936 
diseases that were formerly devastating in 
their effects. It is not necessary in this 
audience to mention smallpox, cholera, 
typhoid fever, diphtheria, anthrax, leprosy 
and the bubonic plague, each of which has 
been brought under relatively effective con- 
trol, but I do feel that it is necessary to 
emphasize the fact that there are many un- 
solved problems relating to the prevention 
of disease that stand as a challenge to the 
industry, the ingenuity and the courage 
of the profession. While these various 
changes have taken place, others of 
almost equal importance are observable , 
in the relations of physicians to society. 
While the community, instigated by the 
medical profession, has given to that profes- 
sion a legal status, definite and increasingly 
influential, and has given it certain preroga- 
tives and certain exemptions, it has, like- 
wise, hedged it about with certain limita- 
tions and imposed upon it certain liabilities. 
There are numerous laws, both common 
and statutory—lea non scripta and lex scripta 
—that admonish the physician that his 
condnet carries with it a liability not de- 
fined by self-imposed rules, and the numer- 
ous courts of our land proclaim that there 
are tribunals, ‘other than his own con- 
science, to adjudge penalties for carelessness 
or neglect’ on the part of the physician. So 
numerous, so unjust and so disastrous are 
actions before such tribunals that they 
have caused the development of a new, 
legitimate and beneficent enterprise in the 
development of a company to insure phy- 
sicians against malpractice. It may be 
true that in certain States and localities 
these laws are unjust, and that there is a 
grave error in their administration by 
judges created under our wretched elective 
system ; but if so, the facts only emphasize 
anew the necessity for more complete organ- 
ization of the profession and for the more 
active exertion of its influence upon elec- 
tions. 
SCIENCE. 
[N.S. Von. XIII. No. 337. 
THE REORGANIZATION OF THE ASSOCIATION. 
This brings us again to a realization of 
the fact that the results that can be achieved 
only by the unification of our national pro- 
fession can not be attained under the pres- 
ent organization of our Association. The 
disproportionately rapid growth of the 
Journal as compared with that of the Asso- 
ciation can have no other significance. The 
weakness of the Committee on Legislation, 
at Washington, was a question neither of 
personnel nor of industry, but arose purely 
from the fact that there was no efficient or- 
ganization in the rank and file of the pro- 
fession by which speedy and effective influ- 
ence could be brought to bear upon members 
and senators. Equal difficulty has been 
encountered in several States where organ- 
ization has been similarly defective. The 
demand for more effective organization of 
the Association has come from all over the 
country and resulted in the adoption of a 
motion, at Atlantic City, authorizing the 
appointment of a committee of three to re- 
port a plan of reorganization at this session. 
Another motion was adopted authorizing 
the creation of a supplementary committee 
of one from each State and territory,entitled 
a Committee on Organization, which has 
been filled byappointing for the most part the 
retiring presidents of State societies for the 
current year. The committee on reorganiza- 
tion, consisting of Dr. J. N. McCormick, 
Kentucky, Dr. Geo. H. Simmons, of IIli- 
nois, and Dr. P. Maxwell Foshay, of Ohio, 
has given to the important question en- 
trusted to it a most careful and painstaking 
consideration. It has laid before you the 
results of its deliberation. In doing so it 
has emphasized the principle that this As- 
sociation has its origin in the organized 
profession of the respective States. It em- 
phasizes the fact that the delegate body 
should be so small that it can remain in 
prolonged session and give to the various 
subjects under consideration that deliberate 
