CAUSE OF EPIDEMICS.
NZ Truth , Putanga 703, 7 Hakihea 1918, Page 3
Mō tēnei niupepa
CAUSE OF EPIDEMICS.
Dear "Truth," — 'The cause of epidemics, plagues, and pestilence is, because man fails to realise, that 'he, m all 'his aspects, stands so related to that great system which we call Nature, that you cannot separate any single share of his existence from the operation of natural law. Man is not of special creation, something apart from the natural. He is a part of one vast whole, and there is nothing outside of this whole, 'having come into existence according to the law of cause and effect, and m all departments of nature the effects produced are always m exact proportion to the causes that produced them. There are no diseases In nature which have not been originally created by artificial powers which acted contrary to the laws of nature and became therefore unnatural; that is the reason why periods of great moral depravity, sensuality, superstition, and gross ignorance, which are all unnatural, are followed by plagues, epidemics, famine, etc. Seeing, then, that man is a product of nature, and this world is his abiding place, who has a greater right than man to enjoy the beauties and to possess the treasures which the earth contains and the sea hides? The earth is his by the divine right of universal humanity. If man deliberately fosters, encourages and condones those unnatural condir tions which allow the few to rob the many of their birthright evil consequences must result. It has been usual for men to think and say "Many men are slaves because one is an oppressor; let us hate the oppressor." Now, •however, there is an increasing tendency to reverse this judgment, and to say: "One man is an oppressor because many are slaves; let us despise the slaves." Likewise if man will persist to dwell m hovels and slums, under conditions which swino by reason
of their natural instincts would flee from, then man must be a victim of his own ignorance, folly and cowardice. Why blame the slum landlord, who is very much m evidence, by reason of the fact he is but a product of the present unnatural state of affairs. Man must realise that >his well-being depends upon certain laws by which he is conditioned. If he violates these first principles, he finds himself out of condition to the exact proportion of his violation or again cause and effect. Man must realise if he condones those conditions which must result m hovels, slums, * filth, and dirt, which are m themselves the direct cause of deadly germs; he must at any moment be prepared to put up with the awful effects of that cause, namely, disease, sorrow and death. In conclusion, the prevailing- state of affairs, be it good, bad or indifferent, is at any given time the direct result of man's actions. Let man realise that he has the spark of the divine within him; then well may we say: And I feel a power uprising, Like the power of an embryo god; With a glorious wall it surrounds me, And lifts me up from the sod. Yours, etc., H. WOODRUFFE. Auckland. :
