Article April 3, 1915 Issue

The criticisms made by the Bonanza, two years ago, of the...

Tonopah (Nev.) Bonanza

The criticisms made by the Bonanza, two years ago, of the Kelliher bill, which failed to pass the Nevada legislature, apply also to the Steele bill, Assembly No. 8, introduced a few days ago, the fate of which is now in the balance. This bill, if enacted into a law, would likely be later declared unconstitutional by the supreme court; but in the mean while it would create many misunderstandings and arouse many prejudices. Briefly stated, the bill provides that the teachers in all the public schools shall make physical examinations of their pupils, taking upon themselves the prerogatives and powers of specialists in such matters as diseases and malformations of the eye, throat and nasal cavity obstructions, which result in mouth breathing, imperfections in the teeth, and what not. The teachers have, of course, taken an examination in anatomy, physiology, and hygiene, for which they prepare by skimming over "Steele's Fourteen Weeks in Anatomy," which volume may or may not have been compiled by the author of this measure; but at all events it is not able to afford technical training such as would make the applicant for a teacher's certificate capable of practising either medicine or surgery.

One of the principal demerits of the bill seems to be a covert one, namely, the affronting of a creed which is at variance with modern medicine and surgery, and which has many enemies, as has any departure from long accepted practices. Possibly this measure, together with its predecessor, the Kelliher bill, was inspired by denominational enemies; but it is more than possible that it had an inspiration in a profession that has suffered costly inroads by reason of the sect referred to.

But there is also a certainty that opposition to this measure will be more wide-spread than the denomination that holds it as repugnant and in derogation of its principles of freedom of thought and practice. The act would take from the parent one of his primary functions, that of caring for the physical health of his offspring. It would compel him to keep his children from school or have them undergo surgical and medical treatment, as prescribed by a school teacher whose knowledge of disease was gained from a text-book compiled in words of one syllable. One of the serious demerits of the bill is that, even should the teachers of the state all be capable of making these physical tests, and even should all the parents accept them as final and satisfactory, it is likely that the schoolroom would become more like a consultation office than a place for instruction.

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