282 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VIII. No. 192. 



The diseases against which protection is 

 most to be desired are cholera, smallpox, 

 leprosy and yellow fever; and these dis- 

 eases come in at the coast on vessels which 

 are sailing under national authority and 

 regulation. It is impossible to see how an 

 eiFective control can be exercised over them 

 except by the national government. Now 

 that our government has driven Spain out 

 from its West Indian possessions, and has 

 assumed possession of Porto Eico and tem- 

 porary control of Cuba, an opportunity is 

 afforded of organizing this department and 

 putting it upon a much more effective foot- 

 ing than would have been possible before. 

 The island of Cuba has been the great 

 source of yellow fever infection, and we 

 now have, temporarily at least, the oppor- 

 tunity of ridding ourselves of this source of 

 danger and dread. At the same time Con- 

 gress can reconstruct what is now called 

 the Marine Hospital Service, and render it, 

 under some other name, a thoroughly effec- 

 tive agent for the protection of the people 

 of the United States from imported pre- 

 ventable diseases. An effective bureau 

 once established would undoubtedly find 

 new opportunities of usefulness to the 

 people. The preservation of the public 

 health against the invasion of preventable 

 disease is really one of the great interests 

 of the American people, health and the 

 protection of life to the normal period being 

 infinitely precious to the individual and 

 desirable alike for the happiness and the 

 productiveness of the whole people. In- 

 deed, the public health more directly con- 

 cerns the public happiness than does agri- 

 culture, mining, trade or any other of the 

 national activities. The present expendi- 

 ture of the government for the Marine 

 Hospital Service has been about $650,000 

 a year, on the average for the five years 

 1893 to 1897. This budget ought to be 

 greatly increased. It would be wholly 

 reasonable for the government to spend as 



much on behalf of the public health as it 

 costs to keep three battleships in commis- 

 sion for a year in time of peace, say, one 

 million of dollars. 



The Life-Saving Service of the United 

 States deserves to be greatly enlarged. The 

 seacoast of the United States is of great 

 extent, even if we do not include the deep 

 indentations of a coast like that of Maine. 

 On June 30, 1895, the number of life- 

 saving stations was only 251, and of 

 these 251 stations 53 were on the Great 

 Lakes, 1 on the Ohio river and 13 on 

 the Pacific coast. The mere mention of 

 these figures demonstrates at once the 

 inadequacy of the number of stations. 

 The men employed must possess skill 

 in surf-work and in the use of the various 

 appliances for life-saving, and must be 

 also men of unquestionable courage and 

 good judgment. They are exposed in 

 their routine of duty to many hardships 

 and dangers. They struggle with wind 

 and cold on the shore, and with some of the 

 most formidable dangers of the sea. They 

 must patrol beaches or rock-bound shores 

 in the worst weather, and must be always 

 ready for prompt service by night and by 

 day. They need all the martial virtues, 

 and these virtues are displayed not in killing 

 and wounding, but in rescuing from death 

 and injury. Shall we not all agree that 

 this noble service should not be limited in 

 its scope by any pecuniary consideration, 

 but only by the probability of rendering 

 service ? 



The Department of Agriculture is of com- 

 paratively recent creation, dating from 1893. 

 The proper objects of the department are 

 the discovery, study and development of 

 the agricultural resources of the United 

 States. It is primarily a scientific and 

 technical department. Its main work is 

 not done in Washington, but at scattered 

 stations all over the country. Thus, there 

 are outside of Washington 154 observing 



