The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-12-07
FEDERAL SANITATION.

| FEDERAL government 10 take HO4G u the
sanitation Of Honolulu as ii has done
I of the sanitation of Havana and Ma
: Mia, is financial II costs a great sum OF
: money to run the business of the Ter
ritoriaI Board of Health in proper fol II
and an epidemic, such as may occur at
any time. is not only too expensive foT
treasury with fun Golfers but even
for one with an Overlooking surplus
Our treasury has money enough to car
~ on ordinary public business for six
months but II cannot meet extraordi-
nary drafts. Even with plenty of
money. past health boards were unable
to keep the city clean. After the
cholera things went from bad to worse;
and the report printed in this paper
ON January /. 1900, was astounding.
Sanitary conditions are now Ear from
satisfactory. and If they become much
worse we may have a recrudescence Of
the plague.
It is not necessary TO wait for an out
break to get the Federal government
at work in the way we have suggested.
Every important city save this one. oc-
cupied as a result OF the Spanish war.
was promptly taken IN hand and made
sanitary, though in none was there an
epidemic at the time. The work was
precautionary. Such work is needed
here We do not see why, if Havana.
Matanzas. Santiago, Ponce and Manila
have had the benefit of Federal sanitary
work. Honolulu should be denied 1t. We
are so placed that, II some pestlence
arises, grave interests of the United
States in this sea would be threatened
and perhaps jeopardized. Here is a
possibility which ought to be treated
in the same way that similar possibili-
ties are treated elsewhere. Congress
has full power to act. Under recent |
decisions of the Supreme Court its !
Jurisdiction is nearly as absolute in a |
Territory as 1t is in the District OF !
Columbia. It can make and unmake; |
1t can bind or loose. If 1t chooses to |
look after the sanitation Of Honolulu |
through the Federal quarantine officials |
it may easily find a way to do Sc.
It may be conceded that Congress,
In providing for the sanitary care of
Honolulu. would have to enact some
new laws and abolish or amend some
Did ones. The question of purely local
administration, touching district physi-
clans and lepers is involved; but it
seems to us that If Congress would as
iume the main duty, that of warding
III or stamping out Infection, the Ter
itory could easily deal with the rest,
ither through a full Board of Health
IT, better yet, through special sani-
airy agent. The expense to the Ter s
itory would be greatly lessened and /
he sanitary safeguards of Honolulu '
nd Hawaii increased proportionally. r
In connection with what has been
aid above about the efficiency of the
'ederal health service. the following [
emarks of the Philadelphia Record are a
Orth reproducing: [
THE sanitary reclamation and re- t
of Havana under the direc- r.
on of the Federal Military Govern
lent is a surprising and beneficent
.ature of the transition period In Gu
an administration. From a pest hole
be dreaded Havana has been trans Il
rmed within less than three years into o
veritable health resort. The death b
tie In the city, which in September, ii
9S was 1912 per thousand of popula- p,
on, had been reduced IN September, =,
OF, to 1854 per thousand. London's "
cath rate for September was 1857 per
DOC; Paris, 17.5S; Berlin, 2426; New
ork. 2175. Washington's death rate n
r the month ended September Il was Il
.3S; that Of New Orleans for August W
as 1925. Hull. England. with a popu
ton ABOUT equal TO that OF havana, |
lows death rate of 1886. p
Equally striking is the record OF the g
.mpaign OF the chief sanitary officer q
Havana against yellow fever. Dur G
g eleven years past, as shown by off, G
al records, the smallest number of G
,aths from this disease during the q
onths when it is epidemic-from April q
October in each year-was thirty-siX, @
1899. In 1897 yellow fever claimed 659 Q
ctims. the average for eleven years @
to April last being 297 deaths. Dur q
& six months up to October L last Q
ere were but five deaths from yellow Q
yer in the Cuban metropolis. .
This marked advance in sanitary =
has been made without the =
d of a permanent and effective system =
sewerage. improved streets or better y
alter supply. The city's highways y
i've simply been kept clean by unre- =
lifting work. scientific disinfection has =
zen vigorously applied, and men by y
e hundred have been employed to =
II off mosquitoes which convey the =
Lcillus of yellow fever. 1t has been =
lrd work. honest work. and the mill -
ry administration of the city may -
Irly plume itself upon the success of
5 efforts under desperate and dis {
uraging conditions" s
A.