San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-01-29
GUARANTEEING MEXICO.

The people OF Texas have in recent
years, distinguished themselves by
! the cordiality of their friendship for
! Mexico, and their efforts to cultivate
close commercial relations with this
country bear the unmistaka BILE i'm
press of sincerity. Their feelings for
this country are shown in the many
sharp criticisms made by the Texas
press on the famous speech of Mr..
Terrell, by the efforts made by the
people of San Antonio to attract Mex
leans to their annual fair, by the cOur-
teOus hospitality extended to their
Mexican guests and in innumerable
other ways. Notwithstanding the
friendship of the Texans for the people
of Mexico the document in which DR..
Rutherford proclaims a quarantine
against Mexico is cOuched in language
which is deemed by some of our con-
temporaries as highly offensive.
The smallpox quarantine establish
ed by the Texas authorities against
Mexico seems to be wholly unnec-
essary and is doubtless very annoy
ing to travellers going north through
Texas from Mexico. 1t is true that
there may be in some Mexican cities
sporadic cases of smallpox the year
around, but epidemiCs are not fire.
quent. At present we do not know
Of small pOX epidemic in any part
of the republic, therefore we can see
no reason why travellers should be
compelled to provide themselves
with bills of health from Overy Mex
lean city or town in which they may
happen to halt. There are times
when a smallpox quarantine against
Mexico may he justified, but this is
not one of them.
Even ifDr. Rutherford had been JUS
titled in proclaiming Il quarantine
against Mexico, there was no reason
why he should make statements both
offensive and incorrect. The asser-
ton that the citizens of Mexico neg
lect to use the we'll recognized and
proper precautiOn for the suppression
OF smallpox is unjust. accinatiOn
in this country is freely administered
at government expense and is as far
as possible compulsory, while it may
be true that the law cannot always
be enforced, it is also true that vac
cination is not universal in the United
States or any other country.
There may be differences of opinion
as to the necessity of the quarantine
recently established, but there can
not be as to the Inconvenience and
annOyances which it entails. 1t inter-
feres very materially with travel to
Mexico, thereby injuring not only this
country, but number of Texas towns
as well, and this interference can not
fail to prove detrimental to commerce.
Still, if the authorities of Texas, after
giving the subject the cons liberation it
deserves, arrived at the conclusion
that the Establishments of quarantine
against Mexico would be a wise meas
ure of precautiOn, the least the officer
whose duty it was to proclaim that
quarantine could have done would
have been to employ language and
statements that would not give Of
Tense.
It must be admitted that the peo-
pie of Texas, like those of the Unived
States in general, have queer ways of
manlfesting the friendship for this |
country which they profess. This |
quarantine proclamation can not be |
regarded as matter of great import. |
but it comes to add another to the |
many disagreeable incidents which |
have recently occurred and which |
tend to prevent tho promotion of cor
dial relations between the two repub-
lies.