The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1914-11-14
OFFICIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Some platitudes are worth repeat.
ing once in a while, Just as remind
ers. Here's one:
Good health, besides being a good
deal Of a blessing, is about the big
gest money asset that an individual
or community can have. it's worth
real money. 1t makes the individual
possessor of it real quantity-if he
will let it. The lack. of it makes
him minus, a non-producer, an ex-
pense instead Of an Garner. And
what applies to the individual is
true on a wider scale to the neigh
borhood, the city, the State.
The individual can so regulate his
living as to conserve his own health.
He can not regulate that of his
neighbors. So complicated are the
relations of all the members of the
community that they must delegate
the management of their common
affairs to chosen representatives
Such representatives constitute our
boosted democratic form of govern
ment.
OF all the responsibilities of gov
eminent, none is more important
than the conservation of the public
health, the creating and preserva-
ton of such sanitary conditions that
health will be possible, such as will
not invite disease and epidemic. 1t
is most important because health is
the basic condition of prosperity, a
prime necessity that makes COM
munity living possible.
Men are selected for certain posi-
tions Of responsibility because they
are supposed to have peculiar wis.
dom and fitness. but how many men
who are charged with the admins.
tration of public funds realize the
relative importance of different pub.
4 lie works that are financed from
such funds?
Men whose judgment in bushes.
matters Is beyond question, usual,
are incompetent to pass upon health
matters, because they know mighty
little about them. They regard tn,
expert sanitarian as more or less o.
a crank" until epidemic. as a re-
suit of their own ignorance, over
whelms them. Then they surrender
to the crank" and follow his leat
like a flock Of hungry sheep. The.
fail to recognize the modern SAM
tartan as an expert engineer IL
health matters, quite as practical IL
his estimates of causes and effect,
and costs as the business man is ii
his own lines.
The up-to-date sanitarian believes
and acts on his belief, that proven
ton of disease is much cheaper thar
its cure. He creates such commun
ity conditions as will ward off dis
ease, and too often the man trained
to business alone regards these pre-
cautions as unnecessary, perhaps al
a waste of public money.
A recent instance in the making
up of the budget of one of Florida's
largest cities illustrates the point
The city council cut down by sew
eral thousand dollars the appropria
tion asked for the administration o.
the health department. The result
in the coming year will mean tn,
curtailing of the operations of tht
department to the extent Of sacrific
ing many lives among the new borr
infants of the city.
There is need of education t
remedy such conditions, for they ex
list in other Florida cities. 1T seem,
that this education should begil
with the voter, to teach him to de
mand from his representatives wis
dom to administer rightly the mat
tiers that concern him most init
mately. The most efficient public
official usually is the one who Il
sought for the place. The inefficien
official Is the one who begins hi
announcement with the formula
l"At the earnest request and solici
tation of hundreds of friends / hav
at last consented to allow the use o
my NAME" etc. He isn't the RICH
kind.