XIII STATE AND THE MEDICAL PROFESSION 327 



ihe highest importance to the community that, in 

 civil and criminal cases, the law shall be able to 

 have recourse to persons whose evidence may be 

 taken as that of experts; and it will not be 

 doubted that the State has a right to dictate the 

 conditions under which it will appoint persons 

 to the vast number of naval^ military, and civil 

 medical othces held directlv or indirectlv under 

 the Government. Here, and here only, it appears 

 to me, lies the justification for the intervention 

 of the State in medical affairs. It says, or, in 

 my judgment, should say, to the public, " Prac- 

 tice medicine if you like — go to be practised upon 

 by anybody; " and to the medical practitioner, 

 " Have a qualification, or do not have a cjualifica- 

 tion, if people don^t mind it; but if the State is to 

 receive your certificate of death, if the State is to 

 take your evidence as that of an expert, if the 

 State is to give you any kind of civil, or military, 

 or naval appointment, tlien we can call upon you 

 to comply witli our conditions, and to ])roduce 

 evidence that you are, in our sense of tlie word, 

 qualified. Without that we will not place you 

 in that position." As a matter of fact, that is the 

 relation of the State to the medical profession in 

 this country. For my part, I think it an extreme- 

 ly healthy relation; and it is one that I should be 

 very sorry to see altered, except in so far that it 

 would certainly be better if greater facilities were 



given for the swift and sliarp punishment of those 

 81 



