The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-07
COUNTY BOARDS
 OF HEALTH FAIL
Counties Do Not Follow the
 Law Recently Passed
CLASH OVER NEEDED FUNDS
Commissioners of Many of the coun- ties Will Not Agree To Furnish Money To Health Boards.
 Hence the Failure.

Atlanta. April 6.-(Special)- )-Re- newed effort to bring about the es- tablishment of county boards of health that will amount to something will be made at the session of the legislature this summer.
 An act was passed at the last ses- sion providing for such county boards, in addition which a constitutional amendmend was submitted to the peo- pie and ratified, permitting counties to levy taxes for sanitary purposes. This was one of the chief obstacles which stood in the way of successful sani- tary work on the part of counties.
 But despite what has been done it is said the county board of health. so far Is an absolute failure. A number of counties over the state have taken advantage of the new laws and local boards of health have been named by the county commissioners. These boards have been, as a rule, composed of the most prominent physicians in the county.
 The usual programme has been for such boards of health to hold a meet ing and elect officers. They would then discuss the sanitary situation in the county and arrive at some conclusion as fb what ought to be done.
 At the next meeting a number of resolutions would be passed showing that this or that should be done as soon as possible in the interests of the health of the community Usually this or that" involved the expenditure of a little money. The county commits sioners would scruitinize the resolu- tions and come to the conclusion that "al1 these new fangled notions of the doctors" were unnecessary and they would pigeonhole the resolutions.
 Then at the next meeting of the county board of health a month later they would assemble and indignantly denounce the indifference of the com missioners. tender their resignations in a body and adjourn sine die.
 This has been the experience with county boards of health in number of cases with the result that there are now only two or three counties in the state with boards of health that are doing anything at all. The rest of the county boards are practically out of commission
 I've will never have effective coun- ty boards of health" said Rr. H. F. Harris secretary and executive officer of the state board of health, until the county board of health is made by law part of the organized county gov ernment and clothed with certain spe- cifc powers. This has been done in Alabama and other states and there is no reason why it should not be done in Georgia. Of the need for it there can be no question. Working in con- junction with the state board, there is no question that these institutions could do a great deal of valuable work in effectively improving sanitary con ditions in the state."
 insurance Regulation.
 If the legislature adopts the rec ommendation of the insurance commits sioner, Comptroller General W. A. Wright, with reference to cooperative or assessment insurance companies or ganzed in thes state, the chances for dishonest and fraudulent dealing on the part of insurance companies of this class will be greatly minimized, if not altogether removed.
 There are not a few honest and well intentioned assessment insurance con- cerns which make every possible ef fort to meet their obligations, but as was recently shown in these dispatch es, this form of insurance organization Is used to dupe the farmer and country resident who finds difficulty in getting insurance except at exorbitant rates from the frst-class well-backed insur- ance organizations.
 The insurance commissioner says the laws of Georgia fully protect the policy holders in stock and mutual insurance companies, but that this is not true of CO., operative and assessment companies In this connection he says in his annual re- port just out:
 This is not true as to cooperative or assessment companies. The laws prescrib- ing conditions upon which such com- panies may be licensed by this depart