Morgan County republican. (Versailles, Mo.) 1906-1914, 1911-12-21
A FEDE,AL HEALTH BOARD.

out a protst. Reports Of organized
resistance ONE from all parts OF inc
country, ard It may be that the oppo-
sition will soon be sufficiently soiio'
fed to defet a project that promises
infinite michief for the community
and suffering and injustice for the IN
d%ividual.
The proposal is based upon those
specious Gains that are VIGOROUSLY
hard to %conrovert. II a federal health
board wereto confne its activities 10
the FORMULATION Of salutary ADVICE
upon hygieiic matters, to the aDate.
ment of quaekery. and to the purity OF
drugs. It night be possible to say
much In its favor, although 1t wouid
still be difficult to say that such an
organization is needed. But we know
that 1t VIII attempt to do far more
than this, seeing that its adherents
have loudly proclaimed their inten-
lions. Indeed. there is no secrecy
about them. 1t is confidently expected
that the board will consist of advo
Gates OF one school Of medicine only
and that the methods OF that school
Will be not only recommended. but
enforced upon the nation. Indeed a
board that was in any way representa-
tive of the medical profession as q
whole would be stultifled by Its W
disagreements. Outside the domain
of simple hygiene, for which we need
no federal board at all, there Is no
single point Of medical practice upon
which allopaths, homeopathic. eclectics
and osteopaths could be in unison.
Any board that could be devised by
the wit Of man must be composed OF
representatives. Of one school only.
and this means that all other schools
are branded as of an inferior caste.
even though nothing worse happened
to them. And something worse would
happen to them. If We are to establish
a school of medicine, If 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-
fish 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 Notwithstanding conjecture.
Those who suppose that a federal
board of health would have no concern
with individual rights are likely to
find themselves undeceived. 1t Is for
the purpose of interfering with indt.
vidual rights that the proposal has
been made. We need no special
knowledge of conditions to be aware
that what may be called unorthodox
methods of healing have made sad In
roads into the orthodox. Homeopathy
claims a vast number OF adherents
who are just as well educated and just
!. as intelligent as those who adhere to
the older school. Osteopathy, eclecti-
cism, and half a dozen other methods
Of practice are certainly not losing
, ground. Beyond them is the vast and
increasing army Of those who may be
classed under the general and vague
: name of mental healers. Those who
are addicted to any of these forms OF
, unorthodoxy need have no doubt as
to the purposes Of the federal health
4 board. Those purposes are TO make
3 1t difficult for them to follow their
\ particular fads and %fancies. to lead
them, and II necessary to drive them
from medical ~unorthodoxy to medical
4 orthodoxy.
I Now the Argonaut holds no brief
| for any of the excuses and the super
Q ~stitions connected with the care of the
body in which this age Is so rife, But
I 1t does feel concerned for the preser
I walton OF human liberty and for the
rights of the individual to doctor him
self In any way he pleases SO long al
he does not Individually threaten the
health of the community. He may
take large doses or small ones. or nc
doses at all: he may be massaged
q anointed with oil. or prayed over, JUS,
as the within Of the moment may die
e tate. and probably II makes nc par
v ticle of difference which he does. Blu
y he has the right to choose. just as hi
S chooses the color Of his necktie or the
u character of his underclothing 1t II
e not a matter In which any wise gov
rnmen will seek to interfere Thii
is precisely the liberty that the health
n board intends to take from him
Orthodox medicine. conscious OF III
iosSes' is tIyins W out'iess i'Sei' W
federal statute, to exalt ~allopathy t.
y the status of a privileged caste. ant
d to create an established school o
o medicine Just as some other countrie'
have allowed themselves to create al
established school OF religion. 1t Il
for the common sense OF the commu
e nifty to rebuke that effort and to re
pei an unwarranted invasion upon ele
'e mentary human rights.-San From