The De Soto County news., 1905-09-08

ference on immigration and quarantine
at Chattanooga early in November, and
Mr.. schwing, president OF the Louis
lana Press Association. has issued an
address to the newspapers Of that
state inviting a discussion OF the ques-
tion Of federal control OF quarantine.
The foregoing call and address show
unmistakably that there isin the South
a strong inclination for uniform quar-
antine, and Of course uniform quaran-
tine means national quarantine.
The time has come for a change
from the crossroads, shotgun quaran-
tine that has prevailed with destruct-
i've force every since the great epidem-
ic Of yellow fever in 1888. There was,
Of course, more or less OF this sort Of
quarantine before that epidemic, but
1t is since that epidemic terrorized the
people that the South has felt it's full
force and suffered. intollerable annoy
ances and vast losses from II. The
appearance Of case Of yellow fever
at any place in the South is the signal
for stopping the wheels OF commerce
and bringing travel practically to a
standstill in the Southern States.
The effectiveness OF this sort Of quar-
antine is questionable. 1t certainly
hasn't kept the fever out of Louisiana
towns this year. Neither has It kept
It out Of Natchez, Pensacola, Vicks-
burg and other places. Indeed II the
fever in New Orleans this year had
been as virulent as IL was in 1887, 1t
is safe to say that It would have spread
all along the Mississippi Valley, just
as it did in that year, Notwithstanding
the annoying guarantees established
by local authorities.
II the the mosquito theory is correct,
and its correctness seems to have been
demonstrated in New Orleans this year,
then the sort Of quarantine we have
here in the South is Of very little bene-
fit. Anyway, what is needed is a uni
form quarantine, a quarantine thaS
will not bring busines to stop when
ever the fever appears in a Southern
town and will not subject travellers to
such hardships as to bring travel prac-
tically to a full stop.
Quarantine, both at the ports and in
the interior, should be under federal
control. Then we should have a uni
form quarantine and the people would
have confidence in It. 1t should be in
the hands Of men trained for the serv-
ice required Of them. They would see
to It that the yellow fever was report
ed as soon as il appeared at any place
in the country and steps would be
taken to stamp it out. The fever
wouldn't be permitted to run along
for weeks and even months, as IL is
alleged to have done at New Orleans
this year, with the hope that it would
die out without its presence being
known to the public. As long as local
health authorities are depended upon
to report the fever on its first appear
ance we may be sure that either
carelessness or for business
reasons the disease will get a pretty
firm foothold before an announcement
of its presence is made II national
authorities had been in control Of the
quarantine at New Orleans this year
the probabilities are that the fruit
ships wouldn't have been permitted to
pass the quarantine station so promptly
after their arrival there, because the
fact Of the presence Of the fever at any
place where their cargoes were OBJ
tanned would have been known, and
care would have been taken to see
that they carried no infection. The
federal authorities wouldn't he anv
more competent probably than the
state authorities are, but they wouldn't
feel under as strong obligations to
take chances in order nor to interfere
with commerce. They would make
health their first consideration. And
health is what the whole South wants.
The great business interest OF the
routh mustn't be made secondary to
he interests OF A few men Mt the