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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIII, No. 1115 



zation of a Medical Brotherhood should be 

 postponed until after the war. 



The objections to the organization of the 

 Medical Brotherhood, as far as could be as- 

 certained from this small number of adverse 

 manifestations, may be summarized as fol- 

 lows: (1) That it is a part of a German propa- 

 ganda, or, at least (2) a veiled pro-German 

 movement; that (3) it is meant to be a neutral 

 body which, therefore, ought not to be sup- 

 ported because the paramount duty of Ameri- 

 can physicians ought to be to assist the 

 AUies; that (4) physicians have no higher 

 claim than other people to international mo- 

 rality; that (5) there is no object (no uplift) 

 in this organization; that (6), on the con- 

 trary, the object is too Utopian and finally, 

 (7) that the movement is premature. 



Financial Resources. — Small as the number 

 of our critics is, their adverse points of view 

 merit public discussion. In so doing we shall 

 deal in the first place with the most objection- 

 able interpretation given to the aims of the 

 Medical Brotherhood, namely, that it is a part 

 of a pro-Teutonic propaganda and that it is 

 financially supported by the German govern- 

 ment. In the appeal, as well as in a letter 

 published in the Journal of the American 

 Medical Association (Vol. 65, p. 971), it was 

 expressly stated that the Brotherhood is 

 neither a pro-Teutonic nor a pro-Allies move- 

 ment. Such assurances probably do not reach 

 the type of men who are capable of writing 

 anonymous letters. But we owe it to the med- 

 ical profession at large to make the following 

 statement regarding the filnaneial resources of 

 the Medical Brotherhood, which is as fol- 

 lows: Private contributions, to the amount 

 of $630.00 were made, in smaller and larger 

 sums, by some of the enrolled members. The 

 main financial support comes, however, from 

 the Carnegie Endowment for International 

 Peace. The executive committee of this body 

 granted us a liberal fund for the purpose of 

 developing our organization. The executive 

 committee is made up of such men as Presi- 

 dent Butler, President Pritchett, Elihu Eoot 

 and others of similar high standing. It is 

 quite safe to say that no individual with nor- 



mal judgment could think for a moment that 

 these foremost American citizens would con- 

 sent to support a pro-Teutonic organization. 

 But ought such a question have been raised 

 at all by any fair-minded member of the pro- 

 fession in the face of the standing of the 

 members of the committee which signed the 

 appeal? Would, for instance, the surgeon 

 generals of the Army, of the Navy, and of the 

 Public Health Service have consented to be 

 honorary presidents, if the Medical Brother- 

 hood had any ulterior, pro-Teutonic or other 

 un-American, tendencies ? 



General Discussion. — As to the other criti- 

 cisms, they can be best raet, we believe, by dis- 

 cussing the fundamental considerations under- 

 lying this movement. The term " brother- 

 hood," it is true, recalls to mind a state in 

 which all men shall treat one another like 

 brothers — like good brothers. This is an ideal 

 which may never be attained. The specter of 

 the unattainable drives practical men away 

 from such ideals. But it should be remem- 

 bered that the ideal is of great educational 

 value, if utilized merely to indicate the di- 

 rection which our practical activities ought to 

 take. However, the Medical Brotherhood di- 

 rects its appeal only to the medical fraternity 

 and does not intend to deal with unattainable 

 objects. The medical profession has a train- 

 ing which is scientific in character and method, 

 and which has, in modern times, among its 

 precepts the following maxims: (1) That the 

 development of a new view must be started on 

 the basis of an assured fact and not from 

 mere desire or by the impulse of an untamed 

 phantasy. (2) That one need not be afraid to 

 assume, or to work for, something which has 

 not received the approval of that great author- 

 ity, the practically wise man. (3) That one 

 should not work for the demonstration of the 

 correctness of the new assumption, or for the 

 realization of the new aim, in the manner of 

 the practical man, that is, by violent activities 

 and in the expectation of attaining completely 

 the desired end in a month or a year (perhaps 

 to lose it in a shorter time), but, on the con- 

 trary, must work patiently, trying to attain 

 the end, or even only small parts of it, by 



