The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1877-01-25
"A Portland Interest"

ga Portland INTEREST,"
The Bath Times in an article "of little
meaning though the words are strong as
sails the PRESS for its advocacy of State
Board OF Health. 1t is apparently impossi-
BILE for the Bath paper to conceive that
measure may be advocated because it is of
public benefit. The article is couched in
language that is doubtless intended to be Wig
orous and that succeeds in being spitelul.
1t is gratifying to see in the Times the dis
cussion ola topic of current interest, even
though the novelty of its situation has put it
out of temper. The Times makes this extra
ordinary statement regarding the proposed
Board: "fhe project is primarily Portland
one, the immediate and direct benefit of
which is hoped to enure to Portland inter-
est, the supposed or real benefit of which to
the State, whatever it may be-if any-wil
be merely incidental" This statement rests
upon an entirely false assumption. Port
land has less relative interest in the matter
than other towns in the State. She is the
healthiest city in Maine, is as well situated,
from sanitary point of view as any other
town, and better situated than many, has a
good system of drainage, and is well equipped
to meet and overcome disease. The only
portland interest" which the Board can
possibly benefit is health, an interest which
Bath should have as much at heart, though
to judge from the Times the state of that
10 bod Ixx,;lI Jor
so much benefit from.the passage of the bill
as will the country towns, for the reason that
she stands less in need of sanitary regula-
tions. 1t is notorious that there are locali-
ties in this State where typhoid fever comes
as regularly as election day; other localities
where diphtheria annually RACES like an ep-
demic ;s.ill other localities where hatdreaded
New England scourge, consumption, yearly
fattens the graveyards. The objects of the
Board are to discover why these diseases
periodically make their appearance in these
localities, how they may be prevented, and
then to prevent them. That the attainment
of these objects is feasible has been proved by
trial. That the collection of the necessary
uesso, tdO uioWih5 OA COuCiuoiOuo LuClciEOLu,
and the arrangement of preventive measures
can he effected by men who are not trained
to the observation of the causes and familiar
with means to the cure of disease is an abb
surdity possible only in the Times. The writer
of the article which starts without proper pre-
misses and comes to inconsequent conclusions
has as great horror of statistics as did Harold
Skimpole. He evidently looks upon them as
some new and untried remedy for disease
asking if statistics are essential to the well
fare of the State," and showing hearty con-
tempt for the man who wastes time in max
ing sure of his facts before he draws his de-
ductions. The Times even goes so far as to
intimate that the State is healthy enough,
and says that if towns are unhealthy they
can remedy their bad condition. But they
don't remedy it, nor could much be expected
from hasty and ill-directed measures taken
without knowledge and prosecuted without
energy. The Board can utilize this mis-
directed energy and this misapplied money
and turn them to good and economical
account.
As to the origin and motive of the bill the
Times is entirely mistaken. 1t is the work
of the Maine Medical Association, Society
which has no peculiar interest in Portland,
no dspToportionate membership therefrom.
The Board was first suggested by DR.. A. F.
Page of Bucksport in 1874, is his address as
President of the Association. He recon-
mended that committee be appointed to
urge the matter on the Legislature. The
committee consisted of Drs. Alonzo Garcelon
of Lewiston, j. G. Weston Of Bangor, II. Fl.
Hill of Augusta, A. j. Fuller of Bath, Fl. c.
Fessenden of Eastport, T. A. Foster of Port
land, and William Swazey OF Limerick. In
1875 the recommendation was renewed by
the President, DR.. T. 81. Brown of Paris,
and on nomination of DR.. Alfred Mitchell of
consisting of Drs. French of Portland, Horr
of Lewiston, and Meserve of Buxton. Among
the foremost advocates of the measure were
Drs. Hill and Brickett of Augusta, Sanger
and Hamlin Of Bangor. There would be as
much Justice in saying that the article in the
Times was inspired by selfish motives of the
people of Bath as in asserting that the leader
in the PRESS was dictated by the selfish in
terests of Portland. Such accusations we do
not make, and cheerfully give our opinion
that the Times article wasl not inspired by
Bath people, nor indeed at all.
The opinion of the Times is admirably
stated by the Portland Advertiser, which
says:
A court jester, condemned to death for some
uncommoDly bad joke, was graciously per
mitted to choose the method of his exit, and
replied with thanks that he would prefer to die
of old age. The Bath Times is not of this
opinion. The Times prefers to die of typhoid
fever, small pox, and other preventable dis
eases, and so opposes the appointment of a
State Board of Health with considerable vigor