Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, MAY 6 1890. TUESDAY, MAY 6.1890.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue III, 6 May 1890, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, MAY 6 1890. TUESDAY, MAY 6.1890.

«. " During the course of a political career many unpleasant subjects j have to be considered, but their un- „ ploasa tne-8 is no excuse for cvi 1 Legis ators to leave them neglected One of these, and the most difficult to discuss n public, is the evil thai 11 the C D Act was passed to mi igate [- N iw, to the most innocent mind r mv t be apparent, from the voting in I'arliamcnt, nnd the correspon dence in the prosa. that the publii voioo is very evenly bi lanced on th< proprio y of the existence of such ai >8 Act From tho carlit-at times unti now, the evil- contemplated to bi d k'pt in subjection ;by the Act unde consideration, have been rampant r aad it ii uaeken for us, hi a nation

to pretend that we can take no official notice of it. The vice is. in itself, too groat to he mastered by the ministers of rel gio:i they have tried and f .il d, <-o that it ia one that canno be left simply in the hands of good men lo redress. This being the case, it becomes apparent that ihe Governient of the country a. c bound to t-ike auch ateps as will, if not eh ck vice, at anyrate prevent the serious consequences attaching ;•<> its | vesence. it was under these circumstances th < the General Assemb y passed the 0 D. Act. It may be wonderefl, them, why so much opposition has been displayed on the proposal to make it operative, though the reason to our mind is not far to seek. At present the Act is permissive, that is to say, it permits the Local bodies to use their own discretion as to whether they wi 1 put it in force, and as the Act is worded at present th s is a very wis« c >urse, or the opposition to i f would have prevented it being on the Statute book. The Act, besides its own cav es for opposition, has naturally the opposition of th ac wlio object to what they term the legalizing of vice These p ople verily believe that ail immorality shoul ! be considered as not existing, and f« »r that the slightest effort made to stny any of the terrors of immorality would be equivalent to an approval. It is a matter for regret that these people have not taken the trouble to investigate the facts in connection with this e^il, for it is one of those sina which are visited on the •' children's children even unto the third and fourth generation,'' and thereby causes suffering and misery on who ly innocent people. / s thi.s vice is very general, no one knows whether tho child of his hear may at soil etime I ecome an iunoc m sufferer from t ese causes, and surely then it becomes every parent's duty to see that some stop ia put to the present manner of d aling with such an cvi . We fe.tr that the Assembly passed the Act n anythi gbu' the right spirit, and the introducer of it had to be satisfied with th© best Act he could get, but before it will bo acceptab c to the pub lie it will need alteration on certain very material points To our mind we have nj right to make the work* ing of the ct affect only one sex, for where bo h suffer both sh uli be iable to its operation. Tho Act is an example of how un^nir a dom ina'it ex may be in matters affecting themsp'vfis. If you punish a fault, ; it should be the fault of the person who is pu.iisb.ed, but the Act de clares that this isnot nece»sary ; so, if any one is to be punished it must only be tho woman. This is so contrary to he spirit of fair play, that it is not to be wond red at that o: • position is shown to the introduction of such an onesided Act. The in* noceut public want protection. ■ The Pub ie Hea th •ct renders it a penal offence for any person while suffering from any dnng rous infectious dis ase to wilfully expose himI self without propei precaution^ against spreadi p the dis rder. It also imposes upon th<? householder within whose house any person is residing having highly infectious d sense dangerous to th people, the > duty of giving notice thereof to the Local Boar . of the d'stiict in which he dwells, and inflicts a penalty in case of neglect. It furthei requires the medea practitioner in attendr nnce on such a case to state to the ho'iseholder as early as possible the infections nature of such disease. i ihe Act further provides that wh>n * any suitable hospital is provided w thin the d'Str ct of the Local Board, or within a convenient dis* tance of such district, any person who ia suffering from any d mgeroua > infctio»B diiord r, and is wthout p oper lodgings or accommodation or lodge* in a room occupied by more than one family "may on a ? certificate signed by a egal y quali fied medical practitioner " and with '• the consent- of the superintending body of such ho pital or place, " be 0 removed by «rder of any Resident Magistrate " to suah hospital or place at the cost of the Local Board, Here the Legislature has ad- " mitted th" princip e that it is right to put unde duress any one suffering from an infectious diso) der No one * has raised an bjectiou to this le . isla' „ ive interference with personal liber " ty. In the case of an infectous dis order, the evil dies with tho die ease ; surely then, where we find « * contagious disnase th© effects <>i which live through g nerations, il ■ womld not bean improper interference with in-lividual liberty to extend thf operation of the Pulilic Heal h Act re ? contagious diseases: If this wen done, jmd the C. D. Act repealed, the puolic would be protected tl One of the great objections to the s •• .D. Act is that it gives power tt i- a police constable which it is posai 1< r for him to abuse. The extension oj 1. the PuMi« health Act to con> agioui It diseases w.u'd place the protecion t t of the public in the hands of thos< 3. whom the public have b- en accus it toraed to trust, and would not give £ g handle to those well meaning chrjs v tian people who object to the legaliz ie ng of vice l 9 No doubt the proposed extensior n of tho Public Health *ct wou c il necessitate some amendments t< te meet the particular cases referred t( >r •ut this could be done without anj t, unduo infringement of ho individua i, ' liberty. One amendment should bi

imposing upon the medioal praoti. I tioner in attendance the duty of \ v giving uotic^ to the LeCcil Bo rd in j ] ad iiuon to the notice now required t o ba jji veu by the householder. i