The Ethics of Quarantine and Home Sanitation

THE

ETHICS OF QUARANTINE AND HOME SANITATION. BY MILTON BENNION, PROFESSOR OP PHILOSOPHY, UNIVERSITY OF UTAH. People whomaintain their primitive, roving habits may run away from the problem of home sanitation; and with them the spread of contagious disease is naturally limited to a small community. But with the settled mode of life, and the manifold associations of civilization, the need of thorough sanitation and strict quarantine is apparent. Yet many intelligent and well disposed people fail to appreciate this fact; and there are those who, while they believe in enforcing the quarantine regulations against others, are them- selves inclined to resist such restrictions. Even in large cities, where strict health regulations and close inspection are the rule, it is sometimes possible for a family to conceal contagious disease and thus escape quarantine. This concealment may be with full knowledge of the disease, or possibly with only a suspicion of it, and a fear to call in a physician lest it would result in the establish- ment of quarantine. Certainly this result would be a great incon- venience to the family quarantined, but what of the other alterna- tive, and the moral responsibility of the family to society? There are heads of families who, when quarantined, seem to think that the public health laws are enacted especially for their annoyance. If possible to escape, they would not have a flag up; and after it is up, if the disease is in a mild form, they perhaps fail to report subsequent cases, and seek to have the quarantine raised as soon as possible. They have no thought, apparently, of the fact that a very mild case in its last stages may be ishe means of spreading an

ETHICS OF QUARANTINE AND HOME SANITATION. 381 epidemic of the disease, and that others may have it in severe form, causing innocent people immeasurable physical suffering and mental anguish. "Well," a man may say, "the innocent must suffer in this world, and I am an example of it. Let others share my fate." If such a man can be awakened to a sense of his social rasponsibility and to the consequences of his conduct, he will know that he is not innocent, and that for a man, by such indifference, to bring disease and death into the homes of his fellowmen is a crime. This crime, under our present laws, is punishable as a mis- demeanor. It should some day be recognized as a felony. In the light of moral principles, how much better is one who commits this crime, which usually escapes punishment, than one who commits murder outright and pays the death penalty? The difference is undoubtedly in the motive rather than in the conse- quence. In the one case there is malicious intent to destroy human life; in the other there is a selfish desire to escape personal incon- venience and a willingness to take chances on the consequences. Incidentally, to be sure, this may mean that the inconvenience one is trying to escape may come to a score of other families, that several persons in each of these families may suffer from the disease, and that there may be a few deaths in the neighborhood. The Infinite Wisdom alone can tell the amount of personal annoy- ance, sickness and deach that may result from one little act of selfishness. Is it not worth thinking about? The public health law merely defines what people ought to do, even if there were no statutes or health oflicers. As in case of all law against crime and for the protection of life and property, the good citizen should conform to it willingly, and there should be no necessity of enforcing it except against the criminally in- clined. How would a man rank in character who respected the property rights of his neighbors merely because the law of the state compelled him to do so? Is there not as much need of re- spect for their health? and of refraining from exposing them to anything that might endanger their lives? The want of proper consideration for the health laws is prob- ably not due, as a rule, to bad motives, but rather to a failure to give the matter enough serious thought. The possible conse- quences to others have not been vividly pictured before the mind.

382 IMPROVEMENT ERA. But even thoughtlessness and ignorance, through neglect of mat- ters of vital importance, are immoral. To refrain from wilfully injuring others is only the negative side of morality. There is, in addition to this, an obligation to consider seriously the con- sequence of one's conduct both to self and to others, and to assume an attitude of positive thoughtful activity. * The question of home sanitation is closely related to that of contagious and infectious diseases, since unsanitary conditions about the home may be one source of such diseases. Typhoid fever, for instance, may come from the contamination of well water by seepage from cesspools, closets, or barnyards: or the germs of this disease may be carried by flies, when the use of a little dry earth or slack lime would obviate the unsanitary con- dition. The disposal of sewage, where there is no sewerage sys- tem, is a very serious problem, concerning whifch it would be well to have expert advice, t It is self-evident that carelessness in regard to these details may bring illness and perhaps loss of life not only to the occupants of the homes neglected, but also to others in the neighborhood. Heads of families should not only protect the health and physical well-being of the growing generation, but they should also set youthful minds an example that would tend to form in them habits of cleanliness and attention to sanitary regulations. Thoughtful consideration of the far-reaching consequences of conduct will readily justify close attention to these practical aspects of life. Salt Lake City, Utah.

• The health laws of Utah and general regulations concerning contagiout and infectious diseases may be had free by applying to the State Board of Health, Salt Lake City. ^ Some valuable suggestions pertaining to this and kindred home problem* may be found in Farmers' Bulletin No. 270, Modern Conveniences for the Farm Home which will be sent without charge to anyone applying to the Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.