[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR...1
Sin,—Your admirable appeal "To the Men of the Training Camps" in your issue of October 24th must have met with the hearty approval of all your readers who are aware of the subtle temptations that surround our Territorial soldiers and the men of Lord Kitchener's Army at present in barracks
and encampments. So far as I am aware, no organized effort has yet been made to warn the men of the dangers in their path. About twelve months ago the Liverpool Medical Institution appointed a Committee to initiate an educational campaign against the venereal diseases, and it was hoped that much good might be done by a series of popular lectures that were to be delivered this winter in Liverpool and neighbourhood. The outbreak of war has, however, forced the Committee to alter its plans, and has, at the same time, opened up new channels into which it proposes to direct its activities. I enclose two pamphlets which we propose to distribute widely among the officers and men of all ranks. The larger pamphlet is a reprint of the lecture with which our campaign was inaugurated, and our intention is to distribute it chiefly among the officers, who will derive from it a fund of informa- tion, which they will no doubt make use of to caution their men. The smaller four-page pamphlet, entitled Some Dangers • Soldier May Avoid, is for distribution in the ranks. It indicates in plain, unvarnished language, within the compre- hension of the most uneducated soldier, the appalling conse- quences that may follow from a moment's yielding to a storm of passion. We are prepared to supply copies of these pamphlets free of cost—as far as the funds at our disposal will permit—to any officer who will undertake to distribute them among his men. Any application for copies made to The Librarian, The Medical Institution, Liverpool, will receive immediate attention.—I am, Sir, &c., R. W. hlicKENNe.
26 Rodney Street, Liverpool.
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