Anna Stout/ Response to Ettie Rout

Anna Stout Speech

Good evening my fellow feminists, my name is Lady Anna Stout and I believe that Miss Ettie Rout of the Volunteer Sisterhood is corrupting our soldiers. She is making them believe that they can commit the sin of adultery and providing them with prophylactics to encourage them. I plan on putting an end to it.

I ask you, Is the New Zealand soldier an immoral and unclean animal? A letter from the pen of Miss Ettie Rout has raised this question in our minds. Do these soldiers of ours, who fight like heroes in the trenches, when on leave rush into a welter of animalism and sensualism? I absolutely refuse to believe this statement and consider it to be an insult to hundreds of our fine young soldiers. To Miss Rout's statement of "we cannot fail to save a few of our men from physical contamination" this may be her idea of purity but not mine. It is the morality of the barnyard and ladies this is definitely a moral not a medical problem. Unbelievably Miss rout has opened up a brothel called Madame Yvonne's for the soldiers. She claims that it is 'safe' and 'clean' and will protect them from venereal diseases and is also supplying them with prophylactic kits. I am outraged. She is implying that our New Zealand boys must be supplied with remedies to make wrongdoing safe and sin easy.

Actions speak louder than words and to this end I recently led a deputation of women to see our Prime Minister, William Massey, I told him that I believe that Miss Rout's club is corrupting young men and turning them into moral degenerates. We demanded that the club be closed and Miss Rout should be absolutely, definitely, irrevocably removed. Mr. Massey agreed, and said that we were absolutely right about the harm Ettie might do. He has further banned the mention of her name in newspapers with the potential fine of 100 pounds. But we cannot stop there; Miss Rout is continuing to supply our men with prophylactic kits. We must lobby for the necessity of chastity; even our doctors agree that chastity is the only way to absolutely stop the spread of venereal diseases.

I contend that we send our men to fight for purity and righteousness. I believe that chastity is the only way to put an end to the spread of venereal diseases amongst men and women and to stop birth defects in our children. I strongly urge to join with me in my fight to stop Miss rout and her ungodly immoral pursuit.

...