The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1913-04-24

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ter. The great truth before the
American people today, DR.. Sumner
said, is that no man can become a
good physician unless he is thorough
ly versed in preventative medicine
and is willing to lend his personal
influence for the betterment OF all
social conditions, and that good
physician will be true medical
sociologist.
Dr.. Sumner made himself very
clear when he stated that he did not
intend to decry the medical profess
sion, far from it, he said, but his
purpose was to bring before an en-
lightened public the plain truth that
the medical men are giving to the
world the results of their scientific
investigations, all of which is in
tended to keep the people we'll and
thereby prevent sickness and untime-
ly deaths. He further said that the
real physicians of today are now try
ing to make health conditions better
all over the world, and for this rea-
son boards of health are being form
ed, both state and local boards of
health, in order to disseminate a
knowledge of preventative measures
which will give to us as a result
strong, long-lived, healthy people,
and it is not economy to keep know
ledge from the people, for ignorance
goes hand in hand with poverty. and
poverty walks with disease, and dis
ease destroys.
The main thought of DR.. Summers
lecture all through his discourse, was
to impress upon the people that the
government or the municipality can
make no better investment than to
make provision to keep the people
we'll, and that there were those who
opposed the formation of public
health boards, for no other reason
than the restrictive measures, adopt
ed by such boards, prohibit the i'm
position of quacks and humbugs up
on the innocent and defenseless, and
his statement relative to the invest
ment which might be made by COM
munities brought forth appreciation
when he said that it is a noteworthy
fact that whenever a state practices
economy in public health measures,
efficiency is not attained, but II we
place efficiency first, economy is the
essential result.
Great stress was placed upon the
control of communicable diseases,
and the speaker impressed upon his
audience the fact that the prime mo-
tive of all municipalities through
their health boards should be
to prevent the spread OF all
such diseases at the source,
which is the person having the
disease or existing unhealthy con-
ditions, then too, said DR.. Sum
ner, we must depend upon the medi-
cal profession to formulate all plans
for preventative medicine work, but
as yet the med cal man has not been
offered a sufficient remuneration
too small financial incentive-to
abandon his private practice for pub
lie service.
There was general appreciation
when this thought was presented,
and to quote the speakers exact
language, he said: II wish to impress
upon you that real clean living
should begin with the basic principle
embodied in the very first verse of
the Bible: In the beginning God
Real right living is based upon a
clean life. 1t has been said that
learning and education are synony-
nous terms, but DR.. Sumner said
that learning was knowledge stored
in the mind, but that education was
a bundle of habits, and in so far as
our habits are good and pure, our
lives will be made better.
In speaking of the work of legis-
latures, the lecturer advanced the
idea that he hoped that better things
were in store for the people OF every
city in this great state and country,
in public health matters, and trust
ed that future legislative bodies
would make ample provision for exc
cutting health laws and that each
city would fall in line and work for
more and better health regulations
in the future than in the past.
The insanitary privy and the evils
resulting therefrom were clearly pre-
sented to the audience, and great
stress was placed upon the fact that
many of the results chargeable to
the infected well from the insanitary
privy were charged as a punishment
for sin, but it was demonstrated that
;carelessness and ignorance had unit
ed to produce the results instead Of
it being . punishment for sin. A
most beautiful illustration was drawn
which showed the Imagination Of the
when he said that BY plac-
Ing q fence At the top NJ the clilf
Ut would not be necessary to place an