Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1886-04-17
STATE AND COUNTY BOARDS OF
HEALTH.


Judge Tyler compels me to ask some Of
your space for a reply. / will place the
question before your readers as.brieay
as possible.
must however begin by stating that
the heading OF the Judges paper gives
an erroneous impression as to the mat
ter in question. He there undertakes
to explain the issue between our
County Court and the State Board OF
Health" There is no such issue in
existence. So far, the State Board has
taken no action in the matter, except to
call.upon me, at every meeting since the
bill was passed enacting the organiza-
ton OF county boards, to explain why
no county board has reported from
Montgomery county.
The report made on Tuesday the 9th,
inst, was in reply to such an interroga-
ton the Board took no action upon that
report except to refer it to the executive
committee sitting permanently at
Nashville. So that all the Judge has to
do with is a correspondence with me
and two interviews which l had the
honor OF holding with him on the sub
ject. The substance OF these transac-
tons will be given presently. As to
the two newspaper reports, on which
the Judge grounds his communications,
must decline all responsibility for
them, they give very incomplete ac-
count of the report, and especially one
of them seems to lead to the impression
that | made personal attack on Judge
Tyler which is certainly not the case;
the report will be published with the
Monthly Bulletin OF the Board, and ]
hold myself responsible for no other
version oft than will there be given.
The matter in question relates to an
act passed by the legislature in 1885
enacting the organization OF county
boards of health; this act the State
Board of Health desires TO have carried
out in all its provisions, while the coun
ty OF Montgomery under the advice OF
its judge objeu4, to carrying out one
clause OF it, preierring to act upon a
previous act OF the legislature passed in
1883. (See acts of 1888, oh. 81, p. 13S,
and acts of 1885, oh. 95, p. 49,.
The act OF 1885 requires the organi-
zation of a county board OF health to
consist of the Jail physician as chairman,
the county Judge or chairman OF the
county court and the clerk of the county
court; and the Jail physician is, by vir-
tue Of the act, constituted health officer
of the county. AS the jail physician,
becomes by the act, an important func-
tionary, it is important also to determ-
inc the mode of his election to office;
this is provided for by Sec. of the
act, part of which is quoted by Judge
Tyler in his communication to the
CHRONICLE OF last week; a more cor
rect intelligence of the intention of the
legislature will, / think, be presented
by giving the whole of it; we premise
that the act was passed and became a
law April 4, 1885.
Acts Of 1885, Oh. 96, ga. "Be it
further enacted, 1t shall be the duty oil
the county court, where there are jails
in their counties, at the first quarterly
term after the passage of this act, except
in those counties where such officers
have aleeady been elected, to elect OF
appoint a Jail physician, or health
officer for their respective counties
whose duty it shall be TO render medi-
cal and surgical attention to the patients
of the county confined therein awaiting
trial or who are under conviction by the
courts of the county, and who shall hole
office till the following January tern
of the court, when the successors to all
county health officers throughout the
State shall be elected by them for ,
period of four years, and SO on quad
riennially."
In view OF the use.which Judge lyle
has made of of the words Except wher,
such officers have already been elect
ed" l would call attention to the fac
that this clause of the section refers t.
what was to be done prior to the Janu
airy term of the court (Which is tn
term for January 1856, but then anc
thereafter the election of a Jail physi
clan by the county court for term O
four years is mandatory.
On the other hand, Judge lyle
claims that as far as medical service o
the Jail is concerned, the county i
bound to act, not under this law, bu
under one passed in 1888 for the espe
cial service of this county. This lay
was passed, as its preamble expresses il
'to provide for the appointment of jai
and workhouse commissioners 70
Montgomery county" and the onl.
part Oft with which our question i
concerned is that which enacts e 2
that the commission constituted by i