CO129-352 - Public Offices - 1908 — Page 370

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result that they claimed to have found differences

of degree in the diseases of the eyes which they

observed amongst the Chinese immigrants;

International Sanitary Police in all countries, that

Health Officers have the right to examine not only

differences

which are explainable by the symptoms which trachoma

presents in its various stages, for the above mention-

ed Doctors only regarded those immigrants as affected

with trachoma in whom the disease had reached its final

stage, at which period it cannot be confused with other

diseases of the eye, even by persons possessing no med-

ical knowledge. In any case, however, the Certificate

of these Doctors states that they found 127 of the immi-

grants to be affected with diseases of the eye.

It is absolutely necessary to take into consider-

ation the above fact, as declared by Drs. Buhot and

Vallarino, in order to dissipate another objection rais-

ed by the complainants, which is this: that if Dr.

Grone, (the supposititious Delegate of the Board) de-

clared that all the immigrants who embarked on board

the steamer "Suisang" were in a healthy condition, the

Sanitary Authorities in Mexico are not entitled to

examine them on their arrival at a Mexican Port. This

assertion is unsustainable, for it is an axiom of In-

immigrants, but also all passengers and crews of

vessels arriving at their Ports, when there is reason

to suspect that they are carriers of infectious di-

seases. This right is indisputable, but in rela-

tion to the case in point it is sufficient to remember

that after so long a voyage as that made by the Em-

migrant Steamers which arrive at Salina Cruz, per-

sons who started in good health might easily have

developed some disease en route, and for this reason

alone they should be re-examined on their arrival

in port. On board the steamer Suisang" according

to the declaration made by Drs. Buhot and Vallarino,

there were 127 immigrants suffering from diseases

of the eyes, some of them from trachoma (say they).

We say that there were 403 trachomatous immigrants

on board. In any case, if there were persons affect-

ed with trachoma, even though few in mumber, they

could not have contracted the disease except by con-

tagion, and this contagion could only have been con-

veyed by other sick persons who were already suffer-

ternational

ing