Arizona sun., 1949-01-14

bAUhHAGE
have to take what
medical treatment he could get on
an assembly-line basis. This latter
assumption is based on misappre-
hension of what is actually in the
bill which I'll mention later.
The former charge is predic-
ton and can't be answered categor-
ically. I can understand it. When ]
was in college, l got summer job
on the Chautauqua daily. Chautau-
qua is pretty big summer commu-
nifty, and health is important. A
young medical student friend Of
mine whose father had pull got the
job of inspecting cowbarns Of farm
ers supplying milk to Chautauqua.
made the rounds with him once.
He examined the bovine living con-
ditions thoroughly and some were
pretty vile. He made notes and put
them in a report recommending that
purchases from particularsfarmer
be suspended until the barns were
cleaned up
What happened? He got
sharp call-down from his supe-
rior. After that, inspection con-
sisted in opening cOw-barn
doors, holding the nose, and
looking the other way.
That happened many years ago,
and l have heard that Chautauqua
county is noted for its model dairies.
But there is always a lurking sus-
picion that when politician puts
his finger in the pie it, turns sour.
The only specific answer to this
charge of politics that have dis
covered is one offered in pamphlet
gotten out by the Federation OF
Women'S Clubs which says: 1.-The
plan allows for the representation
of the people paying for it."
Perhaps a better answer lies in
the fact that the American Fedora
ton of Labor and the CIO, both OF
whose leaders know just about as
much about how politically-con-
trolled institutions operate as any
organization heads in the country,
favor the bill. It has been supported
by many individual doctors and by
the Physicians Forum, and the
Committee of Physicians for the
Improvement of Medical Care.
But what is ''it," this national
health insurance bill? Are you fa-
miliar with its purpose, what it pro-
poses to do and how it proposes to
do it?
Let's go back. What was the most
shocking revelation in the World
War II draft statistics? I'd be will
ing to bet the thing that most pain
fully surprised the whole country
was that one-third of our youth OF
military age was unhealthy.
Out of fifteen million regis
trants, five million were re-
jected for physical or mental
disabilities. Rural residents as
group were even less healthy.
FOrty-One out of each 100 rural
registrants were turned down as
4-Fs. 1t had been just the Op-
pOsite in World War l when
farmers Outdistanced city folk
in good health.
From these figures, we suddenly
discovered that the American youth
wasn't such a hale and hearty in
dividual as we had, thought. Later.
as you may not know, we learned
that 1926. 900 Americans die every
year who could be saved with prop
er medical care.
About twenty per cent of our peo-.
pie can afford all the medical care
they need.
Half our families-those with an
income of $4,000 a year or less
find it hard. if not impossible-to
pay for even routine medical care.
Thirty per cent of our fami-
lies in the $4,000 to $5,OOO-a-
year bracket would have to go
into debt or make other sacri-
fees to meet the cost of severe
or chronic illness.
So you can see why America is
twenty-three per cent unhealthy.
From the beginning Americans
have believed that sound minds are
the responsibility of the state. hence
the public school system. A sound
mind isn't much good in an unsound
body. So, say the supporters OF the
national health insurance bill. 1t is
logical and thoroughly in keeping
with American principles to tax ev-
erybody so that everybody can get
medical care. They argue that free
dom from persecution by germs is