57 



those who are at present unnecessarily ill. This increase in earn- 

 ings would thus tend to reduce the cost of living, increase the total 

 earnings of the citizens and make the average income larger." 



Thus conservation of health means higher wages, which enables the 

 worker to keep ahead of the increasing price of the commodities of life. 

 Surely this is worth striving for, and in my opinion Indiana can decrease 

 the death rate and lengthen life and thus bring about this condition., To 

 accomplish it I would urge the adoption of a law which would provide for 

 a full-time health commissioner in every county in the State. This com- 

 missioner must be especially trained in sanitary science and the various 

 applications of the other sciences in so far as they affect the prevention of 

 unnecessary deaths. If such a law were passed, and backed up by an 

 intelligent public, we would have the healthiest State in the Union in a 

 very short time. I state my belief because where such sanitary applica- 

 tions have been thoroughly carried out, we have as a result healthful con- 

 ditions. I would cite as an instance of this the Panama Canal district. 

 While the names of Goethals and Gorgas will go down to posterity as con- 

 structors of the Panama Canal, they should receive more credit for the 

 sanitary organization and administration which made the construction of 

 the canal possible. They converted one of the most unhealthful localities in 

 the world, where the death rate was over 70 per 1,000, to the most health- 

 ful spot with the death rate of less than 6 per 1,000, a death rate lower 

 that that of any other civilized community in the world. 



Another instance of the practical applications of sanitary science has 

 been in our military camps. Reports show that out of 12,000 men in these 

 camps there was not a single case of smallpox or typhoid fever for a period 

 covering two years. Typhoid fever has long been one of the pests of camp 

 life, but through improved sanitation and typhoid vaccination, this dis- 

 ease has been absoluetly eliminated. Other diseases in these camps over 

 which there was not such perfect control showed a great reduction. 



With such fine examples of successful sanitary administration it seems 

 to me justifiable to make application to our own communities, with of 

 course necessary modifications. I therefore would suggest that this Acad- 

 emy at this session pass resolutions favoring the passage of a law at the 

 next Legislature which would provide for a competent, full-time health com- 

 missioner in each county in this State. I know of no way in which the 

 Indiana Academy of Science can better further the best interests of the 

 State with reference to the conservation of human life. 



