Proper Phraseology

Fortnight ago plain-speaking General Hugh Samuel Johnson was prepared to broadcast to the nation an address on "Public Enemies 1 & 2--the two Social or Venereal Diseases called Syphilis & Gonorrhea." When his time came to speak, General Johnson simply growled to an estimated 17,000,000 NBC listeners:

"I came to the studio tonight prepared with a speech in support of Surgeon General Parran of the United States Public Health Service in his crusade against social diseases. A few minutes before I was to go on the air, I was informed that the discussion was not in accord with the policies of the National Broadcasting Co. Thank you, and good night."

Soft orchestra music filled the rest of the 15 minutes for which Groves Bromo Quinine (for colds) had hired General Johnson to radiorate. General Johnson proceeded to a grill room on the 65th floor of the broadcasting building and heard NBC's president, Major Lenox Riley Lohr explain why General Johnson's brand of plain speaking was, at least on the subject of social disease, a little too forthright for radio consumption.

Last week, to avoid imputations of unhealthy prudery, NBC did broadcast a speech on the same topic by Dr. Morris Fishbein, spokesman and editor of the American Medical Association. The Fishbein speech, therefore, offered an example of what is now considered the proper phraseology in which social diseases may be discussed on the air. Excerpts:

"All of us ought to know that there is not just one, there are several diseases affecting the organs and tissues of men and women concerned in childbirth or in intimate personal relations. Most of these diseases are spread by human contacts. Occasionally, these infections are acquired innocently. . . . The vast majority of cases of infection with the venereal diseases represent intimate contacts. . . .

"In industry, the costs of venereal disease are tremendous. It has been estimated that from 8,000,000 to 10,000,000 workers lose 21,000,000 working days each year at an average cost of $4 per day, as a result of infection with these conditions. "Even 50 years ago . . . the diseases were often considered incurable. . . . To-day scientific medicine, combining its efforts with those of public health officials, is beginning an organized, sustained campaign against the venereal diseases, a campaign in which the public is participating on a tremendous scale. Throughout the country, women's clubs, the junior chambers of commerce, and similar organizations are aiding in dissemination of knowledge. Intelligent people are voluntarily submitting themselves to Wassermann tests as examples to others."

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