Ma y 12, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



677 



steps whicli may appear to be very small but 

 wbicb offer the greatest chance for perma- 

 nency. (4) That one is not to be discouraged 

 by some failures. And, finally (5) that one is 

 to care more for progress in the right direc- 

 tion, than for attainment of the goal. 



Now the development of our organization 

 was started on the basis of the following in- 

 disputable facts. The ethical relations be- 

 tween separate nations are far behind the 

 state of morals governing the relations of 

 individuals of the same nation. Interna- 

 tional morality progresses at best in waves, 

 positive and negative, making perhaps three 

 steps forward and two and sometimes four 

 or five steps backward. However, during 

 the normal state of the world's affairs, ethical 

 men of all countries are ready to be guided by 

 the two great moral principles: patriotism 

 and humanity. The present world-wide catas- 

 trophe demonstrated, however, that even the 

 most idealistic citizen is often incapable, and, 

 in fact, is usually not in a position, to serve 

 both ethical principles at the same time, while 

 his country, right or wrong, is at war with 

 another country. Physicians, however, are in 

 an exceptional position; they are permitted 

 and even required to observe both ethical de- 

 mands even during war. In war the physi- 

 cian's services to his country are as necessary, 

 as great, as that of the warrior, but he is in the 

 fortunate position of being able to treat his 

 compatriot and his country's foe alike. That 

 standard of morality is upheld not only by 

 the medical profession itself, but is practically 

 demanded by the regulations agreed upon by 

 the various international conventions, regula- 

 tions which have been rarely broken even in 

 the present most brutal war. Even in the 

 present state of frightful confusion of judg- 

 ment, practically no sane individual exists 

 who would not consider this standard of 

 morality desirable to obtain in all domains 

 of human endeavor — if it were attainable. 

 These are safe facts. Now the Medical 

 Brotherhood was organized primarily to bring 

 these instructive facts to the consciousness of 

 the members of the medical profession, to tell 

 them of their ethically privileged status. This 



message is not sent to non-medical men; 

 neither do we mean to say to the non-medical 

 man : we physicians are holier than thou. We 

 wish only to convey to physicians the message 

 that their profession permits them to remain 

 at all times simultaneously patriotic and hu- 

 mane, and that they should train their char- 

 acter properly so that they could be fit to exer- 

 cise this high privilege. The nearest and 

 simplest end to be gained from such informa- 

 tion is the consciousness of a sense of higher 

 duties which comes from the knowledge of 

 one's higher moral dignity. 



There is no doubt that the medical profes- 

 sion is a noble calling. Do medical men rep- 

 resent a noble class? They ought to. There 

 are two good reasons for such an expectation. 

 " A medical man whose ethical standard is not 

 above that of the average man is morally be- 

 low him." His activities are of a most serious 

 nature; they concern life; and, furthermore, 

 they can not, as in other callings, be controlled 

 by anybody or anything else but the physi- 

 cian's own conscience; that conscience there- 

 fore must be of a higher type. Then the 

 physician has constantly to deal with suffer- 

 ing, that of the patient and of those to whom 

 the patient is dear; sympathy, therefore, 

 ought to be an integral part of the make-up 

 of the desirable physician. It is true that the 

 medical calling is at the same time the physi- 

 cian's business by which he makes his liveli- 

 hood; it is therefore often afflicted with many 

 of the moral shortcomings which frequently 

 go with money-making occupations. The 

 Medical Brotherhood, however, does not deal 

 and does not have to deal with this side of 

 the physician's life. It deals with the physi- 

 cian in his relation to his country, when he 

 acts and has to act as a patriot ; or when other 

 countries are at war with one another, when 

 the physician of neutral countries has to act 

 as a humanitarian. Here every physician can 

 afford to exercise his noble profession in a 

 noble spirit. It is that for which the Medical 

 Brotherhood appeals to all physicians of our 

 country. That alone seems to us to be an ob- 

 ject worth while working for. 



The fact that within only about nine months 



