CORRESPONDENCE.

Thames Advertiser, Volume XX, Issue 6155, 24 July 1888, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE.

OtJB correspondents are free, and we do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions they ex press. Lotters must invariably bo accompanie by tho namo and address of tho writers, notford publication but for verification. Wo do not undertake to return unused manuscript.)

MEDICAL MONOPOLY.

(To the Editor)

Sir,—From the earliest civilized timeß up to , the onactmoni of* and subsequent to, the j grans statue of monopolies 21. of James I, C. f 3. all limitation of competition has been re- £ garded as in evory case bad, producing great hardship on one hand and great meanness j on the other. Under the Roman law such ( offenders were called Dardanarius and pirnished under the Lex Julia do Armond. The j Emperor Zeno (code 4, 59.) prohibited ( monopolies under pain of confiscation and , I exile, In. all civilized countries the evils of monopoly have been recognized. Legislators have endeavoured to check them and power has been exeroisod by Monarchs—although frequently abused—to restrict them. " Bui although numerous monopolies-'have been ; destroyed and all of them protested against > the doctors' monopoly has been and is treat < ed as something too sacred to be touched i ltsi mysteries, superstitions and dogmas _ too i sublime to be questioned. Commercial rings ■ trade conspiracies, speculation combination, nay, religion itself and priestly infallibility may be expoßed and become dead superstitions, but the infallibility of the dootor is not only superstition believed in, but promoted and supported by charters and Aets of Parliament, which the sacred haze of ignorance regards as the perfection of Holy wisdom." Although the early history of medicine is involved in obscurity, there is evidence of its great antiquity. It is justly proud of mighty gcniuseß and has been torn and distracted by contending seota and schools. It lias made gigantic advances m science, and then relapsed into the lowest state of superstition and degradation espcciallv from the 12th to the 15th 0. But a* gai'nst doctors, as suoli, no reflection is intended. It is the complete monopoly of their profession that is condemned. From the 11th o. up to the'preaent time, the profession of medicine and surgery has been tightly hedged round by protective land. In the reign of Henry the Bth: Surgeons and Barbers were incorporated into one company. In the 3rd year of the same reign it was enacted that no person within tha city of London or within 7 miles ot the same shall take upon him or exercise or occupy as a physician or surgeon except he be first examined by the Bishop of London or by the Dean of St. Pauls and four doctors." Physicians and and surgeons were incorporated m 1518. On the 9th April 1606, apothecaries were Incorporated by James the first) along with the company of grocers, # Since that time numerous Acts of Parliament have been passed, charters granted, and regula--1 tions made mostly to the end of the proteo--1 tion and exclusiveness of the medical profes--1 sion, No man can now be a doctor or prac--1 tice medisine, however profoundly learned ; jn the art, without incurring the name of ■ "quack," unless indeed he has paid large ! fees, and been initiated into the several de- ' grees of medical fresmasonry. This instead of ; being beneficial is really injurious to mon of real ability. Imuuityfrom competition ! begets indifference in any profession, but i keen and unrestricted contention stimulates 1 study and promotes endeavours to attain excellence, The dootors' ring blocks progress ■ by restrictions which are designed to press i humble and poor men out of the profession. : The qualification of efficiency should be ■ sufficient to admit a man into any profession. -Profound knowledge of medicine and surgery however, or wheresoever attained, , should be the qualification for rank and , r ight to praotice. The law of Hippocrates gives the necessary qualifications for a medi- > cal student of his time, but the parchment i medicos of the present day are trying to keep all medical practice in the hands of a i particular class, " All Legislative Btatutes i which subject men to fines and imprisonment for practising their vocation because they 1 are not dfplomated or licensed by Allopai thic or other medical boards of examiners, i ai 'e unjust undemocratic and are productive i of injury and disgrace to the State that upi holds thorn. They are undemocratic and ; unjustf because they violate the fundamental j ; principles of free government, They are { • unjust and undemocratic because they ai bridge the blessings of liberty. They are E unjust to all unlicensed physioians, to gradi uatcs of unchartered schools, and to the people generally, who certainly should have ) as wide a liberty to select licensed or unlicensed doctors for their bodies, as they have to choose" licensed or unlicensed ministers for their souls." They are unjust bej causo thej operate to monopolize the medical practice ot tho State for the profit, honor i and private interest of certain medical colleges, societies, their officers, and graduates to the exclusion of other colleges and perJ sons. The favoured sohools, their officers , and graduates, are pecuniarily interested to * keep their own number as small as possible; for the less their number, the greater are tiieijf own receipts and profits. Hence they oppose the chartering of now medical colleges. and the incoming of physicians not i ot their schools,' The same intolerant spirit iinpells them to oppose medical improveJ ments in the art of healing which originate ~ outside their own narrow limits. Religious ' liberty to proach, for ministers of all theolo-1 ' gies, and of nono, for people everywhere to , listen to them, or not, iin they please, has i bcon secured to the country, and it ia to bo hoped that the good sense of our legislators " by repealing restrictive medical statistics will secure an equally large liberty in matr tors oi medicine for physioians healers of all schools and of none, to practice, each in his own way, the art of healing, and for peo> „ pic generally to omploy suoli physicians us " they may prefei'i independent of any and I; all modical schools and monopolies. P I am, Sir, A Subscriber,