The Hawaiian gazette., 1905-12-12
THE DOCK REGULATIONS
ARE LESS BURDtN5Uai.

The United states Marine Hospital
Service. whose accommodating on'cials
have already done much n the past
few years to make the necrsaHry rcgu.
iaiions regarding preserving tho heaith
"a ships entering this pert Hs hght ns
possible, while furnishing rhs1Iute pro.
lection In conformity with the qunran.
tine laws, have devised another plan
for which the people of Honolulu viii
doubtless rise up and call them blessed.
Tho old.fashionod way Of enforcing
quarantine orders (and under the law
all ships, no matter whore from, are
required 10 ny the yellow quarantine
dag until the United States health oili-
cials permit them to lower IL after IN
spection) was for a ship TO- leave the
dock and anchor in the stream. Then
while the passengers were kept in their
cabins 90 permit proper inspection,
while the tug and the steamer kept
using up good coal so as TO have full
head of steam the minute the health
officials were satisfied under the rigid
laws and could conscientiously certify
to ships health, and while the pilot
stood on the bridge wasting his time
practically (for which somebody, of
course, had to pay), the medical force
of the Federal treasury department
made their inspection of baggage and
freight and passengers. The exactness
of this may be appreciated when 1t is
realized that every single piece has to
bear the stamp of the local station Of
the Federal health service, else when
the ship arrives at the next port, and
flies her yellow flag, the health officers
there can not under the law pass the
ship and allow it to enter the slip and
| dock until they are satisfied of the rea-
son why some package of no conse-
quence in itself perhaps, but looked
upon as a possible carrier of disease, IS
not properly stamped. Uncle Sam s
laws are made TO be enforced and they
are enforced. So well are they en-
forced in Honolulu, for instance, that
the British government with ships for
ports with which the American authori-
ties have nothing to do) require their
| consular representative here to certify
on the ships papers that the ship has
had applied to it the same regulations
exacted by the Honolulu officials of the
American health service.
But the old-fashioned way was ex-
pensive. 1t was dead loss of an hour
or more and delayed the United States
mail just that much and required the
steamship people to make up that time
at extra cost of coal. Uncle Sam IS
mail contracts are made to be enforced
as rigidly as his laws and everyone
knows how anxious railway and steam
ship people are about hustling United
States mail through without delay.
So the local Federal health Office de-
vised the plan of keeping ships from
the wharf a safe distance (Which
scheme by the way has been since
adopted by other American port health
officials) and keeping passengers off the
wharves because the steamship people
said that they could not be sure tha
nothing went aboard without the sraml
of the Marine Hospital Service unles
they had the wharf clear. They askeC
for the moral support of the quarantine
office and they got it. At the steam
ship company's S request Federal healtl
officers were stationed at the docl
gates and Federal passes were ISSUED
and properly checked so that the healtl
of the ship was preserved inviolate, i
was impossible this way for japanese
for instance, to go aboard and, afte
having their ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS bag
gage delivered on board, get unfumi
gated baggage or parcels passed up t.
, them through the open hold or over tn
rail An attempt to do so would be i'm
mediatelv detected. 1t is not the busi
ness of the health authorities to kee