king person that
looseness of conduct between the sexes such as is shown to exist in New
Zealand is destructive to the high ideals of family life associated with
the finest types of British manhood and womanhood, and if not checked
must lead to the decadence of the nation.

A sounder state of public opinion needs to be cultivated. The moral
stigma at present attached to sufferers from venereal disease should
rest upon all who sacrifice to their own selfish passions the
chivalrous relations which should subsist between the sexes. Those who
are unfortunate enough to contract disease incur a punishment so
terrible that they deserve our pity and our succour, always provided
that they seek skilled treatment and refrain from any conduct likely to
communicate the disease to others. The man or woman who negligently or
wilfully does anything likely to lead to the infection of any other
person is a criminal, and should be treated as such.

To bring about this healthier state of public opinion much might be done
by the various Churches, by the Press, and by all who are in a position
to influence the thoughts of others. It is a duty which should be shared
by all--it cannot be left entirely to the Government, to Parliament, or
to the medical profession. If a healthier atmosphere were created for
the proper consideration of this subject, instead of the unwholesome fog
of prudery in which it has been enveloped in the past, a great deal will
have been gained.

One result of the mistaken policy of reticence which has prevailed is to
be seen in the fact, already mentioned, that children are allowed to
grow up either in ignorance of sex physiology or with perverted ideas
due to the want of proper instruction. Nearly every witness who spoke on
the subject before the Committee agreed that such instruction would come
best from the parents, but there is also practical unanimity among those
who gave evidence that very few parents are capable of giving such
instruction in the right way, and the vast majority are unwilling to
attempt it. In these circumstances our chief hope for the future seems
to lie in an endeavour to educate the children in such a way that they,
the parents of the future, may be enabled to deal justly with their own
children in this vital matter. Nevertheless, the Committee would be
failing in their duty did they not point out that all parents have a
serious responsibility to their children which they cannot evade without