The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-04


 1 members of legislatures. of congresses, | or church conferences, of fraternities,
 of corporations, of boards of trustees, , etc? Unquestionably those who have | haa experience in these bodies Coun-
 seliors, therefore. soon become more
 valuable members of the medical leg | islature of the state than delegates
 are, for the reason that they usually ] attend the meetings of the association more regularly, and give more atten- tion to matters to be legislated upon. 1 Who would be willing to deposit money 1 in bank managed by an inexpe- rienced president and board of direC- l tors? Evidently all members cannot be 1 made counsellors any more than all citizens can be made legislators; the body would become too large and un-
 vieldly for practical legislative work. l As already said, the delegates are
 valuable members of the medical legis. l lature for many reasons. They need te 1 undergo training in such work, and l further they come fresh from the county societies, which are the pillars
 of the entire system and ought to 1 bring with them complete information as to the needs and achievements ill :, their several counties. Councillors on
 the other hand are permanent mem | bers of the legislative body and un- | coubtedly give to 1t a solidity and CO.,
 here ney that could not otherwise be I obtained In constructing such a body
 the object is to provide one that will
 enact the wisest and best legislation
 for the protection of the people of the
 state from disease, not one that is or ganized upon spread eagle" or l Fourth of July" principles.
 1 While the position of counsellor Is properly deemed an honorable one much responsibility and much work at 1 taches to the position, or ought to att | tacl to It. The duties of counselors are properly made more numerous and
 onerous than those that devolve upon l members or delegates. Compulsory at 1 tendance is required of counsellors and l the dues imposed upon them are many I times larger than those imposed upon | members Without the dues paid by | counsel1ors the work of the associa- tion, both as a scientific and public
 health body, would be seriously crip- l pled Especially would this be the case | with reference to the publication of I an annual volume of transactions, c.rtaining from 600 to 500 pages of | business and scientific matter, indeed 1 the publication of such a volume
 would be impossible. The scientific matter in these volumes is written by l Alabama doctors in the light of Ala I hama experience and therefore are | very valuable to the profession of the 1 state. Counsellors contribute annually s1o to the publication of these vol | umes; the members contribute $50.
 Men Make Personal Sacrifice l While, as said, the position of coun- l sellors is an honorable one, 1t was not created for the purpose of doing honor ! to persons, but for securing men who I would be in position to do most for I the protection of the people against disease. Instead, therefore, of tne lx.ts. Ion fr,. abuse they should be regarded as men who at much personal sacrifice devote | themselves to philanthropic work and are trying to render the people of the | state healthier and therefore happier. The constitution of the association I does provide that the officers shall be | taken from the councillors, the object being to secure officers best qualified l to serve the people and not to dis | tribute honors on democratic principles l for the qualification of the ambition of l individuals Leaving out all other con alterations, Is 1t not natural that councillors, selected in the way pointed out, should be better qualified to fill | the offices of the association than | those who have not given so much at | tent!on to the work? As to what par | ticular individuals shall fill the offices | Is quite secondary consideration, the important qualification is that the men selected shall have demonstrated tha t l they are enthusiastically devoted to | the great and advancing cause of sani- tallon and the prevention of disease. Further the existence of the college | of counsellors should and does act as | a wholesome stimulus to young men entering the profession to so devote
 themselves to the great objects of or | ganization as to deserve place in the college. It has been true in the past, l q Tf n,,ft tny1a tx h1 tv bo f,,k, | that all members who demonstrate
 their title to this recognition will
 sooner or later receive 1t.
 Without undertaking to discuss this
 subject at greater length, 1t must be
 obvious to any unprejudiced mind that | the presence of counsellors in the leg | islative body" of the association is a
 great protection against nasty legisla-
 ton. Counsellors occupy positions cor | responding with those occupied by scn- etors of state legislature, or of the | Congress of the United States, with reference to the members of the lower houses of these bodies.
 They exercise wholesome Influence | against precipitate or unwise action. | In all of the newspaper discussions | recently directed against the public | health system of the state no instance l haJ been pointed out in which unwise, | improper, or disastrous action has been taken by the state board Of health | Tn the absence of such results, 1t can- not be justly charged that the sys- tenn Is inherently diabolical and bad. i The assailants of the system~commit one serious error; they think more of what the system does not do for them than of what it enables them to do for the people,
 Principle of Local Self Government | In the public health system of the state the principle of local self-gov- ernment Is recognized to the fullest de- gree. as Is the case in the civil govern ment of the state. This being true, the great bulk of public health work
 must be done by the counties and cit ies, all of which is under the jurisdic ton of county medical societies. In these, every member stands on an equal footing, is eligible to all of the
 offices. and enjoys the right of intro- ducing on the floor of his society any measure that will advance the saEi- tary interests of the people of the county and also the right of fighting for its enactment into law. In fact, the form of government in county so- cIeties, so far as the members thereof are concerned, Is a pure democracy. Any member of county society can, therefore, by earnest and diligent work not only largely advance the sanitary
 interests of the people of his county, tut justly win the title of sanitarian VR n