75
twenty years are given at pp. 8 and 9 of H.C.509/94, which
Ap
A
we have completed as far as possible to 1897 from the Army
Medical Returns. These figures show that the total average admissions per thousand for the nine years preceding 1888 when the Ordinance was repealed, were 323.8; and for the nine years following 1888, were 312.67; which fully confirms the statement in Mr.Chamberlain's despatch that "since the date of the repeal of the C.D.0., the average amount of disease anong the troops stationed in the island has not increased".
B. Miss Leslie, the lady doctor who, amongst her other duties has charge of the Women's Venereal Hospital at Colombo, when in England lately, told me that she has no dif- ficulty under the present voluntary system in keeping the women in Hospital till they are cured; whereas she felt cer- tain that if a law were passed enforcing compulsory detention in Hospital till cured, the result would be that many who
now come to Hospital voluntarily would keep away.
+
I hope therefore that the voluntary system will be allowed
to continue unaltered: but if a new system is to be introduced
I proceed to discuss the provisions of the draft Ordinance sent home from Ceylon.
The draft Ordinance very closely follows the Indian Cantonment Regulations; but it requires various verbal amend-
+ ments, so as to include the civil as well as the military populations of the garrison towns within its operations; and in sections 4 and 5 "public prostitute" should be altered into "person" as in the Indian Regulations. If this is done a proviso should be added to section 4 to the effect that at- tendance at a public Hospital may be dispensed with if the
medical
The A
Rafe 7 in 198
Cheat in 189 the rate was 770
medical officer considers such attendance inexpedient. Moreover, I would prefer to see this proviso rendered less vague than in the Indian rule, e.c. by saying that attend- ance at the Hospital may be dispensed with if the medical officer is satisfied that the patient is receiving proper
medical treatment.
Section 6 is copied from the Indian Regulations al- most verbatim. Mr. Chamberlain decided in the despatch to Hong Kong, that a clause of this character should not be adopted, but instead that power should be given to close any brothel, with heavy penalties against the keeper. The Attorney General proposes to use this clause for the purpose of enforcing medical examinations, by threatening
?Point out that as Mr. to close a particular brothel. Chamberlain laid down that he was not prepared to sanction
the re-introduction of any system involving compulsory or pericdical examination, he of course cannot allow this in- direct method of enforcing the examination of women.
sary,
Section 6 is new, and, I should have thought, unneces- as persons can be excluded from the barracks, which are private property, in the same way as they can be kept
without special legisl¤- out of any other private grounds
tion.
Section 9, as to penalties, follows the Indian rule;
but should, I think, be made much severer in respect of the penalty for keeping brothels as suggested above.
Section 10 follows the Indian rule, except that "his or This alteration should cor- her" has been altered to "her".
tainly not be allowed to stand.
-
In conclusion, I venture to repeat that section 4 is a very dangerous clause because there is no safeguard attached
to