real disease.

These provisions are applicable equally to both sexes, and the Committee
see no reason to fear that the law would not be carefully and
impartially administered. If it should appear that more women than men
came under the operation of the law this result would be due to the fact
that, as disclosed in the evidence, a much larger proportion of women
than men fail to seek treatment, and of those treated a much larger
proportion of women fail to continue treatment until no longer
infectious.

It is hardly conceivable that a responsible officer, such as the
Director-General of Health, would take action under these provisions
unless he had strong reason to believe that such action was justified.
But, even if he makes a mistake or is misinformed, the worst that can
happen to an innocent person wrongfully suspected is that he or she will
be required to produce a medical certificate, which can be procured free
of cost from any hospital or V.D. clinic. This is wholly different from
the provisions of the Contagious Diseases Act, under which a woman
suspected of prostitution was liable to be arrested by a constable in
the street.

The Committee recommend that the serving of notices, &c., under these
sections be done by officers of the Health Department and not by the
police. They also recommend that all proceedings taken under any Act
having reference to venereal diseases should be heard in private unless
the defendant applies for a hearing in open Court.

With regard to the effects of the actual operation of notification,
examination, and isolation, the Commissioner of Public Health for West
Australia, under date 25th August, 1922, advises the Committee that
there is an increase in the number of cases attending public clinics,
and that this is regarded not as evidence of increased incidence, but of
increased interest and appreciation of early treatment by those
suffering from the diseases.

SECTION 7.--MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE OF HEALTH.

The Royal Commission on Venereal Disease reported that there was a vast
amount of ignorance as to the dangers arising from the sexual
intercourse of married persons one of whom had previously to the
marriage contracted syphilis or gonorrhoea. The effect upon the
birth-rate, and the misery caused during married life, and in many cases
to the offspring who survive, as they pointed out, are most serious, and
the fact that the actual cause of the trouble often remains unknown and