THE SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS 143 



were decided upon . Committees of various kinds were appointed . 

 The executive committee of the Congress consisted of Dr. Flick, 

 as chairman, Dr. Livingston Farrand, at that time the executive 

 secretary of The National Association for the Study and Preven- 

 tion of Tuberculosis, Dr. Joseph Walsh, of Philadelphia, and Dr. 

 John S. Fulton, the secretary-general. 



Volume V of the Transactions of the Sixth International Con- 

 gress contains a complete list of all of the officers, committees, and 

 sub-committees. It will not be necessary to give them in detail 

 in this place. 



In the spring of 1907 it became necessary to expand the scope 

 and membership of the original committee, headed by Dr. Flick. 

 It also became necessary to elect a president of the Congress. Dr. 

 William H. Welch was elected president, but he found it impos- 

 sible to serve. After a considerable amount of discussion it was 

 decided by the board of directors of The National Association for 

 the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis, under whose auspices 

 the entire Congress was conducted, to select the Honorable Theo- 

 dore Roosevelt, then President of the United States, as President 

 of the Congress. Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau, of Saranac 

 Lake, Dr. Robert Koch, of Berlin, Dr. Louis Landouzy, of Paris, 

 and Dr. C. Theodore Williams, of London, were elected honorary 

 vice-presidents. On May 12, 1908, President Roosevelt sent his 

 acceptance of the presidency of the International Congress in the 

 following letter: 



THE WHITE HOUSE, 

 Washington, May 5, 1908. 



Sir: It is with great pleasure that I accept the presidency of "The Inter- 

 national Congress on Tuberculosis" which is to meet in this city on September 

 21, 1908, and extend its session to October 12, 1908. Official duties, however, 

 may prevent my presiding at the initial meeting of the Congress, in which case 

 I will deputize Secretary Cortelyou. 



The importance of the crusade against tuberculosis, in the interest of which 

 this Congress convenes, cannot be overestimated when it is realized that tu- 

 berculosis costs our country two hundred thousand lives a year, and the entire 

 world over a million lives a year, besides constituting a most serious handicap 

 to material progress, prosperity, and happiness, and being an enormous ex- 

 pense to society, most often in those walks of life where the burden is least 

 bearable. 



Science has demonstrated that this disease can be stamped out, but the 



