Leach's MacDonald

In the big, twelve-ooimd directory of the American Medical Association, the letters col. after a doctor's name signify that he is a Negro. Most of the 300 Negro

A. M. A. members are Northerners, for Negro physicians are excluded from Southern county medical associations, hence from the parent A. M. A.* Both Northern and Southern Negro doctors are united in the Negro National Medical Association. Last May, when the A. M. A. held its annual convention in St. Louis, a group of Negro A. M. A. members complained to Secretary Olin West against Southern exclusion, and the col. tag. Later, in Chicago, Dr. West caustically suggested that N. M. A. put their own house in order before criticizing the A. M. A. Flashing a sheaf of documents, he informed an astonished N. M. A. delegation that the president-elect of the Negro National Medical Association, Dr. Jesse Leonidas Leach of Flint, Mich., had been fined by a Michigan Federal district court in 1928 'for selling twelve quarts of bootleg "Sandy MacDonald" Scotch to disguised Federal agents. Furious, N. M. A. leaders spread the news to all 2,000 N. M. A. members.

Last week, when Dr. Leach rolled into Manhattan in his twelve-cylinder red Cadillac for the 45th annual convention of the N. M. A., the storm broke. A small group of Manhattan physicians, led by distinguished Skull-Surgeon Louis Tompkins Wright, started a movement to oust President-elect Leach. But Dr. Leach clung on. He insisted that he had been framed by Federal agents in 1928. "I had only one quart of Sandy MacDonald in my possession," he said, "and I was taking it home for my personal use." He promised to resign if the convention would only pass a motion vindicating him.

Sold, the convention upheld his honor. But Dr. Leach still clung on. Realizing that they would never win any concessions from the A. M. A. with Dr. Leach in the saddle, the association after six days of wrangling, finally ousted him, ordered its lawyer to fight the whole matter out in court if necessary. Elected as new president was Dr. Albert Woods Dumas of Natchez, Miss.

*Local relief agencies in the South usually send clients only to A. M. A. members. Hence Southern Negro doctors, who do not belong to the A. M. A., are resentful about losing a large percentage of their black practice to white doctors.

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