retary of education at its head, altho this is recognized as a normal procedure in most foreign countries. There would appear to be little reason for objection to such a Department, if constituted with or without a secretary in the Cabinet, to undertake research in illiteracy, immigrant education, public school education, and especially rural education, physical education, including health education, recreation and sanitation, the supply of competent teachers for the public schools, and a general field of higher education. Studies and investigations in these various fields have been made, in part, at various times, but without a broad, inclusive view of the entire problem as related to public welfare. It is obvious that the facts and figures to be derived from such studies and investigations could serve as the basis of a constructive program of primary importance. Omitting consideration of all factors save the program of physical education, the medical profession should be a unit in favor of the appropriation of twenty million dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary for physical education and instruction in the principles of health and sanitation. There is little question that the apportionment of such funds for the purpose indicated would advance physical education in the United States and raise the standards and contents of courses of study considerably. Patently, the expansion of curricula or the rounding out of courses of study, in themselves, will be inadequate, unless the teachers are properly prepared for imparting the necessary information. Considering the teacher shortage and the unsatisfactory standards of training, one realizes the potential benefits of the authorization of an expenditure of fifteen million dollars to cover a similar appropriation on the part of all the states for the purpose of providing and extending facilities for the improvement of teachers and for the more adequate preparation of prospective teachers. In the efforts of the medical profession to gain the ear of the public on matters pertaining to the profession, no opportunity should be lost for the expression of professional opinion upon matters of great significance to public welfare. The registration of conviction upon matters that only concern the economic welfare of physicians does not suffice to impress the public with a sincerity of medical interest in the general communal well-being. There is a strategic value as well as an obligation for state and national medical societies to take action upon state and national problems tending to advance public health. The highest degree of leadership in our medical societies is to be secured thru the largest vision in the field of public medicine. The interest and reaction of medical societies upon the Towner-Sterling Bill, for example, would be a matter of interest. It would reflect the thoughtful opinions. of men concerned with health problems, in addition to registering the convictions of the same persons as parents and taxpayers. To add value to medical opinion. there must be concrete examples of its direction towards the numerous definite problems which concern all citizens. While this single bill has been selected as an illustration of many bearing upon public health, it also represents one of many fields wherein prospective legislation possesses a medical phase. Herein lies an opportunity for greater activity on the part of the medical profession-an opportunity fraught with dignity and power, and tending to augment the status of physicians as citizens. two such men so closely together is a loss that the American medical profession will feel for many a day. Dr. Butler, whose demise we referred to last month, had long been associated with Dr. Abbott as a member of the editorial staff of the American Journal of Clinical Medicine. Few American physicians have been more greatly admired for their literary ability, more deeply respected for their professional skill or more beloved for themselves, than has Dr. Butler. The deep and sympathetic friendship Dr. Abbott and Dr. Butler had for each other meant a great deal to both men, for each recognized the worth of the other. Only a few days before Dr. Butler's death he said to the writer, "I am afraid Abbott is a very sick man and will never take up the reins again. It makes me very sad, for he has been a real friend to me. Friends who assay as near to pure gold as Abbott does, are not often met today. I am going to Chicago to see him when I return.' Five days later Dr. Butler died on the train on his way to Chicago, and less than two weeks later Dr. Abbott also "crossed the Great Divide.' The road of life runs along the mountain side. Most of it winds wearily on, with many a rough bit of going, but now and then a lovely view to cheer us and induce us to keep on, if only to see what lies just around the turn ahead. Here and there a rugged stone-strewn path leads out from the road and upward towards the mountain top. Other paths, much less rough but deeply worn by the tread of many feet, lead down the mountain side to the shadows of the valley below. Many there are on the road of life. Some seem happy and care free; many carry loads which bend their backs and cause them to pick their way with care. A few loiter in passing, now and then a traveler falls by the wayside, while many of those with burdens take the beaten paths to the valley. But the great majority push steadily on with their eyes always watching for a chance to crowd in ahead and jostle aside some weaker or more tired traveler. Once in awhile, some wayfarer takes one of the rough paths up the mountain side. Hard it is to force one's way along, for the obstacles are many and the footing is never secure or certain. Those who have the necessary courage and strength gradually make their way to the top, pausing only to rest or to give a helping hand to some tired brother also struggling upward. Occasionally a climber will reach the summit and stand in the golden light of the setting sun. Like a beckoning beacon he will attract the attention of those on the main traveled road, and many who see him, will gird up their loins and bravely take the paths that lead to the top and the glorious sunlight. sunlight. True, many never get far, for only a few have the strength to reach the crest of the mountain. But those who climb only part way, get a broader and better view, and best of all derive the satisfaction of having known and seen something else than the sordid struggle and selfish crowding of the main traveled road. Dr. Abbott and Dr. Butler were men who took the paths up the mountain and won their way to the top. The world will long remember the helping hands they have so often extended to their fellowmen, and the inspiration they have been to all of us as they made their way onward and upward. Bitterly we mourn the loss of these two fine men; but our hearts are full of gratitude that we have known the touch of their hands and the inspiration of their friendship in our own journey on the road of life. A French Opinion of Prohibition.— There is a prohibition movement in France today, a movement so feeble and so tentative as to be ignored by the public at large; and it is interesting to note that whatever little chance there is for the movement to make any progress in that country has been compromised seriously by the effects, well known and closely scrutinized, of the law in this country. It is an eloquent comment on the effectiveness of the Eighteenth Amendment to the American Constitution that, more than anything else, it has destroyed the little chance there was of the advocates of prohibition in France to make any progress whatever. Enthusiasts of the dry régime here may learn in what esteem their work is held abroad by a typical opinion on the part of a man well qualified to speak on the subject. In a recent interview appearing in the Paris Journal, M. Edouard Barthe, chairman of the Commission to Study the Drink Question, presents the example of America as one of the strongest reasons against the abolition of drink. "The dry régime," asks M. Barthe, "has it made America more moral? Has the prohibition law brought happiness and calm to the country, has it been accepted by public opinion and is it respected by the citizens? Those who are acquainted with the facts in the case reply merely with a cynical smile. One merely has to scrutinize a few figures to conclude to the contrary. Philadelphia, despite the law, is as wet as ever. The bars are open and continue to sell whiskey across the counter as tho prohibition never existed. Drink was just as available in New York until recently, but Governor Miller decided, on his own initiative and independently of the federal authorities, to see that the law is obeyed. In six weeks, 2,500 bars were closed, $12,000,000 worth of whiskey was confiscated, and a large number of stills were seized. Judges refuse to convict persons charged under the prohibition law, acquittal being quite general. It is quite natural as a result that underground methods for selling liquor have appeared, methods which not long ago brought about the deaths of numerous individuals. But in Washington the situation is more open. Rich families, members of Congress, and a majority of the Senators are wet, and they have in their cellars huge stocks of liquor which they declare, of course, that they bought before the law came into effect. It is an interesting fact that President Wilson, when he moved out of the White House in March, asked and obtained permission to transport fifty gallons of whiskey to his new residence! The upshot of it all is that large quantities of very bad liquor is in circulation, liquor often with deadly ingredients and generally consumed in dives and brothels in the company of the worst characters. This régime is making hypocrisy in America commonplace, and it is encouraging the worst excesses, for, to escape the vigilance of the law, many youths are drawn to secret places, where they easily acquire the habit of taking cocaine and morphine. Thus, the Puritanism of a minority is leading to a danger more serious for the race. Besides, the population in general is in revolt against the law. Forty mayors of the principal cities of New York State have issued a statement declaring that it is almost impossible to enforce the law in their cities. because of its unpopularity. According to figures I have in my possession, the prohibition commissioner of Ohio admits that there are 50,000 stills in operation in that state, as against only 100 before the law came into effect. The police department of Columbus acknowledges that one family in every four in that city brews its own beer. It is said that in certain sections of Ohio ninety-nine families in one hundred have apparatus for making their own distilled or fermented drinks. In view of these astonishing facts, who will recommend a similar course for France? We Frenchmen are much too sensible to let ourselves be misguided by the narrowness of a few disappointed individuals who are condemned to nurse their stomachs on mineral water and who want to confine healthier persons to their own limitations!" Monsieur Barthe concludes with the advice of an ancient scholar who records the following anecdote: "May it not displease the powers that be," says this scholar, "but I recall a great banquet after which, on account of some of the stale viands offered, all those who drank water died. Those who drank wine, on the contrary, digested their food quite normally and had no bad effects. The lovers of wine and liqueurs were not even uncomfortable!" A New Aspect of Divorce.-A White Paper on divorce issued by the British Home Office discloses a new and interesting aspect of the question, an aspect which is not especially British and which probably applies as well to all other countries. It appears from the figures that four husbands in the past year have applied for divorce on the grounds of unfaithfulness, as against one wife who demanded divorce on the same grounds. In other words, the impression given is that men are more faithful generally to the marriage bond than women these days, and that the proverbial superiority of woman over man in respect of marital virtue has disappeared. The figures have stirred a very lively controversy in England. "Are wives less faithful than husbands?" is being asked. Americans, who are accustomed to thinking that the divorce evil is worse in this country than anywhere else, will be either relieved or more depressed, according to temperament, by the British figures, which show divorce increasing in England perhaps even more than here. In 1919, divorce increased over |