Proceedings of the quarter-centennial celebration of the establishment of the Michigan State Board of Health : held at Detroit, Michigan, August 9, 1898.

Michigan. State Board of Health

Date:: 1898

Credit: Proceedings of the quarter-centennial celebration of the establishment of the Michigan State Board of Health : held at Detroit, Michigan, August 9, 1898. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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$U A ] IT Ell-C E NTENNIA L CELEB RATION only asks iliat he lx* iionnal. It teaches no aljstnise iihilosophy, hut otters hojK* and rt'^ciieration to the weak. In this work of sanitation there is nothing? of tlu; .spc'ctacnlar. There is mnu^ of tin? insjiiration and tlie ^lory that reckon with a nation saved or a foe n^pnlsed hy f(*ats of arms. Nevertlu'less, those wlio study under- stand that tin* j)ro])er a|»ineciation of sanitary science defeats man’s most relenth*ss loes and that m*ji;h*ct or deliance of her laws has brought dcslinction to nations in all tinu*. And right hert* let me say that, if nnhajtpy S]»ain had no oth(*r sin than that of having maintained at onr doors a preventable breeding place for yellow fever sin* richly deserves the wrath that has been \ isit(*d upon her. W ojid(*rfnl as has b(*en the imi»rovenn*nt of tin* jaiblic health in your State and in your mortality rate during these twenty-tive years, a glance at tin* dis(*ases that cause the gi*eatest number of deaths, keeping in \ i(*w the incr<*asing and broad(*ning elf<*ct of education and the mnlti- ])lying avenues for tin* s|n*(*ad of information, rev(*als the promise of a still gr(*ater reduction in the d(*ath rat(*s of the future. The greatest nnmb(*r of d(*aths in tin* c(*nt(*rs of })0]»nlation is caused by diseases of tin* nervous syst(*m—tin* irorri/ diseases. The nnndter is si(*adily inci(*asing y(*ar by y(*ai* and this increast* is due to the keenness of commercial comjx't it ion and the fierceness of tin* struggle, not alone for exist(*nc(*, but for watUh. As we grow in wisdom we may learn how utterly futile is this struggle jtnd how ntt(*rly f(xdish it is to bring on a premature demise when, under the ]n*esent conditions of our civilization, riches are and must be con- liin*d to the few. The only thing needful for all is a competence for declining years. It is folly to struggle a life-time for the i»urpose of leaving a fortune behind, with the hojx* that one’s name and fame may liv«* after he is goiu*. The only rational way to perpetuate a name and an example is through a i*obust ])osterity. It is an almost nniversal rule that those who have labored and wor- rie<l beyond their endurtince leave a generation of weaklings to fritter away tlieir snbstanct* and ultimat<*ly to jtass from history forever. ’rite lesson to be learned and the lesson that must be learned is to stop fretting and stewing one’s self into the grave to leave a pitiful ])hysical and mental inheritance* to one's children. It is diflicult to trace the full bem*fit of sanitary work, but the cumula- tive force and momentum develoj)ed by tw(*nty-tive years of intelligent and well-directed (*ducation in the iirevention of disease has saved to your Stat(* hundreds of lives and made it the enual of the best as a ])lace of abode. This is seen in its ])resent mortality rate.—now among the low- est in the land. A low rate of mortality means that death is here more remote, that here it is possible for man to reach his highest physical ])erfection, to enjoy his greatest immunity from disease and to postpone to the uttermost his day of dissolution. It needs no argument to prove that such conditions enhance the value of pi*o])erty, make investments more secure and attract those of other })laces looking for the most favoi-able envii-onment for living out their days in i)cace and identy. As an evidence of this truth you will recall the great migration of thos(* that are frail who seek your ])orts. your i*ivers and your wooded dells in the summer time. They come from the north.$