EDITORIAL. 
169 
PRESERVING OUR STATE LAWS. 
The Minnesota veterinarians have recently had some experi¬ 
ence in defending their practice act. They have reason to feel 
prond of the veterinary practice act. As the law now stands only 
graduates of recognized colleges can come before the board for 
examination and registration. A bill was introduced in the 
last legislature which would have opened this act in a bad way 
and would have compelled the examining board to register non¬ 
graduates under certain conditions which hundreds of them 
could easily have complied with. This bill was carried along 
on its way through the legislature so quietly that it was not dis¬ 
covered until it had passed the Senate and was well on its way 
through the lower house. A quick hard fight made by the 
members of the State association defeated the bill, but it was a 
close call. Every State that has a good practice act should have 
a committee of veterinarians appointed residing near the capitol 
city, appointed for the express purpose of watching the bills in 
the legislature. Such a course by the New York State Vete¬ 
rinary Medical Society has been the means of saving the laws 
in the Empire State from pernicious amendments many times 
every year. 
The Sudden Death of ex-Governor Flower, of New 
York, robs veterinary science of a good friend. His recent 
gift of $5000 for a library for the New York State Veterinary 
College is the most munificent ever bestowed upon our unaided 
profession, unless the amount donated by Mr. Lippincott to 
endow the canine infirmary of the University of Pennsylvania 
was greater. Possessed of an immense fortune, an enthusiastic 
lover of domestic animals in the higher sense, it is probable 
that had he lived to a ripe old age he would have done even 
more for this science when closing his earthly accounts in a 
manner befitting his tastes. 
