Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1921-12-16
CUTTING FUNDS CUTS WORK
Twenty-Four Thousand One Hundred
And Fifty-Nine Dollars Of The
Fund For 1921.

The appropriation of the State Board
of Health for 1922 and 1928 was cut
by the Legislature. This cut, with the
withdrawal of federal aid to venereal
disease control work, gives the>State
Board of Health $24,159.00 less money
than they are operating with this year
1t is hard to conceive how this work
can be carried on in the same pro-
portion as at present; in fact, it can
not be done. The Venereal Disease
Control Division of the Board has been
cut 500; this means that this De-
partment cannot do much more than
continue its free Wasserman Depart
ment and possibly furnish Keidel blood
tubes to the physicians This, as we
view it, is no less than public ca
lamity. The State Board of Health.
so far as the central unit is concerned,
had their appropriation cut $3.50.
When you consider the growth of the
population and the constantly increas-
ing demands on the Laboratory, you
will realize that this really means
decrease in the. capacity of the work
of the State Board of Health, of about
209o;; in other words, it was estimated
by Br Thos. F. Abercrombie, the Sec
rotary and Commissioner of Health,
that to keep pace with our increase
of population and consequent danger
eases incident to the natural conges-
ton of people, he would have to have
ten thousand dollars more money for
1922 and 1928 than for last year and
this. This, it seems to the editor of
this paper, was very modest and rea-
sonable conclusion.
The appeal of DR.. Abercrombie to
the appropriation committee was for
! $100950.00 This was made after very
careful estimates had been made hay
ing in view the financial condition of
the State and of the people who pay
the tax, keeping constantly in mind
the actual demands on him by the peo-
pie and the physicians of his State,
with also the fact that the lowered re-
sistance of our people from the neces-
sity for economy that all must prac-
tice, the possibility of an increase in
the communicable diseases and a pos
sibility of pelIagra increasing We can
imagine his grief and surprise when
the committee recommended an APP
preparation for the entire work of $67,-
10000; the appropriation for this year
had been $90,590.00
The friends of the people and those
legislators who were interested in the
prevention of disease, some of them
being members of the appropriation
committee from the floor of the House
succeeded in getting this raised to $751;
491.00 Many realized that this sum
was entirely inadequate for the work
of the health department, and interest
ed themselves in having the Senate
increase the amount at least to the
figure of this year but history of all
time was broken when the Senate
adopted the House Bill without the
changing of a word. the dotting of an
| or the crossing of a t.
I We think. in justice to our State
i)Uaiu VI iiSAAtlt Oui poUplcs anu TIE
physicians especially, should know the
facts. and if YOU are not able to get
from this Board the cooperation that
you think you should, you should re-
member that they are doing the very
best they can and wrestling with a
shortage of S24.i59O0
1t is more than likely that the dis
tribution Of free Arsphenamine will
have to be discontinued, and that the
funds will admit of very little diphthe-
ria antitoxin being given the poor,
This is no less than public calamity,
as a few doses of COS will control the
spread OF Syphilis and few thousand
units of antitoxin will save life.
Our State has many people in it who
are not able to pay for these RENE
dies.
The work OF the Board will have
to be curtaiied in other respects as
well. We are quite sure that it will
functicn as best it can, and with the
small appropriation at it's disposal will
BE the means of preventing much i'll
ness and the curing of many who are
sick through its diagnostic work at the
Laboratory.