HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1930-03-27, Page 7111
Rural Health Units
The Canadian House of Commons Without Division
Approves a Motion Requesting the Government
to ConSider-i Subsidizing "County Health
Units", to Give Health of Rural Canada
Better Protection
The gigantic scope of each a pro- the organization of Mich a unit in
jet at first eludes one, as does the
great significance of the fact that by
approving the motion without diver-
sion, the house put the question of
national health where it belonga—out
of the field of party politics.
This is extremely' fortunate, for it
'enables every Canadian citizen to dice
cuss, and to give his approval without
rancour or considerations of party af-
filitations to what is probably the
greatest piece of health -legislation
ever contemplated in the history of
the world.
For the Cuuuty Health Unit scheme
when it, is in working order through-
out the Dominion, as it is bound to be
eventually and as It already is in
parts of Quebec, Saskatchewan and
British Columbia, save more Canadian
lives, and more Canadian dollars than
the majority of us realizeare now
being wasted. For there is no doubt
that future generation* will look back
upon our present-day rural health
!Management with. horror, as being lit-
tle Short of criminally negligent.
At the beginning of this century the
'country was a healthier place to live
in than the city. In fact, Most of our
readers will Probably be surprised to
learn that it is so no longer. Actual-.
ay official statistics prove that the
farmer has much less chance of long
life and health than has his city cous-
in, and the reason is simply that the
city man's health is looked. after scien-
tifically, by modern, up-to-date public
health departments, while the farmer
and the small-town dweller do not
share in this advantage, because it
Costs. a great deal of money, and the
country and the small town cannot af-
Cord it.
The County Health Unit Plan, pro-
Viding as it does for Federal and Pro-
yilaucl payment by subsidy of two-
thirds of the .cost of each Coriuty
Health Unit, the municipality served
paying the third, recognizes aud acts
upon the fact that health is a national
asset, and that rural lives are as
valuable'i Canada ae urban ones.
Surely this is eminently .sound on
practical, as well as humanitarian
grounds. Everyone, regardless of po-
litical affiliations,•agrees that Canada,
suporting social machinery capable of
serving more than double her present
••• population, needs people more than
anything else in the world. We seek
and are willing to pay for immigrants
of the right kind. Yet every year we
lose rural -born, native Canadians by
thousands, years ahead of their time,
through diseases which could be en-
. tirely eliminated—for example diph-
theria and typhoid, both of which are
preventable and could be wiped out
Within a generation—and through
tuberculosis, heart disease, complaints
peculiar to infants and their mothers,
scarlet fever, cancer, despite the fact
that proper measures of public health
can save and in some centres are an-
#ually saving many lives from all of
them.
Quebec has attacked this problem.
She has 17 Rural Health Units in
operation, and expects soon to have
bight more. Consider what happened
1925.,
During 1926 there were 643 deaths
in the district from general causes.
In 1928 this figure dropped 156 to 497..
Similarly, infant deaths were reduced
from 213 to -SO; deaths from tuber-
culosis Irorn 56 to 51, and deaths from
contagious diseases, from 86 to 27.
Statistics, indicating the reduction of
disease generally are not yet avail-
able, but a study of the death rate
makes logical the assumption that
this too, must have been comparative-
ly important. , •
Three other health units were also
established, following the one in
Beauce County, and in all three cases,
similarexcellent results have been
obtained.
A clear explanation of the workings.
of one of these exits is afforded by
Dr. Alphonse Lessard, Director, and
Dr. Emile. Nadeau, Assistant Director,
Quebec Provincial. Bureau of :Health.
What is the. 'County Health 'Unit"
.syetem which we are presently oper-
ating iu our Province of Qtebee? It
consists in the establishment, in a
county or in two small neighboring
counties, of what might be designated
as a "Bureau of Health in miniature"
composed of a full-time medical offi-
cer, two or more public health nurses,
a sanitary inspector charged with the
enforcement of the health regulations
and with the education of the munici-
pal officers, together witb a secretary
to handle the clerical work of the of-
fice which is generally located in the
principal town of the county. The
whole population of the county is thus
submitted to constant supervision on
the part of this staff. Health educa-
tion is intensively meted on, a con-
siderable amount of propaganda work
is done continually, and not a single
municipality escapes the attention of
the officers of that unit. The medical
officer covers all the parishes, meets
there the civil and religious authori-
ties, maintains cordial relations with
local doctors, gives public lectures
(announced the preceding Sunday by
the cure in the pulpit) has friendly
talks with mothers on the necessity
of pre -natal, post -natal and pre-school
hygiene, -visits the school and looks
after outbreaks of infectious diseases.
The nurses .examine the school child-
ren and. refer those defective In any
way to the family physician; they
givb the teachers instructions In
hygiene which they, in turn, pass on
to their pupils; they go directly into
the homes of the People to make them
understand the necessity of following
the golden rules for clean and healthy
living, they advise young mothers on
how to protect thetr babies or babies -
to -be, etc. The sanitary inspector
visits the municipal enforcements of
the health laws, looks after water
supplies, sewerage, nuisances, sees
that quarantine is observed in case of
contagiousadiseases, etc. The secre-
tary attends to the office work, hand-
les correspondence, answers queries,
keeps records, and, one important
matter, collects from all the ministers
of worship the birth, marriage and
death certificates, makes corrections
o nthem if necessary, takes a copy of
each, and sends them to our Division
A Last Tribute to a Faitbleo Wonum
A PRESENT THAT COST THE LIVES OF THOUSANDS
Napoleon necklace, slued at $400,000, etcrm centre of action by Arch-
duchess Theresa of Austria against former British secret agent, who sold it
and disappeared. It was secured from bile spoils of Napoleon's last campaigns
•
Premier,.Primate,
Peers and Professor
Their Views on Russia and
Religion, and the Exist-
ing Situation
"Is the Foreign Secretary aware
that two months ago 1 worshipped
peacefully witb, thousand other peo-
ple ia the Cathedral of the Redeemer
in Moscow?"e–Mr. Malcolm MacDon-
ald, M.P., in the House of Commons.
"I ha,ve already received a great
deal of information which greatly in-
creases both the gravity and the dif-
ficulty of the subject. I desire, after
there has been greater opportunity, to
consider the whole matter and to dis-
cuss it with the fullness Which is im-
possible now, to have the matter de-
bated again in your Lordships'House."
—The Archbishop of Canterbury- in
the House of Lords.
There is not much change in the
Situation with regard to the
controversy and Russian relations.
Dr. Lang, Archbishop of •Canterbury,
states above that he has received "in-
formation which increases the gravity
of the subject," and the only evidence
iu the other direction appears in Rey-
nolds's Illustrated News, but as the
source, of information is vaguely al-
luded to as of "high authority" peo-
ple will form, their own conclusions.
This "high authority" says: •
In Beauce County, Quebec, following of Vital Statistics in Quebec.
Problem in India
Of "Untouchables"
The .Simon Commission report will
be issued in the spring, and the &m-
e iribution by Sir Charles Nellie,
iC.C.S.I., in the India number of "The
;Times," on the Caste System, Is of
Special interest. Among other per-
tinent points raised, Sir Charles
writes:
"To -day castes are to be 'reckoned
by the hundred and identifiable' minor
Castes by the thousand. Caste remains
as strongly as ever a matter of birth.
'A man is born to honor as a Brahman
Or to dishonor as a sweeper; the worst
of Brahmans cannot lose itis sanctity
and the noblest of sweepers cannot
break his birth's invidious bar, ex-
bept by going right outside the pale
Of his religion.
• "To 5 great extent occupation 18
atilt determined by a man's caste,
though various causes, such as edu-
cation and travel and the development
of industry and the desire for Gov-
ernment service, have blurred the
boundary lines,
"Each 'caste enforces' its own rules
by meta of committees called pan.
phayets. A caste man who brealcs the
rules by engaging in -a degrading oc-
'pupation, or eating improper food, or
Inarrying beyond the pale, is arraign-
ed before the caste tribunal, [le may
get off by paying a line or standing
, dinner. But for major offences lie
Will b outca,ste, and. then atone of his
Srwn caste -fellows will have aiiathing
Ito do with him; Mir can he get tie-
tess to the temple, net% service from
tuly o fthe other workere, the barbers
`the eobbler, the evasherman, on 'Whom
10 depends for necessary offices.
"To placee evitere there is a demand
for Wivoe, girls of 4.humble caste aro
torn o t I inns larotight by 'dishonest brok-
ers, who dispose oS thein at a profit
by, re pros e al ince them as of higher
fop 4Ict iaan 'bo :ty nu, h11s ractit9
may suggest •the question why a low -
caste man doomed to a degrading
trade should not likewise go off to
some place where he is unknown and
give 'himself out as of a high caste.
The answer is. that unknown strangers
are always objects of suspicion in
India; and that before he was accept-
ed he would be put through tests un-
der which he would break down for
sheer lack of knowledge of the so-
ciety which he sought to enter.
"There is little difficulty •about the
precedence of the major castes. Al-
ways the Bra.b.maaa comes first, and
then the modern representatives of
the three 'twice born' communities.
Below them there would be no gener-
ai agreement as to the•sequeace. Some
Sirdras are 'clean'; others, though not
clean, are yet not thought of as °Di-
luted, •
"Below these, again, are a descend-
ing series of afintouchableaa •In the
South, where Brahmanism is strong-
est, the degree of pollution with which
the various kinds of pariah are in-
vested is measured by the distance
within which they may not approach
a laralstnan.
The depressed classes are reckoned
to number from 50 to 60 millions.
They used • to be thought of , as de-
finitely beyond the pale of Hinduism.
Their position is, more ambiguous
nowadays, when growing tension be-
tween Hindus and Moslems makes it
inmortant to each community to in-
crease its numerical strength.
'Tat if the outcaetes are to he rec-
koned as Hindas it is only just and
proper that Hinduism should treat
them better. Logic and expediency
alike tend to reinforce theaeffoats al-
aeady being made by the more gener-
ous-ininded of the 'caste leaders to
show More coesiderati•ori to those be-
yona the pale. The movement has
long figured 011 political prOgrainmes;
it is now actually gaiting streusta; ,
but it stil has great difiloulties to Over
•noine in the eleaile 0 rsbod,,,-,
OlterOiseiS
"I have heard it said by one who
certainly ought to know, that not 1
per cent. of the churches in Russia
have been. closed.
"And even if it 'were 10 per cent.,
that figure would not be higher than
the number of churches which, for
various causes, have of late been
closed in Britain,
"Some of the churches have been
removed on the demands of young
Communist groups, who have proved
to the community in which they live
that the churches serve no useful
purpose.
"No doubt a considerable number
of priests have been dealt with, not,
however, because of the practice of
religion, but on account of their coun-
ter-revolutionary sympathies.
"I do not think, it is true that there
have been actual atrocities in any
Teal sense of the term, and the priests
expelled have been dealt with on
general political grounds. This ap-
plies to the Orthodox Church.
"But I believe that the Soviet has
dealt more severely with the Baptists,
and for the reason that they are an
international organization. Foreign
influence is thus introduced, and to
this the Soviet objects."
Liquor Control Gives Ontario
$9,661,448 Profit for 1929
Commissioner Reports Sales Totalling $55,360,569; Day of,
Large Bootlegger is Declared Over as Regulations
Broaden Scrutiny of Purchases
Toronto.—With sales totaling $55e, Sir Henry Drayton, chairman of the
860,569, the Ontario Liquor Control commission, also :said a new plan
Commission has reported to the Legis- would be Put 'rite effect in an en-
lature a profit ter 1929 of $9,661,448. deavor to prevent abuse of the permit
• Coinineating (in operation of the privilege. Under the new eegulations
control system, the report said: a pet's= buying beyond his means or
"Evils resulting from the abuse of for bootlegging purposes will lae lim-
liquor have ever been present. The siu ited to purchases at the store neareso t
drunicenness is still with us and his home, thus permitting a closer
probably will remain, with hosts of Scrutiny on his purchases,
other sins." • During 1929 there were 543,044
The commission declared the day of permits granted. Sales from the 123
the large bootlegger was ended. "He government stores totaled $$7,626,779,
it regarded today as the common en- with the remainder from 105 brewery
emy," it said. warehouses and breweries. The report
Use of rubbing alcohol and other showed that the per capita consump-
substitutes was held by the commis- tion of alcohol in Canada had fluetu-
sion as responsible for a large per- ated from .703 gallons in 1917 to a
centage of drunkenness in some sec- low of .895 in 1919 and to a high of
tions and said measures were being .723 in 1921. The consumption in 1928
taken to eliminate this abuse. was .425 gallons per 'person,
characteristics of narrowness and vioe
lence or purpose.
"It is an active will riding rough-
shod and cruelly: over every obstacle,
reel or imaginary. •
Persecution Is Hateful
"To my colleagues as to myself re-
ligious pet secution is 'hateful. We
have inherited that hate from our own
stock, and are not likely to be .indif-
ferent to any persecution in any part.
of the world, or in any time either
past or present.
"We have recognized Russia diplo-
matically because we believe that that
is for the general good, however intri-
cate and troublesome the immediate
problems may be.
"To outlaw a country is not to make
it amenable to world opinion, but the
opposite.
"The only question is, what are the
facts and what are our opportunities,
and how can they best be used?
"It would be the easiest thing in
the world to act in such a way as
would add to the inflictions which
Christians may have to endure. That
we shall avoid whatever the agitation
may be."
A Bishop's Suggestion
Dr. Headlam, Bishop of Gloucester,
in a recent address, said that be "did
not believe it was right, wise, or
necessary to attempt to interfere with
the diplomatic relations of the two
countries. He believed the presence
of the British Ambassador and proper-
ly appointed Consuls would have a
beneficial effect.
"He could not doubt that the right
course was that the heads of the vari-
ous religious bodies, the Archbishop
of Canterbury, ;the President of the
Free Church Council, Cardinal Bourne
and the Chief Rabbi should be asked
to approach the Russian Ambassador
here and discuss the matter in a sym-
pathetic manner.
'He believed that if they were to
do so they might be able to bring
home to the Ambassador, and through
him to those who sent him, the resent-
ment that was widely felt, a resent-
ment which Might have far-reaching
consequences in the future. He be-
lieved that an appeal based on univer-
sal principles common to humanity, of
justice, liberty, toleration and fairness
Must in the end have weight."
Lord Parmoor, in the House of
Lords, took a similar line when he
told the Peers,: "I take the view of
the present Government that if you
want improvement in Russia, the way
to obtain it is by a friendly resump-
tion of ordinary normal diplomatic re-
lations, and that is the only way in
which, in the long run, I think Rus-
sia willacorae into co-operation with
the general life and general outlook
other European countries."
A Fact Not Generally Known
An interesting personal tribute was
paid to Lord Parmoor by Lord New-
ton, who said in the Lords' debate:
"I cannot refrain from expressing
my admiration for the noble and
learned Lord, Lord Parmoor, and I do
not think that justice has ever been
done to hiin with regard to this par-
eicular matter. The noble and learn-
ed Lord, in the course of a long and
honorable career at the Bar, amassed,
I believe( a considerable fortune,
largely by defending the interests of
Capital in the Committee mints up-
stairs, and he invested a large portion
of this hard-earned gains in Russia.
"The moment the Bolsheviks came
into power I believe they seized every
penny that he possessed. Yet the
noble and learned Lord bears no mal-
ice. He is the first to fling himself, so
to speak, upon their necks.
• "Personally, I am quite incapable
of soaring to heights of altruism of
that description. If a man had flag-
rantly robbed me and if I was again
called upon to associate with him I
should feel rather reluctant to do so,
especially if not only having robbed
me in the past he now indulged in
continual vituperation of me and my
associates."
A Nonconformist. Professor
• Professor Bernard Manning, of
Jesus College, Cambridge, writing in
the Morning Post, says:
"We are asked to wait still for the
facts. The Soviet makes no secret of
its policy towards those things that
we most prize; it is only our Englis]i
sentimentalists who shut their ears
to what the Russian Communists say
about their achievements and their
policy in matters of religion.
•
"Dissenters like myself care not
two straws how the Russians arrange
their property; but we care very
greatly for those o fthe household of
faith, and despite any worry that it
may cause to Miss Wilkinson and Mr.
Henderson we shall go on caring. The
Nonconformist conscience may exist
as a butt for third-rate humorists; it
has never existed. as a soothing mix-
ture for time -serving politicians."
The Premier's View
Mr. Ramsay MacDonald, the Pre-
mier, -writing to a correspondent,
says:
"The Government is much concern
ed with what is going on. We cannot
say that we have got the facts.
"News supplied from Riga should
not be believed until corroborated; a
good part of tate statements which
have done duty have been proved to
be false.
"The history of religion in Russia,
however, is unfortunately full of the
records of persecution.
"Persecution has never, in one way
or another, been absent from Russiam
religious life, and the revolutionary
mentality which generations of op-
pression have created has all the
Wifey—"Lent is now here. Have
you though what yoa will do?"
Hubby—"Oh, I reckon it will be as
usual—cut down on. family expenses
in order to buy you an Easter outfit.
Veal_UE OF CHARACTER
Wedgewood, though risen from a
workman, was never satisfied till he
had -done his best. He would toler-
ate no inferior work, If it did not
come up to his idea of what it should
be he would break the vessel and
throw it away, saying: "That won't do
aca Josiah Wedgwood." Character
makes reputation, and Wedgwood pot-
tery, with Wedgwood's character be-
hind it, won world-wide celebrity.
There was no evasive secrecy; his
art was his holy bride, and he espous-
ed. her with open glory,
REFORMERS
The only way to judge reformers,
I've found, is by the amount of work
they're ready to do after they have
addressed the meeting, — Frederick
Palmer,
Brave Fighter
Goes Far in Politics
Ex -Colonial Secretary Has
Had Hectic Career and
Risen to Heights
Potent and foremost among those
who have begun to march against the
hosts of Empire Crusaders is Lord
Ileaverbrook's old personal and politi-
cal friend, Leopold Charles Maurice
Amery, himself an apostle of empire
trade. The cables quote him as de-
claring that he stands by Baldwin's
"Safety First" fiscal measures rather
than by the adventure proposed by the
Baron of Fleet St. Amery, thus once
more in the empire spotlight, is one
of the most extraordinary figures on
the stage of British polities.
He began with a reporter's note-
book. He had no marriage bringing
fashion and influence to help him, no
clique ties with men of ruling houses,
no advantages of wealth or birth. But
had quenchless energy, limitless am-
bition and a pretty thick skin, and
from picking up odd bits of news
around .Whitehall, landed into writing
leaders and "specials" or the Times.
As he was the kind that makes the
most of every oportunity, he plunged
right into the fiscal controversy, turn-
ing out articles and pamphlets that
were priceless to a hard-pressed Tory-
ism, and. coming to be regarded as an
encyclopaedia upon anything pertain-
ing to tariffs and imperialism. 'His
"Fundamental Fallacies of Free Trade"
became a sort of ..text book for tariff
reform advocates.'
Versatile as well as pugnacious,he
was interested in things military, and
in 1899 wrote a book called "Prob-
lems of the Army." It was a good
book, got him the job of editing the
Times' "History of the Boer War," a
task which he performed with the aid
of that strange character, the Irish
rebel, Erskine Childers. 'While writ-
ing this history (it was in seven vol-
umes) and turning out leaders, he
found time to study law, and in 1902
was called to the bar at Inner Temple
But he never practised.
His choseu career was politics.
Beaten in three successive by-elec-
tions he finally reached the House of
Commons from the Chamberlain
stronghold of Birmingham, which re-
turned hint in 1911. Thereafter his
progress was steady. He was a mit:,
taut Tory when militancy was the key
to Tory preferment; and while he'
never could be an P. E. Smith, he was
at least one of those who rallied with ,
'Ulster and Carson. In the Great War,
too, he was conspicuous. Ile was on
the staff of the Fourth Arniy corps;
on, special service in the Balkans;
served at G.H.Q. at Salonika By 1917
he had landed into the post of assist-
ant secretary • of the war cabinet.
After that his task was clear. Thers
followed promotion to the colonial ot
fice, and when the Carlton club revolt
sent Lloyd George into the wilderness
and brought Toryism to office, Amery
was on the right side of the fence—
and walked into the admiralty. He
went down with the Baldwin ministry
when Labor took office in 1923, and re.
turned with it in 1924 to become secre-
tary for the dominions. Since then he
has been around the world, all °vet
the British empire, turned once more
out of office, and one of Mr. Baldwin's
best light, skirmishers.
Ho is anything but pleasant in. ap-
pearance. Middle-aged, he is sheet,
An expert says that a really good dia-
mond will make a hole in almost any-
thing. Especially a banking account.
Thrift is alleged to have become
a vice in America, but little credence
is attached to the rumor that many
ostensible speak-easies are i11 reality
savings -banks.,
•
Latest, lavgcst said fesi test ambulance plane, developed by U.S, ,Ainny Air dons, ,to be
at Saeraraentot Calif.
and thiclaset, ' looking more like' a
pugilist than a politician, and with a
limp that is a legacy of a brokeri leg
in our Rockies. He is a fanatic about
physical fitness, is always in perfect
condition, and two years ago punched
the jaw of Mr. Buchanan, the Socialist
radical from the Clyde. No one would
take him for a, successful platform
speaker, yet he is formidable in. dca
'bate, irre,spressible in aegtuneut, copi-
ous in vocabulary, and with something
of .iron in his stiff attitude, clenched
Itands, cranmed, little gestures, witn.
speaks. His voice is poor without
cadences, but his brain is as clear as.
a bell, and his speech extraordinarily
fluent. And he fortifies all this 'with
a disconcerting memory and an anus
ing talent for figures.
Amery knows Canada better than
• Meet Canadians, and he Married an
tested. at Ald, 001"0 Oiaterio elrl—a slater of Sir
.0c40v04,