Article October 17, 1914 Issue

Alderman Abson created some amusement by expressing his...

Wakefield (England) Express

Alderman Abson created some amusement by expressing his quaint ideas respecting doctors, who, he said, were at the present time a law unto themselves. We had got almost into the way of thinking that if a doctor told us we had the toothache, we believed him! A doctor went to a mason one day and said, "My word, that mortar covers a lot of defects!" "Yes, doctor," replied the mason, "and so does a spade!" He thought that if the money which was now being spent in that direction were diverted into another channel, the results would be of a much happier description. . . . If a child did not get sufficient food, it became an easy prey to the disease they so much dreaded. He believed that more than half the cases of consumption were due to the victims being underfed. He did not know what our forefathers would think if they could come back and see England running mad, as it were, on the abilities of the doctors. Every week they could see in the local paper nearly a column full of names of persons who had passed away, all of whom, he took it, had been attended by doctors. He had read the Biblical history of the world and other works, but nowhere had he read of the creation of a regiment of doctors to cure the imperfections of God's children! He liked to look at things as they were. He was thankful to say that he had not required the services of a doctor up to now,—no doctor had ever entered his bedroom and felt his pulse or examined his tongue! He did not think he should ever invite the attentions of a doctor, unless it were simply to avoid the necessity of an inquest! He thought that as a nation we were going mad on the medical profession, and that if more money were spend upon feeding the children, the nation would profit far more than it was doing at present.

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