e development of public opinion somewhere
between individual action and national compulsion which may be termed
"semi-public" action. It is in a measure the same sort of influence
that in a later chapter is termed "stimulative education." For
instance, a hospital for the treatment of some special ailment is
needed. Private enterprise furnishes the capital, proves the success
of the treatment, and then the community comes forward and supports
the institution. Such helps are accepted freely and are not considered
undemocratic.

The less spectacular but more effective office of prevention of the
need for charity, in the maintenance of cleanness in the markets,
streets, and shops, yes, even in the homes of the people, has been
neglected. Through lack of belief, and especially through inattention
to causes so common as to escape notice, many details of great
hygienic importance have been overlooked.

Some daring ones in commercial ventures are showing the possibilities
of a standard in cleanness, and model establishments, dairies,
bakeries, and restaurants should receive the hearty support of a
community. If they do not receive this support, it is more than
discouraging to the promoters, for _it costs to be clean_, a lesson
the community must learn. The saving of money and the consequent loss
of life through disease, or the spending of money and the saving of
life through prevention, are the alternatives.

Undoubtedly the old view of charity as tenderly caring for the
sick--because there must always be a certain amount of sickness in the
world--has held men back from attempting to make a world without
sickness. The charity worker of the past had no hope of really making
things better permanently.

The new view, based upon scientific investigation, is that it is not
charity that is needed to support invalids who once stricken must
fade away, but preventive action to give the patient hope and fresh
air. Most important of all, the experience already gained shows how
far from the truth was the old fatalistic notion of the necessary
continuance of disease.

While the support of many agencies--dispensaries, clinics, hospitals,
sanatoria, etc.--must for a time depend upon private philanthropy, the
expense is in the nature of an investment to bring in a high rate of
interest in the future welfare of the race. As soon as the belief in
the efficiency of these agents reaches the taxpayer he will willingly
furnish the funds for p