ABSTRACT
Smith resumed his seat on the Board of Charities in 1898. He supported a doctor initiative to control the growth of free dispensaries and spent several years trying to reduce what he and other reformers saw as excessive charity. He unsuccessfully pursued two other legislative initiatives between 1899 and 1900: replacing elected coroners with professional medical examiners and authorizing the city parks department to plant and maintain street trees. A new governor sought to limit Smith’s creations, the State Board of Health and the State Commission in Lunacy, in 1901, with long-term effects on both bodies. Smith spoke to the American Public Health Association that year and encouraged it to support a national health board based around the Marine Hospital Service; however, the APHA rejected his advice. He got a city tree planting law passed in 1902, but the city did not provide funds.
