in the meaning of the Act, and syphilis and
leprosy are contagious and loathsome diseases within the meaning of the
Act.

To any one who has seen a medical inspection of passengers arriving in
an overseas vessel it is obvious that any degree of feeble-mindedness
short of manifest imbecility or dementia would be liable to be admitted,
and a good many cases of tuberculosis escape detection. Other countries
are now alive to the importance of greater care being taken to guard
against the admission of these who are likely to lower the mental and
physical standard of the race, and in the opinion of the Committee
stricter precautions should be taken in New Zealand. The smallness of
this country makes it all the more important that it should be occupied
and developed by a selected population, while its attractiveness as a
field of settlement and the limited amount of land available place it in
a position of independence in which it is able to insist on the
maintenance of a high standard of fitness on the part of those desiring
to share in its advantages.

SECTION 14.--SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.

The Committee find--

(1.) That the unchecked multiplication of the feeble-minded
and epileptic is leading to a continually growing addition to
the sum of human misery, an ever-increasing burden on the
State, and the serious deterioration of the race.

(2.) That it would be sound economy, as well as in the best
interests of humanity, to deal with the problem at once, even
though it involve a substantial expenditure.

The Committee therefore recommend:

(1.) That to the definitions in the New Zealand Mental
Defectives Act, 1911, there should be added a further
definition--namely, that of "moral imbecile" contained in the
English Act.

(2.) That a special branch of the Mental Hospitals Department
be established to deal with all classes of mental defectives
who are not inmates of mental hospitals, and to act as an
"after-care" Department to look after patients discharged from
mental hospitals.

(3.) That a Eugenic Board be appointed, to include a skilled
psychiatrist, another member of the medical profession, and to
be presided over by a Magistrate as Chairman.

(4.) That the duty of the Department shall be to keep a
complete register of persons coming under the following
definitions in cases where the Eugenic Board has dec