Daily Kennebec journal., 1881-02-03

| WAS aIucUucu SO As lut " abPAs ~
employees, and was then passed to be en-
crossed. -,
Bill an act to establish the Eclectic Col
Iege of Maine came up on its passage to De
engrossed-
| Mr.. EArox, of Camden moved to amend
the 7th Sec BY inserting in the 9th line after
the words ssequal TO-" the words 1.-THE Maine
Medical School at Brunswick, IN every
respect or particular" so that diplomas and
public testimonials NAV be granted 10 stu
| dents for the practice of medicine, when such
students shall have completed full medical
course of study, equal to. in every respect or
particular, that of the Maine Medical School
| at Brunswick and those of other public med
| ical institutes in the United States de sald
the seventh section gave the ''power to con-
fer degree: and grant public testimonials 10
! students who satisfactorily completed any
one or more of the prescribed courses Oh
study" vet there were more than twenty dli-
ferent branches in the medical profession,
nearly every one of which, should have a
separate professor to teach each particular
| branch He confessed that he WAS afraid OF
Doctor and believed It the duty of the
| legislature. as far possible. 10 guard
every avenue against quackerv- Those VINO
| bad diplomas granted them TO so into our
| families as physicians should be well quail
| fled 10 practice their profession. lie had no
| insinuations to make against the petitioners;
but there was a hole in the bill which he pro
posed. by his amendment. to close up The
| bill did not define whether there should be
one course of study or Ten courses. nom did
| il prescribe what the medical course should
| be. He referred TO the establishment OF
medical college in Philadelphia which had
| been selling bogus diplomas to those who
IL. q
| Pennsylvania after persistent efforts had sue
ceeded in breaking up this institution get
ting some of its officers into prison and scat
tering others. Where were these men NOV
| ing TO who had made money by these sales!
| The people should be protected from such
medical institutions. and his amendment
proposed to guage the college asked for, by
the Maine Medical School at Brunswick,
which was an honor 10 the State.
| Mr.. VERRILL of Portland said it was con-
sidered by the committee that the petitioners.
who were weli-known in the community.
were entitled to a fair opportunity to found
such an institution they seemed to desire,
and without any invidous comparisons, or
any particular standard set up more
/ than provided for by the statutes
| of the State. 1t was felt
that it was proper for them to confer de-
grees and grant public testimonials to stu
nents who had competed any one or more of
the prescribed courses of study which would
be of use for the purpose of introducing them
to other institutions which could give them
superior facilities. But it was particularly
specf ed in the bill that unless such students
had reached some standard such testimonials
should not be used to entitle them to practice
medicine as profession. According to the
| law of our State it was only necessary for ATTY
practitioner to obtain a certificate of good
moral character from the municipal officers
where he resides in order to practice medi-
cine. ard to collect his pay for professional
services, if people see fit to employ him. 1t
was thought by the committee that it ought
not to restrict an institution of this kind to any
narrower bonds than the statute fixes
for. similar institutions; and the words of the
statute were, "unless he has received a medi-
cal degree at public medical institution in
the United States" which have been incor.
porated in the bill. So that any degrees con-
ferred by the proposed institution would not
authorize the recipients to practice medicine,
unless they came up to the requirements of
those other public institutions in the United
States. which have been thought to be a
general standard. OF course this meant in
stitutions of fair repute. He contended that
| it would be invIdious to fix certain standard.
| 1t was thought that if. instead of the word
''equaf' there was used the word ''similar" or
some word of like nature, and reference was
also made to particular school. that it might
he construed as restricting the studies to one
particular school of practice; that they must
follow the same courses. He understood the
doctrine of the Eclectic was that he must
have a general knowledge of all schools and
be able to select from them according to his
best Judgment the best remedies. So if they
followed out their principles, broader cur
r-icutum was required than by the other medi-
cal schools The petitioners did not desire
| to be restricted to particular school or any
particular course of studies, but desired to
follow ont their own course. All that we de-
sire is that they shall come within n GER
tain standard fixed by the statutes.
Mr.. EATON replied he desired that the pro-
posed institution should be gagged some
where. 1t was a wonderful thing to be able
TO select from the different schools of prac-
tice all the good and reject the bad
Wonderful knowledge, He claimed that
there was not one requirement in the medi-
cal school of Maine but that it was necessary
for the student to know.
Mr.. Folsom of Oldtown advocated the
amendment and concurred in the sentiments
expressed by the mover Of it. 1t was
SIMPLY justice anu pTOteCtlon 10 tne medical
! faculty of the State He had signed the Pc
ttion for the proposed college. and had ques-
toned the gentleman presenting it to him;
and from him he understood that it was to be
| placed upon the same footing with the col
lege at Brunswick. The same gentleman
had also remarked that he wanted to gradu-
ate no scholar from the school but that would
be on an equal wich the students graduated
| from Brunswick. The petitioners desiring
| this, he saw no reason for lowering the
standard in case of this importance
Mr.. VERRILL spoke in reply to the last
speaker. and questioned whether the charter
to the Maine Medical College prescribed anv
courses of study. He understood the courses
of study were fixed by the officers of the in
stitution. He said that no desire was ex-
pressed before the committee to have a stan
dard fixed like that of the school at Bruins
wick.
Mr.. SWEAT. of BrownfeId did not think
the gentleman from Camden Mr.. Eaton.
had any desire to cast any reflections upon
the petitioners for the college The question
was whether the bill would meet with their
desires, and also whether it would not open
the door for quackerv. He desired to know
whether there was any thing in the eth Sec
tion which would prevent bogus diplomas is
suing from the contemplated institution All
kinds of pathies, he believed, were nonsensi-