1928 - Annual Convention

              F O U R T E E N T H A N N U A L C O N V E N T I ON 49
foregone conclusion that at the end of five years you w i l l be financially on
an independent basis, as you are now i n a l l your work.
I come to you i n a dual capacity, as Minister of Health and Agriculture.
F i r s t , I wish to mention a few things i n connection with health and the pre­vention
of disease conditions. None of your work touches more closely our
health problem than that spoken of in your president's address, and also
emphasized by Dr. MacMurchy, the reduction of our maternal death rate.
The reduction of that death rate can only be accomplished by preventive
measures, and prevention can only be secured by education and the practical
and intelligent use of the knowledge which we have and can acquire. Pre­ventive
measures are not as a rule complicated or obscure; they mainly
consist of regularity of habit, good and suitable food simply prepared, clean­liness,
fresh air and sunlight, a sufficiency of work, recreation and rest.
I have detailed these things shortly because, though they are called simple,
we suffer from many ills because the putting of these rules into effect
seems to be the problem before us. As our maternal death rate is what we
f i n d it, we must conclude that there is much and important work to be done.
Pre- natal care, the necessary skilled help at the time of birth and after- care
a l l tend to turn our minds to such means of prevention as the training of
mobile housekeepers, types of training for nurses and the education of our
people in the finest art of a l l , " The A r t of L i v i n g ."
There is a problem which we have always with us, nursing in the rural
districts. Couple with that problem an expression we are all familiar with,
" the born nurse." Sometimes this type of girl or woman has no difficulty
in making 10th, 11th and 12th grade standing, but sometimes this is not
possible. It seems from observations which have been made that we are
demanding too high an educational standard in some cases, and so are
excluding many girls from the service who would make excellent nurses. If
nurses in t r a i n i n g took two years' work and could get a diploma for that
period they could then go into general work. If they wished to take another
year or longer in some special branch they could do so, receiving a certificate
in that branch when qualified.
I have had this matter under consideration for some time, and I hope to
be able to go into its detailed consideration before long. You can rest
assured that the subject will be thoroughly investigated before action is
taken, but from information already in my possession I am hopeful of find­i
n g at least a partial solution of a condition which is acute and cannot with
safety be ignored.
I have mentioned the importance of making intelligent use of the
knowledge we have or can acquire. It will be helpful to us all i f you w i ll
watch carefully the development of hospitalization, give encouragement to
those interested in the establishment of community hospitals, known to
us by the name of municipal hospitals. Assist in forming public opinion in
connection with the prevention of the spread of disease by a study and
observance of our laws dealing with communicable diseases, and watching
closely what helps or retards our children. Many suggestions are being
made and things are being done every day in an endeavor to mitigate the
s u f f e r i n g of the human race. Those of you who heard Dr. McCullough give
his address last year on " The Prevention of Nervous and Mental Break­down"
w i l l not easily forget the patient who is thus afflicted. We realized,
as we listened to Dr. McCullough make his plea, how much can be done by
observation and kindness to avert illness of this kind.
As Minister of A g r i c u l t u r e I wish to tell you that I have followed your
work closely along the line of beautifying your homes, villages and towns.
It is not necessary for me to emphasize the value and importance of this
movement, as His Honor Lieutenant Governor Egbert and the Honorable J.
E . Brownlee have both developed this theme most eloquently for you. A
f r i e n d said to me the other day, " We used to think we could not grow
flowers and fruits here, and so we were without them for years." If we had
not tried to grow these things we would s t i l l be convinced that their produc­tion
was an impossibility, anil the thought comes into your mind, as it comes
to mine. Are we still going to refrain from using the latent riches that are
within our reach, or are we going to be strong and risk disappointment,
knowing that in the end we will reach something finer and better?