any sucl
authority as mu t necessarily be exercised 10
quarantine purposes. and any police right tina
might be claimed BY State authoritie
. is completely overruled by the congress
sional power to regulate foreign commerce
Quarantine 10 properly an attribute Of III
, piled by that authority now. and the Southern
people may make up their minds that the
have got to fight for themselves the danger tha
| rises before them as the summer weather come
| on. All their old systems have been disorGan
i, lied by the CONGRATULATIONS consequent upo
the, war and the subsequent misgov n %,
, and they have apparently. counted since Las
year upon what would be done la Washingto
this winter; but they must at last help them
: selves and they are certainly In danger.