34 Proceedings of the First Convention 



The Convention will learn through Mr. Weeks of the 

 work which this city, through the Department of Health, has 

 been able to do (Appendix A), and I look for even greater 

 progress in this work with the co-operation of your State, and 

 perhaps also of the Federal Government. 



Respectfully, 



Ernst J. Lederle, President. 



A paper on assigned topic was forwarded later. 



-THE SPHERE OF HEALTH DEPARTflENTS." 



Ernst J. Lederle, Ph.D. 



Dear j\Ir. Vv^eeks : — I have not the time at present, as you 

 may imagine, to say more than a word regarding the sphere 

 of Health Departments in work for mosquito extermination. 

 That I regard this work as highly important seems to me to be 

 plain from the amount of attention given to it during my 

 administration in the Department of Health, where, as you 

 know, numerous other matters are constantly claiming the time 

 of the head of the Department. 



I believe that the chief function of a Department of Health 

 in this connection is educational. People must be taught the 

 danger as they already know the annoyance from mosquitoes. 

 They must be taught in the second place how mosquitoes are to 

 be eradicated from any given section of the country, and, in 

 short, they must be enlightened to the point where they will 

 gladly co-operate in the work of any central organization which 

 is endeavoring to abate the nuisance and disease caused by 

 mosquitoes. 



I have put the matter in this way because it seems to me 

 that the powers, for example, of the Department of Health 

 and Borough President in New York City are so great that 

 they might in certain instances be used oppressively. It would 

 be extremely unwise for any City administration to adopt any 

 such policy. To use its powers in forcing owners of large 

 tracts of low lying property to fill and drain these tracts, 

 especially if they were unproductive, would be an abuse of the 

 function of government. On the other hand, by educating 

 owners up to the point where they can see the advantage of 

 this drainage work as we know it, public and private interests 

 will go hand in hand for the improvement of all parts of the 



