The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1911-12-21

t0T ue creation OF q Iederal nedItn
board will not be allowed to pass with
out . protest. Reports Of organized
s1slstancs come from all parts Of the
country. and Il may be. that the oppo-
Dation will soon be sufficiently solid.
Ned to defeat q project that promises
tnnnite, mischief for the community.
and suffering and injustice for the In
Hlviduai
=. The proposal Is based upon those
ppecious claims that are VIGOROUSLY
hard 70 controvert II q federal health
BOARD were TO conhne Its activities to
NE promulgation Of salutary advice
MOON hygienic matters, to the abate-
tmsut Of Quackery. and to the purity Of
'AfuS1.. Il might be possible TO say
snach In fts favor. although II would
NdII be difscuit to say that such an
organization 10 needed. But we know
That II will attempt to do Far o
Ithan this. seeing that its adherents
Nave loudly proclaimed their inten.
Ri0ns. Indeed. there 10 no secrecy
IASout them. II 10 confidently expected
that the board will consist OF advo-
tcates OF one school OF medicine only
And that the methods OF that school
Will be not only recommended. but
enforced upon the nation, Indeed .
BOARD that was In any way representa-
uve Of tho medical profession al .
whole would be stultiied by It's own
Engagements. Outside the domain
Of simple hygiene. for which we need
no federal board at all. there il no
sinSle 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 mar 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
70 them. And something worse would
happen to them. II We are to establish
ID school Of medicine. II we are to as
sert that the government Of the Unit
ted States favors n variety Of prac.
0ce more than others. why not estab.
lteh also q sect OF religion and be-
stow special authorities upon Bap-
lists. M~ethodists and Episcopalians?
An established school Of religious
conjecture seems somewhat less OBJ
~yectionable than an established sect
Of pseudo-scientifc conjecture.
Those who suppose that a federal
board Of health would have no concern
with Individual rights are likely to
md themselves undecelved. 1t ia for
tho purpose Of interfering with indi-
'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 q vast number Of adherents
who are Just as we'll educated and just
- intelligent a those who adhere to
the older school. Osteopathy, eclecti
cism. and half u dozen other methods
Of practice are certainly not losing
ground. Beyond them is the vast and
increasing army of those who may be
CHASED under the general and vague
name Of mental healers. Those who
IAre addicted to any OF these forms oil
Iunorthodoxy need have no doubt al
to the purposes of the federal health
board. Those purposes are to make
It difficult for them to follow their
particular fads and f~ancies. to lead
chem. and II necessary to drive them
from medical unorthodoxy to medical
orthodoxy.
Now the Argonaut holds no brief
yfor any Of the excuses and the super
sstitions connected with the care OF the
body In which this age IL SO rife. But
1T does feel concerned for the preser
walton OF human liberty and for the
rights Of the individual to doctor him
I0elf In any way he pleases SO long al
lhe does not Individually threaten the
health Of the community. He may
kake large doses or small ones, or nc
doses at all: he may be massaged
,anointed with oil. or prayed over, JUS
|as the whim Of the moment may die
ltate, and probably 1t makes no par
}ticle Of difference which he does. But
lhe has the right to choose. Just as hi
lchooses the color Of his necktie or thu
Icharacter Of his underclothing. 1t II
mot a matter In which any wise gov
fernment will seek to interfere. Thi,
10 precisely the liberty that the health
board intends to take from him
lOrthodox medicine, conscious OF III
Nosses. 10 trying to buttress itself BY
federal statute. TO exalt allopathy t.
the status OF 4 privileged caste, and
10 create an established school o.
medicine Just as some other countriel
have allowed themselves to create ar
established school Of religion. 1t |,
Tor the common sense Of the commu
nifty to rebuke that effort and to re
pei an unwarranted invasion upon ele
mentary human rights.-San From
cisco Ar00H0xt.
GROUP Is A TERROR