The Clarksburg telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926, 1912-03-14
And the English Government
May Never Proclaim 1t
as Law.

LEMON. Mar. s.-For an &C,
that passed through. Parliament
without a division. thar is without
any member registering vote q
gainst IL. the National Insurance.
scheme against sickness ana dis
ablement has SET up record for the
extent OF the controversy that has
RACED around 1t
The friendly societies. which have
Insurance benefits Of their own for
members. started the trouble. They
feared that the bill, by forcing their
members to contribute TO the gov
.ernment scheme, would Induce them
to leave the societies This was
settled by approved societies being
allowed to administer the act so FAR
as it dealt with their members.
Then came the opposition OF mis-
tresses and servants. who. besides
Directing TO contributing their six
cents weekly each for the insurance
OF the servant. raised cry agains,
the necessity of sticking the neees-
lsary stamps in a book.
Opposition also came from large
employers of labor. chiefly in the
cotton districts of Lancashire. who
held that the extra tax would de.
Urive them Of their profits.
Other classes have taken up the
cry against the bill. the Socialists
among them, as they wanted a sys.
tenn to which the workmen would
not have to contribute. the state and
Femployer paving the whole Of tbs
amount required.
The most serious and sustained
opposition to the bill, however, has
been that of the medical men. q, 900
of them have signed a declaration
that they will not accept service IN.
der the act The chief objection Of
the doctors is that no adequate re,
Enumeration for the medical men
could be obtained under the act,
that it would in fact amount to
about 81 yearly for each patient
This is only a calculation, as the
act states that the remuneration OF
doctors who place their names on
the list of those agreeing to attend
patients under the act shall be 4
matter OF arrangement between the
local insurance committees aad the
doctor The medical men, how.
ever, point out that the committees
consist Of perhaps eighty members,
only three of whom would be medi-
cal men, so that the chances of ade-
duate remuneration are the remot-
est
The medical men also object to
the control by friendly societies.
chiefly because they believe wellto-
do people would creep into friendly
societies and get medical attendance
at the same rate As the laborers.
Then there is objection to what is
known here as the contract system.
This already prevails in certain dis
tricts, chiefly among the miners.
who contribute to a fund out of
which medical man attends those
contributing for a fixed salary.
Those doctors who. in face of the
decision of the great majority of
their profession have agreed to act
under the bill are being decried as
"blacklegs," and the campaign is
being carried on much as would a
strike of trade unionists.
The government has started a
counter campaign to bring home to
every household in the land that it
was to a Radical government that
they owed what they believe to be
the blessings of a great measure of
a great healing organization. Mr..
Lloyd George opened this campaign
at meeting in the London opera
house when he replied to the criti-
cisms Of the medical profession He