Mr. Fowler on Monday moved the rejection of the vote
for the police employed to carry out the Contagious Diseases Acts, that is in fact, the nullification of the Acts themselves. The debate is so prudishly reported that it is difficult to understand what was said, but apparently Mr. Henley supported the motion on the old and ,untenable ground that the Acts legalize prostitution, and Mr. Mundella on the much better argument that the Acts make fallen women worse than they were before. Mr. Bruce defended the Acts, first, because they produced good results ; and secondly, because they could not be abolished without very carefully con- sidered legislation, for which there was not time. On a division, the vote for the police was carried by 56 to 44. The Govern- ment, we believe, was wrong in not accepting the compromise offered them, and suspending the Acts until the next election. They cannot continue unless they are discussed, and in this country they cannot be discussed. The matter has become one of feeling rather than reason, and until the electorate is educated or changes its mind, the Acts must be given up.
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