The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1915-07-24
PREVENTIVE WORK.
BY BENZ. V. LONGDON.

| Dy DENJ. V. AONGDON.
Nothing is more certain than that
an ounce of prevention is worth a
pound of cure. DR.. Cure is like Prof.
Experience.
Experience, says Carlyle, is teach
er good and true, but he demands
such dreadfully high wages. There
fore, the ideal of every right minded
man ought to be to contribute all that
he can, however little it may be,
whether of money or service, to pre-
vent drunkenness, Effectiveness and
in many instances, pauperism and
crime, especially juvenile delinquency,
and to help in the enjoyment of good
houses and surroundings in which to
live, in freedom from preventable dis
ease, and in a number of other ways.
The question as to what covilization
is and what retards it's advance have
been seriously studied by the modern
worker in the fields of charity and phi
lanthropy who has turned his atten-
tion to the study of prevention rath-
er than that of cure. This study has
been brought about by the fact of the
growing needs of an increased char
ity budget for dealing with victims of
the social ills of modern civilization.
The foundation upon which the whole
superstructure of civilization is built,
and without which it could not exist,
is progress in abundance and variety
of food supply, clothing, shelter, sani-
tation, public health, commerce, man
ufacture and the growth of the public
wealth. Nations have recently awak.
ened to the idea of conservation by
the chief elements which go to make
up civilization by processes of rea-
soning and experience. Government
officials are turning the nation to the
study of preventive salvation of our
natural resources.
So in the work of the church men
have discovered that it requires only
common sense to see that the empha-
sis must be placed upon holding the
ground and membership already
gained. How are we going to save
our country from representatives in
municipal, state and federal offices
who fail to safeguard the lives of in
nocent men and grant special opportu-
mites to the favored classes? Every
man with the ballot can do preventive
work, not by telling these men to be
good, but rather by working and in
sisting at the next election that good
men be put in their places. There
is in our day growing conviction that
the content of democratic liberty
should be filled to the full with eco
nomic and social justice for all men
Whatever may be their creed or color"
And it is encouraging to know that
in various parts of the world this
conviction is expressing itself in move |
ments and organizations with jealous |
adherents for the common good. Now
1t should be understood that those |
who insist upon more attention be-
ing given to preventive work have no |
intention of minimizing the value of /
rescue in the work of saving the
world. 1t is simply matter of empha-
sis. Well disciplined preventive work
insures against lost ground to be re-
gained by energetic action. If the
fall is prevented, the effort goes to-
ward making a forward step rather
than an effort to rise. We must be
able to resuce if needed, but we must
place the emphasis upon preventive
measures. In other words, our broth
er In the South was correct when he
prayed; 20 Lord, help us to see sin
away off and shun it when it comes
nigh"