Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1946-06-07
Gambling
With
Health
By BEN DOR
How much health do you

I1OW llluSll llCdlll w yOu
want?
Congress is now deciding
how healthy the American
people shall be. The answer
that Congress comes out with
will depend a lot on your
answer to my question. How
much health do you want?
How many babies do you
want to die each year? How
many mothers do you want
us to lose? How many chill
dren do you want crippled and
killed by the disease of child
hood? How many cases of TB
and cancer shall we let 60 un-
caught until it is too late to
stop their dirty work?
I remember teacher I had
once. He was an expert on
fire control, but he also knew
a lot about health. He said
over and over to us during the
class, Public health is pur-
chasable." You can't keep
people alive forever, but you
can ransom a lot of them from
the diseases that kill and
cripple millions of us each
year"
It's up to Congress-and
you. How much health do
you want?
DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS
Three years ago, there was
introduced into Congress the
-Murray-Dingell Bill.
Maybe you recognize the
names of the sponsors. They
have a long record of writing
and supporting laws to take
care of the basic needs of the
people. But they also know
how to protect your demo-
cratic rights while taking care
of those needs.
The bill they introduced
would provide the money and
the Federal supervision for q
good program of hospitals and
clinics, medical care, and the
training of doctors and nurses.
But it would also protect your
right to choose your own doc
tor, or to join some voluntary
health service plan if you
wanted to.
Since it was introduced the
bill has kicked around in
Congress getting nowhere.
Why? Is it because this
country can't afford to spend
the money?
A country that can turn out
$500 billions worth of stuff a
year can afford to put a small
part of that into keeping it.
self healthy, and taking care
of itself when it does get sick.
A country that has millions
of people out of work would
be smart to put some of them
to work building hospitals and
curing tne sick. But most i'm
portant of all, we're already
spending the money this pro-
gram would need but we
aren't getting the services
that this bill would get us.
UNFIT
Forty percent of the boys
examined for military service
were found unfit for duty. At
least 1I6 of them had minor
defects that could have been
remedied. Many more Of
them had other troubles that
medical care could have pre-
vented. But the boys and the
care just didn't get together.
Maybe the bill was never
taken up because we're so far
ahead of the rest of the world
that we have no right to any
more medical service. After
all we're the richest, most
modern country in the world.
Do we lead in health, too?
Not SOS you could notice it.
Then why did the bill roll
around for three years without
a hearing?
Because people like Taft of
Ohio can't see past the dollar
sign. Perhaps they'd rather
see people live insecurely and
die prematurely than spend
the dollars that health and
security might cost, and agree
that the worker has the right to
proper medical care. Because
some high priced doctors like
things the way they are, and
will spend the money to con-
vince millions of other people
TO leave bad enough alone. Be-
cause so many Congressman
spend their time looking for
people to hate instead of for
children who can be kept
straight and strong, for middle
aged people who can be kept
alive and well, for older
people who can be kept COM
Portable during the last years
of their lives.
Your labor organization is
working for the bill. Philip
Murray and William Green
-. \ Il