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Show I Gilropraeter Defines Altitude i Toward MedieaS Prosecution r . ' I Does Not Desire to Evade or Break the Law, But Wants the State Medical Law Defined in Its Relationship to ! " - I Lest the public is erroneously im-L im-L pressed as to the attitude of the chi ropractors in the present prosecution, 1 take this opportunity of stating our position in the matter. It Is simply this: ' The question of whether or not the practice of chirporactic is "practicing medicine and surgery," has been the subject of many painstaking inquiries in the courts of the American states; and the judicial opinions have been about equally divided; in equally respectable re-spectable opinions the supreme courts have held it was not, or that it was. In fact, these opinions have been divided, di-vided, just as the public opinion is divided di-vided with reference to the merits of s the several schools of medicine, and r those of non-medicine. The chiropractors' claim with refer- ' ence to the present law of our state, pertaining to the practice of our profession pro-fession is this: When the medical statute was passed chiropractic was little known any place, and unprac-tlced unprac-tlced in the state of Utah; hence, the legislature of this state had no reason rea-son to direct the present statute at the chiropractors, 'it was directed at those practicing medicine and surgery in the state, where protection was needed by the people against the inefficiency inef-ficiency of unqualified medical doctors. doc-tors. There was no abuse sought to be corrected from the practice of chiropractic, chi-ropractic, nor abuse provided against from the exercise of our science. No harm has been done by chiropractic calling for legislative relief. Nor was l abuse anticipated because chiropractic i was generally unknown to the people w of our state. The practices at which K' the statute was directed were mcdi- m cine and surgery. m Later, in 1911, when the numerous ft benefits and blessings of chiropractic f j had become known and attracting uni- EL versal attention, those practitioners, W. with whose earnings this new effec- K tivc system of making man well cam.e into financial competition, sought an U amendment of the medical statute, and R inserted the following in the defining Tt , clause as to what constitutes the ''t "practice of medicine"; "after hav- ing received, or with the Intent to re-!' re-!' ceive therefor, cither directly, or indi rectly, any fee, gift, compensation or i other pecuniary benefit, reward, or consideration." ! Hence it Is quite apparent that the amendment was not made with a view of requiring educational attainments as a standard for practicing, but rather rath-er with the view of preventing financial finan-cial competition only. The chiropractors chiroprac-tors believe in, and all are willing to submit to examination, and licensing to protect their profession; but do not believe in, nor practice, and fued by those who sought financial protection by the abovo amendment to the medical medi-cal law. This amendment was fixed solely for the purpose to further finan- j cial interests of the medical practi-' tioners, and not for the big purpose that laws should be onacted, that of protecting the suffering humanity against imposition. It is in no wise the purpose, or the intention of the chiropractors to evade the law. nor break it. We respect law as every" constructive citizen. But it is our intention to try to ascertain what the law is, what it means, and then obey it as all good citizens should and do. In other words, a law is passed to safeguard against an existing, exist-ing, and well known, generally recognized recog-nized evil. But later something else come into being, which was totally un- known when the law was passed, it ' being beneficial, granting to thousands thou-sands of the state's inhabitants the blessing of health that they have been praying for, making of them producers in the community instead of burdens ,for the healthy class to provide for; something that is needed and selected by a large number of the state's citizens citi-zens as their method of obtaining health, can such a previous law be held to apply to this newly created condition? Under this new condition none of the evils that the medical act was passed to correct exist. It is to ascertain the Intent, the purpose, the moaning of such a condition that the chiropractors contend. Drug-forming habits never resulted from chiropractic, criminal operations I have never been produced by it. Er- j rors of prescribing and preparing medicines med-icines have never been charged against it. It Is chiropractics' substantial substan-tial success, -with its profit-reducing effects to those that practice the administering ad-ministering of drugs and the use of the knife, alone, that elicits prosecution. prosecu-tion. It is attributable to these alone that agitation and prosecution have been urged. Advertisement. |