THAT TERRIBLE ACT.

Observer, Volume 7, Issue 335, 9 May 1885, Page 3

THAT TERRIBLE ACT.

" The old women of the other sex," as our late respected Mayor dubbed the male opponents of the local introduction of the C.D. Act, are again in arms. Time has verified all that was said in favour of the Act when the question of its adoption or rejection was fought out. Dr Tennent, medical officer to the Lock Hospital, has declared emphatically that since the opening of that institution there has been a decrease of at least 50 per cent, in the number of abandoned women here, and that the spread of infectious disease has been arrested, and the correctness of these statements has been fully borne out by the police who offer unanimous testimony in favour of the Act. And'yet in the face of this overwhelming evidence as to its efficacy, Mr E. C. Hughes, with ctaraeteristic obtuseness — the pig-headedness of a man, who, having advanced a theory, sticks to it through Jihick and thin, and whose obstinacy increases in exact ratio to the opposition it encounters — -this individual again "protests on behalf of 1200 married ladies" — aiid the old women of the other sex — "against any further expenditure of the City funds for such immoral purposes }> as the establishment of a lock Lospital. Meantime the Council have deferred the consideration of Dr Tennent's report for a few days. This means, as I take it, that the "social evil" discussion is to be re-opened and the sentimentalists afforded another opportunity of deploring the existence of "unfortunates" in Auckland. When will these good people Jearn a little common sense ? Since the " social evil" must exist, surely it is better that it should exist under conditions as favourable as possible to the public health. lam afraid that there are a great many people in Auckland whose minds need expansion in order to enable them to deal with, these social problems.