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

MEDICINE AND PUBLIC HEALTH 403
Following the report of the committee, April 13, 191 2,
the bill was placed on the Senate calendar as Calendar
No. 561, where it remained until February 3, 19 13, when it
was called up, on motion of Senator Owen that the Senate
proceed to the consideration of this bill. On this motion
the vote was a tie, t,^ to t,t,. The bill was, accordingly,
not taken up, and died at the expiration of the Sixtysecond
Congress.
April 7, 1 9 13, in the opening sessions of the Sixt^'-third
Congress, Senator Owen introduced, as Senate Bill i, a third
bill. This bill was referred to the Senate Committee on
Public Health and National Quarantine.
In the light of this record I feel justified in advancing
the following propositions as generally accepted:
1. The necessity of some central federal health organization
is agreed upon by all those familiar with the situation.
2. While recognizing the paramount importance of
State activities, owing to our existing form of government,
the importance of federal activities can not be overestimated.
3. The initiative of the present movement is largely
due to the activity of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science in the organization of the Committee
of One Hundred, which movement has been, from
its beginning, indorsed and supported by the American
Medical Association.
4. The American Medical Association is and always
has been fully committed, by its repeatedly expressed
opinion and official records, to the support of a National
Department of Health.
While the direct results secured by the efforts of the
past forty years may not be entirely gratifying to the friends
of this movement, the indirect or reflex effect of the continued
agitation for better public health organization has
been the stimulation of public health functions, both of the
federal government and of the various States. It is safe to
say that the present United States Public Health Service