No. 216.] 447 



exposition of a principle which must strike every one who observes 

 it, as entirely out of character with the present advanced state of 

 intelligence. I will, however, endeavor in the proper place, to show 

 that a medical education is essential to the proper discharge of the 

 duties of an officer of health, of whatever grade, and of this one 

 especially, and that the greatest care should be exercised in selecting 

 those best qualified for this duty. The assistant city inspector, and as- 

 sistant of the board of health, need not possess medical qualifications, 

 as their duties are more strictly clerical; yet such an education would 

 often be useful, as they sometimes are obliged to act in the absence 

 of the chief officer. 



Nor has it ever been deemed necessary that the Health Wardens 

 should be medically qualified. Indeed, had it been, medical men 

 could not readily have been obtained for the duty, as conjoined 

 therewith, is an office whose duties are of a totally different charac- 

 ter, and entirely irrelevant to the habits and educational capabilities 

 of a physician I allude to the office of Dock Master, and lately, 

 the office of Street Inspector has been added to it in some of the 

 wards. 



Being one of the poorest offices in the gift of the Common Council, 

 the post of Health Warden has rarely been sought for, or filled, by 

 any other than the most ignorant and incompetent among the oflice- 

 seekers. Its salary being the smallest of all, the most shameful 

 collusions have been, and are daily, practiced, for the purpose of 

 increasing the emoluments, whereby a large amount of money is irreg- 

 ularly and improperly taken from the pockets of citizens.* Another 

 serious objection to the present arrangement is, that during the preva- 

 lence of epidemic or contagious diseases, in large numbers of single 

 cases, the timid apprehensions of non-professional men, often wholly 

 unfit them for duties of Officers of Health. They fear to approach 

 a sick person, or even to enter a house where the disorder is said to 

 exist, and they are more likely to increase, than allay, popular ex- 

 citement. Some other equally injudicious matters, in this connection, 

 might be stated, but these facts alone must be sufficient to convince 

 any one of the utter inefficiency of the present system as a Health 



*By the City Inspector, in 1842, a fraud was detected, which, had it proved suc- 

 cessful, would have swindled householders of a large amount of money. It consisted 

 of the printing of two hundred forged notices to empty sinks, which some nigh 

 scavenger had ordered, and which would have yielded him from ten to thirty dollars 

 each. This was but one operation, and there is reason to believe that such acts are 

 frequently committed, with the connivance of the Health Wardens. 



