1.—14.

12

J. M. MASON.

I would draw your attention to, and that is that in the circulars these men send out they ask questions which in some cases would seem to require a young fellow to masturbate himself in order to answer. Freeman and Wallace, in their book, refer to a man whose penile arrangement is small, and they suggest a sort of pump in order that the organ may be made larger. Of course, they carefully explain that although it reads like that, it is a much more intricate instrument, and can only be got through them. There is another case I will refer to, the Dr. Hinton-Willis Company, Melbourne. The letter is written to Mr. John S., , New Zealand. " Dear Sib, —Your esteemed favour to hand, and we take pleasure in forwarding herewith our treatise." It is the name of a clergyman who is helping me in this matter. "We ask you to read it carefully, for it describes a system of medical treatment which is as really unfailing as any human system can be. Men suffering from any sexual or nervous derangement find an improvement under this treatment from the first day's use, and it is absolutely the only method for which this can be truthfully claimed. The vacuum appliance is an apparatus which is used a few minutes daily, and is not worn. A full description and the manner of application is given in the first chapter of our book. We emphatically claim that by the use of the vacuum appliance a permanent restoration is effected, even where all other means have failed. If you cannot determine after reading our book what course of treatment is necessary, we will select it after receiving further information, which you will please furnish by answering the questions on the enclosed blank diagnosis form and returning same to us together with a fee of £2 and the pieces of chemically prepared paper saturated in your urine, as per the enclosed print of directions." That dodge is as old as the hills, and it can be done with litmus paper. They all play the old dodge— it is " Codlin's your friend, not Short." Then there is a small booklet on " The Three Ages of Men," which I will put in for the use of the Committee. Of course, there is a large number of men who use these means to get hold of people. In America, as you can see from Collier's Weekly, they have really a kind of exchange. 11. What is Collier's Weekly? —lt is an American paper which has done most valuable work in fighting quackery. In one illustration they set out a photogra_ph of the price-list of confidential letters. You can borrow these for so-much, and there is a regular deal done in them. Apparently a Christchurch quack has got much out of boys by threats to tell their fathers, but of course he never does. You may write to a Melbourne firm, and this man writes back to you, and you wonder how he has got to hear of it. Your only safeguard is not to answer him, otherwise he may plant something on you. In America these things are rented out, and Collier's Weekly shows you a pricelist which is like a share-list. There is a sexual-diseases reply letter, and a reply letter for those who look after the diseases of women. The letter, after it is done with, is rented to another man, who then tries to get the person to begin with his medicine. There is another aspect of this question which, in my opinion, is only second in importance to the demoralisation of the youngsters, and it refers to the man who holds out a cure for consumption or cancer. Take the case of a man who has had a little lump on his lip. It has grown very gradually, and is not very large, but his wife probably notices that he is rubbing it, and tells him that he had better go and see a doctor. The doctor, after careful examination, says that he had better have it out. The man goes home and tells his wife that he must have it out, and there is an impression that a big operation is proposed. The man cannot make up his mind, and thinks the lump is not big enough for an operation, and he puts it off month after month. A friend tells him that the doctor only wants to cut him, and the man spends the time in which a complete removal could take place, and finally goes to one of these who advertises that he can cure cancer. I would have no mercy on such men. 12. You know that a man advertises in the New Zealand Times? —That is D. P. Yonkerman. He only professes to cure consumption. That is a contract advertisement which, after expiry, Ido not think you will see again. He suggests that he replaces the iron in the blood by a preparation of copper, and by putting copper in the red blood-corpuscles the tubercle will leave. This stuff has been analysed on several occasions, and has been found to contain no copper at all. He was prosecuted recently in New South Wales, and the only suggestion of copper found, the analyst said, must have come from the badly made vessel in which the stuff had been conveyed. I have a lot of his pamphlets, and he is certainly facile princeps, a prince of quacks. Of course, you know that Mr. Labouchere publishes a most elaborate black list of these people every year, and I have personally received a very great deal of help, in tracing these various people, from the Truth office in London. There is our old friend " Peruna," which has been taken off the market here. It contains anyfhing from 30 to 40 per cent, of alcohol. It was recommended to women suckling children, and it was nothing more than a strong nip. It was crude alcohol with a little gum. It was worse than ordinary whisky. The proprietors of Peruna were prosecuted in New South Wales, and we have talked about it here in public and through the Press until they have withdrawn it from circulation. There was a leading article published against the Health Department for not putting a stop to the sale of these quack medicines, while on the back of the paper which published it was an advertisement about Peruna. This (the advertising in a day's issue of the New Zealand Herald of the Bth September, 1906) gives you an idea of the space which patent medicines used to take up in the newspapers: — Column Inches. Daily portion, news ... ... ... ... ... ... 970 ~ advertisements ... ... ... ... ... 950 Total printed space ... ... ... ... ... 1,920 Supplement portion, news ... ... ... ... ... 1,048 ~ advertisements ... ... ... ... 488 Total printed space ... ... ... ... ... 1,536