PUBLIC HYGIENE, OR GENERAL SANITATION 361 



that intelligent persons should themselves live according 

 to sanitary laws ; it is necessary to their health that the 

 ignorant and careless should also be obliged to do so. 

 This cannot be brought about by individual influence or 

 authority. Hence it has come to pass that in all civilized 

 communities some degree of control is exercised by the 

 officers of the government over the personal habits and 

 ways of life of private persons. Many of the laws given 

 by Moses to the Hebrews and preserved in the Scriptures 

 relate to sanitary matters connected with daily life, and 

 it is believed that obedience to those laws has had much 

 to do with the fact that the Jews, throughout their his- 

 tory, have been remarkably free from great epidemics of 

 disease. Neglect of sanitary precautions is, on the other 

 hand, understood to be responsible for the frightful 

 " plagues " which often swept over the earth in past 

 ages, destroying many thousands of lives. They arise 

 even yet in the filthy cities of Oriental countries, but are 

 now far less destructive and more easily kept within 

 bounds. 



Our knowledge as to what the power of government 

 can do to promote the health of a community has been 

 increasing rapidly in recent years, but that knowledge is 

 far from being thoroughly applied, because the people in 

 general are not yet intelligent enough to demand it. 



520, Knowledge of Sanitary Laws Essential to Good 

 Citizenship. In a free, democratic government, such as 

 ours, proper attention to sanitary matters on the part of 

 public officers depends upon an intelligent and active 

 public sentiment. Since the people are the government, 

 it is the duty of the people all the people to see to it 

 that their servants, the officers appointed to protect them 

 against the dangers of unsanitary conditions in any part 



