In this letter to De Amsterdammer. Weekblad voor Nederland Kuyper commented on an article the paper had published on September 23. There De Amsterdammer had reacted to an article of De Standaard on the measures against a possible coming plague epidemic. De Standaard had argued that while being draconian, the measures the government had proposed were right. De Amsterdammer had reacted with contentment, while also noting that it was strange that De Standaard still needed to say these things to its rank and file in the year 1900. De Amsterdammer hoped that De Standaard would now also recommend vaccination against smallpox.
In his letter to the editor Kuyper argued that he had not changed his stance. For smallpox he had always recommended hygiene and isolation. He had never supported forced vaccination and would not to that now. As long as many experts would advise against vaccination Kuyper would do the same. In its commentary on Kuyper’s letter De Amsterdammer noted that Kuyper had made a new step in his thinking: he apparently did not warn against vaccination on a principal basis but on the basis of expert opinion.