THE GREAT WHITE PLAGUE.

NZ Truth, Issue 58, 28 July 1906, Page 7

THE GREAT WHITE PLAGUE.

"One out of every seven persons that die, die of consumption!" This is the statement of one of the ablest specialists of the day. And yet, he says, consumption is peculiarly a disease of .civilisation. Not one in' a*, hundred of these deaths need occur— or would occur — were proper attention paid to the conditions, sanitary and otherwise, undai which the people live. It seems to us' a misuse of effort to construct huge, extensive ' sanatoria, and.^ ,at the s.ame r timo> pay.ao attention, io the root cause of the' evil. Consumption is an industrial disease. For instance, one out of every two compositors that die, die of consumption; the Banie with bakers, and it is the same with agood many other trades where dust and bad ventilation prevail. And, as time goes on, it is becom- : ing more and more of a curse. It spreads with lightning rapidity, and attacks those who are the least able to combat it. It entails infinite suffering— not only to the victim, but to those in many cases dependent upon him. Certainly this question deserves immediate attention.