Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1912-09-16
CONSERVATION Of PUBLIC HEALTH
sy W. n. sooENsrAs, Of Bismarck

This Is m age Of conservation; con.
s~crvatiOn OF our forests, our minerals,
our oil and gas fields. out water pow.
or. and our agricultural products. Nil.
lions are yearly spent by this nation
In the preservation Of Its natural re.
sources. Millions Of acres Of land
have been converted from q sandy,
unproductiye desert into a fertile,
productive land by the conservation
Of our water power. Millions OF feet
Of lumber are yearly saved to this
nation by the conservation OF our
forests, but our greatest resource, the
health OF our people, has had very III.
tie national support along the lines
of conservation; a most lamentable
state of affairs, for OF what avail are
money or riches without health?
When we consider how lavish we
have been in our efforts to conserve
our commercial interests, we wonder
how we have SO long neglected our
public health, which has been subor.
dinate to and dominated by CONNER.
cialism. l am not forgetful Of the
fact that we live in a new country,
that We must build our homes, cloth
our bodies, till our soil, harvest GU;
crops and develop our industries; but
We are far enough advanced so that
We must pay more attention to this
matter of vital interest--the conser-
: walton of the health of our citizens.
DO not lei We should not conserve
the great natural resources Of our
nation, but l do maintain that we
should conserve not only the prod
ucts OF the farm, but the farmer; not
only the coal mines, but the miner;
not only plant and animal life, but
also human life. Theodore Roose-
welt says: "Our national heshth is
our greatest national asset"
We can apply to The government
Il Washington and be supplied with
the latest scientific literature for the
raising of poultry, or the breeding
Of cattle, or the selection OF seed
grain, or. the preservation of the
health OF domestic animals; but we
ask in vain for Information how to
raise our children, how to preserve
the health Of our wives and families,
or how to lessen the death rate from
preventable diseases among human
beings. Millions OF dollars have
been expended by the government for
cholera in hogs, but not a penny has
been given for the prevention and
cure Of pneumonia among human
beings, which carries away yearly
10000 lives. Millions of dollars
have ben spent in the preservation OF
trees from the attacks of insects, in
extermilating parasitic grOWths that
prey OF fruit trees, and in killing on
various species Of weeds from the
ranks of usefud plants; but nc effort
has been made in the alienation and
cure OF heart and kidney disease,
which yearly carry of over 100000
Of our population.
Yet, in spite OF this neglect on the
part Of the national government,
great things have been accomplished
within the last two decades and thou
sands of lives have been saved
through the ~unceasing efforts of phil
anthr0pists, scientists and sanitar'
ians. Millions are yearly saved the
government and the people by the
prevention OF sickness; due to the
greater knowledge and application OF
the laws Of hygiene and sanitation,
to the nelarged understanding OF
germ life and its relation to dis.
eases, and especially to the increas.
ed discovery and use of the antitoxic
serums, which has come about dur.
ing this period.
During the decade ending in 1890
the average aSe Of all persons dying
in the United States was q small fare
ton owe 81 years. while the next de.
cade, in which medical and sanitary
science have made such epoch prog.
ress along acknowledged lines, the
average span Of life has received an
astonishing extension of four years,
placing the average for that decade
at IS years. Another remarkable
evidence of the triumph Of medical
science is to be found in the increase
Of country mortality owe the city
mortality in the last Is years. This
10 due, without question, to the bet
ter organization Of urban health de-
partments and a reader response by
cities to the discoveries of medical
and sanitary science. All this is very
encouraging and laudable, but we
certainly have a great many things
to learn, as our death rate when com
pared with other countries is quite
high. We lead the world in CONNER
cialism, but we are not up to the
standard in the conservation of hum.
an life.
shall quote YOU a few statistics
to show how necessarily we must
work i'll order to accomplish what
other nations accomplish. Our gen.
,eral health rate per 1000 population
In 1910 was 1911 for cities and 1874
for rural districts. In England and
Wales it was 1875. In. other words
the death rate in England with it's
congested centers is not any higher
than in our rural communities. In
the matter of infections diseases, for
example, typhoid fever, the death
rate per 100000 population in 10
years, from 1900 to 1909, was 29.5. In
1910 the rate was 23:5 showing a
marked Improvement, and demon.
strates what has been done in late
years. Comparing this with other
countries, however, we find a marked
difference. a
Ill Countries.
England and Wales ............ 81
sweden ......................... 3.6
sNOTWAy ......... D.O
n yt8rWAUY NJ , /, /. /. 4, tsrs4 . ~ . - . /. Z. . /. =, 4, /, , ~ DO