“SAFE MARRIAGE”

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18755, 8 January 1923, Page 5

“SAFE MARRIAGE”

THE NEW ZEALAND BAN. ENGLISH SPECIALIST'S SARCASM. Press Association—By Telegroph—Copyright LONDON. January 6. (Received Jan. 7, at 5.5 p.m.) Sir Archibald Reid, in a letter to the Westminster Gazette commenting on New Zealand’s ban on Miss Ettie Rout’s book “Safe Marriage,” states that his book on the prevention of venereal disease is practically banned in Now Zealand, as no bookseller will stock it unless he has a guarantee from a local medical man. Sir Archibald says: “Formerly all diseases, especially if on a large or unusual scale, were regarded as punishments of sin. and manifestations of the wrath of the Deity, and were best combated bv prayer and offerings and by stricter adherence to the local and temporary svstrm of taboos. Attention was thereby directed from sanitation. These ideas, though evidently still current in New Zealand and ‘Darkest Africa.’ have been or are being abandoned in civilised States. I wonder if anyone can tell me what New Zealanders do read.”—A. and N.Z. Cable.