Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-09-17
BILLS ARE PAID BY
BOARD OF HEALTH
Heated Discussion Marks Set
Element of Welfare Conn
mittee's Claim.
WOULD HAVE DOCTORS
WORK FOR EXPERIENCE
Charity Treatment Criticised.
Say Hygiene Work Will Save
Thousands of Lives.

Following a spirited discussion last
ing nearly an hour, the. Board of
Health, last night, finally approved
of the action of the public welfare
committee in paying out salaries to
DIR. Julius Levy and a nurse in car
i. rying out its work on child hygiene
The former is to receive 500 a month
and the latter SIS for the same
period. The committee viii receive
an appropriation of $4,000 this year
from the city to carry on the work.
The expenditure of this amount,
however, as well as the work is
under the supervision of the health
authorities.
For a time the board was divided
on the need of paying a medical di
rector. 1t was held that this was
an unnecessary expense. Miss Emily
Hamblen, DR.. Laban Dennis and Ed
ward Blau represented the welfare
committee, while DIR. H. C. II Herold
Or. J. T. Wrightson, Charles w,
Baker and Otto B. Schalk argued
against the payment of the commit
tees bills.
Satisfactory Work.
The argument had its tense mo-
ments. as when Miss Hamblen and
DR.. Wrightson were pitted against
one another on the subject of get
ting doctors to do the work satisfac-
torily on a charity and experience
basis. DR.. Wrightson said:
II shall vote to pay these bills, but
I want to say that the reason I well
coined the committee taking UP this
work was that 1 thought they would
be able to do it cheaper because the
doctors would do this for the com
mittee for nothing, whereas they
would expect pay from a city
board. l am serving notice on you
that 1 shall later call attention to
the fact that we could have done the
work cheaper if the committee
plunges into expensive cost.
1.-THE legal department of the city
has informed you and US that this
money cannot be spent unless this
board supervises the work and audits
the bills. we must know what we
are paying before we undertake to
pass any bills
DIR. Laban Dennis said: "If this is a
question of auditing bills, that is one
matter; but if 1t is a question of SUI
pervising the work that is quite a
different matter | am willing to have
you appoint a committee to look over
our work and criticise it. You will
say at the end Of 1t that we have done
this better than it could have been
otherwise done.
May Lose 1000 Lives.
Better that the city should spend
$1,000 year for a physician and save
1000 lives than that 1t should pay
nothing and lose 1000 lives"
1.-THE fundamental point" said Miss
Emily Hamblen, SIS that the doctors
speak the language of the people they
treat If NAV he true as DIR Wright
son has said, that you can get young
doctors to take up this work for the
experience they can get out of it, but
they cannot speak Polish, italian and
Yiddish, which is necessary. There
IS not much experience to be gotten
by the doctors in telling the same
thing over and over to women and
mothers.
II do not think you all realize the
great scope of this work. We have
classes of midwives and the work of
interesting other societies and the day
nursery. 1t is a great big plan and
needs a mans whole time. DIR. Levy
will have to give us six hours each
day and maintain it is unfair to ask
a doctor to give that time and expect
him to support himself meanwhile. In
fact it cannot be done"
DR.. Wrightson said: 1T need not
take all that time. When | was a
Young man, and DIR. Herold, too, I
spent from three to six hours a day
for six years doing work of this kind
for nothing Partly it was charity,
but largely it was for the sake of
what l got out of it in experience"
Dr. Theodore w. Corwin struck an
other note in the proceedings by
making a little speech about the