Page:Wrong and Right Methods of Dealing with Social Evil - Elizabeth Blackwell (1883).djvu/86

 The next three clauses refer to the various formalities by which a woman may endeavor to prove that she is not a prostitute and be relieved from inspection.

The next six clauses announce penalties for harboring a diseased woman, and the method of serving notices.

The last clause, No. 42, virtually prevents any woman from obtaining redress, if she has been unjustly accused or dealt with by persons under the Acts. Any woman must commence an action within three months, giving one month's notice to defendant (no matter whether she be detained in hospital or prison). She must place sufficient money to defray defendant's costs in court beforehand, and the defendant may always plead in defence, that he intended to execute the provisions of the Act.

The sole object of the Act, in all its provisions for prostitutes, is to keep them healthy. They are in no way interfered with if they show that they are physically healthy, as is the case with the large majority. The only reference to moral or religious instruction is in clause 12, where the chaplain appointed to all State institutions is as usual provided.

It is an axiom in legislation, that a law is false in principle which is open to great abuses, unless excessive care is exercised in its application.