Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1911-12-28
A FEDERAL HEALTH BOARD.

6AoSAAy AU0 " uOI0 LudI VIC OH
Tor the creation of a federal health
board will not be allowed to pass with
out . protest. Reports Of organized
assistance como from all parts Of the
country. and Il may be that the oppo-
Sltlon will soon be sufficiently solidi-
ned to defeat . project that promises
sodnite mischief for the community.
n suffering and injustice for the In.
~dividual.
The proposal 10 based upon those
specious claims that are VIGOROUSLY
hard to c~ontrovert. II q federal health
BOARD were to connne its activities to
the PRONUNCIATION Of salutary advice
upon hygienic matters. to the abate-
9 Of quackery. and to the purity Of
drugs. It might be possible to say
much IN its favor. although It would
stu be dihacult to say that such an
organisation 10 needed. But We know
NAT It will attempt to do far more
tnan this. seeing that it, adherents
nav loudly proclaimed their inten-
ions. Indeed. there IL no secrecy
spout them. 1t 10 confidently expected
mat the board will consist Of advo-
Gates OF n school Of medicine only
snd that the methods Of that school
VIII be not only recommended. but
enforced upon tho nation. Indeed a
Soard that was in any way representa-
i've OF the medical profession 40 q
whole would be stultiied by its own
d~issgreements. Outside the domain
OF ample hygiene. for which we need
no FEDERAL board at all. there is no
s'n6le point Of medical practice upon
which allopaths. homeopathic, eclectics
IND osteopaths could be in unison.
Any board that could be devised by
Iae VIII OF man must be composed Of
representatives Of one school only.
ana this means that all other schools
are branded as Of all inferior caste.
sven though nothing worse happened
TO them. And something worse would
happen to them. II We are to establish
Scnool OF medicine. II We are to as
sert that the government of the Unit
ed States favors one variety of. prac.
tice more than others. why not estab-
'lsh also a sect OF religion and be-
stow special authorities upon Bap-
lists. Methodists and Episcopalians?
An established school Of religious
conjecture seems somewhat less OBJ
~jectionable than an established sect
OF pseudo-scientiic conjecture.
Those who suppose that q federal
board OF health would have no G
with individual rights are likely to
a themselves undeceived. 1t is for
tho purpose Of interfering with indi.
viduaI rights that the proposal has
Deem made. We need no special
knowledge Of conditions to be aware
that what may be called u%northodox
methods Of healing have made sad in
roads into the-srthodox. Homeopathy
claims . vast number Of adherents
who are just e. we'll educated and Just
- intelligent az those who adhere to
the older school. OstsoIathy, eclecti-
eism. and half = dozen other methods
Of practice are certainly not losing
ground. Beyond them IL the vast and
incrsasing army a those who may be
slassed undef the general and vague
nAme Of mental healers. Those who
are addicted to any Of these forms Of
onorthodoxy need have no doubt 40
70 the purposes Of the federal health
board. Those purposes are to make
4 dimcult for them to follow their.
particular fads and fancies. to lead
them. and u necessary to drive them,
from medical unorthodoxy to medical
orthodoxy.
Now tho Argonaut holds no brief
Tor any Of the excuses and the super.
stitions connected with tho care OF the
body IN which this age 10 90 rife. But
It does feel concerned for the preser.
walton q human liberty and for the
rights q the individual to doctor him.
sslf u any way hs pleases 20 long 40
he does not Individually threaten the
hCalth Of the community. He may
take large doses or small one or no
dosee ct I'll; he may be massaged.
aAointod with oil. or prayed over. lust
10 the within Of the moment may die.
tate. and probably it makes NO mar.
tlcle Of difference which he does. But
ho has tho right TO choose. Just @ he
chooses The color Of his necktis or the
character q his underclothing. II L.
not = matter IN which any Wise gov.
esnment WIN seek to interfere. This
= peocisely the liberty that the health
board intends to take from him.
0fthodox medicine. conscious OF Ito
leoeoa, , trying 20 buttrees itself By
pe1eaal statute. % exalt allopathy 70
~ 0tatns e . prtvilsseA caste. and
~ eeoq1o N ootablishod school az
nelicile Inst . some other countries
AA-I&1DNAA--D s. 1902 Iaw 49,