THE CONTAGIOUS DISEASES ACTS.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR:]
'SIE,—The writer of the annotation respecting the Contagious Diseases Acts published in your last issue is so evidently under an erroneous impression as to the amount of enthetic disease in the Army and Navy, that I trust you will allow me briefly and .delicately to lay the whole truth before your readers. The annotator says that Mr. Stansfeld declared that not more than -50 men "daily" were saved to the service of the Army by these Acts, while Mr. Hardy claimed on official authority upwards of 640. "Daily" is evidently a mistake for yearly," but even allow- ing for this slight error, either assertion is still incorrect. Mr. Stansfeld evidently means that there is a slight difference in the -amount of the least important and non-constitutional form of -disease before and after the passing of the Acts, but neither -speaker could intend to convey that men were saved to the ser- -vice by these measures, because such an assertion is diametrically -opposed to the truth. So far from being saved to the service, one -of the most noteworthy features respecting the operation of these Acts, is the considerable increase in the number of men discharged from the service on account of these diseases since the Acts have -been in force. In 1866, before the present Acts were enforced, the number invalided from this cause from the Army was forty- three, out of a force of 59,758; in 1872, after six years' subjection of women to the Acts, it was ninety-six, out of a force of 83,722, —that is, it had increased from seven to eleven per 10,000 men.
With regard to the number of men affected with enthetic diseases of more or less consequence, here are the facts, both for the Army and Navy. The total number of a.dmissions per 1,000 men in the home Navy in 1866, before any of the existing Acts, for both forms of enthetic disease, was 8-95; in 1872, after six years' trial of the Acts, it was 9-7. The number of men per 1,000 con- stantly sick of these diseases in the home Navy in 1866, before the Acts, was 8-6; after six years' subjection it was, in 1872, 9-7. The total number of men invalided on account of these diseases in the home Navy in 1866, before any of the existing Acts, was 22, out of a force Of 21,200; in 1872, after six years' subjection, it was 51, out of a force of 23,000. All the great Naval stations are under the Acts, and have been from an early period, and this is the result.
In the Army but half of the stations, at which 500 men and upwards are kept, are under the Acts, and this accounts probably for the fact that the evil results of the system are not so broadly marked in the whole home Army as in the whole home Navy. Nevertheless, the utter inability of the system to stamp out disease is manifest from the fact that whereas the total admissions for both forms of enthetic disease per 1,000 men in the whole home Army in 1866 was 200-35, the number still stood in 1672 as high as 191-95. This is the slight reduction in an unimportant form of disease alluded to by Mr. Stansfeld. Without the Acts, the number had fallen between 1861 and 1866 from 262-09 to 200-35; with the Acts, the rate of diminution had been materially checked, while the number of admissions for the constitutional form of enthetic disease, the worst if all diseases, had increased, and was more in 1872 than in 1866, standing at 23-39 per 1,000 men in 1866, and at 24-26 per 1,000 men in 1872, after six years' trial of the system. If the services be put together and the total admissions in 1866 and in 1872 be compared, it will be seen that the number in 1872, after six years' experience of the Acts, surpassed the number in 1866. The two forces together in 1866 amounted to 80,958 men, and the admis- sions to 13,868, giving 171 per 1,000. The two forces together in 1872 amounted to 108,722 men, and the admissions to 19,373, giving 178 per 1,000. The above figures are compiled from the Army and Navy reports printed annually. The last, those for 1872, have not long been issued. Any Member of Parliament, or any other person sufficiently interested, can test the figures for himself ; their accuracy is unquestionable ; they show un- mistakably the utterfailure of the Acts, and the extent to which the ruling powers of this country have been deluded. That the people will insist ere long on the abandonment of this foul and silly despotism few reasonable men can entertain a doubt.—
I am, Sir, &C., CHARLES BELL TAYLOR, M.D., F.R.C.S.E.
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