New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-10-03
To the Medical Profession
An Open Letter Asking Physicians
to Support Suffrage
To the Editor Of The Tribune.

To the Editor Of The Tribune.
Sir. MANY wears ago | read a dedication by
robert Louis Stevenson Of one OF ms DOCKS
10 n physician whom he loved lie sald that
he regarded medicine as the best OF all pro-
fcssiors. for two reasons: First, because II
kceps n mans mind constantly engaged IN
watching the operations of natural law
surcst road to truth and, second, because IL
kecps n mans human sympathies active ana
alive"
have always rejoiced to believe that stew
enson was right. and ! count 1t one OF the
greatest privileges OF my life that as physi-
clans wife have been permitted to enjoy the
pcrsonal friendship of many able and brilliant
members Of the profession in this country
ard Europe and the Orient as well. am
therefore addressing some OF my oides'
friends in addressing this group OF men whose
uncomfortable usefulness in the life OF to-day
gives them an influence which cannot be
measured-an influence which is felt IN the
remotest crannies Of our national life.
Yet. in spite Of a mighty record OF progress
II is true that a. a class the medical PROBES
sion is strangely conservative, even at times
1
this can be true among men who year AFTER
wear have seen their own traditions swept
away. TO be constantly replaced by new
methods and ideas. Yet that it is true
think no doctor will deny. II seems to me
that you have shown tins ltra-conservatlVe
spirit very clearly IN your attitude toward
the advancement Of women. hardly ike 70
remind YOU how much you objected TO the
entrance of women doctors upon the sociai
scene. Yet hospital practice is still closed TO
them and their opportunities are still limited
in many WAYS. As TO women nurses, MISS
Louisa Lee Schuyler once told me that IN her
efforts TO establish the first training school
for nurses in this country the CHER Oppose
ton she had to overcome was that OF the
doctors themselves.
In the present struggle of women for politl-
cal equality by far the larger number OF med
ical men have either remained coldly aloof or
have actually opposed us. Yet you OF all men
have received ample proof OF women's capac-
ty for public life. Sixty-fve years ago the
doors of opportunity were still shut to women.
The trained nurse was unknown. Inc hrsI
woman was making her heroic struggle 10 &c,
a medical education. in spite OF scorn ana
contumely heaped upon her, in spite OF the
loss of one eye from ophthalmia because the
doctor had forgotten TO warn her OF the dan
ger. To-day you could not carry on your
profession in peace or in war without the aid
of women,
For how many years have they been helping
YOU in YOUR efforts to educate the public, TO
improve the general health. TO establish hos
ritals and clinics and institutions of every
kind. to nurse the sick and safeguard the
well? On how many boards Of managers and
trustees have they rendered yeoman service
in furthering YOUR ends? What hospital but
would close its doors tomorrow if the women
left9 How many health laws have they
striven to help you gain? Where would your
fight against vice be without them? Which
one Of you could even run private practice
Of any size without the devoted help of some
woman? II is as certain as anything can be
that women will concentrate their political
energy on problems of social welfare. Can
YOU any longer refuse your aid to q cause
which means the sure advancement OF human
health and wellbeing? Women have justly
earned the right to your support. Does it not
SAVIOR more than little OF ingratitude that
YOU should still be holding back?
Not one medical society in New York has yet
Endorsed woman suffrage. Yet you who spend
your lives in watching the operations or nat
ural law cannot fail to see now that the en-
Establishment of women is growing out OF
the tree of democracy as surely as the oak
each year puts forth new branches. And with
those human sympathies which Stevenson
found so active and alive you must see that
YOUR support now would be but just recog-
rition of women's services to the whole medl-
cal profession during the last half century.
May not urge upon you to come out and
give us your support now, not only with indl-
vidual voice and vote. but by collective action
in the medical societies? | cannot believe
that men who are always so kindly ready TO
listen to other appeals for aid and sympathy
will turn deaf ears 10 a cry for fair play.
ANTOINETTE ROTAN PETERSON.
New York, Oct. l, 1917.
What Mill Producers Get