[Footnote E: The devastation of these diseases among the British armies
abroad (in the Rhine, Black Sea, and Palestine areas, etc.) has been much
worse since the Armistice than during the war. Approximately one-fourth
(sometimes one-half) of these armies become infected with venereal disease
every year. From 1919 to 1921 somewhat soothing statistics were issued for
the army of the Rhine, but these have now been admitted in Parliament to
be "_quite unreliable_" (Parliamentary Debates, House of Commons, November
3rd, 1921, p. 1952). It must be remembered that, owing to the exchange
value of the £, the English soldier on the Rhine is now being paid about
£8 or £10 per day; that is, he draws a far higher salary than the highest
paid German official; hence there is no riotous pleasure, however
expensive and extravagant, which he cannot afford. These conditions do not
promote manly virtue or even sexual cleanliness.--E.A.R]

The venereal diseases are passed on from one sex to the other in a
continuous chain, but the chain can be broken at any time _by either sex_.
And now it is the _married women_ on whom we must rely to see that these
infections are stopped. Leaving women to the chance protection of their
partners is demonstrably a failure. Here is an extract from a letter sent
me recently by an old and experienced medical practitioner:--

"I have had many women under treatment _who have been continually
re-infected by their husbands_."

Men and women must both seek knowledge and both accept responsibility for
the venereal problem. They must face this problem independently and in
co-operation, and above all--face it _honestly_. There is no other way.

It is all very well to say that the man is responsible. That is only a
partial truth.[F] The woman is equally responsible as soon as she is