The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-08-06

hing in the field of disease prevention. The Loyal Protective Insurance company has, within the last few months, estab- lished a health bureau to issue bulletins and conduct sort of correspondence school of health information.
 But the greatest agency of all, the na- tional government. has not yet undertaken l the work of preventing disease in way proportioned to the needs of 91,000, 900 peo- pie. Senator Owen has introduced in Con- gress a bill to establish a National De- partment of Health by co-ordinat ting the governments present agencies so they l may work effectively. Dr. Charles A. L.. Reed, in recent speech in Philadelphia, said that the United States, with it's
 health agencies, distributed in the De-
 partment of the Treasury, the Department of Agriculture and other departments. Is
 the laughing stock of Europe. while the people of this country are dying from pre- ventable causes at the rate of one every minute.
 l At one of the hearings at Washingto
 on the subject of a. National Department of Health. Gen. George H. Sternberg,
 surgeon-general of the army, said: T suppose the only reason why We have
 not long since had government depart
 ment to look after the public health, and
 to take the lead in instructlng the people
 now to prevent the enormous waste of
 human life from preventable diseases. is because our legislators have not hereto
 fore realized the importance of this sub
 Ject- After the great epidemic of yellow | fever In 1878. Congress was greatly aroused upon the subject of preventing
 future epidemics of this disease and a na-
 t:onal board of health was organized. But this board was not provided either with
 the authority or the financial support nec-
 essary to make 1t success Its mem- pers were engaged in other occupations and did not receive salaries. They were therefore unable to devote any consider | able portion of their time to questions re. lating to the public health They did however, inaugurate investigations which after more than 20>years led to a demon stration of the method by which yellow fever is transmitted from man to man and as a result of this knowledge we have learned how to control this pestilen- tial malady"
 which has had the endorsement of tba Committee of One Hundred, has also had endorsements from governors of state. and from leading scientific, medical labor grange ana philanthroplc organizations. The measure is not. however, without on.
 position. Ex-President Eliot of Harvard
 says in regard to the opponents: They also. as rule, oppose medical research. vaccination, and the use of antitoxns of
 all sorts. They are opposed to the use of the collective forces of the community to protect people from the results of ig- norance, superstition. and deceit Un-
 fortunately, diseases like ignorance and
 superstition, cannot be successfully re-
 sisted on the principle of respecting each individuals right to suffer, be sick and
 die. Possibly there is such right, but t cannot be exercised without grave danger to many other individuals. Contagious diseaseg take effect on masses of people, and they can only be successfully resisted by collective action
 The committee, which maintains an of-
 fee at Room 51, 105 East Twenty y-second
 street, New York city, asks for co-opera-
 ton from all who are interested in reduc-
 ing the mortality rate and in preventing disease Letters to congressmen and arr
 ticles and lectures on the subject are
 ways fin which citizens may cooperate to
 establish the much needed National De-
 partment of Health.