Evening star., 1923-03-15

To the Editor Of The star:
Now that the much -heralded, So
called Cancer week is over and
past, and the public has had an op-
portunity of digesting and weighing
the value of the urgent claims that
the American Society for the Con-
troll of Cancer" has put forth. it Is
perhaps we'll to consider the subject
from it's serious aspects.
Through newspaper clipping bu-
reau we have received no less than
go notices which have appeared IN
the daily papers from Maine to Cali
fornia. which must have entalled
enormous expenditure of time, enort
and money; these represent no less
than .300.5 inches, or 119.l9l yards
|of newspaper columns, adVertislns
what is thought by many to be not
only useless but harmful advice.
Attacks Surgical Dominancy.
All know, or should know. that un-
der surgical dominancy the death rate
in the United States. as SHOWN ps
yearly mortality reports. has risen.
between 1900 and 1920. almost SO per
cent. the mortality increasing from
1900 to S5 in 1920. And now b!
special report from Washington II
has still further mounted to s7.9 per
100. 900 in 1921. in the same registra-
tion area. while during the same pc
riod the number of deaths from tu-
berculosis has fallen 43 per cent un-
der wise medical supervision.
The society does not tell the publlc
that there are now probably oouooo
persons in the United States suffer
the prevailing method of regarding
and treating the cancer surgeons
agree that ninety out of each 100
persons once afflicted with it die from
the disease 1T They 90 not e say .nar ina.
yearly in the United States. with con-
sequently $4,000 new cases develop
ing each year, nor do they tell the
public what they have done or pro-
pose to do to prevent those new case
from developing each year; there has
not been one word in regard to the
prevention Of this dire disease!
.sTerrorixed the People"
The Society for the Control Of Can
Ger was started in 1913. and during
the following year, 1914, a number Of
cancer surgeons toured the country,
and, by means of printed literature
and addresses, wherever they could
get an audience. terrorized the peo-
operations and the immediate sur
eical removal Of everything which
they chose to call pre-cancerous le-
sfons. even warts and moles.
The result of all this was shown in
the mortality reports issued by the
United States census bureau for 1915,
that the actual deaths reported that
YEAR from cancer had increased by
an amount which was double that
for the average yearly rate OF the Ave
preceding years! Thus, instead of
Controlling cancer suffering and NOR
taIity. the result Of the agitation
seems to be the reverse of what was
wished. for even from 1920 to 1921,
the death rate was still rising yet
more, even to Sc deaths from cancer
in 100, 900 population, against s3.4 in
1920.
Death Rate From Cancer.
1t is interesting to ask what the
society has accomplished or hopes
or expects to accomplish when dur
ing these eight or nine years of its
existence the mortality from this
disease has steadily risen from 70
per 100000 living persons in 1913 to
s7.9 in 1921; that is, 8.9 more per-
sons out of each 100000 population
have died from cancer. This does not
look like a control of the disease.
Also, In New, York city, with good
surgery and abundant use Of x-ray
ana Tadium. the deaths from cancer.