Evening star., 1943-10-19
Stefan Defends
Ga||inger Work,
Dc. Supervision
Luuds Commissioners
For Leadership
In House Talk


The operation of Gallinger Hos
pltal and other municipal service.
was strongly defended yesterday b,
Representative Stefan, Republican
OF Nebraska. In an address to the
House he commended District off.
cials for maintaining the function!
OF city government in the face of in.
creased population.
Speaking from long experience OF
the subcommittee that drafts tn,
annual District appropriation bill
Mr.. Stefan cited these factors ir
connection with the Senate investi.
CATION of Gallinger:
Out of $50 jobs required to run
the institution, more than ITO are
vacant today due to the man.
power shortage.
With a capacity of 1.45l beds.
and an average daily patient list
OF l,051 last year, Gallinger must
serve three meals a day from a
Kitchen built to handle 300 pa
tents, because priorities have not
oeen obtalnable to build a new
Kitchen Congress authorized.
Scope of Officials Limited.
Although he spoke out vigorously
on behalf of those in charge of Gal
llnger, Mr.. Stefan'S speech was 9
broad appeal to his colleagues to re-
member that the District govern
ment is S60,000, ,00O-a-year organi-
cation, that the local officials ad-
minister 1t only with such powers as
the all-powerful Congress delegates
to them. and that the proximity OF
Capitol Hill to the District Building
makes them the subject of frequent
gationS-firSt by one branch
OF Congress and then by the other
In critical report on Gallingel
Hospital, Senate District Sub
committee last week recommended
the removal of Commissioner Mason
Health Officer Rutland, Dr.. Edgar
A. Bocock. superintendent at Gal
llnger, and the heads of two divi-
slons of the hospital.
Mr.. Stefan did not discuss per-
sonalltles. but, after reviewing the
whole picture of wartime Washing
ton-With more than 100000 new
comerS moving in since l94O-he
told the House:
The Commissioners have bip
job. and. in my opinion, their lead
ershlp has oeen energetic"
Testimony Held Ignored.
Il have been interested in the
investigation of our local hospital
said the Nebraskan. referring to
Galllnger. because I. and members
OF the committee on which I serve.
have visited and inspected that in
stltutlOn on many occasions. I had
thought that l would be interested
In reading the report, but if the
editorial of October IA. appearing in
The Washington Star, is correct in
stating that the report ignores the
records which show Gallineer as
comparing favorably with similar
in other cities. that il
ignores the statement made by the
Galllnger staff of physicians. and
that 1t Ignores the testimony of DR.
William S. OSSenfort. assistant sur
geon general of the Public Health
Service, who made an independent
investigation at the request of the
Of the subcommittee and
who reported favorably on the hos
pltal. then l have no interest in the
document.
"Galllnger Municipal Hospital is
charity hospital for the INDECENT
and semi-indigent, and it is under
the supervision of the Health De-
partment, an agency which requires
total annual appropriation of ap-
proximately S3.500,000.
Death Rate Falls Sharply.
IF the Health Department has
fallen down on the job. We should
give serious consideration to
change in administration. but do
you know that In 1917 the local
death rate was 164 per thousand
population, as compared with 1913 IN
l942-the death rate from all causes
being the lowest of all times? The
deaths from pneumonia alone have
shown a reduction from l39 deaths
per hundred thousand in 1886 to
COS in 1912 Each year has shown
a reduction in diphtheria mortal litv,
For period of 10 years there have
been no deaths from smallpox.
Typhoid fever is on the wane. and
q q "a Sc
all time. The new low is % per
thousand live births. as compared
with 6.5 in 1886 The infant NOR
tallty rate struck a new all-time low
IN 1912. AS general proposition
figures are just figures, but these
figures, Mr.. Speaker, are eloquent
they mean something
Mr.. Stefan asked members of
Congress to mediate upon our in
dlVldual reSponsibility, because until
some change is made, the Govern
ment of the District of Columbia
is simply an agency of the United
States for conducting the affairs
of its government in this Federal
district Nearly all municipal en-
ployes are taken from civil service
eligible lists. he said. and, there
fore, many of them are from the
States.
Responsibilities Are Great.
He asked the House what munich
pallty in the world would, or could,
undertake the improvement plans
that Congress authorizes for the
District, such as the S16.0O0,000 park
program. for which local taxpayers
are reimbursing the Treasury at the
rate of sl,000000 a year. He men,
toned also the large scale on which
Congress planned the new Municipal
Center, which will cost thirty. or
more, million dollars to complete.
He pointed out that, unlike the
heads of Federal departments. the
Commissioners have the dual task
not only of spending, but of raising
the $60,000 0000-a-year budget.
The population has gone up from