Plague, Fear, and Politics in San Francisco's Chinatown

6. The Siege Continues

Federal Quarantine of California: A Political Blunder Since an unvaccinated, and thus unprotected, Chinatown remained a potential plague-infested district in the heart of California, Surgeon General Walter Wyman brought the matter to the attention of President William McKinley. The result was presidential authorization to implement regulations contained in the Act of 1890 that imposed strict controls on the movement of people to prevent the interstate spread of disease.1 Under such circumstances, the Marine Hospital Service would be authorized to refuse the sale of tickets for outof -state transportation. People traveling from San Francisco to other parts of the country could not purchase them unless they were inoculated with the Haffkine serum or possessed a health certificate stating that the bearer was free from plague infection.2 Faced with the spread of a disease that could potentially devastate America, federal quarantine officer Joseph Kinyoun was determined to act quickly and decisively. Citing the regulations, Kinyoun decided to enforce a travel ban without definite instructions from his superiors in Washington .3 All persons unable to provide documentation about their current good chapter six The Siege Continues June–December 1900 Officials, gentlemen, business people, laborers and merchants alike, are all people amidst trial and tribulation, stranded like caged birds, struggling for life like fish out of water. In all matters take care to preserve Chinatown; at all times protect and guard your neighbors. —anonymous poem, chinese western daily (june 7, 1900) The Siege Continues 141 health status would be detained. He was quoted as insisting that “I am now enforcing the law of 1890; the city and county have no protection against the plague which we know has caused at least twelve deaths among Chinese residents.”4 By mid-June, Kinyoun notified railroad and steamship companies about their obligation to demand health certificates before selling tickets. To enforce the law, federal officers were immediately stationed at key California borders. Trains arriving in cities like Trukee at the crossing into Nevada, Needles near Arizona, and Ashland in Oregon, would be stopped for passenger checks.5 This travel ban was greeted with some diffidence in San Francisco’s City Hall. Mayor James Phelan confirmed that Kinyoun had notified him personally, and he blamed the action on the recent federal court ruling that interfered with local efforts to contain plague. San Francisco Health Board President John Williamson and members William McCarthy and Vincent Buckley applauded Kinyoun’s decision , comparing his efforts to similar measures taken earlier in southern states when local authorities appeared powerless in the wake of yellow fever epidemics . Facing reporters in the nation’s capital, Wyman remained noncommittal, simply confirming that all federal regulations, including the May directive about Haffkine vaccination, applied to the current situation in San Francisco and had the support of the president and his Treasury secretary.6 Not surprisingly, Kinyoun’s announcement drew the ire of California’s dominant political and mercantile interests. Governor Henry Gage and other Republican state politicians interpreted the travel directives as a de facto quarantine imposed on the entire state. Their reaction was swift: Gage fired off a telegram to President McKinley, characterizing the planned federal action as “unwanted” and the product of “improper reflections” that would “outrageously” impair California’s reputation. The governor demanded immediate relief for the people of the state, the traveling public, and the commercial interests of the Pacific Coast. Similar messages went to California’s elected officials, congressional delegation , and party leaders, including delegates to the Republican National Convention . All were urged to make personal appeals to President McKinley, beseeching him to cancel Kinyoun’s quarantine and remove him from his post.7 Republican newspapers such as the San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Call immediately began a campaign to discredit Kinyoun. Was he really an authority on plague? The Chronicle returned to the Nippon Maru controversy and the quarantine detentions at the Angel Island station. It accused Kinyoun of making selective and arbitrary decisions justified not by scientific principles but by the social prominence of passengers.8 The Call, in turn, chose to portray 142 Plague a condescending “epauletted” Kinyoun, safely ensconced in the Ferry Building, abusing his authority and showing off to frightened travelers who barely tolerated the “mummery” in their quest for railroad tickets.9 Although deploring Kinyoun’s actions, the San Francisco Examiner decided to...