Public health : the right use of records founded on local facts : being two papers read before the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science, at Bradford, in October, 1859, with an account of subsequent proceedings, further remarks and evidence on the main subject, and replies to certain objections / by Henry Wyldbore Rumsey.

  • Rumsey, Henry Wyldbore, 1809-1876.
Date:
1860
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Public health : the right use of records founded on local facts : being two papers read before the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science, at Bradford, in October, 1859, with an account of subsequent proceedings, further remarks and evidence on the main subject, and replies to certain objections / by Henry Wyldbore Rumsey. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    Every one fairly instructed in tlie first elements of physiology and the simpler precepts of health, is r&sponsible to his Maker and him- self alone for the neglect of those maxims and precautions which are strictly personal and in no way affect the well-being of his neigh- bours But laws for the protection of the public health are a necessary condition of civdlization, binding each member of the community by the cfood old rule, sic utere tuo ut alienum non Iceclas. Every citizen is thereby made responsible to the State, and surrenders for the general good a portion of his natural liberty, as the price of his share of the advantages of brotherhood and nationality. On the other hand, it would be utter waste of time to notice the shallow declamation and smart sophisms which I have seen aimed at well-considered projects of medico-sanitary organization. What need one replv to such epithets as—utopian, un-English, centralizing, des- potic L i Applied to rational administrative reforms m a country Ivhere the local element of government greatly preponderates, and where the central executive is strictly responsible to Parliament, they are as— Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying—nothing.' Unfortunately this verbiage tells with an unthinking multitude; and the result as Mr. Ruskin eloquently descri\)es it, is-a population which ' resists every effort to lid it into purity of habit and habita- Uon to give it genuineness of nourishment and wholesomeness of air i a new^nterfe'rence with its liberty, and insists vociferously on its ^'fv:;'t2:rrgiit truths must reckon upon t^s.sort of o sitSn But the wise and hopeful sanitary reformer will not be dis- courac^ed He will not cease to propound and detend-foibearuigly Tet u?flinchhi'ly-those principles of public action which he believes L be of Samental importance in sanitary management. Never- Lfess he tSfully accepts, from those in power, such instalments T:tl:e^y.ternl.re possible under existing -^^^^^^ the hands of the ob^tnic^e ^^^^^^^^ .eientific, and ' ve na^ry^ sJnful c^ and truthful publication :nrctriv y'S^^^^^^^^^ exposure of abuses ; systematic l^^struction of tlfe people by qualified teachers ; enlightened adminis- His^llsT-tS^^^^^^ -cl longevity of the people aiding their moral and reli..ious improvement, confirming the obligations of social del strong hen^ the foundations of public libei^ty, and thus pro- moting the lasting peace and happiness of his country.