The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1910-05-06
HIS TEXT. THE CONSERVATION
OF HUMAN LIFE AND health.
AS A NATIONAL ASSET"
HEALTH OUR GREATEST ASSET
And No Set OF Men Are More Deeply
Concerned in the Preservation Of the
Human Race Than .hc Farmers
Prolong Human Existence.

dress before the convention OF the
Farmers Educational and Co-Opcra-
tive Union here today. Senator Robert
H. owen of Oklahoma took for his
subject. The Conservation of Human
Life and Health AS q National As
set" His speech was in support %
one calculated to create public sent
ment for his bill. which provides for
national board of health the sccrc.
tary of which shall be Il member of
the presidents cabinet.
He said in part:
THE annual income is q billion dol.
be worth a little over a hundred Bit
lion of dollars.
The annual income is billion !ol
lars
THE annual expedture is billion
dollars.
The annual loss to the people or
the United States by prevent1b,e
death and preventable sickness on al
fair commercial value Is not less 'Nan
four billion of dollars. In twenty-five
years. without interest without com
pounling, II would double the vaiuc
of our national assets over and above
our natural increase under ordinary
conditions.
I'VE lose by preventable deqth six
hundred and thirty thousand human
beings annually. We have on an av-
erage three millions OF people seM-
ously sick from one years end 10 an.
other. who must be waited on by othe~I
people.
" The average human being, duricg
life. Is capable of producing over five
thousand dollars of net average value
on conservative estimate and these
six hundred and thirty thousand peo-
pie are worth over three billions of
dollars. and three million sick people,
who must be cared for represent n
loss of productive energy and of waste
in takin gcare OF them a thousand mil
lions more, total of four billions an.
nually.
These gigantic figures are hard TO
comprehend. Imagine, If you please,
that you saw six hundred and thirty
thousand human beings in a single
| year lowered into the grave, you would
see buried over one person every min'
ute, ~ graves every hour, one
thousand seven hundred and fifty bur-
ials every day; $1,000 funerals every
month 10000 bodies of men. women
and chiriren laid in the grave every
! year and in a single census over six
million three hundred thousand human
beings lost to the nation from prevent
able causes and loss of commercial
value nearly equal to one-half the en-
tire national wealth within single
census decade
Il have offered abundant proof OF
this striking truth before the senate
of the United States in my remark;
on senate bill G0i9, proposing to es
tablish a department of public health
The proof rests on the data collected
by the most learned men in the Unit
ed States.
What are these preventable deaths
due to? To polluted drinking water
to foods and drugs 10 unsanitar.
sewerage, unsanitary housing, TO IN
berculoss. to typhoid and malaria
fever. and a number of other prevent
able diseases.
"The conservation of our natura
resources is OF great importance, th'
conservation of our coal fields, forest
water powers, mineral wealth, the dc
velopment of good roads, the improve
meat of our national waterways, th'
conservation of the fertility of our SOL
the conservation OF our live stock, uu
horses, our cattle, our sheep, on
swine, but far more important is tn
conservation Of human life and OF tn
physical efficiency of the American
people
Everybody agrees to the wisdom
of this proposition, The real Que'
tion is how shall we accomplis
this? | believe in department q
public health, because in fighting dii
ease and in fighting death due to pre-
ventable disease, il is a contest b'
tween intelligence and ignorance, an
all the authrity, dignity and powe
of the general government must b
put behind the truth and behind IN
best methods of dealing with diseas
in order to make The people reali2
its value and its truth. Since il
contest between ignorance an
knowledge, knowledge should hay
the advantage OF all OF the power an
dignity Of the government of the Uni