Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
June,  1915. 
M o  d  em  M edicin  e . 
289 
health  legislation  or  administration  will  never  rise  higher  than  the 
average  of  knowledge  on  this  subject  throughout  the  State.  Public 
opinion,  let  it  be  emphasized  once  more,  is  the  source  and  fountain 
of  legislation  and  administration.  No  State  association,  no  matter 
how  active,  and  no  public  health  officials,  no  matter  how  efficient, 
can  possibly  give  to  a  State  any  better  public  health  control  than  the 
mass  of  the  people  themselves  desire.  What  are  the  specific  advances 
which  are  needed  in  your  State  and  in  what  order  or  manner  these 
shall  be  taken  up,  is  for  you  to  determine.  The  responsibility  for 
proper  decisions  on  these  points  rests  on  you.  Careful  consideration 
should  be  given  to  your  present  situation  and  needs.  The  plans  which 
you  evolve  should  be  such  as  will  commend  themselves  to  every 
intelligent,  broad-minded,  fair-thinking  man  and  woman  in  your 
State.  Personal  jealousies  or  animosities,  political  ambitions,  sec- 
tarian prejudices  and  scientific  hobbies  should  have  no  place  on 
such  a  program.  Subjects  should  be  taken  up  in  the  order  of  their 
relative  importance  with  a  view  not  only  to  securing  legislation  of 
value  to-day,  but  also  to  laying  a  foundation  for  a  permanent  and 
effective  health  organization  which  will  be  a  part  of  your  State 
government  for  years  to  come.  What  form  this  will  take,  it  is  for 
you  to  determine.  Whether  a  single  commissioner,  as  in  New  York 
and  Pennsylvania,  whether  a  board  composed  of  certain  State  officers 
ex  officio  and  professional  men  appointed  by  the  governor,  as  in 
Iowa,  or  whether  a  body  like  the  Illinois  State  Board  of  Health,  in 
which  the  law  simply  provides  that  the  governor  shall  nominate  and 
appoint  seven  persons,  is  a  matter  for  careful  study  and  consideration. 
The  determination  of  these  and  similar  questions  requires  a 
knowledge  and  comparison  of  the  laws  in  different  States  and  of  the 
experience  of  each  State  in  administration.  Such  a  task  is  too  great 
for  each  State  association  to  undertake.  It  can  only  be  done  by  a 
central  body.  We  have  recently  established,  under  the  Council  on 
Health  and  Public  Instruction,  a  medico-legal  bureau  which  will 
collect  laws,  ordinances,  bills  and  reports  on  all  public  health  subjects 
for  the  guidance  and  assistance  of  States  desiring  information.  The 
present  plans  include,  as  a  tentative  list,  the  following : 
1.  State  board  of  health  law. 
2.  Vital  statistic  law. 
3.  Law  authorizing  a  sanitary  survey  of  the  State  and  making  an 
appropriation  for  it. 
