The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1914-09-28

Iact tuAI tho oxlBouC1Go OF commerce.
the advantageous pursuit OF industrial
operations. and even the preparation
for real or anticipated war may
promptly bring about hysienic re-
forms which widespread preaching
and earnest exhoftafion are at best
slow In promoting. The safety FIRST
slogan which one hears in nearly ev
cry city Of the United States at the
present time il one aspect of q move
ment to increase the personal welfare
Of the individual by decreasing the
liability to injury through the care
lessness OF q fellowman. The same
spirit crops out In the ten trade COM
mandments'' Of the worker which are
posted conspicuously here and there in
factories where personal injuries and
loss of life furnish unfortunate and
let 1t be frankly added-unprofitab
incidents in the conduct Of manufac-
turing operations. The reminder
thou shalt not" gains added force
when its value is expressed in terms
OF practice and daily experience rath-
er than in the more vague language
Of ethical considerations. And ac-
cordingly there is a telling force in
such direct admonitions as the fol-
lowing. from a recent compilation for
use in a factory:
Thou shalt take no unnecessary
risks, nor try to show of. nor play
practical jokes. for by thy carelessness
thou mayest do injury which will have
erations to follow.
Remember thou are not the only
one on the job. and that other lives
are just as important as thine own.
'Thou shalt not throw matches or
greasy waste on the floor, a. a dirty
worker is a clumsy worker. and q
clumsy worker is q menace to his fell
low-wOrkers."
These and similar timely sugges-
tions, put in a form that is sure to
attract notice. cannot fail to promote
the mutual and reciprocal interest of
the employer and tho employed.
Modern hygiene and preventive medi-
cine have recognized long ago that
the individual can no longer claim a
liberty in his actions, Independent of
his neighbor. Our provisions for
quarantine. vaccination against small
pox. and diverse other regulations in
the interest OF the public health have.
in the past, been enforced only with
the annoyance that comes from lack
OF cooperation and from personal re-
sentiments together with the indiffer-
ence for restrictive rules that Is bred
in a community of free" people. Yet
now We see, in the combined enter
prise and altruism Of modern employ
ers. protective devices put in opera
ton to secure, without friction or re-
sentiment, the same sort Of welfare
results that the federal government or
state or municipality would find difh-
Guilty in getting under way.
The unexpected situations created
by war have, in the past, furnished
the stimulus for new Inventions and
useful processes. The armies and
navies of today represent the most ef-
ficient fighting forces that the nations
can command. No device, no agency
that will contribute to their power and
preparedness, is willingly neglected.
Health is a prime consideration in
this respect. Field Marshal Earl
Kitchener is reported to have coun-
seized the English soldiers to abstain
from drinking while abroad, remind
ing them that their duty cannot be
done unless health IL preserved. The
men were cautioned to keep constant
ly on guard against excuses. The
German emperor IL said to have for
hidden the treating Of soldiers in
his armies. The sale of absinthe, Inn
ported by French soldiers in an ear
lier war when alcohol was used to
fight fever, has been restricted in
Paris.
1t IL Of slight consequence. says The
journal OF the American Medical As
ISOLATION. whether or not these ru-
mors are entirely correct. They rep
resent the current tendencies. which
are undeniable by any one who has
watched the recent decisions OF Amer
lean naval authorities in the face of
adverse criticism couched in the usual
phrases concerning personal liberty.
The truth is, that 1.-The relation Of al
cohol and fighting has been squarely
met. and the fact admitted that they
are not compatible" A recent edi-
torial writer has expressed this by
saying that a temperate army was
something not conceived of in the old
theories OF war; but drunkard Is
today as much out OF place in an
army as he would be on a battleship
AS every great conflict, whether OF
church or state, Of labor or commerce
| has brought out some permanent
good. however clouded 1t may temper.
arily have been by the major issues al
stake. so the horrible strife which the
world is now experiencing may actual
| ly be developing a war against intern
perance-a permanent advantage Of
| no mean proportions.
! ORR NUTR ATE SIrfpH5rX