Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-05-24
The Women Doctors
BY Frederic J. Haskin

have recently passed between senator
France of Maryland and the Womens $
Medical Association of New York City,
as n result of which American medical
women may play larger part IN our
government. Senator France mas m
troduced bill "to establish az executive
department to be known as the depart
mcnt of public health, and this bill IS
recognized bv many doctors throughout
the country to be very good one and
much needed 1t has been pointed out
before that, although we have a Depart
mont of Agriculture which studies very
tenderly all the needs and desires of the
horse. the cow, and the humble dog, we
have no department devoted exclusively
10 the health of the American citizen,
who surely might be regarded as OF as
much Importance to the government as
the livestock he possesses The most
Uncle Sam has done for HIM SO lar, IN
the way of aiding and abetting hum IN
the pursuit of 100 per cent rugged con-
stitution, is to maintain a public health
seryice for him. as a sort of subordinate
division of the Treasury Department, and
a Bureau of Chemistry, as subordinate
division OF the Department OF Agrlcul-
tlire.
NATION NOT HEALTHY.
The war reused us little out of our
complarent feeling of well-belng by show
ing us that we were only sixty per cent
efficient after ALL which is not statlstlc
10 boast about. Then the influenza cpl
denies gave us another jar.
Many people both in the medical pro-
fession and out of it, believe that
strong, central department oi hcalth
would be of great value IN meeting such
national emergencies by better co-or-
dinating the activities of the various State
Departments of health, by standardlzihg
public health reports. and by overseeing
the furthcrance of the nation phSsicai
welfare generally. :,
In the Department of Public Health,
ss proposed bv Senator France. there
would be established Bureau OF Nltai
Statistics and Publications, bureau OF
Sanitation. a Bureau of Child and School
Hygiene. Bureau of Foods and Drugs,
n Bureau of Nursing Bureau Of Iuber-
culoss and a Bureau of Personnel
Rut 10 oct back to the Women 5 Mcdl-
cal Association. There was just ono tault
~ find. with the bill as the women saw
II. In framing it Senator France had al
most entirely overlooked the weii-known
fart that the American nation IS composed
az two sexes Not 50 very long ago TINS
would have been an understandable over
sight, but of late years the puhlic-splrlted
activities of the American woman nave
gained her the recognition OF citizenship
almost everywhere IN the country. ana
the women in the medical profession prob
ahIv hold first honors in the feminine
world when it comes to patriotic work as
well as scientific achievements.
WOMEN PROTEST.
The Women's Medical Association Of
New York, after reading this bill wrote
a letter to Senator France endorsing the
hill very highly, with one very emphatic
exception. They took exception 70 the
fact that the bill expressly provides that
ali ef the officers of the health department
except one shall be men. In ohIectmg 70
this provision, the women doctors men
toned. among other things, that the dl-
rector of the Federal Bureau Of Child
Hygiene in Washington is woman; and
that the similar department Of New
York State, considered the finest IN the
world. was organized, developed and Is still
run+bv woman.
They pointed out that women rs doc
tors have made good, and they demanded
that Senator France give them the same
recognition as men, and make all posi-
tions in the proposed health department
omen TO them on the same terms.
Senator France, it appears, was COM
pletelv carried away by this argument.
For when DR.. Esther Phol Lovcioy, presl-
dent OF the Medical Womens lnterna-
tional Association, and vice-pTesldent Of
the Medical Women's National Ass0cla-
ton. went to talk with him about II
short time ago he assured her that he
would see that women physicians were
amply represented in the new department
when 1t comes into existence. IL the
Senator is as good as hls word, and no
outside influence balks him in his progres-
sive intention, this decision marks great
victory for femlnism.
WHAT WOMEN DOCTORS DID.
DR.. Lovejoy IS one Of our most dis
tinguished physicians, whose work N
France with the American women s hos
pitals during the war gained worldwide
recognition DR.. Emily Dunning Bar
ringer, president of the Medical Women 5
Association of New York, is another proml-
nent specialist In favor OF including women
officers equally with men In the proposed
department of health. DR.. BarrInger was
the first woman doctor IN America 10 rlde
on an ambulance on accident calls, there
by demonstrating very successfully that
woman. ana young hol4ldA az hi4s1ss
is as self-resiant and capable as q man In
handling emergency cases Of life and
death. DR.. Regina Flood Keyes is also
an example Of the kind Of physician whom
we should be very foolish 10 exclude from
our health department on account Of her
sex. The American Women's Hospital
which she is managing at Monastir III
Serbia has been called the best IN all the
Balkans by Colonel Hume. And she IS
carving on this work, caring for on an
average of three thousand sick persons q
month and running a dispensary with the
nd of one assistant physician and one
rraduate nurse. Ali of the other work in
he hospital is done by Serbians, because
Is she points out this is not only a much
,heaper arrangement which also gives
york to some of the unfortunates, but it
lelps in the campaign of teaching the
ierbs sanitation and hygiene. There are
countless other examples of the ability
md bravery of our medical women abroad.
they have made many true friends for
: in all lands where people are afflicted
nd children are suffering 1t seems only
pgical TO suppose that their executive
md professional ability could be used
Fith equal advantage and gratitude In
heir own country.
Every Evenings classified advertise
nents brings results. Proved bv the salts
.r a mill bo r. 4