The Portland daily press., 1877-01-24
The State Board of Health.

In the discussion of the question of estab-
fishing Board of Health, it is very general
ly admitted that such an institution is desira-
bic, but the objection is raised in certain
quarters that it will cost too much. This OBJ
lection was fairly met by the committee of
physicians who advocated the establishment
of the Board before the Judiciary committee
of the Legislature at Augusta last week and,
as the argument, though based upon princi-
pies perfectly familiar to political scono-
msts may be novel to many who have not
regarded the subject from that point of view,
and is certainly worthy of most serious con-
sideration by our legislators and the public,
we present a brief abstract of it,
The bill pr ovides that the Secretary of the
Board shall receive salary of $1,000, but
the other six members shall have no compen-
sation. The necessary expenditures for
travel, printing, stationery and the like
would probably amount to $4,000 more per
annum in the first years of the Board max
ing $4,000 in all. Now, in order TO appre-
ciate the items on the other side of the ac-
count, we must bear in mind tina. human
life has distinct money value. This fact
we are not accustomed to recognize, but our
Southern brethren understood it we'll before
the war; An able bodied negro was worth
from $1,000 to $500 to his master, and negro
babies were reckoned at $40 pound The
average of young, middle-aged and old was
about $500. But as free labor is more valuable
than slave labor, and as there has been a
general rise in value and depreciation of the
currency, human life should now be esti-
mated at greater price. The population of
Maine according to the census of 1870 was
1000. With regard to the death-rate in
the State we have no reliable data: so we
must make an estimate from the vital statis-
tics of some place in the State which will
probably represent the average of all the
towns. There is no place in Maine
whose situation is more salubri-
GUS than Portland. Nearly surrounded by
water, sloping from the centre to the sides in
every direction, with more abundant sup
ply of fresh water and more elaborate and
extensive system of sewers than any other
town in the State, it certainly is not unfair to
tnerest to takeits death-rate as sample. This
we find to be in the year ending last March
21 in 1,O0O-the normal death-rate being II
in 1000. In the whole State then there an
nually die 13 167 people. Of these to every
1000 of population perish unnecessarily; that
is, if our sanitary conditions were what they
should be and might be, 2,5OS less lives
would annually be brought to close than
now are.
In estimating the loss which the State ex-
periences by these $500 deaths, We must
reckon the loss by sickness, by death and by
disability. If we reckon five cases of sick
ness for every death land this is much below
the aVerage), ten days as the duration of the
illness of each person, and $1.50 for the loss
of time per head per day, the total loss from
sickness alone would be $1S7, 800.
In calculating the loss of time BY death,
we put $3.50 as fair standard of productive
ness for each individual per annum. Allow
ing for each person who dies an expectation
Of six years if he had not been prematurely
cut OF, and the total would be $6,771, 900.
The loss of time by disability, reckoning
both the dminution in productive labor and
the actual expense to the State of the conse-
quent paupersm, is placed at double the loss
by death in the case of certain diseases such
as smallpox. OF course it would be less in
most affections, and an average would prob
ably be about the same as that from death
$6,771, 900. The total of these three items is
$13, ,730, 700
1t will be noticed that no account is here
made of the expense of the care of the sick
or of the burial of the dead. This omission
is made because the money for these pur-
poses remains ia the State and helps support
Maine nurses, physicians, undertakers and
grave-diggers 1t would be fair TO add the
depreciation of real estate which always at
tends diminution of population; but as this
is difficult question and one which might
not be readily admitted by all to be fairly esti-
mated however low the figures were placed,
it is ignored.
But the query very pertnently arises here,
would State Board of Health save US these
$500 lives and these many millions of treas
ure9 Not in the first years, certainly, for it
will take long time to educate people up to
the point OF appreciating the necessity of
close attention to hygienic matters, and 10 get
into perfect running order the machinery
with which to effect the reform.
But it is reasonable to suppose, judging
from the success of similar Boards in other
States, that the efforts of this Board would
prevent at least one-fifth of the sickness, and
disability, and death, which is now produced
by unnecessary causes, and thus we should
save five hundred lives and $2,746, ,14O.
These estimates are small all through, as
must be evident to any one who is in the
least familiar with the problems involved.
The question then comes to our legislators