Arizona republican., 1913-01-31
IN PROBLEM OF
 TUBERCULOSIS
Secretary Francis H. Me Lean, of the National So- ciety for Organizing Charity Makes Report on the Conditions Prevailing in Phoenix and Arizona.

in Phoenix and Arizona. l In his report to the people of Phoe- i nix through the Associated Charities, i Francis H. Mclean, secretary of the | National Society for Organizing Charity, in pointing out the needs of Phoenix as viewed from his stand point following his investigation here, has this to say of the problem of handling tuberculosis locally:
 II would urgently recommend that the Associated Charities and all other social agencies in Phoenix unite in fighting for a state law for the depor- tatiOn of non resident dependents to their legal places of residence or to their relatives (by agreemenD in other states. To avoid legal complications you will note that I have omitted any reference to dependent persons suffer ing from tuberculosis. But 1 am pro posing a deportation law of general character similar to those in existence in many eastern states and Of whose legality there is not the slightest ques- ton. Dependent non-residents are con- tinuallv being sent from state to state. Of course upon actual proof of resi- dence or if they have relatives to care for them, etc. I would place this power technically in the hands of the boafd of control (with appropriation to act generally upon the recommends tions of tuberculosis bureau of the state board of health,- or of special tuberculosis commission whose other duties will be later described. The pub lie authority will be empowered to use any private agency in making it's in vestigatiOns.
 But I would couple this with power given to such tuberculosis bureau or commission to freely and publicly give information as to the cost of living of tuberculosis patients in different cities, and also to state that whenever reas- enable support for a poor patient IS offered by responsible individuals or organizations, that the commission either directly or through local agen cies. such as Associated Charities, will agree to take an active supervisory in terest in such patients, advising with them, seeing that they receive proper treatment, etc
 You will thus not appear in the guise of refusing anyone your climate. All that you will be doing will be to give to others their proper share of the burden and assume your proper share by seeing that patients who come re- ceive proper attention. If a patients thpTp is nothing in the way of public relief officers doing so if they so wish. I do not here include Associated Charities because they have long since come to the wise decision that what should be encouraged are just as many local san itOria as possible because it is the To- cal sanitoria which save the incipient cases and which have saved thousands more than any climate, even the ideal one which yOp have. It is not the far distant climes like yours which those who have to work for their living turn to in the early stages of the disease, 1t is far easier to divert their attention and induce an earlier giving up of work and period of rest in local sanitorium of public character than
  breaking away from all ties involved in going to a far distant place. The eX- Dense involved in such trip will go long way towards providing proper To- cal treatment of a most hopeful kind. What happens is that you receive | comparatively small fraction of the ad vanced cases from the whole country among the class of working people and practically no incipient cases. Further, 1 our societies as well as the many spe- i cialists- are constantly preaching what | is undoubtedly the right doctrine; that while certain climates are an additional 1 favOring element, the essential are to
 be found in the care and treatment of a properly equipped local sanitOrium and
 an early going to it.
 "Harper's Weekly a few weeks ago remarked that tuberculosis was not a
 local problem and could only be treated naturally" The editor was protesting against what he deemed the cruel at titude of Texas in complaining against i being used as a dumping ground. The editor failed to realize that he was
 most unjust and unfair and contradict | ed himself. You are not treating a l problem nationally if you are locallZlng
 it in any particularly states while ev-
 eryone alse is cheerfully throwing their | financial responsibilities upon these
 states. That is the worst sort of local 1 ization. Furthermore he was singu-
 lsrly lacking in information. He did
 not know apparently how few indeed | of this class who are cared for ade- quately through the charity of these states actually recover.
 l No the naturalization of the prob lem will come only through the estab- lishment by every county of any size
 in every state of the union of proper sized public sanitOria.
 'At the same time you do not insist upon every one agreeing to this right policy, you say nothing about tubercu-
 losis indeed but simply insist that there should be some one paying ths
 expenses of every one coming here
 while you provide actual supervision | wherever required.
 Indeed you must assume other i'm