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reorganization and enormous development of the health department were all based upon the recommendations of the Reconstruction Commission. A very great advance was made in the field of the Department of Education, based largely upon the recommendations of the Reconstruction Commission. Just what they recommended now I don't remember, but acting on their recommendations the Governor reactivated the Education Department and set them off on a number of programs to rural schools and things of that sort. In the Health Department it was shown that the public health services in the cities were of ten very good, but the rural areas were badly neglected. The Governor appointed Dr. Hermann Biggs, who was a Sachem of Tammany Hall, a great fellow and a great doctor, as a Health Commissioner. He did a perfectly brilliant job as Health Commissioner. He was probably the best Health Commissioner we ever had in the State of New York. He entered very vigorously into this idea of expanding the health service so that the rural areas could benefit by public health activities and services of one sort and another - epidemic control, sanitary control, examination of school children for incipient tuberculosis and that kind of thing. The whole program of the Reconstruction Commission has gone out of my mind, but it was involved in everything in the whole state government.
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