New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-06-16

honor of our profession is not to De ue'crmlnot
by the administration of any trade-umon couo ~, p
ethics but by the results of personal featy TO inc
same code of ethics that rules the conduot VI GO"
yers and clergymen, and other good mempeis o ct
ciety-that the qualifications to pracuce a,o no.
only to include these moral attributes OF cna
but also the higher scientific requirements oaii
by every possible improvement, Ioo% 70 ms see
ing that we are purged of mere class Jeaouses, W
help them create by legislation such sail.S ia -,
aud such improved tests 10 de, sdcin" az will pro
tect the public just SO lar as tno pnbic
of the people, expressed tnrouen R Pio 40
opinion will enable them to GO 1T is npossiole W
get Legislators in this day to give proscrPtve St,S
10 any class of doctors, however learned or VrIu-
GUS The medical profession then, united, as uhuer
the revised code of the State OF New-lork on tne
basis of legal qualifications, may perfect ieglsatio
relative to medical practice and in very lew years
by National or Interstate law secure general
registry of medical men over the entire Unlted
States all of whom shall at least have obtained te
legal title TO practice.
The old code encouraged men to LOOK loi
the mote III the eve of their brethren
the code will encourage men TO reiroVe Tue
beam from their own eyes. The old code encour-
aged men 10 scrutinize the character OF their negh
bors with Pharasaical exactness the new code Will
establish the law that every man must De gu'ueu w
the light on his own conscience ana IN suDorulIa-
tion to the general code Of ethics. Inc oid couo
like other sumptuary laws, had lost its penal power
there were detectives but there was no adequate
power to punish; the new code relieves the melhoers
of the profession of the necessity OF playing ponce
men and commits the members of the medical pro-
fesson to the protection of the common law and
renders them liable to Its penalties"
PROBABLE RESULT OF THE ACTION.
"What do you think will be the result of the ac-
ton at st. Paul, far as the New-York State So
ciety is concerned 7" was asked.
Il think that the State Society will not 1escind
its action, bat will go on step further-it may be
next year or it may be later-and will
adopt a declarative resolution more or less
like that introduced by DR.. Rosa at the
last session: we hereby resolve and
declare that the only ethical offences for which
they the prOfesslOn claim and promise to exercise
the rights of discipline are those comprehended
under the commission OF acts unworthy physician
and gentleman" .
at has been stated in published interviews with
some New-York physicians that the specialists were
mainly responsible for the new code. Is THIS "a
1.-THE assertion that this movement has been
gotten up by the specialists b. IN ahi, tneIr
Specialists are treated by their professional
brethren as experts and cases almost invariably
sent 10 them for treatment without consultation.
and they will be benefited by the new code less
than any other class of practitioners. Their Work
is very largely office work patients go TO them
for temporary treatment for some SPECIFIC PROBES
sonal act surgical otherwise and return to their
ordinary medical advisers at their option" ;,
In your opinion IS the new code Ill the line OF
progress IN the medical profession ~
1t is directly III the line of lndlvlduallsm, OF per-
sOnal responsibility, that every man Is responsible
Tor his individual aCUS-tlat he cannot DC long
shielded by any trade-unIOn cloak OF protection,
that he must stand fall IN virtue OF his separate
personal character. Under the old code every man
WAS on the same footing just i'll the trade unions
wages are fixed for all operators alike, regardless
ofndvdual fitness. Under the new code there Is the
survival OF the ntteSt i'll subOrdlpatlon to laws
that have the highest sanctlty and may be under
stood by ali people having common sense. Under the
old code even learned iurlsts and wise theologans
couldn't understand the questions of etl1cs which
were invOved-nOt even the members OF the
prOfes ion themselves. could sometimes. Ii was
as good in its day society was, per-
haps and all honor to the men who
cOnscientiOusly did the best they could; but as
Herbert Spencer says-althOugh we don't agree
with all he says i'll matters of rellgon,-' On the
average, restrictions of every kind cannot last
much longer than they are wanted, and cannot be
destroyed much faster than they ought TO be- So
clety III all its developments undeTgoes the
process of eXvuiatIOn. Those Old forms
which il successfully throws oil have
been once VItally united with lt-have
severaly served the protective envelope within
are cast aside only when they become hindrances-
only when some inner and better envelope has been
formed and they bequeath to all that there was
IN them good. The periodical additions of tyran-
meal laws have lett the admlnislra-
tion of justice not only uninjured,
but purified and dead and buried
creeds have not carried with them the essential
morality they contained, which still exists uncOn-
tamlnaied by the slOughs of superstition; and all
there is of justice and kindness and beauty en-
bodied III our cumbrous forms of etiquette Will live
perennially when the forms themselves have been
IGrgotten.'"