646 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXIX. No. 747 



When a man drinks alcohol the object 

 lesson for the onlooker comes speedily and 

 it is easy for the reformer to enlist his sym- 

 pathy in a temperance movement. But 

 when one breathes in foul air loaded with 

 the bacilli of tuberculosis no immediate 

 results are observed and the opportunity 

 does not present itself of closely connecting 

 the inoculation with the subsequent devel- 

 opment of the disease. 



Please do not misunderstand me. I am 

 very far indeed from wishing to in any 

 way lessen the temperance movement, but 

 I can not help feeling that the plan of 

 campaign of that movement might very 

 properly be studied, and possibly applied, 

 for the arrest of the other two disorders 

 mentioned above.^ 



Education is what is needed, not only 

 for the purpose of coping with alcoholism, 

 but with a view of attacking the other ills 

 as well. You are aware, doubtless, that 

 the temperance reformers have advanced 

 their cause until it is a strong factor in 

 matters political, and that they have se- 

 cured the passage of laws ordering that 

 public instruction be given as to the dan- 

 gers incident to the use of alcohol. Have 

 you ever heard of so considerable a move- 

 ment being inaugurated to check the rav- 

 ages of consumption or typhoid fever? 

 Earnest efforts are now afoot to do some- 

 thing in that line and a good deal has been 

 really accomplished, but those engaged in 

 the work by no means exhibit the broad 

 front and army-like march of the temper- 

 ance organization. The people as a whole 



^My reason for selecting alcoholism for com- 

 parison is because of the excellent organization 

 of those who oppose it, an organization worthy 

 of being copied for more general use. It should 

 be noted, moreover, that I have treated alcoholism 

 as a disease and have touched upon its death rate 

 only. It is scarcely necessary to add that the 

 moral side, which is of such great importance in 

 this afiSiction, does not enter the figures as given. 



are not sufficiently educated as yet to ap- 

 preciate the necessity of decided action and 

 their sympathy with the needed reform is 

 not awakened. 



May I digress a moment and venture a 

 word as to the wave of interest in the care 

 and cure of consumption as we now see it 

 in northern New York? 



In the city from which I come we are 

 plentifully supplied with committees of 

 devoted men and women who contribute of 

 their own means and ask pecuniary aid 

 from others, giving meanwhile much of 

 their time and energy for the purpose of 

 relieving the wants and lessening the suf- 

 ferings of their consumptive neighbors. 

 The cause is such a noble one and the move- 

 ment is so single-hearted that I feel badly 

 indeed to predict its failure. Yet I believe 

 that it must fail and for this reason. Suc- 

 cessful handling of the consumptive poor 

 must be the duty of public officers backed 

 by the public purse. Funds raised by sub- 

 scription and applied by voluntary workers 

 can not grapple with the situation, because 

 of the practically chronic character of the 

 disease. If the community were invaded 

 by cholera, yellow fever or the black death, 

 and if the dead were being removed in 

 furniture vans, as they were at Messina in 

 1887, then the "contribution-volunteer sys- 

 tem" would work to perfection, because 

 the people will always labor enthusiastic- 

 ally and make any amount of sacrifice to 

 resist an attack which is quick, sharp and 

 decisive ; but if the service required be con- 

 tinuous, the same ten or twenty years hence 

 as it is to-day, then the interest begins to 

 weaken after a time, the treasury becomes 

 empty and the movement slackens. There 

 is just one place whence the funds for the 

 care of the consumptive poor should come, 

 and that is the tax budget. Is not this a 

 plea for the education, not only of the offi- 

 cials who make up the budget, but also of 

 those who vote them into office? 



