report is written by an army chaplain, secretary to the Association,
who has the title of Bachelor of Divinity. Four reverends beside, army
chaplains, are named among the list of officers of the Association.
The language employed in the report is often very obscure, and needs
close analysis to get at its real meaning. The introduction is a plea
for the re-establishment of the abolished system of Regulation, and
is little more than the expression of a desire to have legal sanction
for what they were already doing illegally, as the report shows, and
it is doubtless for this very reason that the language is so obscure.
In one place it speaks of the "Gospel duty of healing diseases in a
compulsory way," and as a precedent refers to the "Gospel record of
healing even when a voice had come from the healed protesting against
the cure." Certainly blasphemy could scarcely go further than to liken
the compulsory indecent exposure of a woman to a miracle of our Lord.
Every soldier should "do his best," says the report, "by the blessing
of Almighty God, to resist all temptation leading to the evil." Close
inspection proves that in this case "the evil" in the mind of the
writer is not the vice but the disease. The soldier is recommended to
the task of attaining to "self-command on pass," _i.e._, when outside
the region of licensed brothels.
The report states that a "Handbook" has been circulated "to all fresh
arrivals in India," and the closing chapter of the report is a reprint
of that Handbook, which is especially designed for army chaplains to
circulate among the soldiers as a "religious" tract. Interspersed with
the quotations of Scripture texts, is abominable instruction to the
effect that a young man who will confine his visits to the Government
licensed brothel can trust the Lord to keep him from contracting
disease. This "religious" tract promises to keep infected women out of
the chakla, and warns the soldier not to go "in an underhand way" to
houses where he will not be protected from "disease."
O mothers! can you conceive of what would be your feeling to discover
that your eighteen-year-old boy, as is the son of many an English
mother, was under such "gospel" instruction as this! "We shall never
forget what we owe to Lord Roberts," says the report; and we might
have anticipated that the author of the "Infamous Memorandum" would
likewise be the supporter of such measures for the instruction of young
soldiers. Sir George White, who succeeded Lord Roberts as Commander of
the Indian forces, said, in the Viceregal Council held in India, July
8, 1897, that "Every effort should also be made to warn young soldiers
of the consequences of immorality in this country, to point out to them
the terrible risks which they run, and to appeal to their higher moral
instincts and to their pride in their manhood to avoid connections
that carry with them grave danger that they will return home shattered
wrecks, unfit alike for military duty or civil life."
There is not one word here as though evil connections were likewise to
be avoided, even if they were not supposed to carry danger of physical
disease as a result. The "moral" teaching seems to have been all of
that immoral sort that points toward the Government house of shame
rather than to the seventh commandment. How many young soldiers may
not have met their first temptation by having a superior officer point
them to the Government-regulated chakla! Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell says
truly: "The first indispensable condition in the prevention of disease
is the steady discouragement of promiscuous intercourse. Now I assert
positively that such discouragement has never been seriously tried in
the army, by Government, but only by unofficial efforts--efforts which
are most valuable, but entirely lacking in the force of organization,
and in the important recognition and help which Government alone can
afford."
It is easy to _assume_ that the compulsory periodical examination of
women will check diseases due to vice; but the assumption has never
been proved. The statistics of the years during which the C. D. Acts
prevailed in certain military stations in Great Britain, as compared
with the statistics of later years, show a marked decrease since
repeal took place, and therefore that the compulsory examinations
in no way diminished disease, but rather the contrary. And when an
unbiased person thoroughly investigates the history of the controversy
on the subject, and is made acquainted with the course of deceit
which has been practised in the past by Anglo-Indian[6] advocates of
licensed vice, in order to maintain an odious system, a belief in
Indian military assertions will not be inspired. The statement is
being heralded to the world that over half the British army in India
is suffering from diseases due to vice. Yet Lord George Hamilton,
Secretary of State for India, was obliged to explain in the House
of Commons, January 25, 1897, that while it had been reported that
the aggregate of admissions to hospital for venereal diseases among
the British troops in India amounted in 1895 to 522 per thousand,
"This does not mean that 522 men per thousand were separately and
individually admitted, still less does it indicate that 522 soldiers
per thousand are incapacitated for duty from this cause. It is
calculated on the latest returns that an average permanent reduction
of 46 per thousand is the loss entailed by these diseases." In other
words, instead of over half being incapacitated from military duty,
less than one in twenty is off duty from this cause mentioned.
The larger number, which is calculated to startle the public into
submission to the demands of certain Anglo-Indian officials, has been
secured on the assumption that every "admission" into hospital means a
fresh case, whereas it has been conceded that all re-admissions from
relapse, and every stage of the progress of disease which requires
a new diagnosis, has been reckoned as an "admission." A Member of
Parliament who has been enquiring about the hospital records, says:
"I have before me the hospital sheet of a man who was in hospital
from January 1st to January 25th in one year. During that time the
medical description of his disease was changed four times, and the man
is formally entered and discharged and re-admitted on each of these
occasions, the date of each discharge and admission being entered
in the column provided for the purpose. So that this one man, who
has been only once in hospital during the year, actually furnishes
four 'admissions' to the official record. The same man was again in
hospital from the 1st to the 30th of May, in the following year,
during which time the diagnosis being three times changed, he was
entered as admitted and discharged three times."
Statistics compiled on this basis are absolutely worthless for the
purposes of argument, and indicate, when so used, a lack of conscience
as to exact truthfulness. The official figures of the Indian Army
(included in the Report of the Departmental Committee of 1897, strongly
advocating a return to licensed prostitution), lie before us. It cannot
be said that such a report would be likely to minimize the amount of
disease, yet this report, on page 9, distinctly states: "In 1895 an
average of 45 men per thousand, or 3,200 in a force of 71,031 British
soldiers in India, were constantly in hospital for venereal diseases."
Certainly this is sufficiently conclusive. The statement is heralded
to the world that all England is becoming infected from the troops of
diseased soldiers who return yearly to the home-land. One advocate of
licensed prostitution in India says that "thirteen per cent." of the
British soldiers are "annually invalided home hopelessly incurable for
military purposes." But referring to the same official statistics,
embodied in the Departmental Committee's Report, we find that from
the year 1887 to the year 1895, 681 men out of the force of 70,000
and more, were invalided home from these diseases, or, on an average,
76 men annually out of the whole force of 70,000; that is, _one-ninth
of one per cent._ Such unworthy attempts to frighten an unwilling
Christian public into acceding to the return to a system of licensed
prostitution, cannot be too strongly condemned. Many well-meaning
persons, on the assumption that "figures will not lie," are repeating
these exaggerated assertions, and will not take the trouble of
investigating for themselves. The Army Sanitary Commission testified
in 1894 that "a compulsory Lock Hospital system in India has proved a
failure." There could be no higher authority to quote; and the attempt
to check diseases of this sort by the compulsory Lock Hospital system
had then been carried on for the good part of a century in India. If
the case could not be proved by such a prolonged experiment, involving
such injustice to women, surely all honest people should be ready to
favour its abandonment.
But it is proposed now in certain quarters to examine men as well as
women. Two wrongs do not make a right. Equality of degradation is not
the sort of equality for Christians to desire. Bring the test home.
Could the reader, without committing sin, go to a physician to be
examined in order to discover whether he or she is "fit" to practise
fornication? Then the State that requires such an act becomes guilty
in the sight of God of committing the act. The guilt of that which is
done under actual compulsion rests wholly upon the State or individual
that thus enforces wrong-doing. The one who advocates the compulsory
examination of women stands guilty before God as the perpetrator of the
outrage. It is a fearful thing when the State becomes the perpetrator
of such sin. We know it is argued that the women and men subjected to
such regulations would be only those who are willing to submit. We
will dwell on that point a little further on; at present it is enough
to say, that because a thief is willing to steal, the State is no less
guilty that obliges him to steal.
Certain women are, it seems, being deceived by the pretence that
laws are to be passed which will compel men to attend the periodical
examination. What is the use of women clamouring for such a law as long
as _men enact and enforce all our laws_? Men will never legislate
themselves into the degradations and inconveniences of the compulsory
periodical examination, and go to reside in hospitals as long as they
are afflicted with disease. Will the Cantonment magistrate leave his
judicial bench to go and sit in the Lock Hospital idly until he is
no longer a source of danger to the community? Will the colonel of a
regiment leave his soldiers to mutiny while he goes to reside in a Lock
Hospital for a term of weeks? Such talk is the merest nonsense until
only men of good morals control military affairs, and if they did there
would be small demand for Lock Hospitals in India. The young soldiers
could be readily trained to decency were it not for the utterly
dishonouring views of life held by most of the high-titled officials
over them. On this very proposal to examine men, the Secretary for War,
Lord Lansdowne, said in the House of Lords, in the debate that took
place May 17, 1897: "I have discussed that proposal with many high
authorities, and I am bound to tell your lordships that the conclusion
to which I am disposed to arrive is that this practice of regular
inspection did not produce the desired effect; and that it was, on the
contrary, regarded, and rightly regarded, by the men as a brutalizing
and degrading practice." It has therefore been boldly determined and
declared that men shall not be subjected to periodical examination
(although there is not the faintest possibility of their ever being
subjected to this humiliation by physicians of the opposite sex), for
it is "brutalizing and degrading."[7] Yet it is these very men who
are _directly_ responsible for bringing disease back to England; for
the native women do not go to England. The argument is, that since it
brutalizes and degrades men to cause them to be examined, that they
may not propagate disease in England, therefore the native women of
India must be brutalized and degraded. It is useless to assert that
the practice will not degrade women; we know that the moral nature
of a woman is at least as susceptible of being injured by enforced
immodesty as that of a man; in fact, as soon as it would serve any
purpose in making a point in the interest of self, these very men would
boldly proclaim, probably, the greater moral susceptibility of woman.
It seems the extreme of servility for women to come to the front at
this time, and in the face of the utter repudiation of all intention
of examining men, declare for the examination of women. When men will
not yield their dignity one jot, even for the sake of preserving the
health of those women of England who are to become their future wives,
what insolent hypocrisy for them to persuade deluded women to help them
to bring women under practices so "degrading and brutalizing!" What
infinite capacity of servility in the nature of women who will advocate
such degrading, brutalizing treatment of women!
But, we may be asked, Shall women show no concern for the "innocent
wives and children" of diseased men? Again we ask, Which wives and
which children--the British or the Indian? There are hundreds of such
wives and children who have been forsaken by husbands and fathers.
There is almost a nation of Eurasians who curse the day they were
given an unwelcome existence. And their mothers, in large numbers,
were honestly married, to their best belief and intention. Here are
the _real_ wives and the _real_ children in the sight of a just God,
and to them should England's attention be first turned. The chaklas
hold many such unwilling prisoners, left there by treacherous husbands
and fathers. Some day this wife of the officer or soldier will be
turned out to perish of the disease her system could no longer throw
off, and the children will either be retained as soldiers' prostitutes
or sent out to share the fate of the diseased mother. The women of
England are being besought to turn their eyes on the future wives of
British officers and soldiers; it would be for England's lasting good
would they but persistently keep their eyes on the British officers'
and soldiers' _present_ wives and children in the far-off East. Were
attention more persistently called to the Indian wife of the British
soldier, there would be much less likelihood of his finding opportunity
to entrap an innocent wife in the home-land.
It was suggested, in the first instance, by Sir George White, successor
to Lord Roberts as Commander-in-Chief of the forces in India, and
re-incorporated in the despatch of the Secretary of State as to
immediate steps to be taken to check venereal disease, that female
medical assistants be employed to conduct the examinations. It is our
belief that respectable women-physicians wish to treat disease--not
prostitution. Even if such were given the full control of Lock
Hospitals, which is not likely, we wonder how many would like to return
to their own country bearing certificates for faithful service, such
as Mahaldarni Ezergee of the Cantonment of Rawal Pindi displayed to us
with such evident pride, that she had been trained in other besides
the ordinary duties of a mahaldarni: "The soldiers were remarkably
healthy while the prostitutes were under her charge." Again, another
officer had testified: "Few soldiers were in the hospital while the
women were under her care." The surgeon of the regiment had testified:
"Disease has been reduced to a minimum among the soldiers," while
the women were under Ezergee, "superintendent of the prostitutes."
This is what Lady Cook describes in a recent American periodical as
"ministrations to women," while the certificates show that everything
that was done was valued only as it protected the soldiers in vice;
the indications as to the health of the women are never once even
commented upon--all the work for women was done _with reference to
men_. This being the fact, it is no wonder that in the official reply
from India, dated May 18, 1897, and signed by the Viceroy, Sir George
White, and others, it is declared that "It is doubtful whether the
women possessing the necessary medical qualifications, and of a status
sufficiently good to preclude the possibility of their receiving bribes
from the women they have to examine, would be willing to undertake the
work."[8]
As regards the examination of the women, we take a chapter out of the
history of our India work, in illustration, as recorded in our Journal:
MEERUT, India, February 8, 1892.
At half-past seven this morning we went down the Sudder Bazaar to the
neighbourhood of the Lock Hospital, it being examination day. The
building is well placed for observation, being at a point where five
streets meet, and several other streets run close by. The hospital
is a foreign bungalow with a verandah in front, inclosed in a high
brick wall. Already the girls, in gaudy apparel and flashy jewelry,
were assembling, and in a few moments we counted thirty girls standing
or sitting around, outside the building and outside the gate in the
street. They came walking and riding in _ekkas_ (native carts), and
two loads came in cabs. Some of them had several miles to come from
the Rest Camp. The vehicles waited for them across the street, under
the shade trees. The girls went in by twos or threes, as summoned.
A tall native policeman stood about, apparently to keep order. The
street was one of Meerut's busiest thoroughfares. Men and boys lounged
here and there, and even tiny children looked on with interest and
curiosity. At one time we noticed not less than twenty-five men and
boys gathered about and discussing the scene. A police station was
close by, and an unusual number of men lingered in front of it,
discussing the women, as their glances and manners indicated. One
Eurasian woman brought a girl, evidently held as a slave to make money
for her; she seemed reluctant to even trust her girl to go alone into
the hospital, when her turn came; and as soon as she emerged again,
seized her and led her away, the policemen shouting after her in
derision, "Mem Sahib! Mem Sahib!" (the name for "lady," applied, as a
rule, to white women), to which the Eurasian gave no response.
About a hundred women were examined that morning, waiting their turn
on the public street, while the crowd gathered round to discuss the
women kept by the Government for British soldiers. No wonder the
Commander-in-Chief has decided that the female medical assistants who
could be induced to manage such an affair would hardly be "sufficiently
good to preclude the possibility of their receiving bribes." The Lock
Hospitals of the Orient, as we studied them in many Cantonments of
India, and also in Singapore and Hong Kong, are for the treatment of
prostitution rather than for the treatment of disease, for the reason
that only those who could be quickly restored to health to go on in
their occupation are likely to be retained any length of time for
treatment. We have already referred to the practice of turning cases
of secondary, or advanced, disease out of the Cantonment. The position
at the head of one of these hospitals is not likely to tax one's
scientific resources much beyond instructing the native women how to
perform ablutions, so strongly urged by Lord Roberts in his Circular
Memorandum, in administering douches, and in diagnosticating and
keeping in hospital all cases of catamenia. We do not marvel if male
surgeons have grown tired of the monotonous round, and with a seeming
burst of generosity propose to give the position to medical women;
particularly, if by such "generous" expressions of appreciation for the
usefulness of women, they can lead over-credulous fine ladies into the
conclusion that at last all the objections to the C. D. Acts have been
met.
In spite of holding a degrading position the verdict of the world is
"A man's a man for a' that"; but not so the woman who connects herself
with an Eastern Lock Hospital--her dignity would never sustain the
shock. Already the official conclusion is that no woman of intelligence
or honesty would accept such a position. Women cannot afford to
become the scavengers of the profession. We remember interviewing an
Englishwoman in charge of a very large Lock Hospital in an Eastern
city; and after this we went directly to the adjoining general
hospital. We were welcomed by the nurses and treated most cordially
until we mentioned, with design, the Englishwoman at the neighbouring
hospital, and that we had been talking with her. A frozen response
abruptly ended further sociability, and we learned thus that even
underling nurses of other hospitals held themselves as in a position to
snub the chief superintendent of a Lock Hospital in the East.
From the time that the abominable nature of the Contagious Diseases
Acts of England and India were made known, and the Acts held up to
public execration and outlawed, like a condemned criminal, this System
has gone seeking a new _alias_ that its identity might be hidden
from the inconvenience of exposure. Many times these laws have been
unmasked, and they have never been able to survive the exposure of
their real name, which was at the first, "Contagious Diseases Acts."
Over and over again has this criminal Law, when caught sneaking
about, denied his real name. Like a fatal birthmark, which no power
can eradicate, so this abomination has its birthmark, which, when
seen, fixes the identity beyond all question. That birthmark is _the
compulsory examination of women_. This cannot be made to serve the
desired purpose without all the essential features of the C. D. Acts.
It makes not the slightest difference whether the law is called the
Health Act, as in Australia, Getz's _Projet de Loi_, as in Norway,
the Women's and Girls' Protection Ordinance, as at Singapore, the
Cantonment Acts or the Cantonments Act, or what not--the test of the
law, as to its identity with the old infamous C. D. Acts, is, whether
women are obliged to submit to compulsory examination. "In fact, the
compulsory examination of women _is_ the C. D. Acts." Let this one
point be put into law, and all the rest goes without saying. The battle
has always raged around this one central point.
To prove that the compulsory examination of women necessitates the
regulations that always attend it, let us suppose that in a community
this one point is provided for by law, and that the officers of the
law are left to enforce the measure, by whatever regulations are
necessary:--
The law demands merely that impure women must be examined regularly
for the protection of the public health.
But the police officer sees at once that to secure this point a list
must be kept of the women, when examined, that notice of requirement
can be sent to those not coming voluntarily. Thus _registration_ of
prostitutes comes to pass.
But after examination, those found diseased must be placed by
themselves for treatment. Thus a hospital for prostitutes is
established.
Then provision must be made to compel those who are unwilling to
attend the examinations to do so, for it has been the invariable
experience that few women will go regularly for examination unless
compelled to do so, and also there must be means of enforcing them to
remain in hospital. Thus the hospital becomes a _Lock Hospital_, and
_fines and imprisonments_ are imposed on delinquents.
But compulsion cannot be secured without the aid of the police and the
magistrate, and it is most difficult to follow up women, prove their
identity, hale them to examination and to Lock Hospital without being
able to keep them located in one tolerated quarter or house where they
may be found--hence _segregation_ is introduced; and this is also done
to keep women with whom association is supposed to be safe--because
under constant medical and police surveillance--separate from those
with whom it is supposed to be a risk to associate.
Now we discover that the compulsory periodical examination of women
of impure life, when carried out in actual operation, creates a
necessity for all the essential features of every C. D. Act that has
ever been known, namely: _Compulsory examination_; _Registration_;
_Lock Hospitals_; _Fines and Imprisonments_; _Police Surveillance_;
_Segregation_.