A SAFE PLACE IN THE COUNTRY.

NZ Truth, 15 March 1924, Page 6

A SAFE PLACE IN THE COUNTRY.

"Truth's" Efforts Recognised. i : (From "Truth's" Hamilton Rep.) ! The illuminating figures published • m a recent issue of "Truth" re--1 lative to the steady increase of ! sexual offences throughout New Zealand were' quoted before a meeting [ of the Hamilton Chamber of Cora- , merce a few days ago, when Mr. S. \ Lye, president of the local branch of ' the Farmers' Union, made them the basis of an address on the need for es- - tabllshing BO~io institution — a half- ; way house, as it were, for the incar- [ ceration of sexual perverts. ! THE BACKING OF FACTS. ' The address was given at a time i when a good deal of public attention up '<■ this way was focussed on such matters, ■ for, at the recent sitting of the Supreme . Court, no less than five of the fourteen ' criminal cases comprising the calendar • were to do with sex offences. Including ' that most appalling case of George • Reeve, the Ongarue farmer, who m•- -• decently Interfered In a most callous I and brutal manner with his three step- • daughters, aged 17, 12 and 10 years. • Since the close of the criminal session " last week, there has been a further t arrest ln the town of a well-known young accountant, against whom It Is i understood a long series of charges of l criminally interfering with boys over i a lengthy period, will be preferred. ' Also, a youth, one of this accountant's l disciples, was later charged with being i out of control. Mr. Lye's remarks, therefore, fell on ' Interested ears. He referred to the I article and figures published In : "Truth," which fearlessly exposed the • growing vice m tho country, where ; others shunned the subject as un- , savory. Mr. Lye had a word of praise ■ for the homos and societies already working for the moral uplifting of the » people, but said that these did not go • far enough. ; The woman who sinned t was often branded for life, but not so • with the man, who got off scot free m i tho majority of cases. In tho case of ' assaults against young children, most parents preferred to keep the matter quiet rather than have their littlo ones dragged Into the Police Courts with all i the attendant publicity. Much of this L class of erlmo was, therefore, hidden. » Great danger for young children lurked ' along country roads, where swaggers . and others, turned adrift by the police > to get work In the country, roamed about begging, and committing crime. While, said thc speaker, V.D. was , i.ot n notifiable disease, the figures! that were available of cases treated at _^_M_«_a_e_HH__ak_M_i

the different clinics were most alarming. According to "Truth," no less than 77 new cases were dealt with at tho Christchurch clinic during the past two months,. and they could be quite certain that there were far more cases concealed than were notified. The ravages of the disease were sapping tlie life-blood of the nation, and there was strong need for more drastic action to deal with it on the part of the Government. The insidious manner m which it was spread made the menace all the more powerful for national destruction. For moral perverts he thought the Government should establish a , home away back m 'the country somewhere, where they would have an opportunity? of regenerating, and where, at any rate, they could be kept out of harm's way, while, at the same time, being provided with a wholesome, healthy . occupation under rigid discipline. On his motion it was decided to start a Dominion campaign to urge the Government to establish such a half-way home as he had suggested. Dr. Dewsbury F. Pinfold, who both as an army doctor and as a private physician, has had considerable experience of sex degeneracy and its awful results, said he agreed entirely with Mr. Lye's remarks. • THE CHAIN OF INFECTION. He was appalled, he said, af the amount and nature of crime committed m New Zealand, as disclosed by statistics during the past few years. His medical training and experience led him to trace a large portion of this crime to sex perversion. Figures showed that there was a steady increase of sex offences, while venereal disease was spreading a,t an enormous rate. It was eating into the vitals of the race and was rampant to a far greater extent that the general public and the authorities were aware of. He had read where an eminent American medical man had stated that if venereal disease could be stamped out, the greater percentage of the hospitals m the cities could be put out of commission. The dreadful ravages of the disease and the manner m which it was spread, together, with the natural reluctance of persons suffering from it to notify it, made it a terrible menace to the nation and rendered it imperative to deal m some more drastic way with carriers of the disease. The speaker cited a case which had recently come under his notice of a country girl\of seventeen, who was lacking m sex control, and who, not long ago, contracted venereal disease from some man. He knew for certain that she had since conveyed the disease to at least seven other men. These men would doubtless give it to as many others, and m this insidious way would the cases go on multiplying. A healthy manhood and womanhood was a great asset to any nation, but they could never get this until more drastic steps were taken to stamp out venereal disease. Other speakers stressed the need for strict measures being enforced to curb the disease and to check the growth of sexual crime; and a strong committee was set up to act on the lines set out In Mr. Lye's motion, reported above.