Report of Royal Commission upon the Administration and Operation of the Contagious Diseases Acts.
- Great Britain. Royal Commission on the Contagious Diseases Acts
- Date:
- 1871
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Report of Royal Commission upon the Administration and Operation of the Contagious Diseases Acts. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.
942/952 page 844
![Hoping that you will ])e pleased to place this memorial in the hands of the Lords, &c., and that j'ou will aid the prayer of the memorial, I remain, &c., (Sii^ned) Edmd. Kell. The Right Hon. H. C. E. Childer^ ■(Copy.) To the Honourahle the Lords Comm.issioners of the Admiralty. The humble Memorial of the Southampton Branch of the National Anti-Contagious Diseases Acts Association sliewetli: That the inhabitants of the nmnicipal borough of South- ampton have to their sur[)rise learned that by An Act to amend the Contagious Diseases Act, 1866, their borough is included within the operation of the Act. That there is reason to believe that had the town been aware of the intended extension, a loud and widespread resistance would have been made against it. That we respectfully request that your honourable Board will suspend the execution of the Act within the borough till the expected discussion of the nature and provisions of the Act has taken place in Parliament. Signed on Ijehalf of the society, William Lankester, J.P., Chairman. Edmund Kell, M.A., F.S.A., AV. C. Westlake, Co-Secretaries of the above Branch Society of the National A. C. D. A. Association. 1st April 18/0. From the Clergy and Ministers of Southampton against the extensiou of the Acts to that town. (Copy.) 10, Brunswick Place, Southampton, My Lords, April 13,18/0. At the request of Mr. Alderman Lamb, J.P., chau'- man of the Southampton Branch of the Anti-Contagious Diseases Acts Association, I take the liberty of forwarding to your Lordships the enclosed memorial. May I venture also to ask your Lordships attention to the fact that it is signed by 11 magistrates of the borough, several town councillors, medical men, and other influential inhabitants of this town. Trusting your lordships may be pleased to accord with its prayer, I am, &c., (Signed) W. C. Westlake, Hon. Sec. (Copy.) To the Honourable the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. We, the undersigned members of the Southampton Branch of the National Anti-Contagious Diseases Act Association, beg most respectfully to call your Lordships attention to the previous memorial of this Association, signed by its chairman and secretaries, and to reiterate the facts there stated, that the inhabitants of Southampton were taken by surprise when they found that their town was included within the operation of the Contagious Diseases Acts, and that a powerful remonstrance would have been made against the application of the Act had the civil population been aware of the intention of Parliament to class Southampton with naval and military stations. We therefore again venture to approach your Lordships, with a most earnest appeal that it may please your honour- able Board to suspend the execution of the Act within our borough. We further beg to state that numerous and influential petitions to the Legislature against the Act are being signed by the people of the town. Here follows 59 signatures. 13th April 18/0. From the inhabitants of Southampton against the Act (forwarded by the Southampton Branch of the Anti-Contagious Diseases Acts Asso- ciation. (Copy.) All Saints Rectory, Southaimpton, Sir, April 1, 18/0. I HAVE the honour of forwarding by this post the all but unanimous memorial of the clergy aiul ministers of all denominations in this large and important town against the introduction into this borough and neighbourhood of the opei-ations of the Contagious Diseases Act I trust I may be able to report to my numerous brethern a favourable response. I have, &c., (Signed) Arthur Bradley, Secretary of Admiralty. Rector of All Saints. (Copy.) To the Honourable the Lords Comm'ssioners of the Admiralty. Vv'e the undersigned clergy and ministers of all denom.i- nations officiating in the borough of S'.iuthami)!on, having learnt that the provisions of the Contaj'ious Diseases Acts are to be enforced in this borough, desire respectfully to lay before your Lordships our most earnest ])rotest against this extension of the Act to a civil popuhition. We believe that the apjiarent official sanction given by the .■\cts to a certain form of vice cannot but prove lowering to the general tone of public morality, as well as ensnaring to many whose moral and spiritual welfare we have deeply at heart. We belie\-c further that the experience of the working of similar legislation in other countries is such as to justify the anticipation that the Act will fail in diminishing disease. And we believe the Acts to Ijc dangerous to the liberties of all women, and in certain respects degrading to the women who are subjected to them. We therefore hope at no distant period to see the repeal of the Acts, and earnestly request your Lordships to use your powerful influence for their immediate suspension in the borough of Southampton. Here follows 27 signatures. 14th April 18/0. From the Corporation of Southampton in favour of the A^cts. (Copy.) To the Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. The Memorial of the Mayor, Aldermen, and Burgesses of the Borough of Southampton, sheweth : That imder the auspices of the Association for Pro- moting the Extension of the Contagious Diseases Act, 1866, to the civil population of the United Kingdom, evidence has been collected which shows : First. That the operation of the Contagious Diseases Act, 1866, has been very effectual at those garrison towns where it has been applied, not only in diminishing the extent, but also in much alleviating the severity, of the diseases against which that Act is directed. Second. That from the evidence of the clergy, medical officers, and police acquainted with the operation of the Act in these districts, it is clear that ihe condition of the unfor- tunate women who are subjected to these restricti\-e and sanitary measures has been favourably influenced, and that a comparatively large jirpportion of them have been reclaimed. Third. That greater improvement in the health of the men in Her Majesty's army and navy would ha\'e resulted if the Act had been fully applied over a larger area, inas- much as fresh sources of contagion are constantly imported into the protected districts. Fourth. That in the towns in which investigations have been conducted, a mass of disease exists imtended and unchecked. Fifth. That sufferers by these diseases form a large portion of the sick population, and that infected by conta- gion or by inheritance a considerable immber of innocent adults and children sulTtr as much as the guilty. Sixth. That since abandoned women are for the most ])art aggregated together in great towns, it is possible to deal with them without serious difliculty ; that at present there is a great deficiency of hospital accommodation, or of places where they can be treated; and that it has been ascertained the women themselves would not resist restric- tions estabUshed to prevent their spreading contagious diseases. Under these circumstances we are of opinion that the principle of the '• Contagious Diseases Act, 1866, should be extended to the civil population by ])roviding proper hospital accommodation for women suifering from and likely to spread such diseases, and by taking power to detain them in hospital when found to be diseased. These measures, in our opinion, do not involve any system of licensing prostitution. They are intended to be purely restrictive and sanitary in their operation. Given under our common seal the 13th day of April 18/0.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21365945_0942.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
