The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-03-19
THE AUTHORITY OF HEALTH BOARDS
Bridgeport Telegram.)


 Doubtless inspired by pr. Wiley's
 recent attack upon Connecticut oy- sters, the New Haven Board of
 Health has forbidden the sale within the city limits of oysters or clans taken from the upper harbor above Fort Hale. The Board claims that these waters are infected with sew age and that therefore the fish found in them are unfit for human con- sumption. This may, of course, be true; but no proof has been adduced to justify such arbitrary exertion of authority. Concerning it, our esteem ed contemporary, the Standard,
 which is an authority upon such mat ters. says very properly:-"A scienti- fic examination of clans or oysters taken from these waters would reveal their condition and their fitness or
 unfitness for food, but the wholesale condemnation of the entire product
 on the theory may not be correct" Such action is only pardonable when it is based upon a careful exam1na tion of facts.
 West Haven is also in trouble. There have been repeated outbreaks of diphtheria in the Union school
 there and it has been impossible to trace them to their source. The local ed to County Health Officer Hoadley
 and that gentleman suggests that cer- tain children, who are themselves in perfect health, may be disease car riers," having in their systems the germs of diphtheria which, although they bring no inconvenience to their hosts, are capable of being transmit ted to other children and causing serious illness It is said that simi- lar conditions existed at Meriden a short time ago, and that diphtheria
 bacilli were found in the throats of l.. vI,~ s,,
 excellent health. It is therefore pro- posed to submit cultures from the throats of the West Haven school chil- dren to a meteorological examination,
 and if any diphtheria bacilli are
 found, to segregate such children un- til the germs have departed.
 Such highhanded proceedings have
 been common in other cities. The case of Typhoid Mary" is probably the best known instance of the kind;
 but it is said that there have been other cases of virtual imprisonment upon similar grounds There have all
 ways been men of science who main | tained that the so-called characteris- tic bacilli of diseases did not possess the significance usually attributed to them because they are often present in persons who show no signs, of the maladies they are supposed to repre- sent and who have never been afflict- ed with them at any previous period. The defenders of the germ theory de- clare that although such persons are too vigorous to succumb to the inf1u- | ence of their unpleasant guests them
 selves, they are potent carriers of disease and should be kept aloof from other people. There is seemingly Suf- ficient division of opinion upon the subject to render it inadvisable for | boards of health to risk their hold upon public sympathy by resorting to init xUith in | erty.
 Cases like the two mentioned above, emphasize the need of a legislative | inquiry at the earliest possible date | into the powers possessed and exercis- | ed by boards of health in Connecticut
 In the case of Bridgeport, the local ! Board of Health, irritated at the conservative attitude of the Common
 Council, quietly went to the Legisla- | ture and obtained the power of mak-
 ing its own ordinances without any
 notice being given to either aldermen | should not be allowed to continue As | the New Haven and West Haven ca ses, which are typical of what is go- | ing on all over the country, clearly | show, power to ruin a mans buSi- ness or imprison himself or his chil- dren on the disease carrier'' plea now rests in the hands of irresponsible ap- 1 pointiVe bodies whose competence to
 decide such difficult matters is often
 open to question. The services of learned and conservative boards of | health are so valuable to every com
 munity, that it is a pity that they
 should be cheapened by the eagerness of fmperfectly educated or over en- | thusiastic doctors to adopt every new
 medical fad and folly of the day.
 Boards of health should not be al- | lowed under any circumstances to inn
 pose their own laws upon the com
 munity. They carry little weight, are
 usually only enforced among people
 who are too poor to make test cases, | and they are cheerfully disregarded by l persons of influence. The petty, ir-
 ritating. regulations in which boards | allowed to indulge in law-making are
 so prolific, are apt to encourage con- | tempt for those weightier enactments upon which the order and well-being of 8 town or city depend.