SANITARY CONDITIONS AND NEEDS. 437 



but conditions can certainty be bettered. The Director of Health has 

 stated that "with very little cost the hygiene of domestic life could be 

 very much improved." I am of the opinion that the same statement 

 holds good for municipal hygiene and doubtless we all agree with him 

 that "efforts along this line would be well rewarded by the greatly 

 decreased mortality which would be sure' to result." 



It seems to me that meetings of the character of this Medical Associa- 

 tion are proper places for the discussion of questions of hygiene and 

 sanitation. "We feast intellectually upon masterly papers which present 

 the purely scientific side of our profession. New and attractive vistas 

 of possibility are unrolled before us, as suggestive hypotheses in explana- 

 tion of problems hitherto baffling are presented. 



It is neither belittling nor damaging to our dignity to consider the 

 simpler questions of sanitation in the home and in the community. In 

 so doing one is often obliged to pronounce opinions and to offer friendly 

 criticisms which are apt to be misinterpreted as malevolent. 



In conclusion I wish to state that I have abiding confidence in the 

 motives, plans, and ultimate success of the Philippine Government in 

 the great sanitary battle in which it is engaged. I believe that the phase 

 of the problem which I have attempted to present is an important detail, 

 worthy of attention now, but I am not unmindful of other phases nor of 

 the magnitude of the work in hand and results already achieved. 



77851 6 



