Salt Lake Telegram | 1903-02-25 | Page 4 | Respecting Painless Extermination as Mercy

Rfx?scti33P2ial2S$ Extermination as Mercy A certain Salt Lake physician whose'naine shall be anonymous, lest the advertisement of it shock his medico-ethical sense is preaching the doc- trine of painless murder as a benefit to suffering hu-N hu-N manity. The doctrine is not new. It was preached and practiced by the Spartans when Salt Lake was part of the Pacific ocean. As long ago as the period of sacred Scripture it was said that the day of one's death is better than tbe day of one's birth. Several years -ago the English novelist Mallock asked: "Is Kfe worth living??' and nil the world said yes. When Cebes inquired of Socrates, the great humanist of Greek philosophy, long before the light of Chris-. Chris-. iianity dawned, "Why do they say that it is not allowable al-lowable ior one to dispatch himself?" that noble heathen replied: "The gods are our guardians and we mortals are part of the household property of the igods. Terhaps, then, it is not unreasonable to , insist that one should not dispatch himself before tbe tleity imposes upon him a necessity of the kind, such as he ha imposed at present upon me." Our nameless Salt Lake physician doubtless never found a soul in any of his cadavers and may therefore not believe, in such an entity, for the same reason that be ''-could never ligate a diastole or cut out a pain and examine it under a microscope. But there is a soul, all right, with a divine pedigree, and its earthly earth-ly tenement was fearfully and wonderfully made in ' the image of God. So long as we are not heathen we must believe in the sacreduess of this image, not ' to be destroyed according to the election of a Salt Lake doctor. If painless homicide seems an act of mercy, as shooting a broken-Jogged brute does, why should a physician practice at all the divine art of alleviating pain? Why not let the pain go on or rather the-mortal cause of pain until it ends, as it sure will, in death? t "By medicine life may be prolonged, yet death Will seize the doctor too," says Shakespeare, with an eye to our medical friend of Zion. Suicide is cowardice. It is often easier to die than to live. Self-invited homicide is bad, but an uninvited quietus at the option of a physician is worse. These are the views of philosophy. The reasons of public policy. against merciful murder are even more cogent. They need not be adduced here. Despite his views, our Aesculapian friend ethi--cally protected by anonimity will probably not be allowed to make much progress in his euthanasia business. Our splendid corps of Salt Lake physicians" physi-cians" will go right on in the good old-fashioned way of healing disease, relieving pain and prolonging lifej by the noblest of the professions.