446 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



THE DISEASE AND THE REMEDY 



By ALFRED E. P. ROCKWELL, M.D. 



WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS 



TT7 E stand in this country on the threshold of a great civic awaken- 

 * » ing, a great economic renaissance, and we should hasten to 

 forge from every opportunity offered by public sentiment, some sub- 

 stantial token of a larger and more exalted citizenship. 



Government is the means by which the will of the people finds 

 expression, and in a republican more truly than in any other form of 

 government the character of the laws, and the efficiency with which they 

 are administered, justly interpret the character and enlightenment of 

 the average citizen. 



The evolution of the individual, in proportion to the opportunities 

 which the times afford, the suitable husbandry of the public purse, the 

 proper development of natural resources, the conservation of human 

 energy, the time required to convert what is known as public sentiment, 

 all make it imperative that we now lay the foundation for the more 

 efficient application of those principles which have been found best 

 calculated to further those ends. 



The physical, mental and moral qualities of the average citizen 

 should be the unit of measurement upon which all estimates of national 

 wealth, wisdom and virtue are based. The nearer these three personal 

 qualifications approach perfection the greater becomes the value to 

 society of the individual, and so intimately are they associated that 

 derangement in one of these spheres is productive of more or less dis- 

 turbance in the others. 



Good physical health is the foundation upon which the mental 

 and moral natures are built. Physical deficiencies in a large measure 

 are responsible for mental and moral defects. 



Every human life should be an asset of the nation; an asset the 

 value of which should be determined by its productivity. By pro- 

 ductivity is meant every exercise of creative, constructive power in the 

 physical, mental and moral spheres. The highest productive potential 

 is developed from the proper combination of two factors, in the creation 

 and operation of each of which both the individual and the state share 

 certain responsibilities. In the wholesomeness of the moral stamina, 

 the efficiency of the mental equipment and the extent of the physical 

 energy we find the first factor, and may measure the worth of those 

 qualities which the individual is in honor obligated to contribute to 



