The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1871-08-19 00:00:00

APPEAL TO ANIMALS' FRIENDS.

Tame pigeon-shooting
k not imbruting,
Cock-fighting's quite as good;
Anal hadger-haiting
As elevating
lie, were it lawful, would. --Punch.

CHOLERA AND THE DOCTORS.

The following letter has been sent to Tin Timi 4 for
pnblientbm
_

yomr leading article of August Bth, im the valualde
report of Mr. Simon, urging preparation against eladellika
In general, and against cholera In particular, you act forth
in your usual trenchant style the opposing forces with which
sanitary reformers have to contend, and oiler Wirt au accu-
sation is lodged against the profession to which 1 have the
happiness to belong. The charge is as follows lie (Mr.
S. looks to the medical profession, lout even there he Hods
the universal law of selfishness still in his way.'

It is well nigh impossible to meet an accusation made in
general terms. I might quote a thousand instances of un-
settishinss, labour nurequittvd, often not even iicknouledged
with thanks but the accuser wonht escape under the plea
that he had in mind some other thing which Iliad forgotten,
so I will not dispute the point. I will even plead guilty, SO
that I may also put this simple nail practical consideration
before your readers.
•• •
. ' • •

If doctors are so ready to " consult their own inter.- Fit,"
and if this self-seeking is one of the the causes why cholera
is not prevented, and why fever out other preventible
diseases, to the extent of 100,000 in the year, with all their
consequent miseries, continue, would it not be politie to
try Mid make the interests of the doctor and if the patient
more nearly, if not completely, coincide 'e Why should not
the prevention of diseale i.e a reeownised pot, not to say a
Principal part, if the duty of every .• family" doctor.'
A few weeks ago I hail the honour to preside over the
Midland Branch of the British Medical Association, and, in
accordance with the usual custom, delivered on, address. It
was seeiningly in strict liaison with the " selfish " theory,
but still, I hope, pardonable, under the circumstances, that
I should select for my subject "professional grievances," and
that I ShOlild ask my brethren " to consider whether the day
has not arrived for us to get rid of some of theta." Here was
a fine opportunity for us to give vent to our selfish propensi-
ties. You will not be intro-Ise.' to hear that forty or
fifty doctors in a room by themselves for once canoe to an
unanimims conclusion. We 41id so, we opened a brisk tire
upon the parsimony of Minis of Guardians, upon the hard
bargains struck with the clubs at the " Fox and I loose," mum
those of the public in general who treat their " family di.e-
tors " not as gentlemen and friends, but as a class of "upper
servants who most bc kept in their places, or as a net of
ogres to he avoided on long as possible, or to be got rid of as
speedily as possible." Nor did we forget the expiring order
if physicians, who, adhering to the time-honoured custom
of accepting, "a guinea or nothing," receive "nothing" more
frequently than the guinea, and and, perhaps, the guinea so
clipt slid shorn into the bargain that it bet:owls a question
sometimes whether the fees "will cover comfortably the cost
of cab hire."
• • • „

I am happy, however, to inform you that this " selfish '
exordium was followed immediately by it description of the
grievances of the patients—of "pauper patients, club
patients, private family patients, and physicians' patients,
hospital awl other ;" and, still further, to he able to say HMI
the remedy proposed was nothing more selfish than this,
that we should 'see ti it that every proposed measure of
reform has this object distinctly and primarily in view, that
it is to enable us to to our duty better and as to duty, the
prevention of disease was mentioned first.
Ti any one who cares to read the address I shall he happy
to ~eod is copy, but for your readers it will suffice to extract
the following paragraph :

• - - -
" I advocate a reform from within; and I am bold to Ile-
clam that It wolili do more to place the profession in its
own proper position of dignity than any Act .4 Parliament,
however well devnioal, or, indeed, any measure of reform

commencing from without. This is the practical eouchtaion
which I set% to bring before you. Let the family doctor be
a health-Atter, hosrflrst May la to preventillsease-; let
hit relation to thl family he allch that' it to to is Wet eat
to cure disease, not prevented, as quickly and thoritughly
as possible : let him delegate the sale of physic, and the
dispensing of it, whenever it is possible, to druggists- 1.0.
mit that thin might be done by arranging that the acknow-
ledgment for into S.. !Niel, should he no nitwit per annum for
all ordinary work, leaving a good margin for supplementary
fees for extramd Mary visits. The Chinese system of paying
the doctor when the Emperor is well, and cutting his head
off when Ills Highness dies, has often furnished point to a
joke against the profession. het us extract the sting by
adopting the o,llnl principle, which is nothing more than
that embodied in the proverb. .• Prevention is better Unlit
coin.- The only difficulty tied occurs to tne an worthy of
menthol is that of determining how much the annual sum
should he, or rather, I should say, how little, for it must be
coniparatively small to sgeme general acceptance."
In defence, therefore, at leant of these gentlemen who
wcre iC. nnt, and ~1,1,1111,5t,d UZI thc address might be
ye oath I, on mas,maldy of
the in .;no': -:2(1 the ar(.,ciatien to whom the journals
anl '• a Ir k )att (a ,attanit to your readers
(tor aMI th• enbtia o,stely the quef that ieits) stithlier
be, as aPton a no, shall cote ll.' 1,, or picebt "
isolatioamu re,;ant to the dm) prrvention, or I ed.—l am,
WlLuan Debt; M.D.,
Derby, Aug. 9.

PS. Allow or to a. 1,1 that to rrveif per,onally, except
as ',diming that tln• chatete would be for the advanta;re of
all, it is 8 luntter of indifference whether any such refonia
(may I not .y !evolution?) as this is effected. Post:ibly
littler,ll.ll all cmantination ...malt:100n; might be more
frequent, :and so I might he benefited ; loot this is only tui
instance of the indirect benefit which I anticipate for all
portico, so that I claim to be on advocate upon independent
W.Ollllll.