A FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 373 



THE OWEN BILL FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A FED- 

 ERAL DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, AND ITS OPPONENTS 



By S. ADOLPHUS KNOPF, M.D. 



PROFESSOR OF PHTHISIO-THERAPY AT THE POST-GRADUATE MEDICAL SCHOOL 



AND HOSPITAL, NEW YORK 



ANY one who is familiar with the workings of governmental de- 

 partments of health such as exist abroad, who has seen or ex- 

 perienced the sanitary benefits bestowed upon the people by the Reichs- 

 gesundheitsamt of Germany (imperial department of health), the Con- 

 seil Superieur de Sante Publique de France, and the similar institutions 

 of most European governments, can not help feeling amazed that any 

 opposition should exist to the establishment of a federal department of 

 health in this country. This amazement becomes all the greater when 

 one considers some of the elements of which the opposition to that 

 measure is composed. There is, for example, the New York Herald, a 

 large and influential newspaper with an honorable career and a brilliant 

 record for advocating everything that is conducive to the public wel- 

 fare. Only in this particular instance has it allowed itself to become 

 the mouthpiece of principles to which it is in general opposed, that is 

 to say, principles and measures whereby the good of the people at large 

 and the progress and welfare of mankind are hindered, and the lives 

 of individual American citizens endangered. This particular news- 

 paper is independent of any political party, or professional or religious 

 association which might prejudice its point of view, and still it opposes 

 a measure whereby all citizens of the country would benefit. The writer 

 can not help thinking that this powerful news organ has. not informed 

 itself thoroughly of the real purpose and function of a federal depart- 

 ment of health, and in its attack upon a large body of men such as com- 

 pose the American Medical Association, the American Public Health 

 Association, the National Association for the Study and Prevention of 

 Tuberculosis, the American Association for the Advancement of Science 

 and the various medical academies of the country, it is certainly mis- 

 guided. It is to be hoped that the distinguished editors of the New 

 York Herald will soon see that in their attitude toward the Owen bill 

 they are not on the side of the people but are working against the wel- 

 fare and interests of the masses. 



The principle of the Owen bill, establishing a department of health, 

 has been endorsed by the president of the United States, by General 

 George M. Sternberg, surgeon-general of the army, retired, and Rear- 



