The Hastings Standard Published Daily. TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 1896. THE CONTAGIOUS DISEASES ACT.

Hastings Standard, Issue 55, 30 June 1896, Page 2

The Hastings Standard Published Daily.

TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 1896. THE CONTAGIOUS DISEASES ACT.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrongs that need resistance. For the future in the distance, And the good that we can do.

The repeal of the Contagious Diseases Act has once again been prevented by the Legislative Council, notwithstanding that in "another place" letters were read from numerous organisations of Christian women and social reformers of one sort and another, who have set themselves the task of abolishing State-controlled vice. There are many arguments ]»•» and ton

which it would be impossible to set down here, and for our purpose we must be content to look at the matter in a light which will, we think, by common consent be voted a reasonable one. As a matter of fact, then, the Contagious Diseases Act is non-existent in New Zealand, for while it is present in our statutes it has been " hung up "in the cities by the pow r er vested in the Borough Councils. To retain such a measure on the statute-book, when it has been shown that the majority are in revolt against it, is, to say the least, absurd. It would be a harsh thing to say that the Upper House in this colony is opposed to the prohibition of State-controlled vice, but there are good grounds for the belief that a majority of our Legislative Councillors are altogether opposed to the placing of men and women on an equality before the law. In the C.D. Act, as it is at present, only provision is made in the case of fallen woman. No hold can be had upon fallen num. Further, too much power is given to the police ; for if an officer has " reason to believe " that a woman has placed herself in the category of the " unfortunate," he may —when the Act is in force —compel her to undergo examination. We need not point out how shockingly this clause of the measure may be administered; how terribly it may be debased. The object of the Government in attempting to repeal the law was, it is understood, so as to make way for a more equitable and righteous enactment. That the majority of the " Lords " should have refused to listen to reason and set at defiance the expressed wish of by far the larger half of the womanhood and manhood of New Zealand is certainly calculated to make the judi» c-ious grieve.