The Minneapolis journal., 1902-03-21
BY N. IS
Ames' Sanitary Inspection Scheme
Condemned by Physicians.
.cITY's MORAL FORCES AROUSED
Clerxymen Think the Matter .
Proper One to- Oppose
Publicly.

Minneapolis physicians who have re-
spected Dr.. A. A. Ames' ability as ply
sicien are practically unanimous in de-
claring his new plan for the inspection Of
vice terrible mistake. They marvel that
he should so widely dissociate his action
as chief executive & OF the city
with the judgment that should result from
his long service in the medical profess
sion. They also regard it as no credit to
the profession locally that one Of such
acknowledged high standing in medical
circles and with forty years of active
practice behind him, should have de-
parted so notably from the positive opin-
ion held on this subject by medical men
at home and the country over.
|, In forming some estimate Of the merits
of the system put in effect by Mayor
Ames. which gratis a sanitary feature
upon system Of tacit liberation OF vice,
one has but to study the reports of the
operations and results of such systems in
the European cities, where they have been
in force for scores of years and where
the broad power vested in the police make
it possible to get far better results than
would be possible under the system OF
wider personal liberty enjoyed in this
country. e. E p
These reports ALI point to practically
the same conclusion--that from every
standpoint, physical protection to the
community, moral effect on the persons
most concerned as we'll as the general
public, and economically, itNhas been a
failure in greater or lesser degree. The
system has not, in fact, proved at all ef-
fective physically, and it has been no less
failure from the moral standpoint.
A Scientific Report.
The facts along the above lines are sci
forth in interesting detail in the recent
report OF the Committee OF Fifteen IN
New York city appointed in 1900 to in
stttute a searching inquiry into the
alarming increase in vice In that city and
to suggest legislative remedies designed
to abate or lessen the evil. A summary
of the results of the committees work
with it's final conclusions and recon-
mendations, were printed in a recent mum
ber of the Outlook, edited by Rev. Dr.
Lyman Abbott. The report Is said to con-
stitute the most clear and comprehensive
statement Of the problems involved ever
published. .--, ,-ss,y,$$,
The report declares anent the scheme OF
sanitary regulation, as applied by Mayor
Ames to Minneapolis, that the results.
wherever tried. point Enthusiastically to
the conclusion that the system Is not an
adequate remedy for the evils 1t seeks to
modify, even in their purely physical as
pect. 49,. =, lT
But if no regulation of this sort, what
Lueu! Inc IepOIL dShS. al <auSWO ~
recommends the application to New York
city of policy that shall not attempt
the impossible, and outlines the follow
ing system, which is just as applicable to
Minneapolis as to that city: The better
housing of the poor, purer forms OF
amusement, the raising of the condition OF
labor, especially of female labor, better
moral education, minors more and moro
withdrawn form the clutches of vice by
Nf foo th1 nf
contagion checked by more adequate hos
pital accommodations, the evil itself un-
ceasingly condemned by public opinion as
a sin against morality, and punished as q
crime with stringent penalties whenever
it takes the form of a public nuisance.
Under the application of such measures
the committee believes that some of the
worst consequences can be abated at once
and the scope of the evil gradually re-
stricted in the future.
Unsatisfactory in Europe.
1t is significant in connection with the
operation of a system Of sanitary regula-
tion of vice in the European cities that
invariably there is absolutely no fee
charged for examination. The expense Is
met from the general tax fund. It Is
also worthy Of note that but small per-
centage of thise properly subjects for ex-
animation are ever reached-from 10 to
25 per cent, according to local conditions.
Even under the most rigid system OF
police control, it is found impossible in
practice to apply the system to the large
majority of the persons it is intended to
reach. 1t is also greatly in favor of these
cities as against Minneapolis that there
they have special hospitals for the ac-
commodation of those who upon examina-
tion are found to be subjects for segre-
cation and treatment. But even under
these favorable conditions, the system
fails to give at the best anything more
than a small measure of the secuffty
from contagion that it's advocates claim
for it. NS.