Page:The Wisconsin idea (IA cu31924032449252).pdf/194

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
170
THE WISCONSIN IDEA

on his side, never really received it and either had to compromise or take the moiety which was thrown to him at the end of the litigation. The workmen's compensation act is a means of giving not only a certain remedy to the aggrieved party but it is another example of the state standing behind the poorer man in litigation and making smooth the path for him so that he obtains justice.

It must not be forgotten that the apprenticeship and the industrial education acts already mentioned furnish powerful allies for the above laws. A systematic attempt will be made under these acts to teach workers how to preserve life and health. Without the coöperation and intelligence of the worker himself, much will be lost in the campaign of prevention and the legislative committee on industrial education had this well in mind when they drafted the bills which to-day may be called a part of the above code.

The state has a well organized Board of health with a vital statistics division which coöperates with the school of medicine at the university through the experts and laboratories especially established for research into disease.

This combination between the university and the Board of health is leading to good results. Already a Pasteur institute has been founded in connection with the state hygienic laboratory at the university. Over two hundred patients have been treated there and all