The White Ribbon. For God and Home and Humanity. WELLINGTON, JULY 18, 1925. WHEN THE CHILDREN ARE ASLEEP.

White Ribbon, Volume 30, Issue 361, 18 July 1925, Page 7

The White Ribbon. For God and Home and Humanity. WELLINGTON, JULY 18, 1925. WHEN THE CHILDREN ARE ASLEEP.

Any news from Parliament? Just the usual stunts full dress parade opening, Governor-General’s speech, address in reply debate varied by a couple of want of confidence motions. An ajr of expectancy broods over ball and corridors, all waiting to s** 1 whether Fusion or Dissolution wins the Parliamentary Handicap. Listen to this. An M.P. is moving to have it made a crime to sell common salt unless it has an added per rentage of iodine.

Well! if that’s not like a man Some people have goitre, and lodine will be good for them, so force tli se who have no symptom to take if an I perchance suffer from some complaint caused by excess of lodine. But, my dear, perhaps our little ones ought to have it. Bunkum I’ve no objections to those who want iodine in salt having it, bit why compel all to use it. We are becoming more like Germany every day. Must do this —niusn't do that—where’s onr glorious frtedom. That’s all very well, but it might become law. Then you can prepare for a saltless diet. Don’t you believe in a Departnu nt of Health? Yes, of course I do. A Department of Health not of Disease. Why turn every school into hospital and every child into a protential patient. It may be good clinical practice foi our ever increasing army of young medicoes, but its psychological effect on our children is bad. What effect?

Mental effect. The poor children come home imagining themselves invalids. Teach the children that Health is their normal condition and they’ll grow to he what they imagine themselves. Head Cone’s Autosuggestion and see for yourself. I see there are some new regulations for treatment of V.D. Is treatment to be compulsory? So it seems. Everybody compelled to report for treatment and to continue until non-infective. How are they going to make them come? Oh! easy enough, same as they do with diptlieria and smallpox patients. There’s no comparison. V.D. patients are not ill in the early stages, and how will anyone know they have the disease. Oh! it says the Director of Health may compel anyone to be examined if he has “reasonable cause to suspect’’ they are infected. What do they mean by “reasonable cause?” Why same as anyone else means I expect. Don’t you believe it. It means either an informant or that the person is leading an immoral life. Any objections to that have you,

Yes! and so would you if you thought about it. An informant means that any innocent woman can be accused and compelled to submit to an examination to prove her innocence. Nonsense! that wouldn’t happen. Well, it happened in Victoria on the testimony of the Minister of Health. Men accused pretty waitresses. he said, and when they w» re ordered to present themselves for examination they lost their billets and felt an easy prey to these diabolical informants. Well, what about the other cl :ss. It would mean women who lead unmoral lives, male prostitutes are not so easy to find, and so we would have the worst evils of the old C D. Acts. Well, you’re good at criticism. What would you recommend to step the Red Plague? I’d attack the cause—immortality - and not its effect V.D. Ideal hut scarcely practical. What in the meantime. Stop the sale of Alcohol absolutely. Drastic. Yes, but effective # Think so. Mrs Don told an incident from Dunedin police court at our meeting. A girl of 16 taken up for leading an immoral life, the police evidence was dreadful, crowds of boys waiting for admission. The magistrate asked her how she could live such a life and her reply was “Get drunk, sir.’’ This is the universal testimony of fallen men and women. Did you ever hear of scenes like those which disgraced the Artists’ Ball at Sydney at any assemblage where liquor was strictly prohibited? Can’t say 1 have. But liquor is rarely prohibited at such gatherings. More’s the pity. Any other remedies? I’d tell the boys that 1 expected them “to keep their records clean.’’ I’d do more. I’d mean it when I said it. When you men who had public thought let the youths see that you really expect them to be clean living, when you rate a fallen man at the same level as a fallen women; then you’ll do more to solve the problem of the Red Plague than all your Commissions and Compulsory Regulations.