The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-03-31

toria of the United States 10 $1.66; tho
1900 to 1900 consumptives Of the
average State treated in sanitoria
would. therefore. cost the State each
day from $500 to $3.50. or. for the
year. $1,211. 500 to $2,423,6 600. On tho
principle that wholesale prices are
cheaper than retail prices. on the prin-
ciple that the State in one large sani-
forum could give this treatment as =
much lower figure, We may. for the
purpose of this paper, conclude that
the above figures could be reduced to
between s750.000 and $1,500.000 al
year. Even then the problem of tuber-
culosis would cost the State one-fourth
of its entire income. Evidently the
State cannot bear the burden of tuber-
culosis in this form.
Changing the burden we may think
briefly of a combination of sanitorium
and disnensarv. such as the State of
Pennsylvania maintains out of it's an
nual income of s2S 00o. 900. which Is
seven to nine times that OF the average
State. Any clearly defined, compre-
hensive policy Of this kind for State
to deal with tuberculosis will likewise
he found to impose a burden with
which the average STATE. with It's limit
ed income. cannot get started / re-
peat the expression cannot get
started"
Once more. a purely educational
propoga nda against tuberculosis is too
diffusive remedy, not specific enough
and far too weak in its effect to be
depended upon solely for treating SO
grave State problem as tuberculosis.
Divide the Burden.
burden that cannot be carried I'M
divided. in bulk. by a single agency. a l
man, a horse, a car. a ship. a ship of
state. can be easily carried when dfvid-
ed among multiple agencies. While
the average State cannot herself carry
her burden of tuberculosis, she can
have It carried The State can divide
the burden into nnanv parts: the State
can carry the larger part. part large
enough TO encourage by her example
the cooperation and assistance of all
the political. fraterral religious. bust
ness. ocial and inurance organizations
within her realm; she can correlate
and direct the cooperative efforts Of
these multinle agencies and so bring
10 bear concerted attack all along the
retreating line OF the greatest enemy
OF the race
In order that the burden be prope rly
divided and anportionee, in order that
we NAV understand jus what II con-
sists or. In osder that we may effect |
uallv appeal with definite facts and
fgnres to the various possibly coop
erative agencies. We must have State
law requiring the reporting of tuher-
culosis to central ONCE on a suitable
blank form. These report forms would
furnish such information as to enable
the central office to say Just how many
cases of tuberculosis there were in
or social. of which the applicant was a
mem Der. This is. as YOU see, the prin-
ciple OF making feasible but not giving
away the treatment, the nest egg prin-
ciple applied by the county
(d) The fraternal orders. as have
already indicated in the illustration of
the cooperation Of the grand lodge OF
Masons and the local lodges, would &C.
cept their part in the States campaign
by making appropriations or endowing
beds for their members at the sani-
forum.
te) The various religious denomi-
nations and certain strong individual
churches can be effectively appealed to
for partial or full support OF their
members.
90 Large corporations, and es-
pecially mill settlements. as we all
know, are now taking an active inter-
est In health matters. 1t can be point
ed out TO these corporations that the
cooperative plan of caring for their
consumptive employees proposed by the
State is to their interest.
g.
PARTICULARLY wornen's clubs, can be in
duced to contribute or to secure con-
trihufions TO .defray part or all of the
expenses Of needy and deserving con-
sumptive citizens of their organization
or community that would be referred
by the correspondence school to them
for treatment.
interested in securing the treatment OF
policyholders,
Correspondence School.
To repeat, the correspondence school
ts maintained out Of the maintenance
funds for the sanitorium and will
probably cost from $4,000 to $4,000 a
year. The functions of the CORE
spondence school are three: First. to
receive the reports of the cases of tu-
berculosis In the State under the law
requiring such reports TO be made, in
with from 5000 to 5000 OF the 10000
consumptives in the average State;
second, to brig together the needy in
cipient and moderately advanced con-
sunptiye case and the organization Of
one kind or another that has an inter-
est In the case; and, third. to marricu-
late all cases Of tuberculosis reported
(not in the sanitorium) as members of
the correspondence school. and with
these matriculates TO develop an edu-
cauonal course, through inteliigentiy
sympathetic, unofficious letters with all
evidence OF circular form and multi
graph disguised in their strong per-
sonal favor. that will teach them how
to live and let live. Moreover, the cor
respondence school could isue a regu-
lar bulletin fr distribution to its
matriculates.
The Advantages of the Combination Of
Cooperative SaMtorium and Cor
rcspondence school,
First, neither could accomplish the
reduction in the tuberculosis death
rate of State on the same appropria-
ton that will sustain both agencies
The sanitoriun cannot expect to reach,
at least for number of years and ex-
cept in very indirect way, more than
one-tenth or one-iifth OF the consump-
tive population of State. The corre-
spondence school would probably
reach the majority of the consump-
tives in a State. but a purely educa-
tional attack on tuberculosis, as we
have already indicated. is too weak in
proportion to the magnitude of the
problem.
Second, the combination OF sani-
forum and school Is OF mutual ad-
vantage, the one developing the other
The sanitorium provides out of its
maintenance funds small percenta re