Evening star., 1938-10-23

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the District on a more near parity
with the States.
To provide additional authority for
the Health Department to control i'm
portations to the District of milk and
cream and ice cream mixtures.
To establish more detailed regula-
tions governing the operation in the
District OF slaughter houses. stock
yards and packing house concerns.
Experts Study Tax Plans.
The Commissioners are expected tc
delay final decision on the revenue
measures and the proposals for re-
organization of the District govern
ment because special committees and
experts now are engaged in studies
of these problems at the direction OF
. Congress. Soon or late, however. the
Board OF Commissioners will act on
these questions.
One OF the most important proposals
to be dealt with by the city neads
prior to the opening Of the new Con-
gress will be that proposing additional
powers of the Health Department in
controlling contagious diseases.
A new bill has been suggested by
the Health Department, with far
reaching powers to deal with long
list of communicable diseases. Plans
are suggested to shortcut the red tape
procedure now required in cases Of
confinement or disqualification of such
communicable diseases as tuberculosis
and venereal diseases.
Only IA diseases must be reported
to the Health Department. under ex-
isting law. They are: Chicken pox,
diphtheria. epidemic meningitis. influ-
enza, measles. pellagra, pneumonia,
poliomyelitis, scarlet fever, smallpox
typhoid fever, tuberculosis. venereal
diseases and whooping cough.
Under the act proposed by Health
Officer George c. Rutland, these and
the following additional items would
have to be reported by the attending
physicians, the nurses, hospital super
intendents, parents, guardians or
householders, teachers of public. pri-
vate, parochial or Sunday schools or
other persons having direct connection
with the cases: Actinomycosis, ame-
biasis, anthrax botulism, chancroid
Asiatic cholera, diarrhea in infants
under three weeks; bacillary dysen-
terry, epidemic encephalitis, favus,
German measles, glanders, gonorrhea,
hookworm infestation, leprosy, lymph
ogranuloma inguinale, malaria, men,
tngococcus meningitis, mumps. oph-
thalmia neonatorum, para-typhoid
fever, bubonic and pneumonia plague,
lobar pneumonia, sittacosis, rabies
Rocky Mountain spotted fever EAST
ern type), streptococcus sore throat
syphilis, tetanus, trachoma, trichino-
sis. tularemia, typhus fever, undulant
!. fever and yellow fever.
Reporting Of Carriers.
The proposed new law would require
reporting of communicable carriers IN
cases of diphtheria, amebiasis, bacil-
larry dysentery, paratyphoid fever, ty-
phoid fever and meningococcus. and
tn the case. OF food poisoning. Also re.
ports would be required for occupation
diseases, such as caisson disease. ano
poisoning by analine and its deriva'
tives. arsenic, benzol (benzene and lt'
derivatives), brass, carbon disulphide
carbon monoxide, carbon tetrachlorlde
illuminating gas, lead, mercury, metnyl
alcohol and phosphorus. and cases OF
criminal abortion, animal bites ano
pellagra.
Among the new duties to be placed
on the health officer, under the pro-
posed legislation, would be that tc
: 'establish and maintain quarantine
isolation or such other measures for
control as may be necessary"
This was interpreted as a means
of enabling the department to COM
pel treatment or disqualification Of
all dangerous cases of contagion. with
out some of the present legal require
ments and court actions, but spokes-
men for the Health Department ex'
plained there would still remain ample
recourse in law against any arbitrary
action by an agent of the Health
Department.
One Of the principal objectives o.
LlIC 1lC" ACS SlotlOll SuSSCcOCO W oAAS
Board of Indeterminate Sentence and
Parole Is to establish a separate budg.
ct for the Parole Board. now financed
out Of appropriations listed to the
penal institutions.
There has been further agitation
for amendments of the parole laws
however. partly to be found in the
results of the Prison Industries Re.
organization Administration Survey
Under present District statute, II
felony cases, prisoners are sentenced
to serve from one-fifth OF the maxi.
mum sentence allowed by law to th'
maximum term. and prisoners ar
eligible for parole after serving tn
minimum term. Under one proposal
this would be changed to provide
that sentences for felonies shoult
range from one-third Of the maximum
to the maximum term, with parol'
eligibility established after the one
third servitude, similar to the Fedora
law.
The District Parole Board has re