Show ETHICS OF quarantine IjU AND HOME sanitation by milton bennion professor of philosophy university of 0 utah people who maintain their primitive roving habits may run away front from the problem of home sanitation and with them the spread ot of contagious disease Is naturally limited to a small community but with the settled mode diode ot of life and the manifold associations of civilization the need of thorough sanitation s tion and strict quarantine is apparent yet many intelligent alij well disposed people fall fail to appreciate this tact fact and there are those who while they believe to in s enforcing the quarantine line regulations against others are themselves inclined cil to resist such restrictions even eved in large cities where strict health regulations and close inspection I 1 are tile the itile it Is sometimes possible for foe a family to conceal contagious disease and thus escape quarantine thia concealment may be with nith full knowledge of the disease or possibly with only a suspicion of it and a fear to call in a physician lest ii ie would result in the establishment of qu qui certainly this result would be a 36 great inyonie inconvenience biene to the family quarantined but what of jf the oth mothr r alternative and the moral ability of the family to society there are heads of families who when quarantined an tined seem to think that the public health laws laus are enacted especially for their annoyance it if possible to escape they would not liane have a flag up and after it is up it if the disease is in a mild form they perhaps tail fall to report subsequent cases and seek to have the quarantine raised as soon S as possible they have no thought apparently of the fact that a very mild gise case in its last stages may maybess mayb 1 be ss the means of spreading an ep I 1 dem of the disease and that othe ismaY L ha veltin causing I 1 lla cent people preable physical A suffering and ED mental e n t a I 1 a anguish ngit ish well a man may say the innocent must suffer stiffer in this world and I 1 am an example 0 of it let others share my fate if such a mail luan can be awakened to lo a 1 tense of his social responsibility and to the consequences of his conduct lie he will know that he is not innocent and that for a man by such indifference to bring disease and death into inlo the homes of ills his fel is a crime this crime under our present laws is punishable as a misdemeanor it should some day be recognized as a felony in the light of moral principles how much better is one who commits this crime which usually escapes punishment ish ment than one who commits murder outright and pis the death pen alty the difference Is undoubtedly in the motive rather than in the consequence in the one case there is malicious intent to destroy human life in tile he other there thera Is a selfish desire to escape personal inconvenience and a willingness to take chances on the consequences incidentally to be sure tills this may mean that the inconvenience one ls is trying to escape may come to a score of other families that several persons in each of 0 these families may suffer stiffer from the disease and that there may be a few deaths in the neighborhood the in fiete wisdom alone toll tall the amount of personal annoyance sickness and death that may result from one little act of selfishness Is it not worth thinking about the public health law merely defines finet what people ought to do evea evari it if there were were no statutes or health officers As in ease case of all law against cri crime me and for the protection of life an and pral properly erty the good citizen should conform to it willingly and there should be no necessity of en enforcing forcin I 1 it except agal against rist the criminally inclined ilow how would a man rank in character who respected the property rights of ills his neighbors merely because the law of the state compelled him to doso boso Is there not as much need of 0 for their health and ot of refraining from exposing them to anything that might inight endanger their laica th the e want of proper consideration for the health laws Is probably not due as a rule to bad motives but rather to a failure to give the matter enough serious thought the possible consequences to others have not been vividly pictured before the mind but even thoughtlessness and ignorance through neglect of matters af p vital importance are immoral to retrain refrain from wilfully injuring others is only the negative side of morality abre conal continued aed on page rive five THE ETHICS OF quarantine AND HOME sanitation continued from page 1 is s in addition to this an obligation to consider seriously the consequences of it ones conduct both to s self elf and to athers and to assume an attitude of pos itic thoughtful the question of home sanitation is is closely related to that of contagious ind Infect infectious fous diseases since unsanitary conditions about the home may oe ne one source of such diseases ty elloid fever for int sance may come from the ho contamination of well water by seepage front from cesspools ces spools closets or barnyards or lie ho germ of this disease nay be carried by flies when the use of if a little dry eaith or slack lime bould obviate the unsanitary condition the disposal of sewage where there is no sewerage system Is a very serious problem pio blem concerning which it would be well to have expert adice ice 0 it is self evident that carelessness in regard to these details may kring bring illness and perhaps loss of life not only to the occupants of the homes neglected but also to others in the neighborhood heads of families should not only protect the health ind physical well being of the growing generation but they shoud also fret act youthful minds an example that would tend to form in them habits rif nf cleanliness and attention to sanitary regulations thoughtful con kide ration of the tha far reaching consequences of conduct will readily justify close attention to these practical aspects of life salt lake lahe city utah the health laws oi of utah and general regulations concerning contagious and infectious diseases may be had bad free by applying to the state board of Ile health alth salt lake city some valuable suggestions per kalning to this and kindred home problems may be found in farmers bulletin no modern conveniences for the farm home which will lie be sent without charge to anyone applying to 0 o the department of agriculture washington D C improve meni era vol 10 no 3 5 |