5". /. Meltzer 131 



organized German propaganda and that the expenses were met by 

 the German Kaiser. 



Among those who signed the adverse letters are several from 

 men who are of high standing in the profession, and are personally 

 known to us. Several of our correspondents, some of whom were, 

 during the present war, f or short periods in France, stated that there 

 is not a neutral fiber in them. 



Two correspondents objected to the idea that physicians have 

 a higher claim to international morality than other people. Sev- 

 eral of our correspondents said that they either could not see the 

 object of the movement or, as one expressed it, he could not see 

 where "the uplift comes in"; or, on the contrary, that the aim 

 of the Brotherhood is too Utopian f or them. Finally, several writers 

 approved the idea in general, but thought that the Organization of a 

 Medical Brotherhood should be postponed until after the war, 



The objections to the Organization of the Medical Brotherhood, 

 so far as could be ascertained from this small number of adverse 

 manifestations, may be summarized as follows : (i) That it is a part 

 of a German propaganda, or, at least (2) a veiled pro-German move- 

 ment; that (3) it is meant to be a neutral body which, there fore, 

 ought not to be supported because the paramount duties of American 

 physicians ought to be to help the Allies; that (4) physicians have 

 no higher claim than other people to international morality; that 

 (5) there is no object (no uplift) in this Organization; that (6),. 

 on the contrary, the object Is too Utopian, and finally, (7) that the 

 movement is premature. 



Financial resources. Small as the number of our critics is, 

 their adverse points of view merit public discussion. In so doing we 

 shall deal in the first place with the most objectionable Interpretation 

 given to the aims of the Medical Brotherhood, namely, that it is part 

 of a pro-Teutonic propaganda and that it is financially supported by 

 the German government. In the Appeal, as well as in a letter pub- 

 lished in the Journal of the 'American Medical Association (1916, 

 Ixv, p. 971), it was expressly stated that the Brotherhood is neither 

 a pro-Teutonic nor a pro-Allies movement. Such assurances prob- 

 ably do not reach the type of men who are capable of writing anony- 

 mous letters. But we owe it to the medical profession at large to 



