The Van Buren press., 1874-06-09
Charity begins at holm =
" But should not stay thee.n


But should not stay thee"
Above, Mr.. EDITOR, we haves quotation
from an ancient, and celebrated authority
with an addition TO it not less remarkable for
truth, although its author may MT be so well
known. IL would be quite foreign to my pur-
pose to, here, enter upon any laulation of the
God-inspired cause of charity as Go not
doubt that all my readers are duly imbued
with the cause. so beautifully described in the
scriptures. My object, howeveris to call at
tention to certain objects of clarity in our
county; and also. to the manner in which
! they receive heipa the hands of heir fellow
beings.
There are two clIsses Of poor In our midst.
| lst, those poor, from inability to work.
2d, those who are poor through Incidence.
! The first class alond demands our attention.
/ What shall be done for their relief They
belong to us. Each citizen of the county, is
responsible to his God for the care of his wor-
| thy, distressed ncighbor
| believe it is customary in well regulated
communities, to make-and TO make Efficient
provisions for the care of their poor, at the
expense of the people. This is regulation
which equalizes the burden, and our duty is
done, and we scarce feel the loss The cree
tion of Il poor-house ut some place in the
county and the collection of the poor therein
and the employment of a physician to attend
to the health of such as are sick, is all lauda-
ble and is a judicious project as far as con-
venience is concerned.
The particular style of doing" charity in
this county, is most faulty, in some respects.
and deserves to be renovated and improved.
A physician is employed and paid salary
cut of the county treasury. to attend to the
medical wants OF paupcrs throughout the
county. How this is done may be best Illus
trated by the statement Of a couple of cases.
was called, as a physician, to minister to a
certain Mr.. q. He MAS old decrped, had no
money, no relatives. mot one thing on earth
to call his own" He had been taken care of
by a family who were struggling to support
themselves. attended to him fort two weeks
thereby loosing my attendance on some pa
tients who were able and willing to pay, me
for my services to them. The old man died.
(Here let me remark that ut no time during
bis last illness was he able to endure trans
portation to Van Buren.) | sent my bill for
services to the County Supervisors. who after
hearing the case, acknowledged that tie
claim was just and ought to be paid, but
they already paid physician to do such
work, and therefore could not pay me for do
ing his work, which he was already paid for
doing.
\ few days afterwards another case deserv-
ing of charity occurred 1t WAS woman
not able to be moved and in extreme danger
from her ailment. | sent a written notice of
the fact, to the county physician, and the
sheriff certified rs to her being pauper. The
county physician sent back word that he
would have nothing to DO with the case uh-
less the patient was sent to Van Buren, rs his
contract was only to attend to such cases is
were brought to him. You will readily see
the discrepancy there is in the decisions Of
these two sources of authority. The Super
visors could not pay me, because they already
paid man to do hat had done. The ply
scian says, they do not pay him for doing
what | had done /. e. attending to charity
ease unable to be taken to Van BUren. Who
is right or is right taken into the con>idcra-
ton at all? The poor Of the county general
" stay in the country, and nine times out of
ten. when taken sick. it would be both cruel
and unwise to move them. The result Is.
that If the poor in the country get amy mcdi-
cal attention, they must get IL at the hands
Of private practitioners, who do all this labor
without pay-while the people pay Il poor tax
and the county physician sits in his Office in
Van Buren and regularly draws his salary
which is to a great extent earned by some
one else
Mr.. Editor my dissatisfaction is net of
financial nature. simply want justice done
to all parties, Let Us have fall understand
ing, as to who is to attend to the paupers in
the country; and the measures of mercy and
charity which nave never been stinted by the
profession. to which | have the honor of be-
longing. will not be forgotten by the
COUNTRY DOCTOR.
a