People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1897-05-20
Physicians Must Be Citizens.
Medical World.

in the complete sense Of that term as
well as physicians. They realize that
their interest are indentical with The
interests Of the masses of the people
whom they serve. When the masses
prosper, they prosper; when the masses
suffer, they suffer. The question with
them is, what measures will favor the
permanent prosperity of The masses Of
the people? These measures physi-
clans must favor; not only because it
is to their peculiarly interest, but also
because it is right.
1t is plain to everyone that the in
tereStS Of the trusts and the interests
Of the masses ale not identical. Trusts
aud mODGpOlieS of all sorts live off the
people. Railroads, telegraph cOmpan-
les, express companies, ETC., charge
"all the traffic will BEAR" instead Of
performing their highest function,
that of performing the greatest posi-
BILE service TO the people with only
reasonable profit above the costof the
service. 1t is plain that physicians
belong to the peoples side; that they
should favor those means that will
crush mOnopOlies and trusts, and place
the great public utilities (transpOrta-
tion and telegraph service, banking,
etc. under such regulations that the
object will not be to demand sail the
traffic will BEAR" but the greatest pos
sible service to the people.
have tried to make it clear that
If every post office 10 this country had
a savings bank department, it would
place savings bank Of absolute seCur-
iGy in the reach Of every citizen 10
this great republic. The encourage
ment of thrift and the increase of pa
triOtism caused by this measure would
be very great indeed, At present, peo-
pie of small means have no absolutely
safe place to put their savings. Saw
ings banks are maintained only In
large cities, and their frequent failure
has been sad warning to many who
have trusted them. Rich people have
hundreds Of millions of dollars in
United States bonds and they are alb
s0lutely safe. Poor people should
have an opportunity TO pace their
savings with the government, 50 that
they would be equally secure. A
measure like this would bring many
millions of small depOsitOrs to the gov.
eminent, and this would make them
more patriotic citizens, more thrifty
men and women, and better patrons
for doctors. The help to government
is a secondary matter, but this would
also be very great. For example, a
law like this would have rendered the
issue of bonds In recent years un-
necessary. AS we have before said,
postal or government savings banks
have been established in most of the
leading countries Of the world and
have been successful and satisfactory
without exception. II any of our
readers know any argument against
them, please send it along. As We
have before said, every civilized
country in the world has government
telegraph as part of its postal
service, except Honduras, Bolivia,
Cyprus, Cuba, Hawaii and the United
States Thus, we are keeping COM
pany with tenth-rate nations. DO
we belong there? Shall We remain
there? Most Of the progressive ma
tiols Of the world have government
savings bank system, but our nation
is not in this progressive list. Shall
we put it there?
We have advocated, as being In the
interest Of the masses Of the people,
and hence of physicians, the unlimited
coinage Of silver and gold in the
legal and historic ratio of Is to l. |
have nothing to retract that have
said or written upon this subject; but
at the same time, l have always
claimed that the silver issue is only
a small part Of our financial problem.
With many the financial problem is
a matter of standard Of value, and
they sincerely believe gold to be the
best possible standard, and that a
double standard would be awkward,
illogical and we'll nigh impossible
Let US consider for a moment the
question of standard of value. The
English law says that pound sterling
shall consist Of 1924 grains of gold
1l-l2 fine, and 1t makes this pound its
monetary unit, Its standard Of value,
and gives it the power Of absorbing
all other kinds Of property, and
requires taxes and all kinds of obi.
cations to be paid in these pounds
sterling. Other leading countries
show the same favor to this product,
and our country at present coins all
toe gold presented into dollars OF 25 s.
10 grains, 9-l0 fine, and this dollar is
the only dollar that is legal tender
for all purposes under our present
laws. 1t Is not strange that the
increasing and exclusive favor given
to this one product (gold) during
recent years has increased the demand
for it, and hence increased the value
oft. Conversely, the demonstration
Of silver has decreased the demand for
silver and hence decreased Its relative
value. But while the legislative and
administrative favOrs to gold have
increased its value, the relative value
OF all other products as measured In
gold has decreased. The question is,
Is 1t fair, is it just, is it prudent, to
give all the legislative favors to one
product and hence debase all other
products? II gold were not thus
favored, it would fall in value as
much or more than silver has fallen,
If silver had not been sacrificed, il
would have maintained its value along
with gold. When we have the
privilege Of paying In either of two
substances, we naturally choose that
which is easiest to get. That universe
choice so increases the demand fol-
that particular substance that it:
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