The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-06-22
GOVERNMENT QUARANTINE.
Business Men IndOTSe the Action OF
the City Council.


of the Quarantine is Needed-What
Bay Street Men Say About It.
The business men of the city appear TO
be practically unanimous in their support
! of the proposition of the city council to
turn the quarantine over to the govern
ment. They support it not only because
| they think it good fnanciering, but be-
cause they believe a more uniform and
/ satisfactory quarantine service can be
obtained with the government in charge
of all the quarantine stations on the
| coast.
! The board of directors of the cotton ex-
change met yesterday morning. and after
considering the proposition, gave it their
! hearty approval. The president of the
exchange was authorized to appoint a
committee, of which he is to be chairman,
to take such steps in the matter as the
committee may deem best to advocate the
view taken by council and to further its
| efforts.
THE BEST THING TO BE DONE.
President w. G. Cam of the cotton ex-
| change said: 81 was formerly opposed to
government control of quarantine on the
same ideas as those advanced by Alder
man Charlton, but, after having given
more recent consideration to the SUBJ
| ject, 1 favor government control
| of quarantine as the best step
! that can be taken. Uniformity of quaran-
| tine along the whole coast is greatly to be
| desired, and it is evident that the only
| way in which this can be accomplished is
| by government control The chief COM
/ n1a inf oh h do s,,ct =
| coastquarantines in the past have been on
account of the laxity of local quarantine
| stations. One port would attempt to
take advantage of another by lessening
| it's quarantine restrictions and allowing
vessels to come into the port in a shorter
! time than was safe to do so. We had a
recent instance of this in the case of
! Brunswick and the consequences of it.
A UNIFORM QUARANTINE.
at is true" said Mr.. Cam, that Sa-
vannah has at present, and has had for
! sometime past, a frst-class quarantine,
| but it is undeniable that our quarantine
| is under local political control, and that
any change in administration might effect
a complete change of policy. The argu-
ment against this step on the ground of
Capitalization does not appear to me to
! hold, as against the marine hospital ser
! vice. DIR. Drummer obtains all his infor-
nation of the condition of other ports
| through the marine hospital service. We
| are practically enforcing at our quaran-
| tine stations the national quarantine
regulations at our own expense We can
not violate these regulations without get
ting into trouble with the national gov
eminent.
A GOOD FINANCIAL SCHEME.
Quarantine is not simply local ques-
tion," Mr. Cam urged, "but is for tho
| OrofApfinD nf the DIM
we'll The city is at an expense of S25, 900
year for maintenance and improvements
at quarantine. If we can shoulder this
expense upon the national government,
and in addition get $4,000 for the i'm
provements we have there, we will be
able to turn our attention to other subjects
| Of vital Importance, one of the chief of
which Is house drainage. The city has
been deearred from this important under
taking heretofore by the lack of funds
with which to prosecute the work, and it
is high time that it should be begun. A
beginning should certainly be made next
year, and with the burden of quarantine
off our hands we will be able to do it."
THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD DO IT.
The views of President Cam were
echoed by President Purse of the board
favor of 1t. 1t will give us uniformity in
quarantine, something which is very
much needed. The government has
the men, the money and the ex-
perience and it should have charge
of the work. / take no stock
in the cry of Capitalization. We let the
government clean out our river for u.s.
and why should we not let it protect US
in the matter of quarantine. Quarantine
is no longer local matter, but a national
affair and embraces the whole world in
its scope. BY turning the quarantine
over to the government we relieve the
city of a heavy drain and enable it to
take up many things now demanding at
tention.
MIR. j. P. Williams said: "It is move
in the right direction. The government
preScribes the laws and regulations which
are enforced at our quarantine and it
should bear the expense. When l come
to consider the question, it is remarkabl
strange to me that the cities should have
retained control of the quarantine at all
1t is power which properly belongs to the
government, and one which the city can
well afford to dispense with
THE PROPER THING TO DO.
1T is the proper thing to do" said Mr..
w. b. Stilwell. "The government can
enforce quarantine much more effectualIy
than the cities can do 1t. am not an ad-
vocate of Capitalization, but think we
can stand this much of it,
OCllcF6 budb
would be much more effectual than local
quarantine" said MIR. S. p. Shooter. II
have not found the local quarantine very
satisfactory. Vessels are frequently de-
tanned at quarantine for a considerable
length of time on account of the lack of
facilities for unloading ballast. Sufficient
facilities for this work have not been pro-
vided at our quarantine station since the
storm Of last August. and the result has
been great dissatisfaction on the part of
ship owners, and a consequent injury to
our commerce. Government control
would prove much more satisfactory in
my opinion"
FOR GOVERNMENT CONTROL.
81 have not given the subject any con-
sideration,n said Mr.. j. S. Wood "but
there seems to me to be great many ar
guments in favor of government control. ~
Capt. f. G.. Strachan and MIR. c. S.
Connerat, both well posted ship brokers,
expressed themselves as heartily in favor
of the proposition to turn the quarantine
over to the government.
Alderman Charlton in a communication
in to-day's MORNING News reiterates his
opposition TO the proposition on the
ground that it is a move toward central!-
zation.
WITH DIPLOMAS AND CROWNS.