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WILMETTE LIFE . July 2, 1926 St. John's Lutheran Medical Inspection of School Children Bv ]. B. S. KING, M. D., CHICAGO. ,, I am opposed to the me.d icaJ inspection of school children, both upon general principles and for particular reasons, and I intend to prove to you that it is an invasion of the rigHts and duties of parents -that it is a violation of personal liberty and hence · contrary to the principles of free goverryment. Out of the mouths of its chief advocates I will show you that so far it has proved to be ineffective. And finally I will show you that it has a bad effect upon children and upon home influence. ( 1) It is an invasion of the ri·g hta and duties of parents. The state of parenthood predicates the performance of certain duties and the possession of certain right s. It is the duty of parents to clothe, feed, educate and care for the health of their children; it is their right to ' say how they shall be clothed, fed, educated and cared for · in sickness. I find fault with the medical examination of school children because it takes the duties and rights that are natural and proper to parents and transfers them to the state, where they do not belong. If history teaclecs arl.y lesson, it teaches the ineffectiveness . of doing for people things which they ought to do for · themselves. In order to insure progress in civilization a government must presume its citizens to be intelligent. The medical inspection of school children is ba sed upon the presumption that the American people arc not intel1igent enough to care for their own children, and this presumption put into force will end in making them so. (2) It is a violation of personal liberty. This is because there is no medical or therapeutical proceeding extant that so appeals to th e common sense of mankind as to command universal consent. Ii a sick person be taken to twenty diffe rent doctors, his case diagnosed by each, and the twenty presc ription s received examined , it will be found that no two agree. This is no exaggeration·; it ha s been tried and proved out. There will be no agreement in dia gnos is; there will be no agreement in treatment. The American puhlic is made up of people hold Ing widely different opinion s about medicine and medical treatment; thousands hclieYe in the regular school ; thou sands believe in the homeopathic . chool; thou sands believe in the eclectic school; thousands believe in osteopathy; thousand~ believe · in Christ ian Science. (3) The , medical inspection of school children has proven ineffective. Statistics do not make it clear that inspection has in the lea~t degr ee pre vented contagious diseases, although they have heen quoted for that purposr. Inspectors do not and cannot inspect every child every day. They have no opportunity of being the first to discover a case. It is only when the child is so obviously sick as to attract the attention of the teacher that the inspector is called in. The children therefore are no better protected from contagious diseases than if there were no inspec!tors. Parent~ arc a hundrrd time s more apt to notice the illness of their children than any inspector or teacher. Thry han' someth ing which. 110 inspector or teacher can possibly have: namely a particular and pec uliar affection for their own child, and a tcn<lenc)· to guard it accordingly. ( 4) Medical inspection inevitably tends to compulsion. Dr. Richard C. Cabot of Boston says: "If you mean business, if you mean to put ~o much· time and money into these things, if the state is ready to pay physicians to diagnose diseases, then it ought to follow up diagnosi s with treatment . Onlv in sc hool clinics will treatment eyer he effective:" Dr. Samuel G. Dixon of Pcnnsyh·ania sa id: "Compulsion, not persuasion, is the keynote of state medicine." The American people secured their liberty by one great war-and maintained it by another-at a fearful cost of blood and moncv: and now their liberty is being invaded insidious-ly under th<' specious pretext of sanitation. They si: complacent-under the delusion that something is being done for their good. It is urgently nece ssary that they should he informed of the true state of the case. (5) Medical' inspection leads easily to abuses. \Vhen we consider that the horlv of medical inspectors must be largely composed. of recent graduates: men who have had little experience and small business; men who are not particularly in terested in the health of children. hut who are much interested in getting a paying practice; and when we further consider the great advantages the position gives then}, we can readily perceive that all the elements of abuse and misu se arc present in abundance. The inspector has ,many o~portuni ties of steering business the way he wants tt to go. A southern philosopher said there were two re~ sons why some people did not mind their own bustness : one was that they had no mind, al!d !he ' other was that they had no business. Invest1gat10n would probably show that the school inspect_ors have not enough business to keep ~hem occupt~d, nor enough mind to care what pnnctples they VIOlate so long as they get business. · (6) Medical inspection has had a bad effect upon the mind of the child and upon home influences. Educators agree that children should be surrou!l~ed by cheerful and agreeable influences.; that suspicion and fear should be kept as far as possible from them; confidence and trust should be inspired; the affections should be developed and guarded, and the environment be charged with interesting and humane influences. They should be taught that the invisible influences which surround them are benign and gracious. In stead of that sanitarians are instilling into the minds of childre;-almost with the mother's milk -that they are surrounded by billions of invisible, malignant germs, bearing in their bosoms the seeds of disease and death. They lurk in the air they breathe· in the food they eat; in the water they drink. 'Fear, dread and uspicion arc introduced into the tender minds · of children. · They arc taught never to trust ~ature; the delicate bloom of the plum and the peach must be sc raped off; the delicious natural water of springs and wclls-t he water of the old oaken bucket-must be boiled before it is safe! · Thi s is strictlv un educati o nal. The Romans made a desolation and called it a peace; the sanitarians make a panic and call it a precaution! Fear is one of the most powerfully depressing creations of the human mind. Its effects upon the body are more rapid and deadly than any known poison. In a few seconds fear can drive vast volumes of blood from the periphery to the interior organa, blanching the surface an.d drenching it in a cold sweat. It can paralyze the voluntary muscles; it can relax the sphincters and cause all limbs to shake in a donie spasm. There is no poisonous alkaloid, no organic acid, no fixed or volatile salt, that can produce such powerful somatic effects in the space of a few seconds. By lecture s. circulars. pamphlets. school in spection and newspaper advertise ments the political doctors are spreading fear-peace-destroying, health s hattering fear-broadcast over the land. It enters every hamlet; it im·acle s every home; , it poi:;ons eve ry mind. The shallow sanitarians han· an umYholc so mc, fantastic dread of microbe s: hut as the microbes of fear haYe nn-er he n disc on· red , 1h ey ignore its real, demon strable effects. Dr. Calvin S. \Vhite, Health Commis~ioner oi 0Tegon, gave a lecture upon "Fits and Fainting." Be fore the end of the lecture one ho\· fell off hi s scat in a fit and others had to h<" hrlp(:d fnlln the room. In Grand Rapids, ~Iich .. one of the r-epr c. entati\·e5 of an antituherculo . is society lectured to the high sc hool childrrn. and so dilated upon the horrors of the cli-;ease that it cause d a pupil to faint . ~he had to he sent home in a carriage; t"·o others had to he helped from the room. A penalty will come from thi s pernicious teaching as sure as the ri sing of th e next tide. A crop of neurotic, weak-nencd, hypochondriac. insane people will come of it in this generation and especially in the next. 1Iedical in spection of children is . hasecl partly on se lfi sh desire and partly on mis taken solicitude; hut, howev er hascd, it is co ntrary to public policy, suhversiYe of American principles, derogatory to the best interes t s of the children and· dangerous to the liberties of the people. Wilmette and Park avenues, Wilmette Herman W. Meyer M. A. pastor 406 Prairie avenue. Telephone 1396 Church telephone 3111 SERVICES 5th Sunday after Trinity "In?ependt-Jh:t" Day." . 9 :30 a. m. Sunday school and Bthl t> 'classes. 9 :45 a. m. First sen·ice and sermon . 11 :00 a. m. S.ccond service and. s~~n:ton. . "The Rights and R espo n s1b1 htu·s 11t I .. iberty." }lEETINGS Tuesday, July 6: Sunday school Htal'f at 8. Saturday at 1-1 :30: Ch ildren at church. A special Independence Day SHYi··· · will b e Jw ld at St. John's on. Sunday morning at which the pal"tor w1ll spNtk on ""rhe Rights and tlw RPsponsibilitil:' :-: ·of Liberty," with special re fer~nce to tlk ri~hts and dutiPs of th(· c ttlzt,n · and Christian. The r e lation of Anwri ran liberty to the Rf'formation is thus <h·scribed: "Tlw R e formation w~1ich was at first onlv a. r eturn to liberty m the onl .-.r of relig.ious affairs bec~m~ . also a r· ·turn to libt·rty in tlw polltt cal syytr·m: TIH· establil"ltmc·nt of the republic "I AnwriC'n is a corollary of the Rl'fm·m ;~ tion. The American republic sprang from tiH' Rr ·formation ." A special invitation is t-xt··nclc·cl to ('\'(·ryonc· to attE:nd this service. It begins at 11. Thf' s 'unday school will also ha.Yt · a spt>cia l !Wl'ViCP during the Sunday st·IH lt·l period in ('Otnmt' moration of the p P!'lara : tion of Jnd(·tH>ndf>n('P. All the c h1ldrr·n '-·1 tiH' ~unday school Hhou ld be ln th· ·11· seats promptly at 9 ::30 o'~o~lock. All plans haw bt·<·n mad(· ror thf· ~ tlll day school pienic to h1· g1ve n at tl :·· (;J pn\'il'W FnrC'st PrPSf' f\'(· on Saturda y, .Jul y 1 n, from 1 : ~0 to S o'('lock . Tiki'· · will be g·amPs of all kinds for. old and youncr an<l rl'fn·shmt>nts also. f'hiltlr··n of t]~,. Sumlay >a·hoo l Will bP SU}))lJkcl with tiC'kr·ts. :\!any fint· prizt·s f··r ganws and contr·sts. Transp1wtation "' .i ll bP g-in·n to all frf't · of eharg·,.. Til· · r·ll llclrr·n of th f' Sunrlny srhool and all wll" rlP!·dl't' transportation must h 1' at t lw ('hurrh lwtw< ·l·n 1 and 1 ::W fl'··l· .. ·k . F:unili~>s art' urg-t·d tn takf· a ha ~k· t lun ch with tl~t·m ancl to stay f11r tl ·· P :t rly Tlw Sundav srhonl t· ·aC'lli'I'S an1l ··1fkl·rs will hil\'1· tlwir l'f·g ular nHnlt lll:· mr·1· ting at thr> Sun<lay !-'< ' hn"l ~'""111 :- · oil Ttlt·sday f·\'t·ning·, .July t;, at S · ,·, ·Jr,.-1\ F:\· pn ·o tw should lw th· ·rr·. (· \·r·ning. . Baptist Church 'J'h1· St ·squi-('r·ntr·nnial of th· · hirt li · ·t tlw n:ttion will h. · filling!~- ohs··n···tl :tt til<' mnrning St·l'\'il't · at tht · Daptist <'h\11'1 '1 1. f·l1 Suncl:ty, .July ·1. ::\fi.ss P a rm· ·l· · will sit1g· appropriat· ·ly :~nrl th· · s· ·rm·111 v; iil ht· on th·· tl11·nw. "Til··!"·· ( I n·· J Tuntlr· ol :11111 F'it'tY Y· ·: lr~ ." _ \t till' !'lo~·· of 1 1 · S~ ·n·ie · · tlw 1f:tnd (·f F· ·Jl r,w,Jlip will J ., gi\·,·n to tH ·w SnpJH'I' will lH· lll· · nlh· · r~ ~· · nHl . :tn d th ·· (.,.r.J ~ 'l;hf' Sunda\· f:C'IH ·Iol ·will \1· uin Jll">l ll!'l:' nn ~lllnllH·t· ·sl'll~'~llll·· :tt ~· : 1~·. \Yi1 h ;,!1 dt ·}lat·t lllt·nt s in ~~ ·~~ i111L 1'11·· :'.Tid-wr··· k m··l'\ill!.! ··n 1\·· ·tlll· ·:-d:t\. .Tu!y 7, will lH · in 1'\mrg ·. M tll·· Y'·1tl t!... JWnplf' f·f 1lw l'hlll('h UtHlt ·r tlw dir· ·l· ti· ·ll of ~Tr . and :\Tr~. Han· · · ~· X . f11,,,., .n an.Y will h· ·J:!'in lll'omptl~· at r·',·lro <" k in ·' llilrln·n's hall. In tlw plnrf: of 11w l'1 ·1::'Uia r .TuJ~· m·:··t· ing- of thf' " ·(,man's ~nC'i..t~· t h·· W··lll· ·ll will go tog-c·tlwr for tlH·ir annunl Yi:- it to tlw Old Pt>onlr·'s Hon11' :tt :\fa~· "'""d nn Thur~day, .Tuly R. nk< ·tin e, at tl 1 · C'httrC'h at 10 ::lO . · 1 REFUSE AND R!ESIST ALL ORDERS FOR 'l'lw \\.ilnwtt r> RHJ)ti~t r.hllrl'h is ) flC'Ato·rl :t.t tlw C'OI'IH'l' of Forf·" t anrl \Y iJm Pttf' nw·I1Uf' S. Thf' pn~tor. nr·\'. Fl·an· ·is C' . Stitlt-r, <':l.t1 h f' !';f'Pn in hl" stnch durine,· Ow morningfi of thf' """k f·xro ·pt !\Tonclav :1nd nt oth(·r tim£ .~ b\' :llllHointm f' nt. Miss from nwttc Vaccination or Medical Inspection ft 1s not only your right under the Constitution, it is your DUTY, if you would support the Constitution. l_Tndisputed possession of a thing· in time gives a sort of title to it. The longer yot . allow medical politicians to control your person, the more difficult will it hccome to withstand their demand s-demands that increase from year to year. ··Tlw cTmrch offirP. in rhnr~· · l·t' 1\fabr>llP Rf>nnar'kf'r, '" (11)»1) rl '> i]y !I until 1. Officf' t·· l· ·Ph<·n··· \\'il 2 2 :l !l. Methodist Church '1'!11 Sundny sc·hool nt !' ::10. nwf'ting- in all 'l" nnrtnwnt~. Wt'lfo;;hit1 nncl st·r·mnn by tl11 · 1\finistf·r at 11 o'('lnrk. T·~ n ·rYnnf' i" t lH' ron1'11 'tn 't ". f·~nr·C' in 11 :.· Yi~itor~ in 'Yihl"lf'tt P. :,,... ror(li::tlly in YitNl to enjoy this Ht' l'\'il' 0 . P11hlir :\Ticl-wr>r>k !'Pn·irP, ".Hlnc·)'tlay ('\'t·nin~ at 8 o'clock Send Stamps for litcraf;trc · AMERICAN MEDICAL LIBERTY LEAGUE, Inc. 59 East Van Buren Street Chicago, Illinois Miss Lvdia and ).fiss ).f;~r:on Snrt'Pv-rr of Kenilworth and ~fiss Lr;-th Kinne, 1324 F.lnt\\'oocl a,·enttP. \Yi1 mctte, spent last ,,.,rk at Mackinac Tsland, Mich .. attending the Chi Ome · ga convention.