Henry Baird Favill, AB, MD, LL.D., 1860-1916, a ... - University Library

MEDICINE AND PUBLIC HEALTH 307
Granted all these attributes of an intelligent individual,
there still remains a necessity for a true conception. There
is basis for morality in physiology as there is in theology.
It is as false in physics as it is in ethics to determine conduct
on the basis of penalty. Let us fix this distinction
clearly. We live correctly not to avoid disease, but to
attain our birthright. The principle is constructive; the
obligation is supreme.
The point is to obtain the best individual development
that is possible. The process must be through demonstration
and interpretation. Is it not perfectly obvious that
this can only commence in childhood, which is tantamount
to saying that it must be accomplished in the school?
I
protest earnestly against any philosophy which tends
to obscure this obligation. Let us remember that to be
charged, to the degree that teachers are charged, with the
welfare of humanity is an awe-inspiring responsibility.
Decisions which are reached must not be matters of taste
or fancy or idiosyncrasy. They must be right.
I admit freely that to establish this conception of physical
well-being generally is not only enormous in its magnitude,*
but a reversal in human philosophy.
then, the reason for grappling with it,
so much more satisfactory
as an opportunity for real achievement.
So much deeper,
Logically, the first step is so to determine the sanitary
conditions of our custody of children as to promote and insure
their well-being.
Actually, this desirable position is far off. A campaign
of education of the public — lay, pedagogic, and official —
will have to precede any satisfactory advance. Let us remember
that the child of to-day is the public and official of
to-morrow, and take heart. Meanwhile, there lies within
the control of school teachers a powerful influence. The
factors in this are two: the curriculum, and cooperation
with the authority of the State.
The public health function of the State is nowhere more