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Show Hf OPEN THE TOWN. Hj HP HE attitude of the state officials who are trying to stamp out HL J- the flu has become unbearable, and there is an undercurrent of Hv protest growing stronger every day that promises to develop into a H I tidal wave that will sweep the next legislature off its feet unless the H laws governing the appointement and powers of the State Board of H Health undergo a radical change. H There are not a great many people who know that the State H' Board of Health can do about as it pleases, that even the governor Ht can have little or nothing to say regarding the restrictions placed Hjjf on the people of the state, and that a Martinet in an epidemic like the Hf present one can, if he chooses, do irreparable financial damage, ruining H hundreds of men operating on small capital, and causing tremendous Hf losses to wealthier men and concerns. H By the law passed in 1907, there are seven members of the state Hp board, and the law so reads that most of them can prepetuate them- H.i selves in office, for only one member can be appointed each year, and Ht it would take seven years to organize a complete new board. 'That H'd is almost as assinine as some of the rules laid down by the chairman H I and the members. H I This business of keeping the theatres, schools and churches B J closed, restricting sales, and making other restrictions has broken a lot of men, has -deprived many more of employment, and has caused more unnecessary suffering than could possibly be chronicled. If the least common sense had entered into the consideration of the subject, we might bear it in silence, but nearly everything in relation to- it has been unreasonable to a marked degree, and we in common with others indignantly protest. It is encouraging to read every morning and evennig that the situation is improving, and note in another column that the number & of new cases is steadily growing. It is encouraging but hardly con- m vincing. And why shouldn't there be an increase? Except in hospit- 'j als, there is no strict quarantine put on a patient, and there should gM be just as much as in a case of smallpox or scarlet fever. The fami- 'Wf lies of those afflicted are allowed to see them, and come to town in w! the course of their daily work. There is no restraint except on the Jp people who are trying to carry their business through that part of '$ ' the year which should be the busiest, and the rank discrimination 1 ' that is being shown, should, we believe, be an excellent cause for j& ' damages against the state. 7 II Influenza is in the air, and we are under the impression that no j! more people would contract it than would if the town were wide . Jt I open. How do the worthies explain the cases on that ranch where la thirteen people came down with the disease, and none had left theap ranch, and no one had come to it for thirty days? A parallel case isT that of the two sheepherders in the Duchesne country who had seen-; ! no one for a similar period and both died of the flu. Possibly they.vA were in town and went to the theatre last August. I If a shot in the arm is a sure preventative, let's go. Inoculation i would certainly be better than stagnation, not to mention the incal-'J J culable losses being sustained by so many. There are lots of mer- I chants who are not taking in enough to pay the day's expenses withr out figuring the cost of their goods, and when they come to pay for their merchandise what is going to happen if they are not wealthy,," & or cannot borrow sufficient funds to meet their obligations? rfjfh) And why should Salt Lake be the only town on the map where ;$3tt such a condition prevails? No other city has been closed for nine v ' weeks, and there isn't a logical reason for this situation having been handled as it has. We mention Salt Lake being on the map, but it 'jf isn't so far as theatrical people are concerned, for they are shooting j1 them straight from California to Denver, and figure us with the dead, in the meantime trying to keep their organizations intact here, Jjt in the event that we ever come to life again. JM If Dr. Paul would talk for publication, we believe his remarks jm would be very interesting, for it is practically cerjtain that he, at heart, is not in accord with the edicts of the dictator on the hill, any 0p more than are the majority of Indignant citizens. ',J& Open the town if only for a week or two as an experiment. We jSa , venture the prediction that the results in mortality and financial dis- JS tress would be no worse than they have been during the time theJW State Board of Health has relegated our city to the garbage can. f'Xgf |