GRAVE SOCIAL EVIL

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2758, 29 April 1916, Page 3

GRAVE SOCIAL EVIL

(By, Canon Horsley,'member of the British Royal Commission on .Veiled Diseases.) '. ■ : ;,' ■ v-..,

" [English files by -the last :mail contain'.the report of -the British Royal Commission on -Veiled Diss eases!*' Some, cf the newspapers, notably.'the London; "Times," pub- ■'- lish the report practically in ex-.; tenso,. and all of them give prominence to the subject in their'leading columns. The following review of the-Commission's finding: by ; Canon Horsley, who was one of the Boyal Commissioners, is of singular interest, as coming from the pen of a.distinguished cnuichman.. It is .'■■ from, the "Daily -News."] •'•

It is frequently, said that Royal Commissions . mean three •: things—to ■■. wit, Much evidence, Some talk, No action; and.there have been some of which this: summary, might be the-: epitaph. .It would, however, be a national calamity,/ or,'rather,' the loss, of'an opportunity .for national salvation 5 from a physical' and social evil—of the vastness and far-, reaching consequences.of iWHich.jthe public, heart and conscience ' will only become fully ' aware' by 'the.' publication of- the Commission's 'Report—if .the result of the 'Royal Comniission\ on Venereal Diseases did not produce.an immediate effect.". •'.'}. '~: ;. ■ ' '{ Ignorance.of the prevalence and consequences of the plague has been largely caused by-' the narcotio: of ignoring. its existence, though syphilis as a personal, and gonorrhea as a racial poison, affecting innocent; babes as: well as guilty roues, are superior to any 'other disease in noxiousness. ■ Frudery and pruriency have each their responsibility. for' the plague, and prudery should: especially be exhorted to \ that .of. the diseased, all the children, very many of the women, and some.of the men, are suffering solely from the fault.of others. Further, it should repent of its preventing or discouraging treatment iri many hospitals. Apart from the con. sideratioh of the numbers of innocent Bufterersj' the Report well says: ''We when the facts elicited by our inquiry.,'are made public, the view will disappear that morality can bo encoun aged by denying medical treatment to those who, ;by violating its laws,' have become a public- danger." Necessity of Action. Called for by the insistent voices oil medical societies and conferences, the

Commission demonstrated by its verj composition that tho subject was not a purely medical cno. for while eminent doctors, "specialists in tho matter, form not quite half of its members, othei men and wonieu were obviously selected to ensure its consideration from the re ligious, the educational, tho legal, and the'social point of view under tho sblo ■.chairmanship of Lord Sydenham. The aim of tho report is ' twofold—to' give such facts and figures as shall arouse tho lay publio as to the necessity of action against the plague, and to make certain recommendations foi prevention and cure, some of which may involve now legislation and'the investment (one cannot here use tho word expenditure) of considerable sums of public nio'ne,y in order to diminish the national loss of effectiveness, of health, of 'life, and of .wealth, caused by tho disease and their sequelae. Under the first head it is noted that all existing statistics as to mortality from these diseases are worthless, partly because several causes of death nave only recently been -proved'-to be entirely, or_ with rare exceptions, due. to syphilis, and partly because untrue certificates are given by doctors ''from fear of hurting the susceptibilities of relatives." : This the Commission thinks should be remedied by certificates, full and accurate, being sent to the registrar, and only a certificate of the fact of death being given by tho doctor to the friends of : the deceased, as in all other great European countries. _ The mature estimate of- tho Commission is that the number of infected persons cannot. fall much below ' 10 per cent, of the -whole population, and must many times, exceed this proportion in the largo cities, garrison towns, and seaports, since rural districts know little of .the scourge. Again; the evidence given as to the proportion both of sterility and of infantile mortality ..due to these causes arc of;primary and instant importance if racial decay is to be averted. I

v Work of the Future. The prophylactic work of. the future is shown to require the co-operation of the Legislature, of several departments bT government, of county councils, of the forces of religion and morality, and, last, but by no means least, of all concorned in the education of the young, a point to which several of the recommendations direct attention. They say,. for example, "More careful in* struction should be provided in regard to conduct, based on moral principles and spiritual considerations, and not only on the physical consequences of immoral conduct."

> Nor from the; comparatively, unimportant point of 'view of economic loss can the nation afford to' ignore or tinker with thomatter, since the loss begins with half the c,ases of sterility, 'cori. tinues with 50 "per cent, of still births, and! is variously ' evident. amongst tho most pitiable, because entirely innocent, child sufferers. For examplo, over half bur blind children'are such from disease acquired from parents,, and in the L.C.C., schools alone, there are over a thousand. Add the cases of imbecility, idiocy, and various l skin, bone, and other diseases due. to this (Cause, and the cost is seen to be enormous, apart from the later loss of .producing power. Amongst adults, statistics show a loss of 269,210 days in the Navy and 216,445 in ,the Army at .Home in. 1912; while at the present moment'we have some tens of \ thousands withdrawn, at least temporarily, from active., service and costing much in addition, to what is. normal.. ' ; National Well-being. Could the figures for the civil;pqpur lation be obtained (especially as there, is not here that easy,and even.necessitated access to '. the best modern treatment as have our sailors and soldiers), an additional vast expense and-loss of working power would be shown. ' The only consolation comes from the conclusion that if ; the suggested; means for, prevention and ,prompi; and free treatment were adopted, the saving would far more ■than 'coun\er-balanee the cost. There must therefore be no penny wise and pound foolish .-policy.' and action, especially when we are told that "all experience shows that after a war an excessive incidence of disease is certain to occur." . Our fewer men and cur future children must be made more.fit if national well-being is to be more than merely 1 desired. In view of the welcome home of bur victorious combatants, it.is well to note that medical witnesses of eminence asserted that the use of alcohol, far. short of alcoholism, increases the liability to contract the diseases, decreases ability to resist them, arid (as Sir Thomas Barlow- deposed) "makes the treatment of- them more refractory." The Commission therefore says that a.decrease-in the use of alcohol is an important factor in diminishing the prevalence of the disease, _ a fact which should be borne in' mind if a ory arises that restrictions found necessary and UeiieficiaTin ; war time' might . be withdrawn directly there is peace.

Plainly, therefore, the 60 pages of the report, and its 86 recommendations, demand that those concerned for the "health and wealth" of the. nation should "so read, mark, learn, and ; inwardly digest them" that no procrastination, 1 or inadequate or unsustained action, should perpetuate this mighty adjuvant to national inefficiency and racial decay. .'■