Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-03-25

him not only a great responsibility for the
care of the body of the officer and enlisted
man who will be under his supervision. but
care which ought not to be too con-
sclously felt, but care which will be I'M
consciously none the less strong because of
It, as for the mans spirit as for the effect
upon him of your attitude toward him; and
the morale of the entire ships company, of
the entire body of men with which you are
TO be thrown. will be sensibly ahected Dy
the way in which each of you does MS
duty.
just as the great doctor. the man who
stands high in his profession, IN any CITY
counts as one of the most valuable assets
in that city's civic work. so in the navy or
the army the effect of having Thoroughly
well-trained men with high ard sensitive
standard of professional honor ana proles-
sional duty is well nigh incalculabie upon
the service itself. | want you now, as you
graduate. to feel that on your shoulders
rests a great weight of responsibility; tnat
your position is one of high honor. and that
Il is impossible to hold position OF h,gn
honor and not hold it under penalty OF In,
curing the severest reprobation If you fall
to live up to its requirements
Features Commented Upon.
am not competent to speak save in the
most general terms of your professional
duties. do want, however, to call your at
tention TO one or two features connected
with them. In the first place: In connec-
ton with the work you do for the service
you have certain peculiar advantages in
doing work that Will be felt for the Whoie
profession. For instance. IL Will come 10
your lot TO deal peculiarly with certain
types of tropical diseases
You will have to deal with them as no or
binary American doctor, no matter how
great his experience, will have to deal with
them and you should fit yourselves by
most careful study and preparation. SO that
you shall not only be able to grapple with
cases as they come up, but in graphing
with them to make and record observations
upon them that will be of permanent value
to your fellows in civil life. You can there
do hat no civilian doctor can possibly do.
There probably is not branch of the pro-
fession into which, during your career, you
will not have to go; no type of disease that
you will not have to treat. But there are
certain diseases that you will have to treat
that the ordinary man who stays at nome,
of course, does not; and it is of conse-
quence TO the entire medical profession that
you should fit yourself by stuuy, by prep
arat on, that you shall not only be able to
deal with those cases, but to deal with
them in a way that will be of advantage to
your stay-at-home brethren.
There is one other point Every effort
should, of course, be made to provide you
with ample means to do your work. Every
effort ought to be made TO persuade the
national legislature to take that view of
the situation: to remember that in case of
war it is out of the question to improvise
great medical service for the army and
navy.
Needed Increase Keenly Felt.
The needed increase is more keenly felt
In the army than in the navy, because it is
always the army that undergoes the great
est expansion. But it is felt in both serv-
ices. And when, as Is perfectly certain to
be the case if a war comes. for which we
have no greater preparation than at pres
ent We have made; if. is perfectly certain
to be the case. there is fever in the camps
If there is trouble among the volunteer
forces, it is foolish to the greatest degree
for the public men, and especially for the
public press, to complain and shrek over
the people who happen to be in power at
that time.
Let them shrek, or, rather. do not let
them shrek at all. for shrieking is a sign
of hysteria: but let them solemnly think
over and repent of the fact that they have
not made their representatives provide ade :.
quately in advance for the medical system
in its personnel and it's material and It's or
ganlzation and physical instruments neces-
sary to take that organza ton into an eff
fective organization, which alone. if pre-
pared in advance, will obviate the trouble
which otherwise Is certain to come if we
have a war. Let them remember not ID
blame the people in power when the break
down comes, but blame themselves the peo-
pie of the United States, because they have
not had the forethought to take the steps
In advance which will prevent that break
down occurring.
Means ought to be provided That is
part of our duty. If We fail in it then t Is
our responsibility, not yours. But, and
this L want to impress with all the strens.h
that in me lies, upon every medical man in
either the army or the navy, remember al
ways that in any time of crisis the chances
are that you will have to work with I'M
perfect implements. And you can form Il
pretty good test of your worth If you sit
Gown and say you could have done good
work if only you had had the right imple-
ments to work with you will show your TN
fitness for your position .-'
Utilization of Means at Hand.
Your business. then, will be to do the
very best you can do, If you have got moth
Ing in the world but a jackknife to do it
with. Keep before your minds all the time
that when the crisis occurs it is almost sure
to be the case that you will have to do no
small part of your work with makeshifts: to
do it. as myself saw at Santiago the army
physicians, roughly and hastily, and with
but one-fourth or one-fifth of the appliances
that he would expect normally to have; and
then, as say. make up your mind that
while you have done all you can to get the
BEST material together in advance YOU will
no. put forward the lack of that material
as an excuse for not doing all the work YOU
Ead 10 do upon the imperfect tools Make IL
matter of pride to get the best possible
use out of them.
Il am sure that all of rs outsjders bore
realize the weight of responsibility resting
upon those who now join the great and hon
orable body of men who in the navy and in
the army have by their action upheld not
only the standard of honor of the medical
profession but the standard of honor of the
officers of the army and the navy of the
United States.
Il greet you on your entrance into the
service welcome you as servants of the
yiGh