The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1911-12-22
A FEDERAL HEALTH Ro,On

- t"S creation OF a fadaroi pll
board VIII not be allowed tn no. health
out protest. Reports of | nra, with,
assistance come from all parts ea ~
country, and 1t may be that ~ 20 u the
sllion VIII soon be sufficiently Up. Uppo'
neu 70 defeat project that nro SOndi-
lnhnlte mischief for the com n,oruises
and suffering and injustice for ~ unlty,
dividual. lof the in.
The proposal is based rno-
speclous claims that are potor,o nose
nard to controvert. If federal t .ously
BOARD We're to confine its activit HeAtA
the PRONUNCIATION of salutarv ''. os %
upon hygtenic matters, to tbo au'lee
ment OF quackery, and to tho nn. aodte-
drugs, 1t might be possible 10 IVY q
much IN its favor, although II Say ssy
sui be difficult to say that sn, %oaiu
organization is needed. Rut WV W. an
that 1t will attempt to do far Anow
imam this, seeing that its adbor uiOle
nave loudly proclaimed their ,n.
lions. Indeed, there is M ooa.' '
ABOUT them. 1t is confidently exneotos
that the board will consist NJ ' ss
Gates of one school of medicino "u'o
ana mat the methods of that scbna,
VIII be not only recommended 'D sl
enforced upon the nation. Indood
board that was in any way represents
tive of the medical profession ~
whole would be stultified nv ito
engagements. Outside the domo,s
OF simple hygiene, for which We No.
no federal board at all, there 10 ~
single point of medical practice NM"
which allopaths, homeopatbs ecloot,o4
and osteopaths could be in nniso~
Any board that could be devised hr
the wit of man must be composed =,
representatives of one school onIv
and this means that all other schools
are branded as of an inferior oo.to
even though nothing worse hannoros
to them. And something worse would
happen to them. If We are to estabHcb
a school of medicine, if We are IN 90.
sert that the government of the rrnit.
ed States favors one variety Of nrac.
tee more than others, why not estab.
fish also a sect OF religion and ha.
stow special authorities upon Ran.
lists, Methodists and Episconaliansq
An established school of religions
conjecture seems somewhat less oh.
Jectlonable than an established sect
of pseudo-scientific conjecture.
Those who suppose that a federal
board of health would have no concern
with individual rights are likely tn
lind themselves undeceived. 1t is for
the purpose of interfering with indt.
y1dual 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 adhereDts
who are just as we'll educated and Just
as intelligent as those who adhere to
the older school. Osteopathy, eclecti.
c1sm, and half 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
board. Those purposes are to make
1t difficult for them to follow their
Da rfiapIar fadp op5 fopoiae RI Iood
them, and if necessary to drive them,
from medical unorthodoxy to medical
orthodoxy.
Now the Argonaut holds no brief
for any of the excuses and the super
stitions connected with the care Of the
body in which this age is so rife. But
it does feel concerned for the preser-
walton of human liberty and for the
rights of the individual to doctor him
self in any way he pleases so long as
he does not individually threaten the
health of the community. He may
take large doses or small ones, or no
doses at all; he may be massaged,
anointed with oil, or prayed over, just
ao IIC WAlul VI TIE luOulSuI ulGy Wv
tate, and probably it makes no par
ticle of difference which he does. But
he has the right to choose, just as he
chooses the color of his necktie or the
character of his underclothing. 1t Is
not a matter in which any wise gov
eminent will seek to interfere. THIS
is precisely the liberty that the health
board intends to take from him.
Orthodox medicine, conscious OF It's
losses, is trying to buttress itself by
federal statute, to exaIt allopathy to
the status of a privileged caste, and
to create an established school OF
medicine just as some other countries
have allowed themselves to create an
school of religion 1t Is
for the common sense of the commu-
nifty to rebuke that effort and to re-
pei an unwarranted invasion upon eie-
mentary human rights.-Sdn Fran
cisco ArgoauWt.