It was put there by previous Congresses because they believed that their first duty was to protect the people of the United States against the spread of the awful scourge of tuberculosis and against loathsome and contagious diseases other than those of a quarantinable nature for which the quarantine laws provide. Hitherto the only exception has been the express permission of. the Secretary of Labor. or the Secretary of Commerce and Labor. as it was under the law when it was passed. The department wrote to the Senate committee as follows: Page 37. lines 20 to 26: After the words "United States." in line 25. eliminate the words " unless with the express permission of the Secretary of Labor" and insert in lieu thereof " unless the Secretary of Labor Is satisfied that the existence of the disease could not have been detected by a competent medical examination at the time of foreign embarkation. and that to refuse treatment would be inhumane or cause unusual hardship or suffering." Then the department says: As the provision is now worded it merely encourages the violation of section 9 by aliens and steamship companies and causes undue congestion In the hospitals at immigrant stations. The discretion to allow -hospital treatment in this class of cases should be restricted as closely as possible. In other words. the object of this amendment was not to make the law less humane but more humane.
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immigrant