THE SOCIAL EVIL.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 172, 20 July 1916, Page 7

THE SOCIAL EVIL.

SOME DRASTIC PRECAUTIONS. INSPECTION AND DETENTION. CLINICS TO BE ESTABLISHED. THE EDUCATIONAL ASPECT. (By Talesrapli.—Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, Wednesday. , Among the provisions in the War ' Regulations Bill is one to giv c the Goveminent power to frame regulations for dealing with the ever-increasing social ] evil, and the Hon. G. W. Russell, in out- ] lining a number of drastic proposals ; having for their object the stamping out;of this scourge on the community, made ' a forceful and impressive speech to-night ' with the gloves oil', as the Minister him- ' self termed it. In order that this aspect of the bill might be more freely dis- ; cussed, all ladies in the galleries were ' requested to leave the Chamber. The ■ Minister explained the scheme regarding the treatment of venereal diseases. That the disease was rampant in the country was shown by the fact < that "292 soldiers were admitted to • camps suffering from these diseases, "2r9 ■ being a milder form. Ninety were i segregated on a certain quarantine is- ; land. The question for the country was i whether these men should be shut up i ■while diseased women were allowed to continue to spread the contagion? Comparisons ehowed that New Zealand, was ) better off in this respect than other countries. Control of women was tried Tinder the Contagious Diseases Act in i Christchurch, and he understood it resulted in improved conditions. He saw i no rea3on why infected persons should mix with the healthy community. This should apply to men and women. (Hear, hear.) He did not propose any- ' tMng in the nature of restoring the Contagious Diseases Act, but he proposed to take power by regulations to place the one-woman brothel on the same footing as the brothel containing more than one woman. (Hear, hear.) The by-laws of Auckland and Wellington brought onewoman brothels under the law, and he proposed to make the same law apply to the whole Dominion. (Hear, hear.)

CLANDESTINE PROSTITUTION. Then again, he proposed that any ■woman proved to foe leading an immoral life should be subject to medical inspection, and if found to be diseased, should be detained until cured. The question of whether, after being cured, such womne should be sent to a reformatory would have to be dealt wi<3i later. Women proved to be vagrants and found diseased would also be treated in the same way. (Hear, hear-) The greatest difficulty, however, went on the Minister, would be in dealing with clandestine prostitution of botk sexes This class was undoubtedly far more numerous than those who gave up their live; to immoral courses. The British Medical Association had set its face a2ainst notification, and he was satisfied that any. attempt to make venereal: idjaeasc-jjiotifiable- Id ~ Xew . Zealand; would result in driving the disease underground. He dox>tc.il very much ifi doctors would notify the Department, and this underground aspect was therefore the very thing to tv avoided in dealing effectually with sudh a disease. He! thought, therefore, the course to be fol-j lowed should be along the lines of j making it a criminal offence for any per-j son except a legally qualified practi-; tioner to treat venereal diseases. (Hear/ hear.) This should havu the effect ofj preventing chemists and quacks of all descriptions from diagnosing the diseaee and giving patients treastment. (Hear ear.) ESTABLISHMENT OF CLINICS. The next step to he talen, said Mr. Kusaell. should be the establishment or clinics for the treatment of venerea 1 .! diseases. He did not advocate the establishment of separate institutions, as they would, from their very nature, preTent persons from going to them fov treatment. (Hear, hear.) The only ■way was for venereal disease to be treated at public hospitals aa beingj among the ordinary diseases for which hospitals existed. He intended, therefore, to ask the House to empower him to pay subsidies of 75 instead of 50 per cent, towards the cost of treating venereal disease at hospitals. (Hear hear.) If possible, there should be female doctors for women and male doctors for men, and to be effective these hospitals for venereal disease should be open day and night.

EDUCATIONAL ASPECT. Another important aspect was educational, as an enormous amount of good could lie done in that direction. (Hear, hear.) With this object he proposed to print and circulate widely extracts from medical reports in all their hideous nakedness, showing the disastrous risks Tun by incurring the danger of infection. He proposed also to 'institute lectures by Male and female doctors to both sexes in all parts of the country to show the danger of promiscuous intercourse. In this educational phase he hoped to have the assistance of bishops and clergy of tie Dominion, while in the secondary schools and higher classes of the primary schoola more instruction should be given regarding morality. Advantage should also be taken of evening at technical schoola, and university professors should he enlisted as agents in the propaganda dealing with this disease. The Minister 'ent on to express the opinion that it should be obligatory for doctors to hand to patients suffering from the disease «arda containing instructions, and he Would be pleased to have such cards printed at the Government Office and "Etributed to any medical men wh)o apPued for them. He also appealed to •dwol teachers to assist in the work. » B 4totnePress-which,he remarked, bad already given valuable assistance. PRECAUTIONS IN AMERICA. «*• Bussell went on to explain some Precautions adopted in the different !*wf of America. Among precautions *er iZ tboil ° h . t sn .ould be adopted here j»L?" e . Prohibition of any persons jT™~~ *ith syphilis from employment aca places as bakeries, meat shops nntJS , aUo m shops. He did Z. k, how ever, that New Zealand in P re P ar <sd to go as far as interdiction, mage De t w een perspns suffering in Bm J en , real disease, as was the case : * some American States. ! j OUR DUTY TO SOCIETY. the aspect of the disease Wμ *+? to mm in the trainill g frotaV Mmist er said men suffering kZlJ*™ probably better than a h mrnvbcr rf civilians who coTild keep

' *^ lr . con « d T ltion Becret - (Hear, hear.) He added: • I am not going to allow the question of delicacy to close my mouth when I am dealing with a problem of V s , ," d - (Hear - hear -> The only way of dealing with this matter is by taking tfte gloves off, and realising, that instead of dealing with it underground, the best thing is to face it and try and blast the trouble effectively. (Hear, hear.) Every suggestion that can be made to assist the Crovcrnment in coming to a wise Accision on this matter will be welcomed las the duty we owe to ourselves and to the unborn children of this country that we should do the uttermost we can to stamp this dreadful disease out." (Hear, hear.) NO EVIDENCE OF EASTERN FORMS. The Minister added that he wished to assure members that the most careful examination was made under the Public Health Department of all men returning from E;r.vpt and Galilpoli, and no patients were released from quarantine until the omevjrß were satisfied that there was no danger of disease in any Eastern form being communicated in this country. There had been no evidence smee the men returned from the war areas of any of ti'ie grosser and more terrible forms of venereal diseases which afflicted the East. Upon the Minister concluding his epoeeh he was accorded prolonged applause by the whole House. MINISTER'S , PROPOSES COMMENDED. Mr. Hornsby strongly emphasised his condemnation of the attitude of women who sligKled and ignored their sisters who fell, but opened their doors to the man who offended. The best thin- the Minister proposed was to deal with quacks. The next ittiing was to force medical men to notify the disease Mr. Russell: They" -won't do it" Mr. Hornsby: Strifcß offenders off the roll. i Mr. Wilford congratulated Mr. Russell on his statement repardinsr the social evil and expressed the belief that itavould have a deep effect on p oMic opiniSE On some points he disagree with the Minister, especially the proposals to send ; doctors round to give local instruction. i Ihe best way was to clean up the disease from its source. Let them stop at the right to control women who were liable to spread the disease, as he was positive that the reformatory treatment would be useless.

Dr Thacker conmiendcd the Minister of Internal Affairs for gripping the question in a thorough way. He had up-to-date knowledge, and his efforts would do more for New Zealand than any previous Minister. Tho best remedy was educative measures starting as soon as children realised sex.