The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1912-01-06
A FEDERAL HEALTH BOARD.

+ FEUEhAI FEHEIH DOAnDs
It is gratifying TO note that the bill
for the creation of a federal health
board will not be allowed to pass with
out a protest Reports Of organized
resistance come from all parts of the
country, and it may be that the oppo-
sition will soon be sufficiently sohdi-
fed to defeat a project that promises
infinite mischief for the community.
and suffering and injustice for the in
dividuaL
The proposal is based upon those
specious claims that are VIGOROUSLY
hard to controvert- If a federal health
board were to cOnf1ne its activities to
the PRONUNCIATION Of salutary advice
upon hygienic matters, to the abate-
ment OF quackeTy, and to the purity or
drugs, it might be possible to say
much in its favor, although it would
still be difficult to say that sXch an
organization is needed. But we know
that it will 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 tia methods of that school
Will be not only recommended, but
| enforced upon the nation Indeed
/ board that was in any way representa-
I tive of the medical profession as a
| whole would be stultifed by its own
! dlsagreements- 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, 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,
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 faTors one variety of prac-
| tce more than others, why not estab-
lish 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
| tecuOnable than an established sect
| of pseudo-scientif1c 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 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 a vast number of adherents
| who are just as we'll educated and just
as intelligent as those who adhere to
the older school. Osteopathy, 1clecti-
cism, 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
unorthodo1y 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
it does feel concerned for the preser-
walton of human liberty and for the
rights of the individual to doctor him
| self in aOy WAY he DloaSoS On long a c
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
as the whim of the moment may die
tate. and probably it makes no par
tcle 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 undertaking 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 its
losses, is trying to buttress itself by
federal statute, to exalt alIopathy 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
established 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.-SGn Fran
cisco Ar0Ondut.