Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-07-13
TALKS TO MEDICOS l
President Is Undismayed by
 Panama Canal Troubles.
ONLY 4 BIG NATION CAN BUILD IT
Roosevelt's Notable Address to Long Island Physicfans-Cuba as Sam. pie of What We Can Accom-
 plish When We Try,

pIish When We Try.
 OYSTER BAY, N. Y, July 13.- President Roosevelt delivered a nota- ble address here before the Associated Physicians of Long Island He dis. cussed in the course of his speech the relations physicians sustain with the people of the communities in which they reside and the work to be done by the medical experts in connection with the construction of the Panama canal, declaring that, despite All dif6- culties on the isthmus and here in the United States, the canal would be a success.
 Attired in suit of rough linen and wearing broad brimmed panama bat, the president, introduced by Dr. William B. Savage, said:
 "Mr. President, Mem bers of the Asso-
 ciatiop, Friends and Neighbors:
 'I needed no invitation to come be- fore you today All needed was per mission. As soon as I learned that this association was to meet in our village I felt that l must take advan- tage of the opportunity to say word of greeting to you in person.
 "Of course it is most needless to say that there is not and cannot be any other lay profession the members of which occupy such dual position, each side of which is of such impor- tance, for the doctor gradually be- comes the closest friend to more differ ent people than would be possible in any other profession. The man who Is a first class neighbor and is always called in in time of trouble by his neighbors has an equal claim upon so- ciety at large. But the doctor has both claims. Yet in addition to filling both of these functions he may fill many other functions. He may have served In the civil war; he may have rendered the greatest possible service to the community along a dozen different lines. Take, for instance, just what Is being done in one of the great works of this country at the present time digging the Panama canal That is work that only big nation could un- aertake or that a big nation could do, and 1t is work for all mankind And the condition precedent upon success In that work is having the proper type of medical work as preliminary.
 is 4ysef meeting of which much depends our success in solving the engineering and administrative problems of the work Itself. I am happy to say that the work is being admirably done, and am particularly glad to have this chance of saying it. Now and then some alarmist report will come from Panama. Just couple of weeks ago there seemed to be succession of people coming up from Panama. each one of whom had some tale or other to tell You will always find in any battle, even if 1t is victorious battle, that in the rear you meet number of gentlemen who are gled that they are not at the front, who if they have un- fortunately got al the front have come away. and who justify their ab- sence from the front by telling tales of how everything has gone wrong there. Now the people who flee from Panama will carry up here just such stories as the people who flee from the forefront of battle carry to the rear with them. The canal will not be a failure. It will be a success, and it will be a success because we shall treat every little check not as a req con for abandoning the work. but as reason for altering and bettering our plans so as to make il impossible that that particular check shall happen again.
 What is being done in Panama is but a sample of the, things that this country has done during the last few years. of the things in which your pro- fession has been so prominent a part. Take what we did in Cuba. where we tried the experiment. which had not been tried for 400 years, of cleaning the cities. One of the most important Items of the work done by our govern ment in Cuba was the work of hygiene. the work Of cleaning and disinfecting the cities so as to minimize the chance for yellow fever, so as to do away with as many as possible of the con. ditions that told for disease. This country has never done better work that is. work that reflected more honor upon the country or for humanity al large-than the work done in Cuba. And the man who above all others will be responsible for doing that work 50 well was a member of your profes- sion. who when the call to arms came be himself went as a soldier to the field. the present Major General Leon ard Wood Leonard Wood did in Cuba just the kind of work that. for in stance. Lord Cromer has done in Egypt The foul assaults and attacks made upon him. gentlemen. were large ly because they gruiged the fact thst this admirable military oficer should have been a doctor