Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1900-01-12


purpose Of fortifylng them against
smallpox. II was enforced by law and !,
custom. Orthodox physicians for
a while were united as 10 it's efficacy.
The theory was that smallpox In
mild form prevented the disease in the
confident and fatal forms. The practice
spread the disease II was designed to
check. II was abolished. The doctors
were wrong. No sane medical man
would now resort to It. It was Just as
vile and ridiculous when forced upon
the public as It is today. That shows
that doctors like other folks are falll-,
bic.
That horrible practice was supplant-
cd by arm to arm vaccination. II was
made compulsory by law, Any ply
sician or lay person who opposed II was
denounced as ignorant" "blgoted,"
unprogresslye' and "dsreputable;
the terms used by some Of the same
fraternity against those who differ with
them today. The system spread all
kinds Of diseases that flesh Is heir TO,
and Is now thoroughly discarded, and
the evil results predicted by its oppon.
cnts have been realized and are &C.
knowledged by tho doctors. Another
testimony against medical infalliblity,
The next method was vaccination with
points" The fraternity became en-
thusiastic and as usual, dogmatIc over
the perfect safety" Of this new fashion
OF vaccination. But II has been demon
strated that germs OF disease have been
carried by that style Of vaccination in
10 the bodies OF the victims and 1t has
been superseded to a large extent, al
though stll used In some places. one
more bit Of evidence In the direction in
dlcated.
The present system, which is being
forced upon the patient public. and OBJ.
jectons to which are met with the same
vehemence and sometimes abuse from
tyros who imagine themselves masters
Of medicine. Ia vaccination with pus
(miscalled lymph from an inoculated
calf, which Is conveyed in glass tubes
sealed so as to exclude the air and
avoid Infection from bacteria. great
care is used in most cases against all
known septic sources, Objections to
this system have been raised all over
the civilized world. and societies have
been formed TO resist the compulsory
methods employed In its practice. Some
Of the very foremost thinkers OF the
age, physicians, surgeons doctors Of
law and OF divinity. philosophers,
statesmen, heads of universities and
colleges. soldiers, lawyers, philosophers
and others Of high rank, have joined
associations against compulsory vac
cinaton.
We have not space today to give the
names Of some Of these people Of note,
but Will do so on a future occasion
They have studied this matter thor
oughly on both sides Of the question.
They have scanned the statistics fur
nished by the vacclLators and found
them inconcluslye as TO the results
claimed. Let doctors who quote them
remember that the lay mind Is just as
capable Of studying figures as any doc
tor. a man need not study medicine to
understand arithmetic.
The great objection Of the anti-vac-
cinators is to forcing people to submit
TO the repulsive practice of putting dis
ease into healthy bodies. They believe
1t wrong In theory They are sure that
1t Is not eificaclous In practice To the
dogmatism OF the faculty, they offer the
evidence OF the acknowledged errors Of
the past. The filthy incubation system
has gone, with other heresles Of medl.
cine such as bleeding for almost every
complaint, calomel for all forms Of dis
ease, the denial Of water TO fever pa
tlent and other frightful tlunders which
were once like fundamental principles
IN materia medlca.
We hope our esteemed friends Of the
profession Will not get too angry at
these reminders We have no quarrel
with them in putting COW pus into will
ling arms. What we contend against
is the use Of oompulslon, whether d.
rectly or indirectly, Against that We
have raised our voice and we expect to
aid IN resisting It to the utmost lawful
and proper extent. The consequences
We are perfectly willing to meet, what
ever they may be-