CO129-487 - Others & Individuals - 1924 — Page 210

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from V.D. My wife's memorandum as I say, nes to be a basis of evidence and therefore she had not put her points fully as she would have done had she been called to give evidence. The other doctor who gave a low percentage was Dr.DeSouza whose low percentage the Report Beys, 13 doubtless owing to the nature of his particular practice which lies mainly with children. On the other hand on the same page it said that the amount of congenital diseace is very great. The cause of the prevalence of isease is said to be the universal infection of the prostitute community, and this is said to be due to the dispersion of what might be called "clean brothels" age 6, paragraph 4- that is, the removal of certain European and Japanese prostitutes who formerly ere centred in alay Street page 6, preagraph 2.

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The "eport gives at the end certain figures in appendices. Those as ahow in my lecture actually prove that the reason given in the Report for such increase as thereis cannot possibly cone from those caused8. They put as an instance, the pauper hospitel Singapore, known as "Tan Took Seng Hospital"" the two highest years there were before -alay Street was touched at all. Singapore as a town is increasing and has increased 307 in the last ten years in which figures were given. Yet not only has the proportion of disease in Tan Took Seng gohe down since the years 1913-14′′ which were before Malay Street was touched at ell, but those two years were right above any succeeding years in actual numbers.

As regards the practice of local practitioners it la of course difficult to say anything because there are no figures of total private cases which are available. Of course one knows that Tab. has an effect not only in producing actual death in extreme casen, but also in lowering the sonstitution, So too have phthisis, dysentry, and malaria though not perhaps to the same extent. I notice that ir the figures given in Government returns for the last five published years, the duathe from malaria are six timos that of a deaths from dysentery are about 7 times those of v.D., so that if the community is es diseased with V.L. as the Report states, and if the hospital figures are any index to the state of health of the population, it is en extraordinary thing that anybody should be alive in the Streits Gettle ents at the present time at all,

I am inclined to think therefore, as I know a good many others do, that the state of disease has been exaggerated, but certainly the doctors who were chosen by the Committee to give evidence could say what the state was among their own patiente. But I do not know whether anyone of them hee studied the effect of various schemes for dealing with the trouble. A man may be perfectly able to treat V.D. and he may at the same time have never troubled to go into what the actual effect has been of the various methods for combating it. So that although it is true that a good many of those doctors who were specially selected

y this committee testified to the large amount of disease about which they could speak truly as regards their own patients, still, unless they had studied the mattor they would have no right to lay down what should be the means taken to deal with it, or to say whther Regulation was likely to be: success or failure. thore was no one on the committee who could examine them from the point of view that "agulation of Vice would be a failure, it could not be brought out whether they hid oonidered the grave objections to it.

As

My lecture will show how 1 have tried to deal with the subje`t.

ffice, end I hope The matter now goes further to the Colonial that they will be put in pose salon of all the objections which there are to such a athod.

I am sending a ppare copy of my lecture. personal and does not effect t.e oase.

The first part is

I had to go into it

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