The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-04-16

done, these last tWenty-S1x years, does there still exist The Tuberculosis Problem? There may be A Tubercu- F1osts Problem. or some Tuberculosis Problems, but The Tuberculosis Prob lem! Can it be that you mean what you say when you ask me for twent ty-minute paper on The Tuberculosis Problem? I am afraid that you do mean 1t, What, then. is The Tuber- culosis Problem? The stamping out of human tuberculosis, that is The Tuberculosis Problem. All other tu- berculosis problems are subsidiary. Have we any reason to believe that human tuberculosis can be stamped out? Wherever men and women are, there is tuberculosis. It Is probable
 that at all times and everywhere on the earth, some of mankind died Of tuberculosis. We find evidences of the disease in the bones, centuries old, of learned Egyptians and savage In- of the sea have been found tubercu- lous. What reason have We then to believe that we can banish a disease that nature has seemed to connect 50 intimately with human life as with most animal life :. Our reasons are:
 First. The records of practically all | the countries of civilization show a progressively lessened death rate from tuberculosis for the past fifty years, that is. ever since reliable reg
 istration of the causes of death was Second We have seen the kindred disease in cattle stamped out of a herd, and almost out of a district, by methods of segregation and 1m- | proved hygiene. Third. We have been able to cure AZ f,,I~ ~c3c kHo nc tn put 1t more accurately, as well as more encouragingly, we have seen na- ture cure cases of tuberculosis that were removed from an unhygienic to a hygienic environment.
 Fourth. We have seen children of tuberculous mothers, as we'll as calves of tuberculous cows. when removed early from their tuberculous parents, grow up vigorous and free of tuber- culosis.
 'Is that .all," you will ask. els that all the encouragement you have to offer to us? Have you no predictions to make of the date of the extermin- ation of human tuberculosis from Con necticut? No consumption in Mich1- gan in 1920 is the slogan of one corps of workers for the public weal.' No consumption in Tennessee in 1920 the slogan of another corps. Can you not hearten us with a similar prophecy for Connecticut Surely Connecticut Is making as good fight against the arch-enemy as Michigan or Tennes- see 7s-z=' s 2 a ------s-'--- ;, The plan of campaign is taught in Connecticut to rich and poor, to young and old. in English and dozen other languages; the pulpit and the press and the rostrum of Connecticut are making daily and gallant attacks on the foes entrenchments.
 s.The laborer of Connecticut gives freely of his wages, and the employ CT of his dividends, to supply the sin ews of war. The medical profession is nowhere more keen or capable than in Connecticut. Nowhere is there a better average of intelligence than In Connecticut. Nowhere have Gods fire more inviting sites for sanatoria than in Connecticut. Nowhere has the state in its corporate capacity, evinced greater generosity in providing for its tuberculous citizens than in Connec- ticut May not Connecticut expect as prompt a solution of the Tubercu- 1 losis Problem as Tennessee or Michi- gan?'
 "Of course," the answer is. Con necticut may. But the expectations of Tennessee and Michigan are not justified by a consideration of the facts within our present knowledge And it is the part of wisdom in, war l fare as in other matters, not to base our actions on unjustifiable expecta- tions And if we are leaders it Is l criminal and it will surely prove dis astrous to feed our followers with hopes that cannot be realized.
 .sWherefore, it behooves us. who | have points of vantage in this war l fare against tuberculosis to recognize truths even when they are unpleas- ant and momentarily dkscdncertinE. and to make sure that our army IS not | wasting energy and powder in min l ing and cannonading unoccupied or ! Well" you may ask, eff segrega. l tion and improved hygiene will stamp out tuberculosis in a herd of cattle, | why will not similar measures stamp 1 out tuberculosis in town of human beings?"
 Such a. question almost answers it. self "Similar measures inrthe town would mean, besides the initial slaugh- | ter Of all the hopelessly sick, the forceful imposition of the tuberculin tests on all the residents of the town. l young and old; the removal to sort l of concentration camp of all the men. women and children who reacted to | the tuberculin test; the absolute pro- hibition of any visiting between the people in the concentration camp and l the people left in the town; the absos | lute prohibition of all visiting or oth-
 
 1 in the town and the people of other towns who could not show that. they l did not react to the tuberculin test; l the destruction of all the homes In the town that had been occupied by any of the people removed to the concentration camp: and, finally, such a strict official detailed and daily and nightly supervision of the hy- giene of every family left in the town as well never be possible while wo- l man can lift poker or a man can fire a gun.
 I say these things not in a carping | spirit, not to find fault with the great generals who have hitherto led us. My hat is off and my head is bowed at | all times to Koch and men of hts type, to Trudeau and men of his type, to Flick and men of his type. But in spite of the discovery of the tubercle bacillus, in spite of the many and | remarkable cures of tuberculosis made | in sanatoria throughout the world, in | that tuberculosis is often a house dis ease, we are still far from the solu- | tion of the Tuberculosis Problem. In spite of all the new laws that the I discovery of the infectious agent of the disease induced us to enact, in spite of all the marshaling of the charitable and conservative forces to secure the enforcement of these laws, one death in ten is still caused by | tuberculosis. What then," you ask, would you
 have us do?'' Give up in despair?'' "Not at aIl," would reply. "Let
 us hold fast to the positions we have l taken, but let us not be satisfied