Bryan, and later myself also, with much valuable information, and for her own part fought the battle most strenuously—­living among the men, lecturing, finding and instructing lecturers, providing disinfectants, importuning authorities, writing most trenchant letters, establishing medical clubs in England and France, and the like.  I think that when the names of those who opposed her are forgotten, the memory of this brave lady will still be green among the descendants of the valiant men for whose welfare she struggled”—­p. 176-177.

[Footnote M:  The New Zealand Times daily newspaper published my first article and was severely reprimanded by the New Zealand Government for doing so, and all New Zealand newspapers were then prohibited from publishing any further articles relating to V.D. in the New Zealand Forces.—­E.A.R.]

[Footnote N:  See Publishers’ notice.]

ALCOHOLISM.

It should be noted here that another great difficulty we had was to make men beware of the dangers of drink.  A man who is in liquor is much more liable to contract venereal disease than a man who is sober.  Alcohol increases sexual desire, lessens sexual ability, and lowers the sense of responsibility.  Hence, drunkenness, immorality and disease go hand in hand:  a dreadful three.  But more than this.  The drunken man takes much longer over the sex-act, thereby prolonging the risk of disease, and he runs risks which he would rule out instantly if the fumes of alcohol had not changed the tawdry girl into the glittering fairy.  Worse than all, he neglects to apply disinfection properly and promptly—­he falls asleep or forgets all about it till too late.  Men who are determined to have a “night out” should use calomel ointment (or some other substitute) before they start; and if they have been in liquor they should disinfect instantly when they recover their sober senses.  Generally speaking, an ounce of calomel is worth a ton of salvarsan.

As with young men, so with young girls:  a few glasses of wine taken at a supper or a dance—­and the first downward step is taken, not because any wrong was intended, but the simple actualities of sex were unknown, and the stimulant took advantage of the ignorance that is miscalled innocence.  This kind of thing will continue till the older generation realise that morality depends—­not on the maintenance of ignorance and the fear of disease, but on the spread of knowledge and the promotion of virtue.

It is not morality, but caution, that is developed by fear, and in this case caution is counteracted by the practical experience that many men are immoral without becoming diseased.  One man commits many immoral acts and suffers not at all; another man becomes syphilitic by yielding for the very first time; the penalty is purely fortuitous.  There is no necessary connection at all between immorality and disease.  The dangers of sexual intercourse are due to dirt and promiscuity rather than to immorality, and in part to the physical conformation of the individual.  Virtue has far deeper and more substantial foundations than the mere gusts of fear.  It is founded on necessary and responsible guardianship of the very gates of life.