THE HOUSE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 9, 5 October 1917, Page 7

THE HOUSE

The House of Representatives met at 2.30 p.m.

NATIVE SCHOOLS,

VARIOUS PROBLEMS DISCUSSED. The Hon. J. A. HANAN (Minister of Education) presented the annual report on Native Schools. -~.'■■ The Hon. A. T. NGATA appealed for improvements' in the rducation system as it affected the' Maoris. The boys and girls of the Native race were not being given the training suited to their needs, lhey were-being encouraged to come into tno towns instead of working their own. land. Too many Maori boys were taking up clerical work when they ought to .bo nelping to develop the lands still remaining in' the hands of their tribes. Mr -L M ISITT (Christchnrch North) said 'that the Houso and the country failed to appreciate fully'their responsibilities to the Native rnce He BUBgteted that-the Government should c=tnulibh a forlmicnl school for Maori boys.. Hon. AV D.' S. MACDOSALD sa d. that magnificent work had been dono in the education of the Maoris but the establishment of a technical school foi Native boys in the Bay of W™%h 6 *™* would be of very, groat value. He complimented Sir James Carro and the Hon. ST Ngata for the practical, selt-sacn-flc'ing efforts they .had made to improve the position'of their race. The Maoris in thoßay of Plenty district had made wonderful progress under efheent direc-.tlMr--T4u'nENABB (Northern Maori) said that he objected 1o thfcn.** being placed under the control of boaiils Of Si R UCa jAMES CARROH, »rnoV urced the Government to modify its JNative land purchase policy he Government wns bens urged -all tho tunc- to buy Native land, foi' settlement by Enroncanf wion the Maoris themselves were of working Uiorowiyand of giving the Mnon childien a oh J. Vwork out their o«n sa yation through the channel of tehmnU^« aericnltural rawing. Ine UP-pai tment wa, dob' a -little in that direction, but he hoped" that more would be done u. the vears to come He agreed, that Hie effor o 111 teach-rs should be to give tie Maori children a-bias towards, agriculture. The whole.mntter was receiving his attention.-

SOCIAL HYGIENE. CHECKING VENEREAL DISEASE. The Hon. G. W. EUSSELL (Minister of Publfc Health) moved the second reaffing of.tho Social Hygiene Bill. He said tfiV Bill dealt with a sub)ct^ Lna affected the community very inliMel> indeed. Venereal disease was a menace not merely to the men aadwomm of lo d'av. 'out to the unborn millions ■ Vm matter had been discussed •" «I»Jjoifc* last vear, and the debate had done a SSdCI to lift the veil o Dd fgnorance from the "red plagj ie..» eio could be no doubt abou ho *«***K S r action in the direction taken by the* Bill. The'number of men called up in fto first nine ballots under the JM.lan he vice Act had been 49.555, and ot this number 25,581 had been dec aied ur.M. The unfits included men who had pievlously been rejected under he lolnnouy system, su that the figures ;Ud not ttw the real position accurately. But figures demanded attention, and k " no hesitation in saying that the dcaft with by the Bill were «s# n « ble for a largo proportion of the >* s *;. o _ The Hon. A. L. Herdman: W » portion of those unfits were venereal Mr. Kussell: "I have not p 1 tho fi„„res." The deaths directly traceaolci to venereal disease during the last four years had been. 417, ami in he same period there had been 251!1 shU births. I large proportion of the still birtls had to be attributed to venereal disease. Then it was known that .the ™mo diseases were responsible for many ot th« deaths of young children. He was glad to be able to say that the action of tie Government Inst year in suppressing o.uwoman brothels had decreased the amount of venereal disease among men in the military camps. The number of cases reported at Trentham ing the first eight raonths.of the.present vear had been 119, as against 192 m mi corresponding period of last year, i lie total number of cases in all tho cem.a during the first eight, months ot i. < had been 228. as against 303 in 1016 The Minister referred to' a certain port v sired 5y New Zealand troopships. lis port was a. disastrous centre of infect on. The situation in the United Kingdom was very far from satisfactory, ho nisastrous had been the contact ot tl.o Sew Zealand soldiers with the street ot T.on*don that tho Dominion Government had felt compelled to urge the Govtrument of tho Mother Country to take stops for the protection ot tio men. Mr. llussell fiaid that in-. Bill bad been based in . P- 1 ™ on the legislation of other countries, m had realised that if tho Bill was to be effective it must have the support oi the women, and he thought the provisions contained nothing to which exception could be taken. The Bill dealt primarily with prostitutes, reputedlpio* i-litotes, and persons habitually consorting with prostitutes. Women wore to sit on tho boards that would administer

the Act, and there was no proposal to re-enact the oW objectionable Contagious Diseases Act. His idea was that a prison hospital under the Act should bo established in each island. The patients would be given suitable work. An important portion of the Bill related to the treatment of children. The House must face the fact that some children were born suffering from . venereal disease, and that unless effective treatment was provided these children would be likely to become centres of infection in later years. Ho believed 'hat the medical inspection of school childien should be so arranged that cases ef.tlus kind might be detected by clinical examination. The "quack was to M stamped out entirely. There were men and women who made their living t>y treating sufferers who' got, llo , "'f! ■ benefit from'the treatment and who did not reach the hands of skilled practitioners until too late for oure. . The Bill proposed to create health patrols, and went ?ome way m the direction of the appointment of women police. Worthy women, would, be entrusted with the duty of watching the interests of young girls. The patrols would have the powers of constables, but would deal only with their cwn sex. They would be .on duty at stations and in other public places. Ihey would wear a distinctive badge. In conclusion, the Minister said that the bill represented an earnest attempt to deaf effectively with a grave national P Mr. en C. H. POOLE (Auckland West) approved of the Bill. The subject was of enormous importance, awl wat> being dealt with none too soon. Mr A. HABEIS (Waitemata) supported the Bill. He thought the proposal for free treatment was an excellent one, and he urged that provision should be made for the free treatment of all cases, of venereal disease. _„._.. _„, Mr J T. M. HOHNSBT (Wairarapa) congratulated the Minister on nis 'aorai courage in bringing down .1 Kill to allow of this dreadful scourge being dealt with by the community. He 1-tiew that some people would oppose the Hill, but he personally approved of it, flr.rt was strongly of opinion that the JW.II was necessary. He approved specially of the proposal to set up woman patrols.

An Old Enemy With a New Name. Dr A. K. NEWMAN (Wellington East) expressed his opposition to tie Bill in the plainest terms. Tie Bill, he eaid, was being "runff in. It was the old CD. Act under another name. Ineie was a perfectly amazing amount ot exaggeration about venereal diseases ana the effects of them. It was admitted that tho diseases did a ff't dea,l ™ harm, but nothing to justify the preposterous proposals in.the Bill. J±e cno. not believe in compulsol7.nohfica.aon, which was • practically enjoined by the Bill. The result of such publicity would be to drive the diseases underground. Why should there be all this publicity, branding -people as sufferers from venereal disease? The Act had all the defects of the CD. Act; it punished the woman more than the. man. In practice it would happen that the woman would be •run in, and the man would go tree it was a very unfair and unjust Bill for this, reason. He was glad to seo in the Bill provision for woman patrols, and he would like to see provision made to prevent males, policemen or jot, from speaking to women on matters dw with by the Bill. He considered the Bill lopsided, and he hoped it would not be hurried through the House. Ta. 8.. GLOVER (Auckland Central) .was. the first speaker to refer to the fact that the galleries were full of women, but he did not press the matter. The Atinister said that there was . nothin* in the Bill that any woman might not hear. He said that he would support th 6 BllL Merit in Publicity. Mr E. A.' WRIGHT (Wellington Suburbs)' said he did not agree.with the member for Wellington East in his obiection to publicity regarding venereal diseases. One'of the troubles in dealing wTth these matters in tho past, was that Here was tuoh widespread ignorance regarding matters contained, in the Bii. Ho was very strongly of ommon-and m fhta he. agreed -ith Br only women officers of the w eminent should have the right to speak, to f^r n ™, ab °But v po through because it was agreed that ?he Ume was ripe for the taking of active "SJTm fsMchnWlSu North) that the present Bill was the UJJ., Act n a thin disguise. This Act was aimed at men as much as at women, and women were .protected in the Bill ma way that they certainly were not in the CD. Act. Ho hoped that P™™!™ would be made in this or soino .other Bill making "obligatory upon parties intending to marry first to obtain each a clear bill of health in rcenrd to venereal disease. Mr. J. PAYNE (Grey Lynn) said that he agreed with Dr. Newman that he Bill ought not to be pushed through the House hastily. Ho insisted that lUhould i,e the aim. of tho Government to deal with- the trouble as a phymcal rathw than as a. moral evil. This was the poper way to prevent the spread o L.discasc. Ho cordially agreewi Hi the general tenor of the Bill, tor he considered that it was of the greatest importance that the disease should be kept under.

Against Undue Hast-. Mr. J. M'COMBS (Lyttelton) protested against any attempt to rush the Bill through. He declared hat the Bill contained some of the worst features, of the CD. Act. It iuvolved very serious interference with the liberties of men "d women and he thought that at least opportunity should He -riven 'lor the circulation of the Bill among men an women IhrougTiout the country who had studied the question for years. Ho ap, pealed, to the Minister not o take more than -fee second reading of tho Bill that Ul Mr.' T. A. H. FIELD (Nelson) also inado a plea for delay. ■ Mr' 1 Kussell: There is no intention to push'the Bill through to-night. Mr. Field: I am glad to hear it.

Minister in Reply. The Hon. G. W. RUSSELL,'in reply, said that nothing more unfair had ever been stated in Parliament than Dr. bowman's statement that this Bill was a renewal in effect of the Contagious. Diseases- Act. It was the antithesis of that Act, because ample protection was given lo both men and women. .he worst feature of the CD. Act was that it. dealt only with women, and not wuh men at nil. This Bill dealt with men as well as women. He went, on to justify the particular provisions in the Bill to which reference hud been made, and to meet the criticisms offered. he suggestion made by several members that voung people about to marry should be ieonired to produce medical certificate.-, to show.freedom from, venereal usease he would have to consider carefully before he would bo prepared to give a reply on it Ho agreed .with the suggestion made that men should deal with men and women with ..women in the work or patrolling under the proposals of the Bill, and this was his own intention. Tim Bill was read a second time on the voices. Tho House rose at 9.4 a. p.m.