The Association met in the Academy of Music, and was called to order by the President, Dr. Geo. H. Noble, of Divine blessing was invoked by the Rev. F. M. Reese, At the conclusion of the prayer, Dr. W. F. Holt, in be- ADDRESS OF WELCOME. Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Medical Asso- As the representative of the Macon Medical Society and earnest prayers saw it take its first tottering steps, and . wished it Godspeed in its struggle toward a mighty life. To-day Macon welcomes once more her own mighty offspring, and in this welcome there rings a clarion note of fond pride and gratified ambition. [Applause.] Forty-eight years, with their changes, have passed on, each one marked by the steady growth and advancement of the State Association; its members, with feet firmly planted upon principles of integrity and honor, with a love. of science and humanity which stood undaunted before any and every sacrifice, have attained exalted positions, both at home and abroad, and the salutary influences of less prominent but equally heroic and lofty lives live in the hearts and memories of the people of Georgia. In epidemics that brought devastation and death to our State and our land-epidemics that caused the stoutest hearts to quail and tremble-our profession, regardless of personal risks and sacrifices, have always been among the first to volunteer their services, and hand in hand with the servants of God and the noble women of our country, have stood ready and willing to give their services, their counsel-yea, their lives to aid suffering humanity and avert danger and death. Thanks to the rapid strides of medical science, aided by the intelligent co-operation of national and state legislation, these dark pages in the world's history grew rarer and brighter. Eight years have passed since we had the pleasure of greeting you a long time to wait, but the waiting only gives us larger arrears of welcome to extend to you and a hospitality more cordial and sincere. But, gentlemen, in my eagerness to tell you how glad we are to see you-how welcome you are to all that we have to offer you—I am selfishly keeping you from the literary treat that I can safely promise is in store for you in the address of welcome in behalf of the city of Macon by one of our distinguished legal representatives, whom I now take great pleasure in introducing to you-Hon. N. E. Harris. [Applause.] ADDRESS OF WELCOME BY HON. N. E. HARRIS. Mr. President, Members of the Association, Ladies and Gentlemen: I have been appointed, in behalf of the corporation of the city of Macon, to welcome to our midst this convention of physicians and surgeons. The last Democratic president, while the robes of his office were yet upon him, did not consider it beyond his province twice to do what I am now here to attempt. I ought, therefore, to esteem the task both a pleasure and an honor. Political conventions, charged with deciding the ultimate destinies of public men and measures, have often met in this hall; business conventions looking to the encouragement of new enterprises, the launching of new schemes of development and putting into operation new ventures for elevating the country and aiding in the march of improvement, likewise have met here; social conventions, having in view the purpose of securing closer relations between labor and capital, between the great barons of commerce on the one hand and the middle orders who constitute the common gentry of trade on the other-all these have gathered here in times gone, that their members might commune with each other and lay out plans for the future campaigns of the century, yet I think that no convention ever met at this place which touched more intimately the well-being of society or affected more deeply the destiny of the human race as comprehended in the preservation and improvement of the great physical forces of life, than does this medical association which gathers here to-day. I rejoice, therefore, gentlemen, to welcome you to our midst. You come to us having in your possession already the pass key that unlocks the door of every home in the landyour membership in your profession-for it is certain that no dwelling can long remain closed against the doctor; yet I think Macon is especially glad to receive your visit to-day, both on your own account and hers, because the presence of so many of the great healing profession accentuates her own healthfulness as a city. While she has experienced sickness and disease enough in her midst to keep her own physi cians in easy and sometimes luxurious style, yet she is proud to say to-day that their skill and intelligence, added to our own climatic surroundings, have enabled them to cure nearly every patient to whom they have been called, and absolutely to give her the third lowest death-rate in proportion to population in all these United States. [Applause.] I do not know whether our doctors are always to be congratulated on this state of affairs. I remember to have heard a gray-haired physician complaining once about the law applicable to the collection of physicians' bills. He said that if the patient got well the doctor ran the risk of Laving great trouble to collect his bills, but if his patient died, then the law gave him the highest lien on the estate, and he was certain to be paid. This appeared to him like a premium offered to unsuccessful treatment-not the first anomaly in the law which by seeking to protect life seems to expose it to increasing dangers. But the lawmakers trusted the honor of the profession, and I have never heard of an instance where the trust was betrayed. The State has been careful of her medical profession, in this respect presenting a sharp contrast to the conduct of several other commonwealths in the government. This convention, on first thought, would not imagine there was any very striking resemblance between the physician and the lawyer, I am sure, and yet the parallel is not without interest. As I am a member of the legal profession, I may be pardoned for calling your attention to some features common to both. 1. Did you ever reflect that the doctor will take the worst case in the world, when called to it? So, too, will the lawyer, if he is certain to get his pay. 2. The doctor often loses his case, and so, too, unfortunately, does the lawyer. 3. Both thrive on the misfortunes of their fellow-men. Their happiness is in the misery of their clients or patients. 4. The worse scared the client or patient, the more pay the lawyer or doctor is apt to get. 5. People abuse both alike. I heard a distinguished minister in the pulpit not a month ago, speaking of the two professions, call the doctors "two by four pill-drivers" and the lawyers "two by three sapheaded barristers.' I think the lawyers, however, suffer most in this respect. The Farmers' Alliance was organized to keep them out of office, and whenever you try to keep a lawyer out of office, the attack all along the line is bound to be vigorous, forcible and fiery. No small guns will silence a ten-inch Columbia, not even a rapid-firing, breech-loading, six-inch rifle-gun. 6. The professions resemble each other somewhat in the demand for titles urged upon the public. I have often laughed to see these new fledglings, lately turned out by our medical colleges, stalking around without a single patient or a day's practice, rejoicing in the title of "doctor,” which they claim from the suffering public. It is so allowed; but then you have laughed, too, when you have seen the slick breed of small would-be barristers, the younger the better, coming into your community and rejoicing in the warlike designation of "colonel," although they never had a case in the world and never commanded a corporal's guard. The younger they are in the profession, the more certain the public is to give them a handle to their names. Nevertheless, all things must have a beginning, and this is the way we all commenced. 7. The State requires a license of both these professions, the one to deal with your fortunes and the other with your lives. 8. And the State taxes both alike and gives the same exemptions to each, wisely forbidding these unsympathizing municipal corporations and county governments from laying their heavy hands upon them. The last legislature even went so far as to make it a misdemeanor for a lawyer or a doctor to practice his profession without the payment of his professional tax! 9. In morals the doctor fares best and the parallel ceases. Christ denounces the lawyer in the words, "Woe! Woe! unto you lawyers," although one of them by crossquestioning developed from the Saviour the great law of human brotherhood. By the way, I heard a military friend of this city remark recently that he didn't like to be asked by a lawyer to go to church, because Christ |