City Hall's Bacteriological Battle
Tacoma doctors confront the mayor over the firing of the city bacteriologist, sparking a debate on political interference in health services.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Tacoma doctors, at the Tacoma Hotel, Saturday night, adopted a resolution protesting against the action of Mayor Link in removing Dr. C. S. Wilson from the office of city bacteriologist and demanding that the mayor in the future consult the medical fraternity before doing anything on the bacteriological question. The mayor was present at the meeting. He told the medical board that he did not grant authority to any association or profession to dictate to him what he should do in office, but he was ready to defend his action with reference to the removal of Dr. Wilson on the ground that he was not working in harmony with the other heads of departments. An attempt was made to indicate that Commissioner McGregor had sought to dictate to Wilson what kind of a report he should make on the water question. Mr. McGregor stated today that he had never attempted to dictate anything to Wilson but he had insisted that he examine the water in various places in the city and report whether it was good or not. In the meantime Dr. LaGasa is on the payroll and is doing the bacteriological work for the city.
“He told the medical board that he did not grant authority to any association or profession to dictate to him what he should do in office.”
This clash between professional medical experts and political appointees in the mayor's office mirrors modern concerns regarding the politicization of public health and bureaucratic autonomy.
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