Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1917-10-23
Harm to Nations Soldiers and
Sailors by Subtle Ravages
Of Contagious Called Menace
by Head of Navy,
WORD OF PHYSICIAN
OF WIDE INFLUENCE
Clinical Congress at Chicago
Urged to Direct Efforts to
Teach SeIf-restraint Among.
Men,


! Chicago, Oct 22.-Dealing frankly
and boldly with the social evil as a
menace TO the nations military eff
cheney, Secretary Daniels of the navy
in an address here tonight, before the
| Clinical Congress of surgeons of North
america, appealed to the medical pro-
! fession ito end the false double stan
dard that decreases military effective
ness" The profession. he declared,
must share its part of the blame for
| the objectionable prudery that en-
dured a fostering evil rather than
have it exposed and eradicated."
| There is not an army in the field
whose effectiveness is not reduced by
reason of immoral disease" said Sec
/ retary Daniels. THE navy suffers
likewise and business halts because
Ivenereal disease destroys the manhood
of workmen and fighters.
| Time Loss Big Factor.
During the last statistical year men
lof the American navy lost 141,37S days
fsickness from small group of abso
lutely preventable diseases, or rather
diseases contracted by sin. This
means that every day throughout the
| year there were 456 men disabled by
this digracefnl malady. Add to that
number those required to care for the
disabled and we have enough men
fon the nnn-effective list each day tct
su,An ay4nots. s.1gs t,lggisipi
"And this does not count those who
though diseased were not disabled.
or the danger of contagion to the
clean members of the crew. In the
navy in 1915 there were admitted for
treatment for venereal diseases 11a
| persons in every 1000. and in the
army 81 for every 1000, the number
| in the army having decreased from,
las to the 1000 after the passage of
an act stopping the pay of all soldiers
admitted for treatment for venereal
| disease.
THE new navy laws stop the pay OF
men so afflicted and will probably re-
duce the number to the army ratio.
+! But these figures show a condition o!
immortality upon the part of the mi
nority in both arms of the service that
challenge the thought of the authori.
| ties.
I'm civil life the number afflicted
/ is quite as large, proportionately, as
in the military service. It has been
printed that Hecht of Vienna stated
that at one time the equivalent OF
three entire Austrian divisions Of co.
| 900 men was under treatment for We
nereal disease, while the German army
in Belgium. representing only small
part of the total German forces, is
reported during the first five months
of It's occupation to have furnished
! $4,000 such patients. Canadian and
Australian officers have deplored the
ravages of this disease. The late fig
ures from the British army gave 49,
900 cases, and all other countries have
also been weakened.
More Deadly Than Battle.
Sir william Coler places infec-
tious diseases at the top as menace
in war and In peace. The time has
come to realize that this subtlest foe Of
humanity must be conquered and it
can not be conquered by denying its
! existence, saying it is necessary
evil, or applying .palliatives. 1t is
l
tuberculosis. A Canadian authority
says Its ravages today are more terri
BILE for Britain and Canada than Vimy
Ridge, the Somme and Lens
"The remedy? There is but one
confluence. It must be preached in
the home, in the school, in the marts
of trade, in the pulpit and in military
camps and among shipmates afloat.
The eradication of the evil effects
must be thorough, but the teacher
who will be heard and needed when
the teachings Of all others will fall on
deaf ears is the word Of authority
from the medical profession. Young
men expect ministers of the gospel
to call them to clean living. The
preacher seeks to save their souls,
Land too many youths hardly realize
they have soul. But they know they
have bodies and the doctor is the man
to whom they trust the treatment OF
their bodies. When he breaches con-
tinence as the only rule of life to
young men and points out. the dire
4 penalty for lapses, his words have a
weight no other admonition possesses.
Points Duty to Doctors.
"You, gentlemen of the medical
profession, deal with life and death.
You bring the bodies into the world
and you close the eyes of the dead
Yours is the ministering function, the
intimate touch and out of such re-
lation you can enjoy an amazing
power Of suggestion. 1t is this power
that America calls upon you to use
Tell our youths the truth. II Is uuty
laid upon you, not by the moral law
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