The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-06-18

the training camps at home and tbs
efforts of the commanding officers in
Europe. that they nave not suffered
much more.
The deep solicitude of the com
handing officer. General Pershing, fol
the efficiency of his troops was shown
as early as last July, when in Gen
era3 order No he emphasized the
vital necessity that each member oi
tho American expeduionary force
maintain himself In the best ply
steal condition. The permanent in
Jury and ineficiency resulting from
venereal diseases were strongly EN-
phasizcd and il was ordered that all
men contracting such diseases shall
be court marshaled aud severely pun
ished
By September there were more than
twice as many troops as In July with
great proportion of new troops. and
the evil effects OF change OF environ
ment" were more apparent. On Sep
tember 4th In General Order No. 81
II was declared that there should he
at all times strict insistence upon the
correct attitude Of mind and body, -
and q few days later in General Or
der 30 > J. the perils which beset the
army are clearly recognized, and the
attitude Of the commanding officer is
emphasized In the following unmis
taxable terms 1t shall be the con
Stant endeavor Of all commanding Of
ftcers TO develop among the members
OF thte command those better quail
ties which are Characteristic of high
moral standing with this in view
It is incum bent upon all officers, sol
diers and civilians attached to the
American cxpedittonary force to CO.
operate in every way possible in the
effort to insure temperance and to
prevent the ravages of Venereal dis
eases with their disabling conse-
auences" Officers are urged 10 ad
wise their men against intemperance
and ucentiouS living Frequent lee
lures are ordered to he given by
medical officers on sexual hygiene and
yenereal diseases, in which confluence
shall he advised and Illicit intercourse
with women discouraged" Offfcers
are ordered to provide social recre-
alton, physical and mental oCcupa-
tion. and amusement for men when
off duty Again 1t is emphasized that
every man contracting venereal dis
ease VIII he court martialed and in
view Of the conditions which had
arisen. the additional statement was
made that every officer contracting
veuereal disease viii be subjected TO
summary discipline"
BY the middle of November the
size Of the American expeditionary
force had doubled over the number
in September. and the conditions at
the ports OF debarkation had become
decidedly worse, and on November
5 n memorandum was issued address
ed to commanding officers " all the
troops arriving on transports, which
suH4444H+f7ad the contents OF General
Orders No. and No. "a. referred TO
above and required that every man
on board ship must be advised OF the
contents OF the above general or
ders of the prevalence Of venereal
diseases in France, and the danger
incident 10 this infection, before
troops are allowed to land"
On the same date, November Is
1917 a circular was issued TO all
members OF the American expedition
airy force and was ordered to be dis
trlhuted to them. In this circular the
kernel of orders s and "a Is stated
IN BRIEF compass and the following
strong paragraph is added. ''venerea1
diseases have made terrible ravaEes
in the armies and civil populations
The danger is greater NOW than ever
before Syphilis is particularly preva-
lent, the Gleanest woman Is often the
worst infected The only absolute
safety is sexual abstinence and this
AS practiced by great college athletic
teams is advised"
Conditions did not improve IN the
larger towns and cities especially in
the sednQris but drinking and i'm
morality increased at these places and
after investigation made by officers APP
pointed by him for. that special pur-
pose. General Pershiug issued Cener-
al Order No. II, devoted entirely to
the subjects of lntemperance and
Nenereal disease The order directs
that all commanding officers give their
personal attention TO the enforcement
of the order and il is emphaticallv
stated that mo laxity or half-hearted
efforts In this regard win be tolerat-
ed " Instructions are given to To-
cate by the military secret service the
houses. rooms or apartments and sec
tons OF town occupied by women en-
gagged in prostitution. All such places
will be considered off limits and
the visiting OF these nfaces nv man,
berg of American cxnaaittonat,. 80
will he rrobihttcd - rsosear 49, ,1rtia
den evcn,t -, ,,,,,,,,,1 -. Cd,
r,nr ra,,,rr a., no.'. H. ';...,
condition the I'M 49, ea,s - ~ v
-, ~, " va We Nei~eu nS the