334 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



seriously defective or diseased, while 

 only 4 per cent, of the alien steerage 

 passengers were so certified. 



These figures may be taken as 

 representative, although unfortu- 

 nately similar figures are not 

 available for Ellis Island. No 

 more is needed to show that rela- 

 tively the cabin examination is at 

 least as important if not in fact 

 more important than the steerage 

 examination. 



Dr. Safford very aptly points 

 out that "long-established cus- 

 tom dictates that the medical in- 

 spection of cabin passengers must 

 be made somehow on shipboard 



tRSWAIJ Polak. 



German Swiss. 



whenever they may arrive, day or 

 night, and that thev can not be 

 removed to a suitable place ashore 

 for the purpose." This custom is 

 pernicious when made ironclad. 

 In some cases the examination 

 can be conducted satisfactorily on 

 shipboard. An exception should 

 be made by the immigration in- 

 spectors in favor of these cases 

 only, and the rule should be 

 that all aliens should be exam- 

 ined in a satisfactory station 

 on shore. The law designates 

 the regular immigration station 

 as the place of examination of all 

 aliens, unless the commissioner of 

 immigration expressly appoints 

 some other. 



