The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1910-03-10
COMMUNICATED


large number of medical bills at this
session of the Ohio General Assembly
has caused much unfavorable comment
from the laity, and has served to stim
,ilate popular curiosity as TO the ORR
gin of these bills ana the motives OF
the forces that are behind them.
The careful student of modern po-
litical and social conditions has Ions,
been aware of q tendency toward a
centralization of power n governments
al affairs, and the pBgressive en-
croachments of special Gnterests, de-
manding protectivef legislation.
Opposed to this tendQDcy there has
|xrown up what max&be termed the
'ansftr'gt iSeFhls is one of the
recent dsVSf6pments of our national
thought and 1t is everywhere apparent
that all monopolistic tendencies will
be met by vigorous protest from the
people.
John Fiske, the historian, aptly
sums up the situation thus: with
regard to its liberties the English has
been the most grandly conservative
race in the world. What other peo-
Lples have in the turmoil of ages parti
HAlly surrendered the English, by un-
rpitting vigilance, have kept unim-
pa4ed, while continually surrounding II
with fresh guarantees of permanence
kSfhatever power be It that of lord or
bishop or king, has sought to infringe
upon this liberty OF the people has
swiftly paid the penalty of its rashness
in disastrous ruin" (History of all ma
tions, vol. XXI. p. 1879
The American branch of the English
race is no longer in danger Of having
it's liberties infringed by lord, bishop
or king; but this does not mean that
the need of vigilance has passed. I'm.
der changed conditions, imposition
assumes new disguises otherwise 1t
would never prevail. In the United
States impositions seek legal sanction
under pretence of the public welfare.
When a class or interest asks for n
law that will give it special privlleg-
es, lucrative offices, more authority
over the general public, or q stronger
hold on the proceeds of taxation, II
always alleges q public necessity for
| its demand
Quite as pertinent as the comment o.
Mr.. Fiske, is the declaration of Justice
Bradley of the United States Supreme
Court. 81 hold, he said, that the
liberty of pursuit the right to follow
any of the ordinary callings of life :
| is one of the privileges of citizen o.
the United States. If 1t does not
abridge the privileges and immuni-
ties of citizen of the United States
to prohibit him from pursuing -
chosen calling and giving to others
the exclusive right of pursuing 1t, 1t
certainly does deprive him (to a GER
tain extent) of his liberty, for 1t takes
| from him, the freedom of adopting
and following the pursuit which he
prefers, which as already intimated,
is material part of the liberty of the
citizen"
| Those who have observed the grow
tn in this country of the commercial
trust, have been reminded now and
then, that similar symtons were mani
Testing themselves, among certain
professional classes, and thus happens
that the phrases Medical Trust and
Medical Monopoly "have come be un
derstood as descriptive of the efforts
of a small branch of the medical pro-
fession to persuade legislatures TO en-
act laws which practically deliver the
entire care of the public health into
the hands of one school of medicine
1t Is beginning to be seen that If the
medical bills proposed by Interested
medical cliques were enacted into laws
they would be subversive OF the fund
amental liberties guaranteed to ever;
citizen under the Constitution.
| The right of the sick man to choose
his physician is as sacred and as fund
amental as the right to the pursuit
of "life, liberty ana happiness" and
he cannot be deprived of this right
even under the guise of protecting
the public health. The right of the
parent, as the natural guardian of the
child to care for the health of the child
Is equally inherent and the ablest legal
opinion has held that the state has nc
reasonable excuse to interfere with
this right, except In cases of gross anC
palpable neglect.
1t has not been found easy to oppose
the spacious argument of those speci-
al interests which have sought, from
| time " LiIne, 10 pass idWS WHICH Wouiu
In effect deprive the citizen and the
parent of the right to care for his own
health and the health OF his offspring,
for the reason that there is no sub
ject of which the laity is more in ig-
norance than the subject of the cause
and cure of disease. Tradition ana
the experience of hundreds of years
have given weight to the dictum OF
the medical man. Ignorance breeds
fear, and fear is a fallow field from
which to harvest crop Of restrictive
and proscriptive laws.
That which gave the medical profes-
sion its first taste of official power and
patronage was the fear of contagion
and pestilence; and this fear continue
es to be used as the basis for argument
in the legislatures. Medical theory
| lends itself to this argument, and ac
A., cording to current theory almost al
diseases are contagious or communi'
cable.
Those who oppose the legislation ask
ed for by the doctors, disclaim any
lcriticism of the medical profession, as
such, and make 1t plain that they are
not seeking to prevent wise laws to