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JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 
[Vol. 16 
that from the charted results future action could be predicted with the 
certainty that one has in the extension of a known curve. Perhaps the 
material available is too fragmentary to respond successfully to such 
mathematical treatment; at any rate such an exhaustive study is 
beyond my present reach and I shall content myself with pointing out 
some features of domestic quarantines as they concern (1) the legal 
aspect of quarantines; (2) the viewpoint of the administration; (3) 
factors in the quarantine itself; and (4) the relation of the public to 
quarantines. If these features are afterward subjected to more de¬ 
tailed discussion the purpose of this paper will have been attained. 
The Legal Side of Quarantines 
In days gone by many difficulties were encountered in regulatory work 
because of the lack of full legal authority. These difficulties did not 
arise so much in connection with state functions which could be planned 
and arranged for long in advance, but rather in those cases where sudden 
action was necessary. In such cases the state frequently found itself 
without power to stamp out a pest. This hampering situation gradually 
has been improved, at first by the granting of legal power for specific 
cases and latterly by the adoption of more general basic laws. At the 
present time the necessity of reserve power to be used in an emergency 
is so generally recognized, that in one form or another blanket power for 
establishing quarantines exists in nearly every state. 
Under our form of government it has always been considered dangerous 
to place arbitrary power in one man’s hands, except for the performance 
of a specific and definitely limited act, and the idea of a blanket law 
granting a wide range of power to be applied at the discretion of some 
official, met with great opposition. But the awkward situations that 
have developed and the increasing requirements for pest control have 
gradually weakened opposition to the basic law plan, until the principle 
may be said to be now completely accepted. This change of viewpoint 
was made easier by a realization that quite adequate checks on the un¬ 
wise or unjust use of arbitrary authority easily may be provided. It is 
realized that officials are quite unlikely to jeopardize their position and 
personal reputation by unwise or unjust use of power; that restraints 
involving “third-party” boards or committees are satisfactory; and 
that the public itself carries in its million hands the final check of an 
implacable vote. 
When compared with past conditions the present situation is gratify¬ 
ing. Our ideal of an ample basic quarantine power in each state is 
