THE CHEMAWA AMERICAN
7
ANOTHER VIEW
PUBLICITY GIVEN TO ANOTHER WRITER ON
TUBERCULOSIS.
N T h e Chem aw a A m erican for March th ere appears an
article en titled " W h a t an ex p ert sa y s,” w hich con
tains several erroneous statem ents reg ard in g C hristian
Scientists and the C hristian Science ch u rch . I am
sure these m isstatem ents were m ade in ad v erten tly and
th a t you will therefore lie glad to have them corrected.
T he C hritsian Science church has not attacked the
th e m ovem ent for tuberculosis hospitals, as was stated. Indeed it rec
ognizes the rig h t of every individual to have w hatever system of tre a t
m ent he prefers. It has no desire to force its own p articu lar beliefs on
others and only asks th e sam e considerations from those of different be
liefs.
In the C hristian Science M onitor of Ja n u ary 23, statem ents by Dr.
Baldwin were quoted to show his opinion concerning the m istaken and
"e x tre m e ideas of in fectio n ” from tuberculosis now held by m any peo
ple. T hese statem ents w ere taken from an article appearing in the Jour
nal of the A m erican Medical A ssociation, bearing a heading in medical
term s th a t had but one m eaning, nam ely, th at th e over exploitation of
tul)erculosis has led to an unreasonable fear or dread of it. T h e M on
itor did not m isrepresent Dr. Baldw in. As evidence of its entire good
faith it published, on F eb iu a rv 4, a com plete statem ent settin g forth his
views on the subject. T his statem ent I give below, and from it an im
partial ju d g m en t of his views can lie formed w ithout relying upon sec
on d hand inform ation or casting u n ju st reflections on C hristian Science.
" A d u lts are very little endangered by close contact w ith open tu b e r
culosis, and not at all in ordinary association. C hildhood is the tim e of
infection, youth the tim e of superinfection and th a t from extension of
the prim ary disease. Q ualify these statem ents as we m ay, it is tim e for
a p a c tio n against the extrem e ideas of infection now prevailing.
" T h e re has been too m uch read into popular literatu re by health boards
and lectures th at has no sound basis in facts, and it needs to be dropped
out or revised. More protection of children and better hygiene for adults
are logically dem anded, but beyond this the preachm ents about the d a n
ger of infection to ad u lts in th e present state of society are w ithout ju s
tification from an experim ental sta n d p o in t.”
V ery tru ly yours,
P aul S t a r k S e e l y .
[ In g iv in g publicity to th e above article we are follow ing th e sam e course of ab
solute im p artiality which inspired us to publish ‘‘W hat an E x p e rt S av s” in our
M arch issue. T he article in question was supplied us bv T he N ational Association
for th e Study and P revention of T uberculosis. W h eth e r rig h t or w rong, we believe
th e intention was to assist h u m an ity ; we know th a t such was o u r d esire in giviug
p ublicity. W e desire to offend no p e rs o n ’s ho n est view s and hope th a t w e m av not
be asked to p u b lish a n y th in g fa rth e r along th e se lin e s.—E d .]