The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-11-09
''PUbL|C HEALTHY" IS SLOGAN FOR
 THE FUTURE MAN
Federal Surgeon Dr. Carl Ramus Makes Predic-
 tions on Health Reforms.

Dr. Carl RamuS, a surgeon or the l United States Public Health Service, 1 has contributed an article to the cur | rent issue of the International Journal of Surgery on The Future of Public Health" in which he gives an insight into the development and present ac- tivftfes of the Federal medical or gantZation with which he is connected and makes some interesting prophecies regarding its future work. He believes that it will only be a short time before the qustion of the na- tion's food will come under public health supervision. as well as the l problem of conserving the eyesight of school children. He also says that alcoholism and crime will become in tegrals of the category embraced in the term public health matter The writer asserts also that future
 national domination will not be meas | ured by military strength and wealth, but by public education, public sym pathy and public health, the three concrete representations of the evolu tion of psychology denominated by
 knowing, feeling, willing.
 "In former times" says the writer, "the claims of nations to greatness were based almost entirely on their 1 military power and their wealth, meaning, of course, the power and wealth of few and the practical en- slavement of all the others. Occa- sionally, where despots affected inter- est in learning or art, then learning and art were added to the things held in respect. But power was then the outward equivalent of civilization, as l indeed it is today in the writings of some of the modern German philoso- phers.
 ''In our time power and wealth still hold their places, but they no longer. in themselves, are the criterion of na- tional greatness. With our most en- frightened people the greatness or
 smallness of a nation or state is now mainly judged from three factors that were unknown or held in contempt by
 mst of the ancient governments. They
 are: Public education, public sym
 pathy, and public health.
 There is no better argument for the fact of progressive social evolution than this subtle and vital shifting of position of the standard of national greatness. The obvious advances that
 
 thy and health are the best proofs of a rapid evolution in all three of the elements of human psychology-know- ing, feeling, willing. A
 Public health, then, is one of the signs of the times. Its slogan is Pre- vention' The public health of the future will go far beyond the narrow limits now marked off by the conta- gious and infectious diseases. With present results and increasing under standing it does not seem rash to say that the handling and elimination of CO n,nunicable diseases represent merely the first elementary steps. The real public health activities of the fu- ture are concerned with the welfare of the people in relation to food, ed- ucat1on, work, amusement, and envi- ronrnent; in other words, they are vf- tally bound up with the evolution of economic condidtion A recent and very interesting publication along this
 line is Bulletin of the United States Public Health Service, No. 7S, entitled, Tuberculosis Among Industrial Work ers,' by Surgeons Robinson and Will soli.
 "The beginnings of this wider pub lie health movement are already be- fore us. The United States Public Health Service was first an organiza- tion for the treatment of sick sailors. Later it took over the medical inspec- tion of arriving immigrants. In 1893 It was given charge of the Federal quarantine. After an interval of nine teen years new era began for the service when Rupert Blue became Surgeon General. He foresaw that public, health was a far wider thing than the management of contagious diseases and epidemics, and he laid his plans with that in view
 First he caused to be brought about several badly needed reforms in the organizations of the service in the matter of compensation, allowances and promotions. This stopped the frequent resignation of valuable off, cers and made the service again at- tracttve to young men of ability and of promise. Having now corps he could depend on to stay with him, Dr. Blue was in a position to enter the larger field of public health work when the occasions should arise.
 Thus, without in any way inter- fering with the prerogatives of State Boards of Health, the Public Health Service was soon in active co-opera- tion with the local authorities all over the United States, and in disease mat ters of the greatest common interest that the Federal Government had nev- CT before concerned itself with
 Tn the larger view everything that affects the personal health, safety. 1 and efficiency is public health mat ter; for example, even the careless ness which leaves an obstruction where it might cause some one to fall and be injured"
 Consequently, the time is near when the very important question of | food will come more or less under the | public, health supervision. And then, naturally, the first thing to attend to | will be the denatured, food articles ! that have been foisted on us for so | many weary years-white flour, white rice, white sugar. Many people now know that animals fed exclusively on white bread will soon die; while oth- CTS fed exclusively whole wheat bread will live and thrive. Also, 1t is more or less commonly known that beri-beri may result from diet com posed mainly of polished rice.
 Lastly Surgeon Goldberger of the Public Health Service, has apparently proved that the terrible pellegra is due to the lack of essential food ele- ments in the diet. The remarkable and ridiculous part of the situation is F. +, %1, l