The herald., 1893-02-27

tentions as swould certainly be unavoidable
were the grim postileree to accompany
storage passengers as close travelling com
panions.
However we look ct the proposition to
protect the country from an invasion of
cholera by exclusion for ono year of all Eri-
ropeans 4of the "staerage classes, we are
confronted by shield Of two opposite
sides. Upon the one side is displayed most
prominently the indignation Of d few steam.
ship owners. mostly Foreigners, who fear
the loss of tens of thousands Of dollars.
Upon the other side is depicted In bold out
line the trrnistakable demands of the
American people, who fear tho actual and
prospective lossof hundreds Of millions Of
dollars.
Shoald we hesitate upon which side to
standP
Having studied the history and the ma
ture of cholera with ample opportunity to
learn something Of fits destructive power,
andmnoh also Of the most certuin means
of escaping st, may be accorded the right
to speak upon the question with some au.
thority.
There is at present great lack of facilities
at quarantine stations along our Atlantic
coast requisite for maintaining successfully
long defense against the danger of intro
duction of cholera with an uninterrupted
stream, of European storage classes. Such
quarantine facilities as are needed for the
safe handling of great numbers of these
classes constantly arriving cannot be pro
yided, either by the local authorities or by
the national government, in time to safely
guard against a danger which may become
very great as early as next April.
a,,, i,, onocr1 rz,;ti, paorlv oil ,,,o,.;oo,,
sariitarians In holding the opinion that if
cholera become widely prevalent in Europe
during the coming warm season it will
prove to be impossible for this country to
escape the epidemic unless ''the steerage
classes" from Europe be rigidly excluded
To proclaim and infexibly adhere to and
enforce that policy during this year would
not only certainly protect the interests OF
the public health and prove to be the best
guarantee of the success of the Chicago
fair, but also would secure maritime trade
and ocean travel against such injury, loss
and discomfort as were experienced last
autumn.
To substitute instead of this policy of ex
clusion for limited period (Which is rea-
sonably certain of securing the great end in
view project of quasi quarantine and in
spection on the European side Of the Allan
tic (which is at this time exceedingly dan
gerous because an entirely new and untried
experiment. would seem exceedingly un-
wise to one who fully appreciates the critic
al situation in which continued immiSra-
tion during this year may place the Colum-
bian fair, the public health and the eco
nomic and industrial prosperity of the MAJ
ton.
would urgo mostemphatically that this
ispot the year in which to inaugurate such
doubtful experiment solely for the pur-
pose of Quieting the clamor Of transporta-
tion companies engaged in the steerage
traffic. Ii such an ezpedient could pos
sibly be successful, it would only be 30 with
the uninterrupted suffrance by foreign gov
ernmeAts Of plain encroaohrnent upon
their sovereign and exclusive jurisdiction,
with the constant competent and abso-
lutely reliable medical inspection by I'M
bendable officers Of the United States ma
rine hospital service stationed abroad, and
with the honest cooperation of all the
officers of the steerage transportation COM
pqnies
have 10 hesitation in declaring that my
knowledge and personal experience, 40
quired while performing the duties of
United States cholera commissioner and of
port physician at Philadelphia, convince
me that the last requisite is absolutely I'M
attainable Without it the scheme is es-
sentially unsafe Moreover, to send out of
the country large number of the bestiofIi-
GERS of the marine hospital service at q
time when every one of them will be sorely
needed at our own ports would very seri-
ously cripple the effective administration
of our national quarantine service, if in-
deed We are to have such a service and are
to hnve it properly administered by that
organization
This naturally brings me to the consid-
Grafton of what believe to be the best sys-
tenn of quarantine. I have held in my Off
cial Report on Cholera in Europe and In
dia," in paper in the January number OF
The Forum and in various other pubiica-
tions that the best system of quarantine is
one under the absolute control and direc-
tion of the national government through an
independent commission of experienced
sanitary experts.
l have shown in these publications.
think unenswerably--that the series of in
dependent local quarantines which exist in
this country at present constitute no sys-
TEN at all and are essentially incapable OF
safeguarding the general welfare of the ma
tion.
Iwould, in conclusion, point out the ne
cessity, if the administration of national
quarantine be handed over to the marine
hospital service, of providing for the strict
est discipline and subortlinaticn in that
corps have been surprised to note in the
newspaper reports of the recent discussion
in the United States senate upon the SO
called Harris bill' objection to placing in
the hands of the official head Of that serv-
ice--namely, the supervising surgeon gen
eral-the power and responsibility which
alone can render that service intelligent,
harmonious and effective.
1t has never occurred to senators to dis
turb or cripple Che efficiency of the medical
service of the navy or that of the army by
the enactment of legislation which would
cause the surgeon general off the navy or the
surgeon general Of Che army to be ignored
or superseded. Why, then, should the
quarantine organization, which at such a
time as this may be able to render service
to the nation of incalculable value, be
hampered with limitations such as have so
frequently rendered the efficiency of SINH
lar corps abortive?
II. 0. SHAKESPEARE, M. D.,
Ex-United States Cholera Commissioner
and EXPORT Physician ut Philadelphia.
A Quick Cure for Nosebieed.
An eminent surgeon cures the nosebleed
by plunging the feet and hands of the pa