have learned that the prosperity of their profession
increases with every increase in the general standard of living. It is
the man in the ten-room house not the man in one room who supports
physicians in luxury. It is the healthy man and the healthy community
that value efficient medical service.

Many American cities maintain dispensaries and hospitals for the poor.
Whether they will go to the logical conclusion of engaging physicians
to give free treatment to all regardless of income depends largely upon
what the next generation of private physicians do. The state already
says when a physician's training fits him to practice. It will soon
expect him to pass rigid examinations in the social and economic
aspects of his profession,--its educational opportunity, vital
statistics, sick and death rates. Will it need to municipalize him in
order to protect itself?

Obviously the teacher or parent should not begin cooperation with
physicians by lecturing them or by assuming that they are selfish and
unwilling to teach. The best first step is to ask questions that they
should be able to answer:

What causes cholera morbus or summer complaint? When does milk
harm the baby? How can unclean milk be made safe? Whose fault is
it that the milk is sold unclean and too warm? What agencies help
sick babies? What is the health board doing to teach mothers?

Or, if a school physician, the teacher can ask:

Why not remove these adenoids? What causes them? When will they
disappear by absorption? What harm can they do in the meantime?
How long would an operation take? Would it hurt very much? What
would be the immediate effects? Why not act at once? What
provisions are there in town for such operations? Why have the
physicians paid so little attention to breathing troubles? What
could your state do to interest physicians in school hygiene? Will
the school physician talk to a mothers' meeting? What agencies
will give outings to sick children? What dispensaries are
accessible? Who is the proper person to organize a public health
league?

Physicians love to teach. If teachers and parents will love to learn
and will ask the right questions, all physicians can be converted into
hygiene missionaries, heralds of a statesmanship that guarantees health
rights to all.

LICENSING THE PRACTITIONER

Three parties are interested in setting a high standard for physicians,
dentists, druggists, nurses, and veterin