§ 21. Mr. PETOasked the Under-Secretary of State for War whether his attention has been called to the War Office letter to General Officers Commanding, dated 18th March, 1916, which states that the Army Council cannot accept suggestions, made with regard to prevention, which would imply the adoption of any system of prophylaxis which might be said to afford opportunities for unrestrained vice; whether this deters Army medical officers from taking steps to prevent the spread of venereal disease in the Army; and whether the Army Council will now withdraw any restriction which prevents effective measures being taken to avoid the waste of man-power in the Army from this cause?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONI regret that I can add nothing at present to the answers which I gave my hon. Friend on the 22nd January last.
§ Mr. PETOMay I ask is the Army Council letter correctly stated in the question, and does it not tend, at any rate, to prevent medical officers taking the necessary steps to stop this scourge in the Army?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONI think I communicated by letter yesterday with my hon. Friend, enclosing a copy of the letter to which he refers, and which he will probably get to-day.
§ Mr. PETOCan the hon. Gentleman give any idea, if not accurate figures, of the number of men who pass through hospital suffering from venereal diseases in a single year and who are at any one time incapacitated from that cause?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONI am afraid I cannot give those figures definitely.
§ Mr. OUTHWAITEAre we to infer that medical officers are prevented from taking every possible step to cure this hideous disease?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONMy hon. Friend cannot infer that from the reply given today or from the reply given previously.
§ Sir J. D. REESis not that the result?
§ Mr. MACPHERSONNo; I do not think so.