The Palatka news and advertiser., 1915-09-03
PAGE NO. SIX
Where The Money Goes.

NneTe lHe MUHey uOeS.
One of the hardest things for the
individual to recognize is the fact
of increasing age with all its infirmi-
ties.
About the most difficult matter of
comprehension for the average citl-
zen and taxpayer is that it costs
more to run a government, municipal,
state or nation, of a million or nun
dred million people than one OF ten
thousand. Almost every one Will re-
call the huge outcry largely for po-
litical effect, of course) that went up
when Congressional appropriations
for the maintenance OF the onlted
States Government first totaled close
to one billion dollars annually. lhere
was a time when less than one MIL
lion was enough, and some could NOT,
or would not, grasp the fact that the
nation had grown up.
Recently, very recently, there has
been some sharp criticism OF the cost
of maintaining the work of the State
Board of Health. The principle COM
plant seems to be that it is greater
than it used to be twenty-five years
ago. In the first thirteen and halt
months of its existence the work OF
the board cost 11,40525. During
the twelve months of the year 1914,
this cost was S129,Ol2.O3, or l3;4
cents for each man, woman and chll";
white, black, and yellow, IN the state
of Florida. The cost of the state
government per capita was close to
S3.S7-one cent in every twenty-nlne
of the entire cost of governing Florl-
da, was expended 10 conserve the
health of its citizens and their hogs.
Now, what has this fund been spent
for since March II, 1889, when the
Board came officially into existence?
During the first years Of this siren
uous existence, quarantine stations
had to be built, paid for from the
funds of the Board. Next the man
agement of smallpox in the state was
made a part of its duties. The WIDE
prevalence of the disease at that time
called for an enormous expenditure
and it was not until vaccination was
generally adopted by the citizens OF
Florida, of their own volltlon Ito
protect the neighbors against the un-
wise victim of the ailment) that this
financial burden was il any measure
lifted from the Board, and eventually
the reduction of this expense to the
state through the agency of vacclna-
ton was ninety-nine per cent.
Then came three yellow fever cpl
denies, two in one year,-at Miami
and Key West-and in 1905 there was
another at Pensacola in which SI5,-
100000 was needed to meet the de-
mands of the emergency. In 1889 the
treasury of the Board was bankrupt
ed from excessive demands on account
of smallpox in previous years.
Following this history in a general
chronological order, when the Board
by economical administration of its
affairs had accumulated a fund of
some size for a real fight against tu-
berculosis, the governor of the state
and the comptroller diverted 100000
90 from this accumulation to the Pen
sion Fund.
The legislature some years since,
provided for the care and treatment
of INDECENT crippled children of the
state, and this most splendid charity
has wrought and is working today an
untold amount of good, but this pro-
vision was made from the funds of
the State Board of Health. The sum
comparatively is not large. certainly
it is small compared with the results
accomplished, but it is a material tax
upon the funds of the State Board.
In its wisdom, some years ago, the
Legislature ruled that the Board.
from the fund at its command, must