LOCHES. My dear doctor, you are falling into the common French mistake of attributing all the ills in the world to the government. In this case it is for you to shew us the way. These are matters for scientific experts. You must begin by pointing out the necessary measures, and then—
DOCTOR. And then,—what? Ha! It is fifteen years since a scheme of this kind, worked out and approved unanimously by the Academy of Medicine, was submitted to the proper authorities. Since that day it has never been heard of again.
LOCHES. Then you think that there really are measures to be taken?
DOCTOR. You shall answer that question yourself. I must tell you that when I received your card yesterday I imagined that it was in your public capacity that you were about to interest yourself in these matters. Consequently, after naming the hour of your visit, I told off two of my hospital patients to show to you. You need not be alarmed, I shall not shock your nerves. To outward appearance they have nothing the matter with them. They are not bad cases; they are simply the damaged goods of our great human cargo. I merely wished to give you food for reflection, not a lesson in pathology. You came on another matter. So much the worse for you. I have you and I shall not let you go. [A slight pause]. I will ask you, therefore, to raise your mind above your personal sorrow and to conceive in the mass the thousands of beings who suffer from similar causes. Thousands, mark you, from every rank of society. The disease jumps from the hovel into the home, frequently with few intermediate steps; so that to cleanse the gutter, where preventive measures can be taken, means practically to safeguard the family life. Our greatest enemy of all, as you shall see for yourself, is ignorance. Ignorance, I repeat. The refrain is always the same: ‘I didn’t know.’ Patients, whom we might have saved had they come in time, come too late, in a desperate condition, and after having spread the evil far and wide. And why? ‘I didn’t know.’ [Going towards the door] What can we do? We can’t hunt them out from the highways and hedges. [To a woman in the passage] Come in, please. [The woman enters. She is of the working class. The doctor turns again to Loches] Here is a case. This woman is very seriously ill. I have told her so, and I told her to come here once a week. [To the woman] Is that so?
WOMAN. Yes, sir.
DOCTOR [angrily] And how long is it since you came last?
WOMAN. Three months.
DOCTOR. Three months! How do you suppose I can cure you like that? It is hopeless, do you hear, hopeless! Well, why didn’t you come? Don’t you know that you have a very serious disease?
WOMAN. Oh yes, sir. I know it is. My husband died of it.
DOCTOR [more gently] Your husband died of it?