An exposure of the conduct, of the trustees and professors of the Medical College of Ohio, and of the hospital or township trustees : in relation to John F. Henry, M. D.

  • Henry, J. (John), 1793-1873.
Date:
1833
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An exposure of the conduct, of the trustees and professors of the Medical College of Ohio, and of the hospital or township trustees : in relation to John F. Henry, M. D. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    [»] Surgery, Dr. Staughton, Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and C/iildren, Dr. Henry, Materia Medica, and Botany, Dr. Eberlc, Chemistry and Pharmacy, Dr. Mitchell, Clinical Medicine, Dr. Drake. I would prefer the chair to which I have affixed my name, to the one offered to me by the Board; but if the friends of Dr. Pierson, would prefer to place him in that chair, I will acquiesce. If the Board fear an injurious augmentation of expense, I will accept either of these chairs without having it obligatory upon the students, to take my ticket. I am induced to make this suggestion, by the hope that it will promote that consolidation, which your honorable body have expressed a desire to effect, and which could not fail to prove beneficial to the interests of society. I have the honor to be, respectfully, your obedient servant, DANIEL DRAKE. To the Hon. Board of Trustees of the Medical College of Ohio.'' Let us pause for a moment to enquire into the nature of this ar- rangement, which the Trustees promptly accepted. The organization of the Medical Department, of Miami University, had thrown the College Board into a panic. They had endeavored to arrest its op- erations by appealing first to the Legislature, and then to the Law. Failing in both they endeavored to effect the same end by stratagem. Will they deny that the destruction of the Medical Department of Miami University was their object, and that to effect this, they ope- rated on the hopes and fears of some members of the Faculty and that finally they consented to this plan of consolidation for the purpose of destroying a rival of which they seemed to have an in- stinctive dread? They say to the Legislature, that they apprehend- ed injury from the establishment of a rival, and they offered stations in the Medical College to all of the permanent members of the Mi- ami Faculty. Here then were all the essentials of a contract—in the language of the Law there was even A^quidpro quo. They say to the members of the Miami Faculty, if you will relinquish your scheme, we will give you places in our College. To this we ac- ceeded, paying the price of Professorships in the College by resign- ing our stations in the University. The arrangement was called a 'consolidation.' It was in fact a compromise of conflicting interests: a compact, by which two opposing and rival institutions were blend- ed into one. Who were the parties to it ? The Trustees of the Medical College, and each one of the Professors of the Miami Faculty. Could either party dissolve it without the consent of the other ? Could all of one party and a majority of the other dissolve it without the consent of the minority? Certainly not. The plain- est precepts of law, and common sense answer in the negative. Now whether Dr. Pierson, first violated this compact by asking conditions, which if granted to all would have ruined the school, or whether, as the Trustees seem to think, Dr. Drake was the first to infringe on the spirit of the compromise, is a matter of no moment so far as my case is concerned. Whatever others may have done. I did nothing to vitiate the tenure by which I held my station. For that station I had resigned my rank in Miami University, and it