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pled by age or otherwise,") alive and potentially active averages over nine dollars a week while the prevailing weekly amount paid by employers is eight dollars, there is obviously a deficit between the cost of living and the weekly wage. This financial deficit continued for long periods of time results in bad housing conditions, undernourishment and insufficient medical care. As an indirect effect, the financial burden of industry is thrown upon the state or upon voluntary charitable organizations maintaining institutions for the relief of workers from resultant preventable conditions.

Expenditures for health vary in different occupations and wage groups and it is impossible to draw conclusions as to the direct effect of inadequate wages upon the various ailments from which workers, particularly women, suffer. It is recognized, however, that in the lower income groups the percentage of income expended for health rises in direct ratio with the increase of income. It follows therefore that the group of workers receiving dispensary treatment or suffering sickness without medical attendance are principally recruited from the under-paid industrial workers who are unable to meet the problems of disease satisfactorily because of their meagre in

comes.

In a specific industry, unhealthfulness may in large measure be determined by wages. A low standard of living involving inadequate food, clothing and shelter, inevitably produces physical deterioration. The economic distress lays the foundation of impaired health and inefficiency.

Minimum wage legislation pre-supposes acceptance of the idea that "health is the foundation of the state." The state is interested not merely in the financial prosper

ity of its citizens but in the health, strength and power of each of them. In the words of Frederick L. Hoffman, "There can be no question of doubt but that at the present time the average life and industrial efficiency of a workingman in the United States is not what it should be, and it is manifestly the duty of the State, of labor, of labor associations, and of workingmen themselves to take the facts of the problem into consideration and by intelligent cooperation raise to the maximum the standard of life and health in American industry."

It may not be possible for the state to assume absolute control of the health of individuals, but it is possible for the state to determine the conditions under which people shall live and expend their energies. The effect of minimum wage legislation will be reflected in a higher state of physical power and an increase in the development. of national strength. Measured in terms. of the health of workers, it should mean an increase in medical service during illness, a decrease in occupational diseases and industrial accidents. If effectively developed thruout the country there should be a marked decline in the attendance upon dispensaries, with an increased number of pay patients in the wards or private rooms.

Our Country; its need is our need, its honor our honor, its responsibility our responsibility. To support it is a duty, to defend it a privilege, to serve it a joy. In its hour of trial, we must be steadfast, in its hour of danger we must be strong, in its hour of triumph we must be generous. Tho all else depart, and all we own be taken. away, there will still remain the foundation of our aims, the bulwark of our hopes, a rock on which to build anew-our country, our homeland, America!

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Serving the Nation.-American medical men need no advice as to their duty to the country. Their patriotism needs no spur or whip. Hundreds and thousands of skilled physicians, men of importance in their communities whose incomes range from $3,000 to $30,000 have already given-or are about to give their services-maybe their lives-to meet the medical needs of our military forces. Cheerfully and proudly the medical men of the country will make the financial and other sacrifices required of them. There is an exaltation-a real joyin thus dedicating our all to the land we love that gives each and every one of us a new outlook on life. It is not too much to say we are better and more capable men as a direct consequence. It is almost as tho much of the dross and coarser portions of our make-up were burned away, leaving the finer, better parts behind. No man can feel the fires of patriotism and let them play upon his soul without becoming cleaner and purer in his aims and aspirations. Many as will be needed for medicomilitary service, a great majority will be denied the opportunity of serving the country in this way. But let no doctor despair because his age, some physical infirmity, or conditions he cannot control prevents him from taking part in the work that every medical man instinctively craves. There is probably no physician in America whose pulse does not quicken or heart throb with the desire to get into the ruck of the war. It is his manhood making itself manifest. But if many of us are doomed to disappointment in this particular direction, it does not mean that any one of us will lack for opportunities for national service. Doctors are trained men, men of keen insight, sober judgment and broad comprehension. They are good executives, excellent administrators, and counsellors of unexcelled foresight

and vision. Sooner or later our Government is going to realize that there are many "General Woods" waiting to be called from the ranks of the medical profession. The proposed food laws, the transportation problems, the ship building enterprises, the myriad other undertakings of the Government in addition to its fighting forces are going to need men who can think clearly, judge wisely and act bravely; men of broad vision, disciplined minds, and the ability to decide quickly and correctly. When the President and his advisers recognize the wealth of executive and administrative-yes, diplomatic -material at their command in the medical profession, there will be unlimited opportunities for national service.

The Purchase of Liberty Bonds by Physicians.-In the meantime, altho doctors' incomes-with the extra demands on them for new books, new appliances, etc., etc.-have little elasticity or stretching power, we hope many physicians will be able to join in this simple way in upholding the hands of the Government. This coming year, with increased taxes on income, the proposed increase of postage rates and the constantly increasing cost of paper and labor, the medical journals will have little means to buy bonds or anything else. Nevertheless, the directors of AMERICAN MEDICINE propose to invest all of its available funds or surplus in Liberty bonds. All those connected with its administrative staff likewise intend to purchase all they can. It is an obligation we owe to the Government, to do our part in this way to aid and support it in its work for the American people-for the future of the American nation.

We have received a number of inquiries. from medical men relative to the purchase of Liberty bonds on an installment basis. This has suggested the idea that there may

be some physicians, who for one reason or another, do not care to ask their local banks to sell them Liberty bonds on the deferred or partial payment plan. To medical men therefore, who wish to purchase Liberty bonds on a weekly or monthly basis the resources of AMERICAN MEDICINE are available. We will gladly serve you without charge, partly with the object of doing our humble part to promote the sale of Liberty bonds and partly to help our readers to do their part. Full particulars will be sent to any doctor who wishes to buy Liberty bonds.

To young physicians or undergraduates who want to do their "bit," we have a most attractive plan whereby we will give a hundred dollar Liberty bond for a certain number of new subscribers. Here is a splendid opportunity for Red Cross workers to help dispose of Liberty bonds. Full information to any one who may be interested. Let us "do our bit" together.

A New Way to Destroy the Publishing Industry.-As we go to press word comes that Congress proposes, instead of increasing second class rates, to impose a special tax on advertising, probably three or more per cent. It does seem as tho our national legislators had made up their minds to penalize the publishers of the country, and if one method proves inexpedient to lose no time in finding another and more drastic one. Well, if a year from now the publishing field bears a close resemblance to those sections of France where the German armies have come and gone, there may be some of our senators who will regret their unwillingness to believe that any increase of burden on an industry already staggering under the excessive cost of paper, spelled ruin. Destroy fifty per cent.-one-halfof the publications of the country and 250,000 printers many men of advanced years -will be thrown into the ranks of the unemployed. It is all very well to say these men can get other work. Some of them can, but most of them cannot, because they are trained in a single line of endeavor. They can take up no new kind of work at their time of life-and they are not fit for the trenches. Idle men are dangerous at any time, but especially so in war time. Idle men make mobs, and no one ever knows

what mobs will do, or what effect they will have on the people. We earnestly hope, therefore that the Senate will think well before they "cast the die" that surely means irrevocable destruction and ruin to hundreds of useful publications, with misery and want to thousands of those who depend on the existence of these journals for their livelihood.

Let no one cast a slur on the patriotism of the publishers of the country. No group of men can do more-no group of men will do more. Tax us, yes; take our profits, yea, even to the last penny; ask us for anything we can give; but in the name of common sense and right, do not destroy the industry by placing an impossible burden upon

it.

The publications of America are doing a splendid work under conditions that have grown progressively worse for several years. They fill a place in the lives of the American people that is beyond estimation. Wipe out these useful journals and not only will a serious economic loss result, but the people, particularly in the sparsely settled sections, will be deprived of much that makes their lives tolerable.

We do not need to speak of the scientific and technical journals. We are willing to go on record as saying that there is not one of these, even the most insignificant and seemingly inconsequential, that does not have some real value. Place a tax on their

advertising patronage-pitifully small at best-and their light will be snuffed out as one would a candle. The reason is plain, for these journals have no "margin of safety" to meet emergencies, and the paper situation has already increased their trials and tribulations to a dangerous degree.

To our senators and congressmen we can only say in closing, do not do this monstrous wrong to the publications of the country. Let them live, and tho the great majority may not prosper, there are many that will. A profit tax on these larger journals will bring an income greater than any tax on advertising ever can-and the industry will be saved to the people.

Our German-born Colleagues.- Delicate as the subject is, we believe it a duty to express certain thoughts that are bound

to arise in this connection. There can be no question but that many of our Germanborn colleagues are going to find themselves in a very difficult position as a result of the conflict between this country and Germany. Unthinking and narrow-minded people are going to subject them to many discourtesies and indignities. Those who are inconsiderate and intolerant will lose no chance to make medical men as well as all others who speak with a German accent, or who have a German name, feel that they are aliens outsiders. Such acts cannot be too severely condemned. Instead of showing the slightest ill feeling or unkindness to our German-born citizens, we should go out of our way to demonstrate our friendship and good fellowship. If we stop to consider the situation they will have our sympathy, not in the sense of commiseration but purely as a matter of appreciating the hard position in which they are essentially placed. To a man we believe our German-born colleagues are as loyal and devoted to the United States of America as any other citizens. To entertain any other idea is to offer them a most unwarranted and unmerited insult. But knowing how deeply rooted in the German mind and character is the love for certain German social institutions, traditions and associations, how dear are early memories and how many natural ties must remain, even tho they have transplanted their lives and activities to a new land, we would be lacking in the better instincts if we failed. to understand how saddened and unhappy they must feel to see war between the land of their birth and the land of their adoption. Surely, it is no crime to have a tender regard for one's native land. A man may have little sympathy for the rulers of that land or its political system, and yet every rock. every brook, every spot he knew as a boy may be dear to him. The town or village where he lived, the house in which he was born, the schoolhouse in which the first seeds of his education were sown, all have their appeal to his memory. Many of those who have left all these and taken up their life-work in this country, still have fathers, mothers, and countless other relatives in the land of their birth. Is it strange that men cherish these ties, that they look upon them as among their dearest possessions? Are they any worse citizens of the United States because they treasure the memories of their

childhood in Germany? Certainly not, and any man of any nationality who has not the capacity of loving the place where he was born, of feeling the ties of family affection, and of treasuring the hundred and one recollections of his early home, however humble it may have been, lacks much that makes for character and moral worth. Rarely do our German-born citizens show this fault, and not the least of the many qualities which they have brought to our national life, has been the sentimental regard they have retained for their native land. As for their allegiance or fealty, that is quite another matter, but the knowledge we happily possess concerning our German-born colleagues makes us confident that these are faithfully given to America. In this connection we can only repeat, we know no medical men whose citizenship is of a higher or finer type-or comes closer to the ideals of Americanismthan those of German nativity. As these words are penned, the writer's thoughts

turn to Dr. Abraham Jacobi. If there is a better American or more loyal citizen, a truer gentleman or more skillful physician, we do not know him. With well over a half century's faithful work in this country as a practitioner of medicine, Dr. Jacobi has been a constant inspiration to his students

and fellow workers. He well represents the innumerable German-born physicians whose scientific labors have done so much to give medicine in America its present standing. Together with our other foreign born physicians of English, French, Italian and other nativity-they have contributed their part and we are glad to acknowledge the aid they have given to a common cause. United, they have all worked for one great end, the success of American medicine. That America stands today in the front rank of medical science we can ascribe in no little degree to the earnest, untiring zeal and devotion of our foreign born-and in many instances foreign educated-physicians. They have thrown their efforts into the common pool of endeavor, and all humanity has been the gainer.

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