Under the Act the following are made "prohibited immigrants":—
"(b.) Any idiot or insane person."
"(c.) Any person suffering from a contagious disease which is loathsome or dangerous."
"(d.) Any person the date of whose arrival in New Zealand is earlier than two years after the termination of any offence which, if committed in New Zealand, would be punishable by death, or imprisonment for two years or upwards, not being a mere political offence, and no pardon having been granted."
By Order in Council tuberculosis is gazetted as a contagious disease which is dangerous within the meaning of the Act, and syphilis and leprosy are contagious and loathsome diseases within the meaning of the Act.
To any one who has seen a medical inspection of passengers arriving in an overseas vessel it is obvious that any degree of feeble-mindedness short of manifest imbecility or dementia would be liable to be admitted, and a good many cases of tuberculosis escape detection. Other countries are now alive to the importance of greater care being taken to guard against the admission of these who are likely to lower the mental and physical standard of the race, and in the opinion of the Committee stricter precautions should be taken in New Zealand. The smallness of this country makes it all the more important that it should be occupied and developed by a selected population, while its attractiveness as a field of settlement and the limited amount of land available place it in a position of independence in which it is able to insist on the maintenance of a high standard of fitness on the part of those desiring to share in its advantages.
Section 14.-summary of Findings and Recommendations.
The Committee find—
(1.) That the unchecked multiplication of the feeble-minded and epileptic is leading to a continually growing addition to the sum of human misery, an ever-increasing burden on the State, and the serious deterioration of the race.
(2.) That it would be sound economy, as well as in the best interests of humanity, to deal with the problem at once, even though it involve a substantial expenditure.