The influence of legislation on public morals / Friends' Association for Abolishing the State Regulation of Vice.

Date:
[1873?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The influence of legislation on public morals / Friends' Association for Abolishing the State Regulation of Vice. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    Members, is now reprinted by tiie Scottisli Nationai Association for tfie Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts.—fSee page 16.J THE INFLUENCE OF LEGISLATION OK PXIBI^IC MORALS. rjIHE last vote of the House of Commons [21st May 1873] on the proposition to repeal two Acts of Parliament, has a bearing on the present and future welfare of this kingdom, which the majority of men, owing to causes too little sus- pected, are still far from being in a position to estimate. It may be thought, as it is declared by many, that enough has been said, and more than enough, on every aspect of the subject to which those Acts relate. Good and intelligent men thmk they have nothing of importance to learn. Surely It is said, there are two sides to the question; and it is not safe to pronounce hastily against a law which has for' its object the mitigation of human sufferino- But beyond the two sides which arise out of the provisions and details of the Acts, there is an aspect, of deeper moment and of wider scope, involving an element in the controversy which has been too much overlooked; but the importance of which, whether it bears on this or any other social question It IS not easy to overstate. A review of the legislation to whieh the present agitation is < ue, reveals the fact that men are self-divided into two well-