The Dominion. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1917. A REFORM AND ITS CRITICS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 14, 11 October 1917, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1917. A REFORM AND ITS CRITICS

At a meeting of women held list evening, .a protest was made against the compulsory features of the Social Hygiene Bill, now before Parliament. The section of the Bill which deals with the detention of certain persons who are a menace to the community while they remain at liberty oan no doubt be improved by the introduction of further safeguards against abuse. ' Bub in its general scope and purport the measure is one that should command the support of every right-thinking man and woman. The provisions which havo provoked most criticism and comment empower the Minister of Public Health, if he has reason to believe, on tho report of the Chief Health .Officer and ; on such other evidence' (if any) as he deems_ sufficient, that any person , being a prostitute, or reputed prostitute, or a peYson habitually consorting with prostitutes, is suffering from venereal disease, to refer the matter_ to a local advisory board with a. view to the detention in a prison hospital of the person so _ suffering, ,ii such detention is considered advisable in the interests of public health. It should be no'ted that the proposal applies without distinction to men and women, and anyone who reads/, the Bill will find that as i whole the proposals relating to detention; are well hedged about with safeguards. Both sexes are to be represented on the local boards, and also on the Board of Social Hygiene whieh is to become the central administrative body under •' the proposed law. Provision is made also that women doctors shall be employed in dealing with members of their own sex to whom the law refers. ! Thn only point in the procedure which seems to us open to exception is in regard to the evidence on which the Minister is empowered to set the law in motion by referring cases to the boards. Procedure at this stage is not clearly defined in the Bill, and it is apparent that before tho measure is wholly acceptable it will be necessary to make such provision by legislation or regulation as will exclude any possibility of abuse of authority in dealing with suspected sufferers. It should not be overlooked in this respect that heavy penalties are already prescribed for the oftenco of illegally detaining any person in a, prison hospital or that of falsely accusing any person with a view to procuring his detention. These are important safeguards, but further information is needed as to tho procedure to bo followed leading to detection—as to the officers to bo employed and tho methods they are to adopt. Provision is made for the appointment of health patrols, of both sexes, who aro to exercise the powers of police constables in enforcing regulations to protect the health and" morality of young petsons. Whether these- patrols are to bo apart from tho ordinary pohco [orco and whether thny arc to curry out other duties under tho Act re(uiires to bo explained. Though the detention proposals are those upon which controversy centres, they constitute only one feature of a measure which has some

claims to bo regarded as a comprehensive attack upon a problem of public health which has been too long neglected. While the demand that necessary 'safeguards should be observed merits every consideration it must be recognised that the measures proposed arc directed at cradioation of one of the most terrible scourges by which humanity has over been afflicted. Some opponents of these measures go as far as to protest against any action being taken by Parliament which will croato a sense of false security, enabling young men to sin with impunity. Such an attitude is possible only to those who are ignorant of the nature of the problem to be solved, or who hold that the innocent should suffer with tho guilty. It is one of tho saddest and most terrible facts of life that venereal disease not only falls at times upon those who have been guilty of sexual impurity, but is very often transmitted by heredity and by contagion to the innocent and pure. It is an answer to all the outcry against making vice safe that so long as venereal disease exists not a man, or woman or child in the- community which harbours it is absolutely secure against infection. The facts are epitomised in the following sentence from a, report presented by Dr. R. W. Johnstonk to the London County Council:

Without attempting to go into the subject at length, it may be eaid that «ven if Tenereal diseases were spread by sexual intercourse alone, which is not the case, a retribution which falls upon innocent women and children, and with equal force upon'ffie raw youth or girl as upon the vicious and abandoned, is not remarkable for its juetico. Several critics of the Bill now before Parliament have cited in support of their attitude the report of a British Royal Commission on venereal diseases whioh presented its final report early last year. It is true that this body reported adversely in regard to compulsory detention, but its recommendations are amazingly out of harmony with its own . report. By way of remedial measures, it recommended an educational oampaign and extended facilities for free treatment, but its report very clearly ■indicates that more drastic methods are necessary. It states, amongst other things, that in the large cities of the United Kingdom, where the incidence of venereal diseases is much higher than in rural areas, it is estimated that at least ten per cent, of the population are affected by syphilis and a muoh higher proportion by another form of venereal disease. Sir William Ostler considers that of the killing diseases syphilis comes third or fourth. These facts, which are extended in horrifying details, surely afford an ample justification for drastic remedial action. The nature of the problem to bo faced' in this country was indicated by the Minister of Public •Health in Parliament last year, when he stated that during six months of 1910 292 cases of venereal disease were accounted for at Featherston and Trentham Camps. In the absence of more detailed and comprehensive evidence this may fairly be accepted, as the Minister observed, as indicating that the diseases in question are rampant 111 this country. The essential condition to bo'met in attacking this state of affairs is that the policy adopted shall be comprehensive, and that proper safeguards shall- be provided to, prevent the possibility of abuse of authority. It cannot be right that measures taken to eradicate an evil which threatens the whole community should be made dependent in any degree on the whim of; the individual. Apart from the provisions which have been touched upon providing for the segregation, pending cure, of the worst and most, dangerous cases of venereal disease, it is provided that sufferers'must submit themselves to the treatment of a registered medical practitioner. They can go to their own doctor or to any medical man they please. The penalties imposed on neglect of this duty are most severe where the public health is most dangerously threatened. Provision is made also for the suppression of quack practitioners who intensify the ills they pretend to relieve. There are other provisions in the Bill designed to protect! the public against infection, and; the Minister of Public Health is to be congratulated on the thoroughness with which he has sought to grapple with a menace the magnitude of which is not fully recognised outside of medical circles.