Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1911-07-15
OWENS BILL
DISCUSSED
TheDoCumentItse|fP Presented
For Reading
SUPT. OF PUBLIC HEALTH
DR.. E. S. Godfrey Gives His
Views in Support of the
Measure for Establish
ing A Department of
Health.

L
a recent editorial in the Republican,
but chiefly with the object of explain
| ing and defending the Owens bill for
the establishing of d department OF
public health. DIR. L. s. Godfrey. terri
torial health officer. has submitted the
| following:
| The leading editorial in your issue
| Of last Sunday. while not advocating
/ the defect of the owen bill for the
creation Of a national department of
| health. yet clearly gives the impros-
sion that the measure is unwise and
| would tend to further restrict practice
on the sick.
1T should be clearly understood in
| the first place that Judge Work s
speech. in SO far as it recites the 'ex-
periences' of himself and his family. is
entirely irrelevant to the question on
which he was speaking. There is alb
solutely nothing in the Owen bill
which could by any possibility be con-
torted as To give the power to ma
tional department of health, of dictat-
ing to any person the method Of heal
ing which he shall employ. 1t would
be unconstitutional if it did This is
one of the powers reserved to the
states. and the national government
can no more license or forbid physi-
clans or others t. practice than II can
dictate to the state how IT shall levy
its taxes. The public should thor
oughly understand this and not be
misled by the specious and irrelevant
arguments of the bills opponents.
The purpose Of the Owen bill is to
consolidate under one department all
the different bureaus and divisions Of
the national government which are en-
gagged in the promotion Of public
health; to aggregate the apprOpria
lions Of these bureaus by transferring
to the new department the sums set
aside for them from the appropria-
tions of the departments TO which
they now belong; and to 50 cOrrelate
the activities of these various bureaus
that duplication of work will be
avoided and efficiency promoted. 1t
purposes doing much the same thing
for the human beings of the nation
that the department of agriculture has
been doing for the plants and lower
animals 1t will give the results of re-
search work TO physicians. health Off
Gals and the public just as the de-
partment OF agriculture gives tho re-
suits of its experiments. And physi-
clans and others will be free To en-
ploy or not TO employ the knowledge
gained as they individually see fit
just as the farmer may or may not
use the advice of the agricultural de-
partment.
There are many problems in medi-
cine and public health which need I'M
raveling. and it seems reasonable, to
believe that a department such as
that contemplated should hasten their
solution Undoubtedly the methods
would be along the line of the regular
schools-at least, until some good
reason was found for changing. That
is. they would proceed from a basis
of known fact rather than from fanci-
full theories. and they would employ
in the prevention of disease those
methods which have proven efficaciousI
in the past rather than adopt new,
untried and highly problematical
methods advocated by those who are
more conspicuous for their zeal Than
for their reason. 1t is very doubt
full il even Judge Works woIld agree
to the abolition of quarantine at our
immigration stations. Even though M
might feel perfectly safe for himself.
il is questionable If he could contem-
plate with complacency the possible
results to the public of such a change
Even he might fear a sudden increase
i'm mortal errors of the cholera per-
suasion Just at this time. And 1t is
the public, and not Judge Works and
his co-religionists for which health
department would be maintained.
at is believed one or two state
ments in the editorial will bear COR
rection. Many homeopaths end osteo-
paths are beginning to see :h1t they
are but catspaws Of the patent medi-
cine and proprietary medicine inter
ests in this opposition to the pill. and
since the sources of the income of the
League of Medical Freedom has been
made known and Tho ulteriOr purpose
of these interests revealed. they are
showing OBJECTIONS. i am not inform
ed that the national societies of home
eopathy or osteopathy have derogated
the movement for a national depart
ment, though it may be true. Again,
Judge Works made his argument. not
against a clause in the constitution
which was intended to inhibit all bat
the regular schools of healing but I'm
favor of a clause whose effect would
have been to permit any and all kinds