The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1912-01-06
THE MAYO BROTHERS.
Worldwide Fame Rests Upon Ethics
as Much az Skill,

~
Washington Post: Robert Her
rick's suggestion in The Healer. that
the federal government should regu-
late, control and finance the practice
Of medicine to rid the country Of
quacks and doctors who enter the pro-
fession only to make money, will not
be taken seriously at a time when the
people are beginning to realize that
much regulation is worse than too
much individual initiative, and has a.
tendency toward bureaucracy. But
this suggestion by the novelist was
merely incidental to the point of his
story. The Healer, of Mr.. Herrick's
fancy did not seek government aid,
nor aid from any of the great private
charities that have been founded for
medical research. He went into the
forest and gave his services to the
poor lumberJacks, and the hospital he
founded came as a matter Of necessity
from the people who came seeking
his skill through the reputation made
there in the b~ackwoods as a healer of
human ills.
The real point Of The Healer has
an apt Illustration in the widespread
sympathy now manifest over the con-
dition of DR.. Charles Fl. Mayo Of Roch-
ester, MINI. recovering, it is truly
hoped, from a surgical operation per-
formed in a New York hospital; and
in the interest taken by trainmen and
railroad workmen along a line Of steel
stretching half way across the CONT
nent to facilitate the lightninglike trip
of DR.. William Mayo from his home in
Minnesota to the bedside of his brother
in New York. This demonstration Of
aid and sympathy for the Mayo broth
ers is not an ordinary occurrence SIM
ply because of the fame Of these men
as skilled surgeons. The reason lies
deeper than that. It is rather because
these men have made their regulations
as healers in much the same way as
the hero Of Mr.. Herriek's novel. They
began their work Al. healers in a small
town, in the interior of a northwest
ern state, and there they have re-
MANNED until the reports of their skill
and their humanity have spread over
the whole civilized world, bringing to
them the unfortunate, from all parts of
America and from beyond the seas.
Their fame rests not upon the ordinary
publicity Of this enterprising age. but
rather upon that old, old method that
has attracted the sick and manned to
shrines for healing in all ages. Those
who have been cured have spread the
fame Of the Mayo brothers. And that
fame rests on the ethics Of these re-
markably successful surgeons quite as
much as upon their skill. They were
healers in the true sense of the word,
giving all their heart and soul and
intellect to the art Of healing and
leaving to those benefited the means
of caring for the sorrow. They took
their places in a hospital under the
nominal protection OF a religious or
~ganization whose whole history has
been identified with work for human
ity, regardless Of financial considera-
tions. There they worked, giving their
services to whoever was in need. with
out previous inspection of the patients
bank account. The railroad workman,
the poor farmer, the common street
laborer's life was Just as important to
them as was that of the banker or idle
rich. They were healers, and the doors
of their consulting and operating
rooms swung open to all whom they
could help. The rich man paid hand
somely for his relief, and what he paid
covered the expense Of many other UNI
fortunates who could not otherwise
command such skill.