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THE A T L A N TIA N
The War on Tuberculosis
AStory that Every Georgian Should Read
By BERNARD SUTTLER
For the past forty years the world lias moved forward very
rapidly in almost every direction, but in no direction lias the ad
vance been more marked than in the science of health.
The Medical Faculty have learned that prevention spells more
in the matter of good health than medicine—that hygiene means
more than drugs. As a result, men not yet old have seen the
average duration of human life lengthened from about 33 to 42
years.
One after another, diseases which have been dreaded plagues
in past generations have yielded to a combination of science, study
and sense, and their ravages reduced to a minimum.
But Consumption, as we common people are accustomed to
call Tuberculosis, has moved along its accustomed gait, levying its
deadly toll and bidding defiance to man’s puny efforts.
For countless generations men have accepted this dreadful
“White Plague” as one of the inherent ills of humanity. They
have calmly accepted its deadly work as the “will of God,” when
their own ignorance was responsible for all the loss and suffering.
They have accepted the theory of heredity, which we now know
to be absolutely untrue.
But science has some cardinal virtues—science never despairs,
never acknowledges itself defeated and has unlimited patience, and
so in the fulness of time science demonstrated that Consumption
was a germ disease.
When that was established, science had gained a foothold from
which it was able to fight this arch-enemy of the human body upon
a more equal basis. For science now knows that with time, and
patience, and labor, and money, it can eradicate consumption from
the civilized world.
The greatest friend left to this enemy is man himself, for man
is a most conservative ceature when it comes to anything involving
a change in his habits of life. So when science comes along and
says you must not spit, you must have plenty of fresh air, you must
eat only nourishing food, you must rest much, you must fumigate
where a death occurs; man, who is as obstinate as a pig in a corn
field, refuses to conform to the reasonable requirements of science,
and when in his last gasp believes that medicine has failed. Medi
cine may have failed, but science did not fail, and the real deadly
failure was in man himself who failed to follow the dictates of that
science which has found a way out.
All over the country men and women of progressive thought
and humanitarian instincts banded themselves together to utilize
the scientific methods which had been developed. The growth of
the movement has been marvelous, and today over 500 volunteer
associations are at work in the United States. The success of the
work has been commensurate with its growth. Thousands are being
cured every year, and while that is a great cause for encouragement,
the best work is being done in educating the public in preventive
methods. It sounds like a far cry to say that the National Society
and its affiliated bodies expect to eradicate Consumption (Tubercu
losis), but that is just what they expect to do. And the methods
now in vogue, already proven to be effective, will, with general
education of the public and general co-operation of the public,
eliminate this dread scourge in one generation.
This is no dream of a few enthusiasts, but it is cold logic based
on what has already been done.
Comparatively few people realize the extent of this dreadful
scourge and the tremendous economic loss involved.
Every year it kills enough people in the United States to make
a city the size of Atlanta, and the economic loss to the country is
equal to all the property of every kind owned by the people of
Atlanta.
In Georgia it kills enough people every year to make a city the
size of Milledgeville or Cartersville, and the economic loss runs to
ten millions of dollars per year. For it mut not be forgotten that
this disease takes the greater part of its toll from those between 18
and 35, and such citizens have a distinct monetary value to the
commonwealth.
In the light of these few potent facts one can begin to under
stand the courage of these great-hearted men and women who have
banded themselves together to combat such a giant disease with a
view to making life safer and more enjoyable for the oncoming
generations.
One can understand why a thoughtful and patriotic man like
the late }N. G. Raoul should leave a portion of his estate to create
a foundation, the principal object of which is to assist in this great
battle with disease.
Georgia proudly claims the title of Empire State of the South—
the claim is generally conceded.
But Empire States owe some obligations to their people. It is
not enough that we grow much cotton and corn, that we lead in
lumber and naval stores, that we turn out millions in manufactured
products, that we possess great financial institutions, for while all
these are right and proper and necessary, it is far more important
to the children of the Georgians who now arc that the Empire State
shall lead in Health and Education.
And every one can help, not in person, but by buying the little
seals put out each year by the American Red Cross and the National
Tuberculosis Societies, the money from the sale of which goes to
maintain the battle against Tuberculosis in Georgia.