A FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH ais 
THE OWEN BILL FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A FED- 
ERAL DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, AND ITS OPPONENTS 
By S. ADOLPHUS KNOPF, M.D. 
PROFESSOR OF PHTHISIO-THERAPY AT THE POST-GRADUATE MEDICAL SCHOOL 
AND HOSPITAL, NEW YORK 
oe one who is familiar with the workings of governmental de- 
partments of health such as exist abroad, who has seen or ex- 
perienced the sanitary benefits bestowed upon the people by the Reichs- 
gesundheitsamt of Germany (imperial department of health), the Con- 
seil Superieur de Santé Publique de France, and the similar institutions 
of most Huropean governments, can not help feeling amazed that any 
opposition should exist to the establishment of a federal department of 
health in this country. This amazement becomes all the greater when 
one considers some of the elements of which the opposition to that 
measure is composed. There is, for example, the New York Herald, a 
large and influential newspaper with an honorable career and a brilliant 
record for advocating everything that is conducive to the public wel- 
fare. Only in this particular instance has it allowed itself to become 
the mouthpiece of principles to which it is in general opposed, that is 
to say, principles and measures whereby the good of the people at large 
and the progress and welfare of mankind are hindered, and the lives 
of individual American citizens endangered. This particular news- 
paper is independent of any political party, or professional or religious 
association which might prejudice its point of view, and still it opposes 
a measure whereby all citizens of the country would benefit. The writer 
can not help thinking that this powerful news organ has not informed 
itself thoroughly of the real purpose and function of a federal depart- 
ment of health, and in its attack upon a large body of men such as com- 
pose the American Medical Association, the American Public Health 
Association, the National Association for the Study and Prevention of 
Tuberculosis, the American Association for the Advancement of Science 
and the various medical academies of the country, it is certainly mis- 
guided. It is to be hoped that the distinguished editors of the New 
York Herald will soon see that in their attitude toward the Owen bill 
they are not on the side of the people but are working against the wel- 
fare and interests of the masses. 
The principle of the Owen bill, establishing a department of health, 
has been endorsed by the president of the United States, by General 
George M. Sternberg, surgeon-general of the army, retired, and Rear- 
