Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1908-04-09

onity and mortality as could be made
the basis OF intelligent action bv future
generations.
turning from civil to military affair.
on account Of inadequate authority FOR
medical officers during the spanish.
American war we lost sixteen Of our
vigorous young soliiers from preventablr
disease Tor every one lost in battle and
elghty-tive out Of each one hundred OF
tnem were inmates OF our hospitals dur.
ing that short struggle from the same
c'ass OF diseases. During the much more
severe and protracted Russo-,Iapans-se
war, with medical officers having CO
equal authority and rank with those Of
the line. except on the field of battle,
Japan lost but one Of her soldiers from
sickness for every four killed, and only
hfteen Of every one hundred Of them ever
saw the inside Of their hospitals. Med.
ical men have known for a quarter Of a
CENTURY that this danger hung over our
armies in the event Of a war. and at
their own expense. in the discharge II 4
purely patriotic duty, and without avail
representatives from all over the country
made pilgrimagcs 10 Washington or me.
morislized the Congress at every session
80 hNhhfAAtA 10 ANfTf III. fNfu
with the object lessons from Cuba and
Manehuria held up in contrast before the
congress and the country, at subsequent
sessions We have failed. and shouh a
foreign war occur with any hrst-clasS
power the next or any year until this
legislation Is had, our armies must again
face pestilence and our country needless
danger and disgrace because a large per
centage Of our solliers would h. in the
hospitals and cemeteries, instead ot upon
the firing line II time permitted, facts
Of the same impressive kind. almost with
out number. could b. arrayed to show
that. except in the emergency of an epi.
demic and Of the recently enacted pure
food bill in all OF the history OF thi.
nation from the beginning in these mat
tiers those in authority have had no
training. ard those who have had train
ing have had no authority.
Bad as is this record for the nation.
the facts and figures make that for your
own state even worse. One-third Of the
people sick in this State last year and
every year. and one-third Of those taken
to your cemeteries. were sick and died ot
diseases which present knowledge make
practically preventahle. Buring the year
about one in ten of your deaths were
from consumption. and YOU now have a
very large tubercular population. IL Is
a common opinion that this is an inhcr-
tied disease, but IL should he known that
even il your father and mother died of
il. at the worst. YOU can only inherit the
kind of constitution which makes YOU
especially liable il exposed to il, but no
-
no more have consumption without get
ting into your body the germs from a
previous ease than YOU can raise corn on
one Of your farms without seed. IL all
the expectoratel matter and other in
fectious discharges from every case now
in your State could be collected and de-
stroyed until they all recover or die, and
proper attention could be given to ven
tilation. open-air exercises and the nOur-
ishment OF those in any way predispossd
to IL. YOU need never have another case.
unless il be an imported one. You had
a large death rate from typhoid fever.
and YOU have thousands of cases Of this
disease every year This i not only a
preventable but the most typical of the
Nth diseases. for no one can have IL ex-
cept by getting into their mouth and
stomach some of the discharges from the
/" els or kidneys Of some one who had
typhoid fever. This Is not a nice thing
to think about. but it i 80 much worse
to do it that nice people ought To think
and plan how to stop doing it. In cities
it usually gets into the mt th through
infected water. as in the recent epidemics
at Scranton, Butler and Plymouth. Pa.
and lthica. y. y. Until the .esults
proved 80 disastro"s as to force better
methods. at an aggregate cost OF hun
dreds of millions, cities of the older civ
ilizations discharged their sewage into
streams and lakes which were the only
source of water supply for their own and
other populations. and typhoid fever was
an annual scourge. Instead of protiting
by these disastrous experiences, We are
rapidly converting our streams and lakes
into open sewers and pools. regardless af
the complex sanitary and economic prob
lens thus created for our own genera
tiou and the teemlrg millions to follow
Us. But typhoid fever can and il carried
in other vays than b. water. a. in milk
and other foods. In small towns and
country districts il is usually carried bv
the ordinary house fy. as it was a,
Chiekamsnga and the other military
camps during the war with Spain. You
had last wear a heavy sick and death
rate from diseases OF children. caused by
the use OF dirty. atulisratsi or spoiled
milk We sh1dder with horror even vet
over the slaughter of the innooeufs by
Herod. but he only killed a few of the
6rst-born males. and Was a novice in the
business compared vita our modera cit
les. which make no discrimination a. tn
sex or order ot birth. Rochester and a
few other cities have tried the expert
ment. and have found that IL = actually
cheaper to furnish pure. steriliEed milk
and save the babies than IL i to bury
them, and .till the slaughter goes on ev-
cry hot season almost without comment.
except from the weeping mothers. You
had many deaths and much sickness from
diphtheria and scarlet fever, all distinct
ly preventable, and still more frvm pneu-
monia, another germ disease which we
ought soon 10 b. able to greatly restrict
or entirely prevent. To say nothing of
the cost Of caring for the sick who re-
cover. and Of the suffering and distress,
according to political economists this rep
resents a definite, ealeulable and avoid
able loss to your people each year OF
millions Of dollars. For a state or na-
tion can have no more valuable asset than
that represented in its healthy popula-
ton Under the leadership Of Gladstone
ami Disrseh, in England, and others OF
like prominence Of the continent of Eu-
rope, and under the pressure of such
conditions a must soon confront us, il
was long ago recognized a. automatic.
and crystalized into law and govern
mental policies, that the care OF the
public health is one of the first and most
constant duties of the statesman There
the protection Of health and life, involy-
ing the pollution of streams. bad eondi-
tions in tenements and factories, child
labor and similar things injuriously al
fecting health and life, were long since
placed far above mere party questions.
Your profession in this State and ma
tion has unselfishly tried to secure leyis-
lation having these ends in view, but a
large number of legislators believed. and
often did not hesitate to say, that these
efforts were selfish, were not made for
the good of the people, not stopping 10
consider that in so far as doctors pre-
vent sickness they diminish their own in
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