The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1917-02-09
BY JOHN p. WHITE,


Compulsory physical examination,
whether of employees In industry or Of
any other class of citizens, involves an
interference with the personal life of
the individual SO serious that it should
be undertaken only on the assurance
that the public welfare demands 1t and
that the results are worth the sacrifice
Of that personal sanctity which our in
stitutions have thrown about the indi-
vidual.
This, in my judgment, is another way
of saying that the state, not the en-
ployer, should undertake such exam
ination, assuming always that public
policy demands compulsory examina-
ton at all. am not prepared to admit
even this.
Compulsory physical examination is
being urged only for wage earners.
The reason Is not far TO seek. For the
disinterested physician or scientist it is
a short cut to remedying a condition
which is due to the fact that wages are
too low to permit wage earners, as a
class, to spare the means for doing
what otherwise they would voluntarily
do and without prompting from any
authority-that Is, to consult the physi-
clan as frequently as necessary.
If we are TO assume that insufficient
wages and the ignorance and helpless
ness attendant on low wages are to re-
nit lxxyou W
proceed with program of paternalism
and justify it. The fear Of organized
labor and lovers of human freedom
generally is that low wages will be-
come so buttressed by remedial meas
ures OF this sort that the public con-
science will be dulled into an accept
ance Of low wages as permanent in
stitution.
OF course in some occupations, such
as that of locomotive engineer, certain
physical tests are so necessary on the
ground of public safety that no objec-
ton can be raised. But with industry
organized for private profit the wedding
out of men not physically perfect by
physical examination means only that
those who pass the test will be sub
jected to greater strain than previous
". The late Professor Hoxie of Chi.
cago university. after conducting a
thorough investigation of scientific
management. expressed the opinion
that the greatest danger now threaten
ing the American wage Garner Is the
speeding up Of industry and the conse
uuent physical strain imposed upon the
worker
IL Professor H0xie and other econo
mists and students of industrial prob
lens are correct, as | believe they are
then we must regard the entrance OF
number of physically unfit men into In
dustry as a blessing if it serves &c
check the tendency toward more speed
and greater strain.
AS modern industries are organized
today, the rejection of unfit men means
not the protection of those who are ac
cepted, but license to increase the stralr
upon them so that eventually theys too
or their descendants, will be added tC
the class of the unfit.
"They Will scrap the whole humaI
race If they keep on said Andrew
Furuseth In referring to the increase II
efficiency devices, so called. We are II
great danger of losing entirely the hu
man equation in industry and with |
the freedom of the individual. This Il
not only inhuman and intolerable iron
a humane standpoint, but 1t is not eth
cient. Human nature is too complex Il
measure men with yardstick. Some o
the greatest inventors and mechanics
not to mention statesmen and even sol
diers, have been men who could neYe
have passed the rigid physical test
imposed by some Of our modern indus
trial corporations whose managers hav
gone mad over efficiency.
If physical examination of all per
sons is demanded on the broad groun'
of social welfare, then let 1t be admin
istered by the state.
Better still let our scientists an'
wise men cease regarding the grea
mass of workers as denseiy ignoran
and hopeless wards, over whom the,
must watch and care. Let them I'D
stead join with organized labor in dc
manding a fair wage and then, tax
my word for it. the very men for whor
they are now so solicitous will b
found taking the best care of them
selves.
1t is certainly putting the cart befor
the horse to demand the wedding ou
of all save the physically perfect Will
ut the same lime we permit low wage
and poverty to continue TO make phys
ical fitness difficult or impossible t
achieve.