Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1919-11-26
What Is the Matter With
Public Health IodaY7

IL 1 lgdlIllll 4 Quay!
only Sc I'd: as Is necessary to remove
B the danger to others he cannot be com
PEELED to take care or treatment which
sis. exclusively designed for his own
good. 10 put it briefly, public health
compulsion stops hort al Way Of thera-
peutics. "a. 9*s ss6
Humanity has settled then that items
I 4 and 3 of our stockraising program
may be eompulsor y, but item q (and
therap eutics are as aarule strictly vol
untary. Items 4 and 3, those dealing
With feebl eminde dness and with infec-
tion, not only may be compulsory but
they must be compulsory, for human
ity fails often to do the right thing for
Its own good and still oftener fails,
when the good of others is the goal
Hence exists not only the II ght to COM
pei. but the need for comp usiOn, when
ever he rights of others are concerned.
Now when we consider who shall do
the compel ling, it is quite Obvious at
once that only governmental bodies
clothed with police power. can do. It'll;
certainly volunteers cannot. II #aS g
But is it not equally true that our
police power bodies should not do the
voluntary, but that our volunteers
should? I'll is true that our official
powers police are, here and there, al
ready conducting some one or more Of
the items, prenatal work, obstetrical
work. infant welfare, pre-school in
spection, medical school inspection,
cognized activities which constitute our
item 2, the non-compulsory list Of ply
siologically regeneratiye measures for
the race But these official bodies while
carrying on these voluntary measures.
generally neglect their proper func-
lions. that is, the use of their compul-
sorry police. powers against infection.
They become awkward at using them,
sometimes even afraid, so accustomed
are they to the non-compulsory activi-
ties. Some. public health propagan-
dists, official and unofficial, even state
frankly that compulsion is useless.
Thus it is we are rapidly developing a
Isituation Where our police powers jolly
| the public, coax, appeal I; cultivating the
measures useful to the individual, tax
ing on more and more Of the non-com-
pulsory program; but at the same time
neglecting. even refusing, to carry out
! the compulsory measures which they
alone can carry out. These are the
| very measures they were created to
carry out; those compulsory measures
which are not primarily for the good of
| the individual who is to be controlled,
but are rather for the good of other in
dividuals who are to be protected from
him.
This principle is fundamental; rights
Of the individual cease where rights of
other individuals begin. Personal lib
ertys is not liberty for each one to,do
absolutely as he chooses. but to do alb
solutelys as he chooses. provided he
lhurfssllo one else. ts8&
| Against the physical invasion Of the
tI!SHlS5z OIL EOlueIS Ul Hi lOILss. we 1ldNt
our military and naval forces against
burglars or footpads. we have the ply
steal force of the constable; against the
l.swindler we have the civic courts !:
against physiological invasion we have
our health departments. The physical
lspolice have no power to compel any
citizen to live thus or so if he is not.
| by his 5otherWise living, injuring, others.
i The civil courts cannot compel or pre-
vent buying and selling. except as in-
| jury to others is involved in the trans
actions. Nor have health departments
the right to direct OF control the physio-
logical operations of the citizen, except
as those operations may harm others
Until our views of governmental con-
troll change very much indeed from es-
|tablished principles. health departments
that neglect to carry out their police
powers in full. while pushing to the
limit non compulsolY physiologic cal vel
fare work, are exactly in the position
of physical police who ignore street
fights to run a Sunday school, or of
civil courts which ignore sWindling to
push trade. Sunday schools should be