SEX PROBLEMS.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XII, Issue 239, 21 September 1922, Page 2

SEX PROBLEMS.

ADDRESS BY DR. FENWICK. At the meeting of the Council of Christian Congregations at Christchurch on Monday night, Mr. P. C. Fenwick gave an address on “Sex Problems.” There was a large attendance, presided over by the Rev. 'I. A. Joughm. The Rev. J. Paterson said the whole question of the V.D. Acts and sex instruction in the schools was being dealt with by th© Commission. On the report of the Commission th© Education Board would probably institute some scheme, and the committee of the council thought that the l>est thing to do was to think over the matter, not to come to any decision, but to prepare its views, and Dr. Fenwick had therefore been asked to address the Council. Dr. Fenwick said he was ‘“shy” on the subject, but he intended to speak out plainly. Eight years ago, when he went to the Christchurch Hospital there was a “stupid old law” which stopped the disease from being treated at that institution. The defect was remedied, and the first department lor the treatment of the disease in New Zealand had been instituted, and it had gon© on ever since. The Social Hygiene Society was doing great work in preventing the disease, and he hoped that hospitals would be made useless by that means. The speaker instanced the extermination of smallpox and diphtheria in England, and stated that venereal disease could also be wiped out. Typhoid, which had accounted for so many deaths in South Africa, had been rendered practically noneffective in the Great War, by inoculation. People should not be frightened by the disease. He wanted every man and woman to help to prevent it. “I hate it,” he said, “and I’ll tell you why I hate it When 1 was at St. Thomas’s Hospital 1 saw children stamped for life with their fathers’ mistakes, victims of ill-health and inefficiency.” He had selected the men for the South African Second Contingent, and out of hundreds and hundreds had picked 250 wonderful specimens of manhood. The day before they reached Capetown they were absolutely fit, and they made after their arrival a forced march w’hich lasted from 4 o’clock on one day to 3 o’clock on the next. They were magnificent men, and he was proud of them, but after a wait at a small town a number of them had fallen sick of the disease and they had to be sent back. That was why he hated it. In Egypt, some of the men through sheer ignorance had fallen, and they had been sent back to New Zealand in disgrace. At English hospitals, he had seen men gassed and smashed, but he had never felt so sorry for them as for those suffering from venereal disease—inefficient and done for. Much as he hated talking, he was not going to stop until the men and women of New Zealand stopped to think and then acted. It was only possible to have a clean New’ Zealand with the help of the men and women, of the newspapers and the parsons. He was with the New Zealanders from start to finish, and a number of them had fallen by the wayside, through ignorance for the most part. A number had kept straight in spite of every temptation, because their mothers at home had advised them. He had been called a “scaremonger/’ but if that was so, Mr. Massey was a scaremonger, for he had advised the people to kill rats because of the plague. It was a shame that men were going to be inefficient and bad citizens. The spread of the disease should be stopped and the young men and girls should be told, told nicely, what they should know. If England was able to stamp out hydrophobia and other evils, NewZealand ought to be able to stamp out a disease which w’as not affecting a large number. New Zealand sent 100,000 men to the war, and not many of them were trained soldiers. If put straight in the trenches in France, they would have beeen up against the most magnificently trained army in Europe. Boys were going out in life against an infinitely worse army than tne German, without training. It was a beastly job for a father to talk to his sons, but it was not playing cricket if parents did not warn their sons or daughters. He had made a statement to the Hospital Board that every year 2000 fresh cases appeared, and that statement had been made after much thought. If fathers and mothers said the thing should stop, it would stop. In ten years, if the movement was national, the country would be clean. As a doctor he had always been in favour of compulsory notification, but he might give it up to get the man in the street behind him. The man in the street hated compulsion. If a man had a sore throat, a doctor had to inform Dr. Telford, the District Health Officer, of the fact, but if he had a virulent disease, the doctor was not allowed, by law, to inform the Health Officer. New Zealand would not stand for compulsory notification, and a motion for 'Conditional notification had been brought in. A man was asked to go to the hospital and get cured, and if he got “sick” of being cured, he was cbnditionally notified that he was a danger to the public and steps were taken to minimise the danger. He asked tjie members of the Council to think about getting New Zealand cleaned. England and New Zealand were up against more active service, and he hoped that the men and their officers would know all that they should regarding the disease. He hoped to go with them. In Cairo the New Zealanders worked like cattle in the daytime, and then were given 4 night off, and as a result some of them fell. The church’s influence was waxing, not waning, and men were needed to take the pupit and get New Zealand clean. He had put forward cold facts stored up from 35 years’ service. He appealed to the mothers and fathers to make New Zealand clean and peopled with the most magnificent people ever put into the world. In answer to a question, Dr. Fenwick said that a young New Zealander could be led anywhere, but he could not be driven. It was better to appeal to his instincts. New Zealanders were remarkable at “wrangling,” a word which originated in New Zealand. The mother was the best teacher in the world. At the age of 9 or 10 a boy began to ask questions, and they should be answered through Nature. The Rev. J. J. North said diphtheria and small-pox might be eradicated, but they were not connected with passion. It could not be said that a little knowledge would produce the golden age. Knowledge might lie used to prevent awkward results of indulgence. The whole thing was complex, and people were led to believe that they could eradicate the results of passionate indulgence. Dr. Fenwick said he knew’ there was a morality side of the question. It was not a doctor’s' job to teach morals. The Rev. W. Walker said he greatly appreciated Dr. Fenwick’s efforts. It was not sufficient that men should be given instruction. Many of the men in camp knew’ all about the disease, but some fell. It was deeper than was made out. A vote of thanks was passed to the doctor at the close.