The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1910-03-30


"a the last nve years thy s:-t1 =:
Pennsylvania has been engaged in
conservation work of an extremely
important and fundamental kind. with
President Roosevelt it believes that
the preservation of the peoples nat
ural resources should begin with the
preservation of the people themselves.
The public cannot conscientiously per
NIT the wasteful sacrifice OF its forests
and its other forms of natural wealth.
but even less conscientiously can 1t
permit the wantom sacrifice OF its
children's lives.
In maintaining a fully equipped
state health department and engaging
on a large scale in this great warfare
against disease. Pennsylvania has TAX
en- a foremost stand for real modern
civilization. The creation Of govern.
mental agencies for the preservation
of the public health marks a new con
ceptiop Of governmental responsible
ity. The work thus far marks only
the beginning-merely suggests the
good which this department, under
the direction Of DR.. Samuel G. Dixon,
the commissioner, has in view
In the last thirty years the atti-
tude Of the public towards i'll health
has radically changed. Until the re
searches of that resourceful genius
Louis Pasteur. disclosed the real
cause Of contagious diseases the aver
age mans conception was practically
that which had prevailed in the mid
die ages. The infections were merely
manifestations of the inscrutable
wisoom OF Providence, expressions Of
divine wrath; punishments for sinful
human kind. Even the scientist re-
garded them as fundamental facts OF
nature, like death itself, which every
one must uncomplainingly accept Pas
teur, however, in a few mastery ex.
perments. brushed aside all this ig-
norance and superstition He showed
that all contagious diseases had a
clearly defined and obvious origin
They were not mysterious visitations
without tangible cause and insuscep
tible to tangible control. They were
caused by an infinitely large universe
OF infinitely small forms OF vegetable
and animal life. He demonstrated
that the connection between these
malevolent micro-organisms and the
ensuing disease was as close as that
between sunlight and heat. And he
also Immediately drew the inevitable
conclusion. II the world were once
rid OF these organisms, he declared
1t would be rid Of contagious diseases
ut is now within the power of the
wcrld"-sueh was the deduction
which he drew from his experiments
TO rid itself OF all contagious dis
eases"
Setting Pace In Health Work.
I>nls was the goal at which Pasteur
aimed; that has been the goal at
which all movements for improving
the peoples health have necessarily
aimed since. And this was the ulti
mate ambition which led, five years
ago, to the organization of the Penn
sylvania State Department of Health.
Pennsylvania in which there shall
be no young men and women Ian.
gushing away with tuberculosis. a
Pennsylvania in which no children
shall die OF diphtheria a PennsyIya
MIA in which there shall be no tv-
phoid, no scarlet fever, no smallpox,
no meningitis. no dysentery. no ma.
laria-this is the kind of PennsyIyania
which the State Department OF Health
hopes ultimately to create II does
not expect to reach this goal in a
year. or ten years. perhaps not in a
single generation, but this is the ideal
that II has constantly in mind. It re.
cognizes the fact that, so long as any
OF these diseases exist. their preya.
lcnce Is distinct reproach to the
state. II Is a reproAch simply be.
cause the method eliminating them is
known. The old theory OF government
as power which protects its citi
zens only from foreign foes and native
marauders is giving way to new stan
dards OF civilization. The greatest
enemies to the state are those which