Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-12-01

ties Institutions ORGANIZATIONS and legal au-
| thorfties. To this secular obligation OF COM
mon duty may be added so much OF that higher
law, which. quoting the words OF Tillotson, de-
clares that religion obliges men to practice
those virtues which conducs to the preserva-
| ton Of our health"
ssDasIy duties paid, hardly at first. at length
viii bring repose to the sad mind that studies
/ to perform them
| With this text for what have to say, permit
| me to give the reason for the faith that is in
| me, trusting that / may be able to prove and
practice the sentiment Of one Of the poets that
| in real life
1.-THE primal duties shine aloft like stars"
/ If then the State owes order, law aud protec-
/ ton 70 the citizen the citizen owes to the
State, in return, allegiance, and self-preserva-
i ton to himself and 70 those dependent upon
/ him. The State provides schools for the young,
hospitals for the sick, asylums for the deaf
and dumb for the blind, the ld1otic, the insane;
| and poor houses. reformator1es, Ja'ls ana pris-
| ons for the unfortunate and vicious class OF
/ people. The greater or lesser number in these
| several institutions and places depend upon the
| causes and conditions OF those sent, or SEN
| fenced, to occupy them. The state psr-
/ forms its duty when it provides needed
| comfort for the absolute poor, and needed
| punishment for absolute criminals. All be-
yond this for securing public or private good,
| belongs to personal and responsible admins
| tration; and this is true whether the subject
| relates to Institutions or to families. Citizens
| make the family; families make the State;
/ and States and Territories compose the gener-
/ al government The safe beginning will. as
| rule. always make the safe end. In the State,
| we are not only to enjoy life, but TO live nobly.
Aristotle most truly said that It IS only by
| only by thought that labor can be made happy,
/ and thu two cannot be separated with impuni-
~; and where both are best preserved the
/ State life and the life of the citizen will be
| most secure. Whoever stimulates research
into questions relating to the health of
the people, secures as the first fruit
| Of that research knowledge which
benefits mankind. This kno Wedge is born of
| observation, and produces the experience
| which comes from observation. One of the
/ first lessons thus learned is that governments
best represent the people, and really only rep
| resent them, when those in power maintain
| what is wise and good, and provide punishment
| for what is dangerous and vicious.
The State in this sense is a civil power, a
| political power, a governing power OF the
/ many by the few-the many consenting to this
/ form of government, which means the body
| polite united and organized to establish and
| maintain the rights, interests and welfare of
| the people. In limited sense, such govern
ment is district, town, county; and these
grow into a commonwealth. In larger sense,
/ it is a league, a confederation. and that
1 form of federal power which most of us now call
and respect as a nation; This is the imperial
/ power OF the body polite. united for all tn
| purposes set forth in our constitutional form
| Of government, and from which, short of revo
luton. there can be no ACKNOWLEDGMENT.
/ The first duty is the safety of the republic,
and the second, and like unto it, is the promo
| ton OF the six great precepts set forth in the
/ preamble to the Constitution; and inasmuch
as the public health is necessary to all domestic
| welfare, and ] may add. to justice,
| in the proper presentation of what
is due TO the people from the State.
| present this branch of what relates to pop
| ular government and duty as OF the highest
| importance to the country and to mankind.
Therefore, let the public school room, acade
| my. college and university impart what is due
/ to the State in return for what the State has
| done for them, and is always dong for its
| children.
/ tions of schools, and of all public insti
/ buttons, by competent local boards of
/ health Among the discoveries which may be
made-and am speaking both from the school
| of observation and experiments the cause
| and effect of those terrible diseases
known as diphtheria and scarlet fever, and of
/ all the emanations from malarial poison. In
| spectors. teachers and parents, to arrest dis
| eases like these, owe some service to the State
| need not in this presence say just what this
| duty is. but for the many persons not here, l
| may state that among these duties are: Nom
/ communication, isolation, safety from expos
| ure to draughts and colds, the strict avoidance
| of impure water, the disinfection when requir-
ed OF clothing, or rooms, workshops, dwellings
| and of all exposed places; the special personal
cleanliness of all who suffer, and of all in at.
| tendance as nurses or otherwise. Where fire
| and heat are not applied to get rid of what is
| offensive, fumes of sulphur, copperas and 9th
| er effective dsinfectants must be used; and
| when death comes there must be no public or
family funeral. THE dead, y if need be, must
| bury their dead" To save the lives of the liv-
| ing by such means shows no want Of sympathy
| for the dead for the living, but just
| the contrary. One bad case of diph-
liberia neglected in the school room, the sick
| room, or in the dead room, may lead the way
| to hundred graves. The true parent, the
| wise friend, the honest citizen, will see that
| these exposures, so often caused by ignorance
/ or false sympathy, are prevented by the strict
| est non-intercourse.
New York city saw 1872 young lives lost by
| diphtheri4 alone in the six years from 1874 to
| 1880; Brooklyn nearly as many or more, or
| 1904 in the same time, and England over 1000
| in one year as far back as the year 1859 This
| disease is common and increasing all ever our
| country, and in nearly all parts of the world.
What is true eff diphtheria is measuraby
\ true of scarlet fever. This may not be SO
1 much of filth disease. but it is communicated
to children in the schools. and is, therefore, to
| be watched. Measles, whooping cough, and
| chicken pox are also diseases peculiar to
| children; and to check them, when and where
they exist, or are threatened, is one of the
| constant duties of adults. We know, FORUM
ately, how to arrest the spread of smallpox
| and the consequences of neg ect.*
Not only is vaccination the first remedy. but
| the first duty, and as a rule, the certain cure
During its general prevalence the closing of
| churches, of colleges and Of all schools and OF
all public institutions should be secured, and, il
| necessary, this should be the rule, il required
with all the diseases to which children are ex-
| posed.
| SUBJECTS TO BE LEARNED WITHOUT DIRECTION
| FROM THE STATE.
In infancy and early childhood nature pro-
| vides the most wholesome food, and the best
| care taker-including mother and nurse-is the
| person who studies common sense rules as to
food, Taiment, warmth and ventilation. have
seen nearly go per cent. OF children, under two
| years of age, die in public institutions, and
have seen the lives of children of the same
| age and the same dependence aud condition.
| where only per cent OF the whole number
have died in the country nursery and hospital
| md NOT ant in he 1ad ctr
| and city. In both town and country the good
and bad results came from good or bad admin
istration, and the good as rule has bsen and
1 always will be chiefly directed by voluntary
service. Nearly as many persons die from
being oyerfed as under-fed, and the waste OF
life and the want OF health in cases like these
which may be counted by thousands-is born
of ignorance and Indifference, for which the
State is rarely responsible.
Mental training is another duty of parents
and of teachers, and one hardly second in inn
portance for the avoidance of dangers and I'M
wise mental impressions. The brain. next to
the stom ach, is to be properly cared for to free
children from diseases known as fear, fright,
by steFla, St. VituS' dance and kindred diseases
caused or suggested by unwisely directed adj
visors educators. Let not wisdom hnger
where know edge comes always remembering
for young and old, that where there is cure by
prevention there need be no cure by medicine.
What are called domestic pestilences-such
ing cough, and even small-pox-are largely
preveniable diseases, and the remedy is, first
Of ALL personal care, and, secondly, the proper
use of what belongs to the atmosphere of
the locality. To know yourself should in all
cases mean to know how to take care of your
self and this In the form Of individual santa
ton AS vaccination is the preventive of
| small pox, the reasonable logic is that every
man, woman and child should be vaccinated
| Diphtheria, with all its mysteries, is shown
to be the result of local conditions,
whether propagated, as stated by Professor
Horatio G. Wood, by microscopic plant or
fungi from which no one is exempt, and which
exists in the mouths or Threats Of all Of US, but
with no power of reproduction until it receives
fresh vitality from the disordered conditions
| of the mucus membrane attending sore Threats
| produced by colds. 1t is a blood poison in the
| very sources OF human blood, and even in the
| spleen and bone marrow. The poisoned plant
| extends to the blood when diphtheria sets in,
| and the disease goes out spreading through all
| possible surroundings. IL is declared to be
| possible, il existing theories hold good, to kill
| and it is at least more than possible
that this terrible disease may be modi-
| fed il not removed But as it
| now is, even the convalescent may communi-
| cate the worst infection; and hence the necessi-
| ty for domestic publication and personal care
We read daily how and where impure water
| has produced, perhaps,it should be said, agra
| waited diphtheria and scarlet fever.
| In Memphis we have recently seen the most
| trations Of the people The change for the
| better only came after immense losses, suffer
ing and distress; but after it came, il inspired
| more than a hundred towns in the country to
| follow one good example.
| For convenience at one time 10N miles OF
| wooden block pavements were built in
| a single year, and the effect of the great
fhn ufV 0n unflr