A^JXrr,Pih9T9m'  }  Review  of  Advances  in  Pharmacy.  651 
The  bill,  which  is  called  Senate  Bill  2507,  provides  for  a  depart- 
ment of  public  health  under  the  direction  of  a  secretary,  who  is 
made  a  member  of  the  cabinet,  and  three  assistant  secretaries,  the 
first  assistant  to  be  a  man  with  medical  training,  with  knowledge  of 
public  health  measures,  including  sanitation ;  the  second  to  be  thor- 
oughly grounded  in  vital  statistics ;  and  the  third  to  be  a  woman 
trained  in  medicine  or  nursing  and  public  health.  It  is  proposed  in 
the  bill  that  the  U.  S.  Public  Health  Service  and  Bureau  of  Chem- 
istry be  placed  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  department,  which  is 
also  to  have  a  bureau  of  vital  statistics,  sanitation,  hospitals,  child 
and  school  hygiene,  quarantine,  food  and  drugs,  nursing,  tubercu- 
losis and  personnel.  The  secretary  of  public  health  is  directed  to 
communicate  with  the  governor  of  each  state  requesting  him  to 
recommend  to  the  state  assembly  suitable  legislation  with  sufficient 
appropriation  of  money  to  secure  cooperation  between  the  federal 
department  of  public  health  and  the  state  board  of  health.  Every 
state  taking  such  action  will  be  entitled  to  a  proportionate  share  of 
such  money  as  may  be  appropriated  by  Congress  for  carrying  out 
the  provisions  of  this  act.  The  bill  provides  for  the  division  of  the 
country  into  health  states,  districts,  subdivisions  and  precincts,  each 
conforming  to  the  geographical  boundaries  of  the  various  political 
divisions.  The  bill  also  provides  for  cooperation  with  the  Depart- 
ments of  Commerce,  Labor  and  the  Interior  in  the  collection  of  vital 
statistics  and  to  establish  a  uniform  system  of  cards,  records  and 
reports  regarding  diseases,  disabilities,  industrial  accidents,  births, 
deaths,  physical  condition  of  school  children,  the  number  and  con- 
ditions of  existing  hospitals,  etc.  The  bill  provides  for  an  appro- 
priation of  $15,000,000  for  1920  to  be  divided  among  those  states,  in 
proportion  to  their  population,  who  comply  with  the  requirements  of 
the  law  and  likewise  appropriate  a  sum  equal  to  the  federal  con- 
tribution, and  make  full  and  complete  reports  of  deaths,  births,  etc. 
An  appropriation  of  $48,000,000  is  made  for  the  erection  of  sana- 
toriums  and  hospitals,  to  be  divided  among  the  various  states  in  pro- 
portion to  their  population,  each  state  of  course  contributing  an 
equal  amount.  Undoubtedly  the  time  seems  ripe  for  the  inaugura- 
tion of  a  comprehensive  plan  for  looking  after  and  safeguarding 
the  public  health  from  every  standpoint.  Certainly  human  rights 
should  be  regarded  by  the  Government  as  being  at  least  on  a  par 
with  property  rights.   A  healthy  people  is  a  nation's  most  important 
