The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1911-12-22
! FEDERAL HEALTH BOARD.

4 FEDERAL HEALTH BOARD.
Il u gratifying 10 note that the bill
1or the creation Of federal health
board win not be allowed to pass with
cut protest Reports Of organised
eosistance come from all parts Of the
country. and Il may be that the oppo.
oition win soon be sufficiently solidt.
He'd to defeat Z project that promises
lnanits mischief for the community.
and suffering and injustice for the In
01vtdal. sss,,~ --e.s.-----sr.-
The proposal 10 based upon those
apecious claims that are VIGOROUSLY
hard to controvert. II . federal health
board were TO confine it's activities to
the promulgation Of salutary advice
apon hygisuie matters. to the abate-t
msnt Of auackery, and to the purity Of
drugs. Il might, DO possible to say
much In. its favor. although It would
still DO difficult to say that such an
organisation IL needed. But We know
that II win attempt to do far moro
than this, seeing that it's adherents
have loudly proclaimed their inten.
lions. Indeed, there IL NO secrecy
about them. It 10 confidently expected
that the board will. consist Of advo-
Gates Of one school Of medicine only
and that the methods Of that school
win be not only recommended, but
enforced upon the nation. Indeed .
board that was in any way representa-
tive Of the medical profession as .
whole would be stultified by its own
.disagreements. Outside the domain
of simple hygiene. for which we need
mo federal board at all, there is no
single point Of medical practice upon
which allopaths, homeopaths, 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,
land this means that all other schools
tare branded as Of an inferior caste.
even though nothing worse happened
to them. And something worse would
happen to them. II we are to establish
Il school of medicine. If we are to as
lsert that the government Of the Unit
led States favors one variety of prac-
fdce more than others, why not estab-
|lish also a sect of religion and be-
sstow special authorities upon Bap-
lists. Methodists and Episcopaliansf
An established school of religious
conjecture seems somewhat less OBJ
Ejectionable than an established sect
of pseudo-scientif1c conjecture.
Those who suppose that federal
board Of health would have no concern
with individual rights are likely to
ind themselves undeceived. It is for
the 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
claims vast number of adherents
.who are just as well educated and just
las intelligent as those who adhere to
the older school. Osteopathy, eclecti-
elem, 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
ciassed under the general and vague
name Of mental healers. Those who
ARE addicted to any Of these forms of
lunorthodoxy need have no doubt as
to the purposes of the federal health
board. Those purposes are to make
It difficult for them to follow their
particular fads and fancies, to lead
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
1T does feel concerned for the preser-
walton Of human liberty and for the
rights Of the individual to doctor him
lself in any way he pleases SO long as
!he does not indubitably 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
as the whim Of the moment may die.
ttate. and probably 1t makes no par
iticle Of difference which he does. But
he has the right to choose, just as he
lchooses the color of his necktie or the
character Of his underclothing. 1t is
not a matter in which any wise gov
!ernment will seek to Interfere. This
Is precisely the liberty that the health
board intends to take from him.
Orthodox medicine, conscious of its
losses, Is trying to buttress itself by
federal statute, to exalt allopathy to
the status of privileged caste, and
to create an established school of
medicine just as some other countries
have allowed themselves to create an
established school of religion. It is
for 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 Argonaut.
Waiting.