The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-06-02

washington, IL VI, June z.--COuSFSSS
always approaches the creation Of a
new department of the government
with cautious elaboration. 1t is pre-
JUDGED against such projects largely
in the belief that they tend to in
crease the pay rolls and because scat
tered appropriations for bureaus in
different departments do not bulk so
largely before the public eye as when
combined. Consequently the American
Medical association and the other add
vocates of the Owen bill which creates
the department of public health are
not finding it's path as smooth as they
would like. Yet, the necessity for such
a department is obvious and the de-
mand is practically unanimous. there
| is little question that eventually this
or some similar bill will pass. 1t is
claimed that 100000 people die each
year and 100000 are sick from pre-
ventable diseases. 1t would appear that
the conservation of their health and
| lives is as important as that of an
equal number of farm animals
Without infringing upon the duties
and functions of the states health de-
partments, it is recognized that there
are many matters requiring handling
on a large and extended scale and
often involving states rights, juris-
dictions and responsibilities that re-
| federal supervision. Those bureaus
now engaged in such work are ac-
comprising much within their limita-
tions, but 1t is often a delicate task to
determine their scope and powers. es-
pecially when their functions clash or
their work overlaps, as is the enforce
ment of the pure food law upon the
secretary of agriculture, whose depart
ment has otherwise nothing to do with
the questions involved. Congress did
this because of the fact that the de-
lpartment of agriculture was the only
one which had a bureau of chemistry
equipped for the purpose. Otherwise
the work would have been intrusted to
the department of commerce and la
Dor, the department of the interior, or
the treasury department, any of which
would be more suitable. On this point
the brief of the American Medical
association says: Individually the
present bureaus and other sanitary
and medical agencies perform their
ordinary functions satisfactorily, but
with such lack of CO. cooperation as to
greatly mar results, while in the
emergency of epidemics or in dealing
with vast interests where the strain
of commercial pressure falls upon them
they almost uniformly fail or are great
ly crippled in their sanitary func-
tons This is the history of even so
strong movement as that of the en-
forcement of the, pure food and drugs
act.'
At present eight of the nine cabinet
officers employ medical men and all the
departments have medical and sanitary
problems to solve. The war and treas
ury departments are now crossing and
duplicating their work in Porto Rico
Cuba, Panama and the Philippines. The
war, navy, treasury and agricultural
departments all have large and impor-
tant laboratories devoted to medical
and sanitary problems. The war and
navy departments each maintain medi-
cal schools and these two, as we'll az
1.-THE treasury department, have hospitals
in the large cities Each has a tuber.
culosis hospital and each a leprosy hos
pital. 1t is proposed that the war ant
navy departments, for obvious reasons
shall retain their medical corps, bu
that the following important bureaus
and divisions shall be consolidated into
one department; the bureau of public
health and marine hospital service; the
medical officers of the, revenue cutter
service the medical referee. assistant
medical referee surgeons and medica
examiners of the pension office; al
physicians and medical officers in tht
Indian bureau, which include the ply
sicians at Indian agencies and schools
all other physicians of the department
of the interior, including the reclama
ton service, the soldiers home, hospi
tails for the insane, ETC.; the bureaus o
entomology chemistry and animal in
dustry from the department. of agri
culture; the hospitals of the immigra
ton bureau of the department of com
merce and labor; the emergency relic
in the government printing office, "ant
every other agency of the United State
for the protection of the health of TIN
people of the United States, or or ami
NAL life"
1t has been advocated by some tina
the above bureau should be consolidat
ed into bureau of public health,
: but it would appear that the scope o
the work is both too important and IA
reaching to be covered by bureau o
department. The American Medica
association contends that the secre
tary of public health should act in tn
same advisory capacity to the heads o
other departments in matters affecting
the public health, as the attorney gen
eral in matters of law. This, of course
could not be done by bureau chief
1t is further believed that such me-
as DR. H. w. Wiley, chief of the bureau
! of chemistry, and DR.. Walter Wymar
i surgeon general of the marine hospita
service, and the other heads of grea
bureaus, would strongly oppose a con
solidation which would reduce their pc
sitions to division chiefs of bureau
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