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The Reader Comments
The Reader Comments
July 10, 1954 D ear Sirs: A com pletely false statement has been in vented, approved and published by you, and you have falsely, w rongly and dam agingly at tributed your invented statement to Paul M anning, in t h e j o u r n a l o f t h e a m e r i c a n d e n t a l a s s o c i a t i o n , July 1954, at page 89 o f the cop y w hich I receive through holding life membership in V a lley D istrict D ental So ciety and Massachusetts D ental Society. Y ou r publication that this m em ber told the Com m ittee on Interstate and Foreign C om m erce, in Hearings on the bill H .R . 2341 to prohibit fluorination, that “ Y o u w ill becom e violent,” is a falsehood, known or knowable by you to be false when you published it, and known or knowable by you therefore as p rob ably to result in heedless and wanton damage to this member. Y ou r statement that this m em ber used the w ord “ fluoridation” in the context which you pretend to report truthfully, by placing your ow n quotation marks about it, is w holly false, as shown by the witness’ s knowledge o f what he did o r did not say, as w ell as by a cop y of the official transcript o f the oral testimony supplied to Research 44 Associates by repre sentatives o f the Press. Y ou , like others, had access to the official transcript o f the Hearings, you had access to M em bers o f the C om m ittee, and you had access to others w ho were present including respectable reporters; therefore your publica tion o f the false and dam aging July report was avoidable by any one o f those means. Y ou have access to every one o f this m em ber’ s publications, in not on e o f w hich has the statement you have falsely quoted me as mak ing been im plied in even the remotest way, and you cou ld have avoided causing damage by that means. Y o u have constructive notice both o f the technical falsity o f the statement you publicly charged me w ith having made and also o f the exact technical correctness of every one o f my publications, and therefore you cou ld have avoided dam aging this m em ber merely by picking u p a telephone, calling the mem ber and checking the falsity o f the u nfounded statement approved and published by you. Th erefore I rely upon you to publish im me diately a retraction and denial o f your July
publication, in terms at least equal, as a be ginning o f the correction ow ed to me and by w ay o f m itigation o f the dam age you have already caused. I rely upon you further to cease and desist from this and all other re peated, continuing, baseless and inexcusable attacks upon me and u pon m y extremely costly defense o f my patients, m y fam ily and myself, against your persuasions and acts to dominate not only our physiology but also the very words and language with w hich w e make com plaint. V ery truly yours, Paul M anning, D .M .D ., L L .B . Consultant in Physiological Chemistry 46 H all St., Springfield 8, Mass. Research 4 4 : T h e Philosophy o f M edical and Chem ical Experimentation on Hum an Beings.
Editor’s note: jo u r n a l erred in reporting D r. M an ning’ s warning to the Congressional Com m it tee. A ccord in g to the official transcript, Dr. M anning’ s testimony on the subj'ect o f bathing in fluoridated water was in part as follow s: “ I am convinced o f the fairness o f this C om mittee because they are all Am ericans, M r. Chairman. But if I can say it w ithout offense, M r. Chairman and gentlem en, don ’ t soak your bodies in W ashington bath water because if you d o the inevitable effects o f the operation o f the laws o f physics w ill com e upon you. I am safe in Springfield. I think I can stake m y reputation on it. W e w ill never have this experiment perform ed on us in Springfield. “ I think it is almost a certainty at the pres ent time that, unless this is halted by gentle men w ho becom e interested in it, it w ill result in open violence in many places at on ce and provide that little spark w hich the profes sors in H arvard Graduate School o f Business Adm inistration talk about in their private talks to their alumni. I h ope it is not offensive to you, M r. Chairman, for me to say that. “ I have tried to illustrate by a few words o f hum ility w hich com e from the heart— just don ’ t bathe in it, for your ow n preservation and the preservation o f your services to your country w hich we value.”
th e
497
July 10, 1954 D ear Sirs: A com pletely false statement has been in vented, approved and published by you, and you have falsely, w rongly and dam agingly at tributed your invented statement to Paul M anning, in t h e j o u r n a l o f t h e a m e r i c a n d e n t a l a s s o c i a t i o n , July 1954, at page 89 o f the cop y w hich I receive through holding life membership in V a lley D istrict D ental So ciety and Massachusetts D ental Society. Y ou r publication that this m em ber told the Com m ittee on Interstate and Foreign C om m erce, in Hearings on the bill H .R . 2341 to prohibit fluorination, that “ Y o u w ill becom e violent,” is a falsehood, known or knowable by you to be false when you published it, and known or knowable by you therefore as p rob ably to result in heedless and wanton damage to this member. Y ou r statement that this m em ber used the w ord “ fluoridation” in the context which you pretend to report truthfully, by placing your ow n quotation marks about it, is w holly false, as shown by the witness’ s knowledge o f what he did o r did not say, as w ell as by a cop y of the official transcript o f the oral testimony supplied to Research 44 Associates by repre sentatives o f the Press. Y ou , like others, had access to the official transcript o f the Hearings, you had access to M em bers o f the C om m ittee, and you had access to others w ho were present including respectable reporters; therefore your publica tion o f the false and dam aging July report was avoidable by any one o f those means. Y ou have access to every one o f this m em ber’ s publications, in not on e o f w hich has the statement you have falsely quoted me as mak ing been im plied in even the remotest way, and you cou ld have avoided causing damage by that means. Y o u have constructive notice both o f the technical falsity o f the statement you publicly charged me w ith having made and also o f the exact technical correctness of every one o f my publications, and therefore you cou ld have avoided dam aging this m em ber merely by picking u p a telephone, calling the mem ber and checking the falsity o f the u nfounded statement approved and published by you. Th erefore I rely upon you to publish im me diately a retraction and denial o f your July
publication, in terms at least equal, as a be ginning o f the correction ow ed to me and by w ay o f m itigation o f the dam age you have already caused. I rely upon you further to cease and desist from this and all other re peated, continuing, baseless and inexcusable attacks upon me and u pon m y extremely costly defense o f my patients, m y fam ily and myself, against your persuasions and acts to dominate not only our physiology but also the very words and language with w hich w e make com plaint. V ery truly yours, Paul M anning, D .M .D ., L L .B . Consultant in Physiological Chemistry 46 H all St., Springfield 8, Mass. Research 4 4 : T h e Philosophy o f M edical and Chem ical Experimentation on Hum an Beings.
Editor’s note: jo u r n a l erred in reporting D r. M an ning’ s warning to the Congressional Com m it tee. A ccord in g to the official transcript, Dr. M anning’ s testimony on the subj'ect o f bathing in fluoridated water was in part as follow s: “ I am convinced o f the fairness o f this C om mittee because they are all Am ericans, M r. Chairman. But if I can say it w ithout offense, M r. Chairman and gentlem en, don ’ t soak your bodies in W ashington bath water because if you d o the inevitable effects o f the operation o f the laws o f physics w ill com e upon you. I am safe in Springfield. I think I can stake m y reputation on it. W e w ill never have this experiment perform ed on us in Springfield. “ I think it is almost a certainty at the pres ent time that, unless this is halted by gentle men w ho becom e interested in it, it w ill result in open violence in many places at on ce and provide that little spark w hich the profes sors in H arvard Graduate School o f Business Adm inistration talk about in their private talks to their alumni. I h ope it is not offensive to you, M r. Chairman, for me to say that. “ I have tried to illustrate by a few words o f hum ility w hich com e from the heart— just don ’ t bathe in it, for your ow n preservation and the preservation o f your services to your country w hich we value.”
th e
497