The administration, in these proposals, was attempting to legislate for a Hexible health program that would not impose radical change on the Micronesians. The CinCPacFlt Medical Officer noted: The suggested changes in the proposed Public Health regulations were prompted by the belief that a rigid inflexible system will not be as successful as one which permits a gradual change from native habits and customs through education and native leadership. It is believed that the regulations should established the goal to be attained but that the ways and means of reaching the goal should be flexible enough to permit local variations to meet local conditions. It has been the experience of other colonial administrators that primitive peoples do not rapidly or willingly give up their native habits and that progress in public health and sanitation is apt to be retarded when compulsion alone is used. A docile race, such as inhabit the islands of the Trust Territory, will probably not openly reject the new regulations but it may be expected that they will be apathetic and passively resistant. A case in point is the experiences of the German and Japanese administrators at Yap wherethe natives are unusually resistant to changes imposed by police regulations. Both administrations made excellent attempts to improve the health of the natives and particularly to stamp out tuberculosis which has been the principal cause of death amongthe natives for generations. Both made the mistake, however, of trying to accomplish results by regulations and ignoring education and native leadership, and both failed completely in accomplishing results. The natives would not cooperate because they were perfectly satished with their age old customs and resented efforts to change them by dogmatic laws and regulations. There is no reason to expect that they will regard American rules and regulations any differently. But there is a reasonable expectation of success if we provide the clinical facilities and undertake a program of impressing the native leaders with the advantages to be gained by them in following modern methods.” The proposals were accepted by higher authority and provided the basis for future planning and administration of the health program. The interim government for the Trust Territory, established by Interim Regulation 4-48, promulgated in May 1948, provided for a “Division of Public Health™ of the Staff of the Deputy High Commissioner (Section 2)." The Public Health Rules and Regulations, first issued in November 1947, were restated and legalized in the same interim regulation (Section 7) with only three changesin the original rules. The following statement was addedto the first regulation: “In cases where there is an obvious conflict between these regulations and local habits and customs. the judicious use of education and local * Capt F.C. Greaves memo dtd 31 Mar. 48. 27 For a : . copy of Int. Ree. g-48. see app. 6p. 1147. 863 90059003