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Show A FEDERAL HEALTH BOARD. It Is gratifying to note that the bill for the creation of a federal health board will not be allowed to pass without with-out a protest. Reports of organized rlslHtance comu from all parts of the country, und It may be that the opposition oppo-sition will soon be sufficiently solldl-lled solldl-lled to defeat a project that promises Infinite mischief for the community, and suffering and Injustice for tho Individual. In-dividual. The proposal Is based upon those specious claims that are notoriously hard to controvert. If a federal health board were to confine Its activities to tho promulgation of salutary advice upon hygienic matters, to the abatement abate-ment of quackery, and U the purity of drugs. It might be possible to say much In Its favor, although It would still bo difficult to say that such an organization is ueesYd. Hut we know that It will uttetnpt to do far more thnn this, seeing that Its adherents have loudly proclaimed their Intentions. Inten-tions. Indeed, there Is no secrecy about them. It Is confidently expected that the board will consist of advocates advo-cates of one school of medicine only and that the methods of that school will be not only recommended, but enforced upon the nation. Indeed a board that was In any way representative representa-tive of the medical profession as a whole would be stultified by Its own disagreements. Outside the domain of simple hygiene, for which we need no federal board at all, there Is no single point of medical practice upon which allopaths, homeopHths, eclectics nnd osteopaths could be In unison. Any board that could be devised by the wit of man must be composed of representatives of one school only, and this means that all other schools are branded as of an inferior caste, even though nothing worse happened to them. And something worse would happen to them. If, p are to establish n school of medicine, If we nre to assert as-sert that the government of 'the I'nit-ed I'nit-ed Suites favors one variety of practice prac-tice more than others, why not establish estab-lish also a sect of religion and l)-stow l)-stow special authorities upon l'I-tis.U, l'I-tis.U, .Methodists and Kplscopall.ins? An established school of religious conjecture fi'ciiu somewhat lepn objectionable ob-jectionable than nn established sect of pscudo scientific conjecture. Those who suppose that a federal board of health would have no concern with Individual rights are likely to' find themselves undeceived. It Is for the purpose of Interfering with Individual Indi-vidual rights that thu proposal has been made. We need no special knowledge of conditions to be aware that what may ba called unorthodox methods of healing have made sad inroads in-roads into the orthodox. Homeopathy claims a vast number of adherents who are just as well educated and Just as Intelligent as those who adhere to the older school. Osteopathy, eclecticism, eclecti-cism, and hnlf a dozen other methods of practice are certainly not losing ground, lieyond them Is the vast nnd Increasing army of those who may be classed under the general nnd vogue name of mental healers. Those who are addicted to any of these forms of unorthodoxy need have no doubt as to the purposes of the federal health board. Those purposes are to make It difficult for them to follow their particular fads and fancies, to lead them, and If necessary to drive them, from medical unorthodoxy to medical orthodoxy. Now the Argonaut holds no brief for any of the excesses and the superstitions super-stitions connected w ith the care of the body In which this age is so rife. Rut H does feel concerned for the preservation preser-vation of human liberty and for the rights of the Individual to doctor himself him-self In any way he pleases so long as he does not indubitably threaten the health of the community. He may take large doses or small ones, or no doiies at all; be may be massaged, anointed with oil, or prayed over, Just as the whim of the moment may dictate, dic-tate, and probably it makes no particle par-ticle of difference which he does. Hut he has the right to choose, Just as he chooses the color of his necktie or the character of his underclothing. It Is not a matter In which any wise government gov-ernment will seek to Interfere. This is precisely the liberty that the health board Intends to take from him. Orthodox medicine, conscious of Its losses. Is trying to buttress Itself by federal statute, to exalt allopathy to the status of a privileged enste, and to create an established school of V, medicine Just as tome other cotintrtes have allowed themselves to create an established school of religion. It Is for the common sense of the community commu-nity to rebuke that effort and to repel re-pel an unwarranted Invasion tipon elementary ele-mentary human rights. San Fran-vivo Fran-vivo Argonaut, |
