H6? m CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY THIS BOOK IS ONE OF A COLLECTION MADE BY BENNO LOEWY 1854-1919 and bequeathed to Cornell; university Cornell University Library HQ 117.B95 The world's social evilja historical rev OllN LIBRARjt^-^|J 3 1924 021 845 833 ritlNTEOIN U.S.A. Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924021845833 THE WORLD'S SOCIAL EVIL The World's Social Evil A Historical Review and Study of the Problems Relating to the Subject BY WILLIAM BURGESS Author of "The Bible in Shakspeare," "The Religion of Ruskin,' "Land, Labor and Liquor," etc. Foreword by DR. GRAHAM TAYLOR With Supplementary Chapter on A Constructive Policy BY JUDGE HARRY OLSON Chief Justice, Municipal Court, Chicago and Other IMPORTANT APPENDICES Saul Brothers, Publishers Chicago /\ Go", s^' Copyright, 1914 By Saul Brothers, Chicago -5.3 a>£ CONTENTS. Page PoREWOED — Graham Taylor. Preface — Definitions — Liberty — License 5 Chap. I. The Ancient Evil — Regulation Systems of the World 13 Chap. II. The White Slave Traffic- Definition — European Sources — Its Spread to American — The Slave Mar- kets in American Cities 49 Chap. III. The English Contagious Diseases Acts — Their Avowed Object— -How They Were Passed — The Popular Uprising Against Them — their Repeal 81 Chap. IV. Weighed in the Balance — Hygiene and Police Rule in Europe — Venereal Diseases — The Brussels Confer- ences 117 Chap. V. The Wrongs of the Legalized System — The Magna Charta — Repulsive Measures. 141 Chap. VI. Extortion and Graft — New York Examples — Tammany Gets Mil- lions — Plundering and Graft — San Fran- cisco Scandal — Blackmail 151 Chap. VII. The Great Black Plague— (a) The Venereal Peril in America. (b) The Menace of the Army and Navy. (c) Can the Plague Be Stayed? 159 Chap. Vin. The Economic Question — 1. Cost of the Social Evil. 2. Poverty as a Menace — Low Wages — Money Value of Life — Financial Losses by Disease — Loss of Service — Summary of Losses — Bedford Hill^ — --j Reformatory \^t^ Chap. IX. American Awakening — Page Geneva Congress — Silence Broken — A Decade of Interest — Chicago Aroused — New York Moves — Rockefeller Grand Jury — International Treaty — Pandering Laws — The Mann Act — Injunction Laws in Twelve States — Recall at Seattle — Police Women — Vice Commissions — — Sunday School Interest — National Or- ganization 231 Chap. X. The European Eevolt — A Voice and a Vision — Continental Con- ference 275 Chap. XI. Commerce and Conscience — Property Owners and Real Estate Deal- ers and Vice — Brewers and Saloonkeep- ers — Moral Delinquency of the Business — Letters from Paris Women — American Business Men Plead for a red-Light Dis- trict 285 Chap. XII. The War and Its Weapons — Civilization's Greatest Task — Morals the Supreme Appeal — Remedies, Rescue — Prevention— Marriage and Divorce — The Church's Responsibility — The Jews^ ^ Awakened — Christ and Woman ^SOl APPENDICES. 1. "A Constructive Policy." — Judge Olson 355 2. "Prostitution In Europe." — A Review 369 3. Recent Appendix to Sanger's IJistory of Prostitution — A Criticism C38^ 4. Injunction and Abatement Law 387 - 5. Pandering Act 391 6. Chart of Prostitution Laws 392 7. White Slave Traffic Act 394 8. Regulation of Immigration Law 398 9. Bulletin of Georgia Campaign 400 Foreword By GRAHAM TAYLOR THIS BOOK vras prompted not only by the appeal made to a scholarly mind by the widely scattered data of the long war against vice, but also by personal experience on the field of action where the author has aided achievement in securing organized effort. So rapidly and widely has the struggle against the social evil spread that the local and national groups engaged in it are for the most part unaware of what a diverse world-wide movement they constitute. Each several line of aggressive effort has its own organization and publica- tions, covering the medical and psychopathic, the legislative and police, the educational and protective, the moral and religious attacks upon the hydra-headed evil. There are many historical reviews, technical treatises and official reports on various phases of the vice and the movements against it, but they are little known and less read by those actively engaged or being enlisted in the struggle. To do their best in the intensive effort to meet concrete situations on local fields which absorbs them, they need to have their view ex- tended to the whole field of conflict, in order to realize the forces and resources involved on both sides. This volume meets the practical need of the rank and file for definition and dis- crimination, for retrospect and prospect, for surveys of situa- tions and summaries of results, for literature and laws, for critical estimates of methods and inspirational suggestion. It does so in a way sufficiently authentic to be of reference value, and yet is so untechnically practical as to be immediately help- ful to all on the firing lines of this "war without discharge." Few are so well read as not to need to be informed or re- minded of what these chapters record of the history of regula- tion and of the English contagious diseases acts. Fewer still can be so veil informed of current movements as to be familiar with the history in the making, the contemporary progress of which is narrated in the stories of the American Awakening and the European Revolt. Laymen at least will profit by the review of the pathology and therapeutics of the problem here diagnosed. None can be so practical as not to be impressed with the economic phases of the situation here presented, not only in facts and figures, but in terms of human want and woe. No honest doubt or heedless cynicism can be impervious to the author's fearless facing of facts and his sturdy faith and reso- lute hope, based as they are upon his first-hand contact with the worst and his experience in personal and united effort to do the best. In the ebb and flow of the age-long conflict, the set of the tide is here shown to be toward the flood. Against all odds, the failure and doom of segregated, commercialized, police-protected vice is writ large not only in the handwriting on the wall in many nations, but also on the statute books and ordinances and in administrative regulations of a rapidly increasing number of states and cities. Still more hopeful is the fact, of which the publication of such a book as this is proof positive, that the silence and secrecy under which the social vice has thriven, both in its clandestine and public forms, are at last being penetrated by the light of authentic facts leading to a sane educational method in social hygiene. In the home, the school and the church, by the parent, the teacher and the pastor, the preventive work, the precautionary measures, the prepossessing motives and the trained reserves will be mobilized as never before. The effects of this rear guard work cannot fail to strengthen pro- tective legislation and to advance aggressive prosecution along the whole line of attack. The total effect of the cumulative facts and force of this volume is to dignify the war against vice as worthy of the world's united effort and as a chivalric appeal to each one's knight errantry. Preface I. "License they mean when they cry liberty." — Milton "Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap." — Paul. "It is the duty of the Government so to legislate as to make it easy to do right and difficult to do wrong." — Gladstone. The Social Evil may be broadly divided into three class- es: (1) Licentiousness; (2) Prostitution; (3) Female Slav- ery. That there is a form of sex licentiousness which lies at the root of all social evil needs no strong statement or argu- ment. It is what Macaulay calls ' ' sensuality without love. ' ' Unfortunately it prevails in almost every range and grade of human society. The chaste and modest woman cannot move in any class of society without occasionally being made aware of words and deeds that raise the blush of shame to her face, and much of the evil of prevailing ig- norance on sex matters arises from fear lest the facts of sex life should reveal indecencies to youth and innocence. The ribald song, the unseemly jest, the story with double meaning, the vicious novel, the gross theatrical show, the indecent picture and postcard, the newspaper report detail- ing divorce court proceedings, the purchase of women in marriage for gold or titles, the deplorable diseases, the ruin of family life, the indecencies, often of children in public schools, and, worse than all, the revolting unnatural, secret practices among both men and women — all mark the fact that, rooted in the common life of the people, is a prevail- ing sex licentiousness that calls for an age of the sternest stuff of manly courage and womanly purity. The second of these forms of the social evil known as 6 The World's Social Evil prostitution is described as "the offering by a woman of her body to indiscriminate intercourse with men, for hire. A "harlot" is described as "a woman who prostitutes her body for hire" (see Standard Dictionary). This form of barter has doubtless existed in all ages of civilization, and in all countries where woman has been free to make a bar- gain for herself. Free women only can prostitute them- selves. A striking account is given in Genesis 38, where Tamar, who was a daughter-in-law of Judah, made a bargain with her father-in-law, in which she is said to have "played the harlot," thus indicating that the practice of harlotry by actual selling of the person for a consideration, was com- mon in that day ; and the description of a " strange woman, with the attire of a harlot," given in Proverbs 7, is a further indication that prostitution continued to exist through the periods of the Old Testament history; and the history of nations, in their downfall, shows that this evil was perpetuated through the ages. This form of the social evil, strictly speaking, involves the freedom of a woman to make a contract for a price. But conditions frequently prevailed in various ages and in different forms, in which this commercial transaction was associated with oppression and slavery, denying the individual woman any control, or bargain, in the matter. In negro slavery the woman who was compelled to serve her master's lust, was not a prostitute, within the proper meaning of the term. She may, or may not, have been un- chaste, — she rarely profited by it. In many instances she was far more virtuous than the man who enslaved her, and to speak of her as a prostitute would be an error in fact. The third form of this giant evil is the traffic in wom- anhood. This is Commercialism reduced to its lowest stage Preface 7 of conscienceless brutality. It is merchandise in the bodies and souls of women and girls, which has grown to enor- mous proportions in every civilized country, under systems of governmental toleration and license, until it is regarded as a commercial right and a social necessity. PEEPACE. II. In his friendly comment upon the future of the United States, the Hon. James Bryee did not take into account the most serious factors which affect, for evil, the life of our country. He pointed out that "the government of our cities is the one conspicuous failure of the United States." (^) These "jet black evils," Mr. Bryce thinks, are ac- counted for in the organic weakness of our political system, as applied to municipal government, a consideration which certainly calls for the thoughtful minds of progressive statesmen and of aU citizens. But if any lover of his country reviews the black cata- log of evils which is found in the following pages, if he will observe how every forward step towards better gov- ernment has been set back by the corruption of law — national, state, and city — through licentiousness and the graft which attends it, he will see that the cause of our failure lies deeper than any weakness in constructive law. The feverish love of money has become a national sin, and in our city life has brought forth a harvest of crime. The idols we worship are as surely debasing and corrupt- ing our people as the idols of the heathen debased them. (') The American Commonwealth. 8 The World's Social Evil And these, our idols — may be named in two words — greed and license. Greed : — We have made money a god and we have wor- shipped it, until the public conscience tolerated anything — however vile and false, which involved a vested interest, or a money gain. Once the nation went to war against this sin. It poured out the blood of a million men upon our own home fields, to redeem the nation from the blot of slavery, long sus- tained in the name of "vested interests." But we repudi- ated the claim at a cost of uncounted treasure and rivers of human blood. Forgetting this, we have rushed on in a wild chase of the golden god — giving license in the name of freedom to every form of social evil, until we have reached the depths of a slavery incalculably more vile than that from which we were delivered half a century ago. Moreover we have, in a large degree, consented to a national, state and city partnership, or have permitted our public servants and officials to become partners, sharing the spoils. The corruption of governing bodies, and of officials, through the ballot box stuffed by criminals, the perversion of justice by conspiracy and purchase, the official control of vice-revenue, the partnership of police with the whisky ring, the gambling trust and the vice market, are con- ditions which exist not because of any inherent weakness of our political system, nor for the lack of public protest against them. Not for lack of statesmen, or men of clear brain, nor because we have no men who are true, or women who are pure; not for lack of education and teachers are we thus enslaved; if the civilized world should challenge a com- parison of men and women — great in talent and charac- Preface 9 ter — or of churches, universities, colleges, schools, libraries and benevolent institutions, we could win the race in a canter. But we have acquired the vices of the ancient world, and have given to these vices the freedom of commerce and the license of consent. License: — This is our national substitute for liberty. We glorify liberty while we dethrone it. We substitute license for liberty. "Liberty to wrong is the mother to bondage. ' ' We are fostering all the children of this mother. Destroying liberty ! By permitting any and every form of evil to enter into competition with legitimate commerce. Liberty to degrade the stage and corrupt the press, — ^lib- erty to destroy the national rest day, — ^liberty to trafiBc in gambling, liquor and lust, — liberty to make slaves of the daughters of the poor and to fatten upon their polluted bodies, — liberty of politicians, police and criminals — to be- come partners in this riot and plunder. Concession of liberty to do wrong is part of our un- written code. Parentage is weakened by it. The father has abdicated from his rule and the mother has forgotten how to enforce obedience. The child thirsts after the "lib- erty" that ignores restraint. The girl and the boy seek the freedom of lawlessness, and such freedom is conceded in the majority of homes. It is the sin of the nation, — this license — mis-called lib- erty, the wrong which fools the poor immigrant and fills the air with the spirit of lawlessness and anarchy. We must learn again our primary lesson, not only as a school- book text, but as a principle of our social being, involving political and moral health, recognizing that no man is free, and no nation is free, which departs from righteousness. 10 The World's Social Evil * * * The change in public sentiment which has been wrought during the past forty years, and especially the last decade of that period, is not confined to any zone or country, but is a remarkable fact, observable throughout the civilized world. And the agencies which contributed to this change are so numerous and varied that the mere mention of them would not be possible within the limits of a volume such as this. Many of them indeed were only a voice — sometimes discordant and startling — ^but without which society would, probably, not yet have been awakened. Two agencies which properly belong to Chapter IX were overlooked at the time of writing and ought to be mentioned, viz : the ' ' Chicago Society of Social Hygiene ' ' and the ' ' Spokane Society of Social and Moral Hygiene, ' ' which were able pioneers in the "decade of interest" through the printed page. Another difiSculty, which the author faced, was that new facts of historic value developed as he wrote, so that revision of the record was several times made necessary. After Chapter IX was completed and in print, the Com- mittee of Fifteen of Chicago made public certain facts of actual achievement so strikiug as to call for a note here. Briefly stated they are: (a) The practical closing of the red light districts and many other houses of ill-fame throughout the city. (b) Eevoeation of license of some of the most no- torious resorts in Chicago and dozens of others less notorious. (c) Eeduetion, by at least eighty per cent, of open street solicitation. "Never before," says Superintendent S. P. Thrasher, "could it be said truthfully that there was not a house of prostitution Preface 11 in Chicago into which a stranger could go without strategy of some sort. Of course," remarks Mr. Thrasher, "it would be the height of folly to assume that commercialized vice has been driven from our city. The exploiters and the prostitutes have been driven behind political and financial breastworks and are impatiently waiting for what they believe will be the passing of the reform wave. If I sense the public conscience of Chi- cago aright, there will be no such passing, but eternal vigilance is the prioe of a clean city. "It would be idle to say that the Committee of Fifteen has directly accomplished all this, but I have no hesitancy in say- ing that the conditions which were revealed by the report of the Vice Commission would still be enriching the vice exploit- ers and corrupting the city but for the activities of this Com- mittee. One of the best evidences of the truth of this state- ment is that the exploiters of women openly lay this responsi- bility at our door. "In the last year and a half, the Committee has been chiefly instrumental in closing more than five hundred (500) houses of prostitution and disorderly saloons, thereby reducing the income of vice nearly ten million dollars, which was largely paid over to male exploiters of women. This is a conserva- tive estimate, based upon facts in our possession. "During the same time the Committee has sent thirty-three girls home to their parents or has had them committed to cor- rectional institutions." These concrete facts are so marked that they form a note of first importance in one of Dr. Graham Taylor's recent editorials to the Chicago Daily News, and will be found of great value and interest in determining what may be done by the concerted and continuous action of citizens of other large cities. "The Continents are strewn with the ruins of dead nations and civilizations. What guarantee have we that our modem civilization with its pomp will not be 'one with Nineveh and Tyre'? The most important question which Humanity ought to address to its historical scholars is this: 'Why did these others die, and what can we do to escape their fate'? For death is not an inevitable and welcome necessity for a nation as it is for the indivdual. Its strength and bloom could be indefinitely prolonged if the people were wise and just enough to avert the cause of decay. There is no inherent cause why a great group of nations, such as that which is now united in Western civi- lization, should not live on in perpetual youth, overcoming by a series of rejuvenations every social evil as it arises, and using every attainment as a steppingstone to a still higher culture of individual and social life. It has never yet been done. Can it be done in a civilization in which Christianity is the salt of the earth, the social preservative? ***** "Will some Gibbon of Mongol race sit by the shore of the Pacific in the year A. D. 3000 and write on the 'Decline and Fall of the Christian Empire'? If so, he will describe the nine- teenth and twentieth centuries as the golden age when out- wardly life flourished as never before, but when that decay resulted in the gradual collapse of the twenty-first and twenty- second centuries. "Or will the twentieth century mark for the future his- torian the real adolescence of humanity, the great emancipation from barbarism and from the paralysis of injustice, and the be- ginning of a progress in the intellectual, social, and moral life of mankind to which all past history has no parallel? "It will depend on the moral forces which the Christian na- tions can bring to the fighting line against evil, and the fight- ing energy of those forces will again depend on the degree to which they are inspired by religious faith and enthusiasm. It is either a revival of social religion or the deluge." — "Christianity and The Social Crisis," Rauschenbusch. CHAPTER I. HISTORY OP REGULATION. The attitude of States and Governments toward pros- titution has ever been based upon an assumption which in- volves two fundamental errors. These are : First — That, as an institution, it is a necessity, which may be regulated, but cannot be suppressed. Second — That a varying proportion of women must al- ways exist as chattels, to be hired, bought or sold — a sac- rifice to the lusts of men. This two-fold error has so long and so generally pre- vailed that historians have accepted it as inherent. Lecky's plea that prostitution is a necessity as a safety valve for moral order is popular with many.^ In taking a stand directly opposed to this, perfect hu- i"Herself (the prostitute) the supreme type of vice, she is ultimately the most eflBcient guardian of virtue. But for her, the unchallenged purity of countless homes would he polluted, and not a few, who, in the pride of their untempted chastity, think of her with an indignant shudder, would have known the agony of remorse and despair. On that one degraded and ig- noble form are concentrated the passions that might have filled the world with shame. She remains, while creeds and civili- zations rise and fall, the eternal priestess of humanity, blasted for the sins of the people." Sexual intercourse is an imperious necessity, implanted in our nature, for the gratifica- tion of which man will brave any danger, however great, to health and even life. Whether descended from the ape, or whether created in the Image of his Maker, he is still an ani- mal, who, but for the humanising infiuences of civilization and Christianity, would be more savage than the wildest beast of the forest. If this postulate be admitted, it requires no argu- ment to prove that prostitution is an essential necessity of so- dety. 14 The World's Social Evil man relations are not promised or prophesied. Prudence, restraint, and law, must ever contend against error, pas- sion, and selfishness. These, indeed, are the contending forces, through which character is developed. The passion, which is generally miscalled love, and which is often blended with love, as fragrance and color are united in a noxious weed, as well as in a flower; — ^this is the propagating force, which is the supreme desire of all mankind, and without which the human race would be- come extinct. That this passion will sometimes leap the boundaries of restraint and judgment is to be expected. We are not, therefore, looking for conditions of perfect purity, or a sinless society; at least not until some great change shall come in the moral order of all earthly things. Until that event we cannot hope for a time when there shall be no errors or social sins. But as Shakspeare says: "If the balance of our lives had not one scale of reason to poise another of sensuality the blood and baseness of our natures would conduct us to most preposterous conclusions. ' ' ^ Prof. Sheldon Amos has well said that Lecky's "pic- ture is that of an endless vista of dissolute husbands in the midst of happy, wealthy and virtuous homes ; husbands, wives and children, all contentedly subsisting by virtue of a daily immolation of outcast and downtrodden women. The picture is as false as its conception of humanity is unworthy. Bad men do not fill the world less with shame because they are cruel and cowardly enough to sacrifice to themselves the poor and the weak in the place of the rich and the strong. Virtue and chastity are robbed of their meaning when they can be purchased only at the price of another's degradation." ^ 'Othello. 'Laws for the Regulation of Vice. History of Regulation 15 Fornication is sin; "wild oats" can never be harvested as good grain, and men cannot make a virtue of a fault, or a right of a wrong. To follow a tempter and commit a sin is human; to induce others to sin by force, cunning or trickery is devilish. There is an appreciable margin be- tween a fool and a rogue — between a sin and a crime. When we demand of the state the suppression of vice, we mean, of course, the suppression of the vice that is a crime — the merchandise in womanhood. Shakspeare marked the distinction in "Measure for Measure. ' ' "Thy sin is not accidental, but a trade" exclaims the pure-minded, self-sacrificing Isabella, whom her own brother would be redeemed by the prostitution of her body. That is the ground-work of our plea. Trading in sinl is a crime, and the function of the law is to suppress crime, ' never to oifer it terms of bargain or license. Dr. W. "W. Sanger, in his "history of prostitution," quotes an ancient moralist as saying to a youth on his enter- ing a house of ill-fame, "well done, so shalj: thou spare matrons and maidens." Medical practitioners of modern times, happily in rapidly lessening proportions, have prac- tically adopted similar language to the youthful men who have sought their professional advice. "Prostitution stains the earliest mythological records," says Dr. Sanger, and with abundant evidence he has shown that it is also a blot upon the entire history of the civilization of the human race. The inferiority of women, and their subjection to the lusts of men, have been asserted in the most enlightened and human of the laws, and customs, in all ages, down to the present day. Not even the laws of Moses dealt with man and woman 16 The World's Social Evil as moral and social equals (Lev. 19:20-22), although they forbade prostitution (Lev. 19:29), and the traflSc as em- ployed in Pagan religions for revenue was denounced (Numbers 25). Sanger quotes Herodotus as authority, that a law in Bgjrpt significantly "forbade sexual intercourse within the walls of the temple" and remarks that the scenes were so gross that they must be "left to other works, and veiled in a learned tongue." Early Egypt was a veritable hot- bed of sensuality. "Women prostitutes were not deemed disgraced, but their practices were approved and the re- ligion of the country was made contributory to, and sug- gestive of, immorality. Men prostitutes also were com- mon. Moses saw the degeneracy of the Jewish people, and especially the women — a result, in part, of their long period of slavery among the Egyptians — and he instituted strong measures to check the evils. Sanger calls attention to the fact that Moses "laid penalties on uncleanness of every kind," and that "with the practical view of improving the physical condition of the race he guarded, by elaborate laws, against improper and corrupt unions.^ ' The ancient Semitic religions gave a prominent place to the adoration of those powers in nature which either fertilize or produce; the worship of the sexual was prominent In their cults; and ritual prostitution was a recognized and wide-spread institution. The gods were male and female; sexual Intercourse was part of the rites at the Shrines of Baal and Astarte in Phoenicia and at similar sanctuaries elsewhere. This unchas- tity in the religious institutions naturally affected the relations of social life; and sexual purity was regarded as of little mo- ment. Possibly in no way were the religious and domestic in- stitutions of Israel more markedly differentiated from those of the surrounding peoples than by the stress laid upon the virtue of chastity. The conception of the God of Israel as the Holy One meant, first of all, purity — ^purity in worship, and hence also in life. — Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. III. Art. on Chastity. History of Regulation 17 In Solomon's day there was no recognition among the Hebrew people of a single standard of morals. All the weight of a double sin was laid upon woman. The seventh chapter of Proverbs contains a graphic picture of the seduc- tions of certain women, as a warning to young men, but the writings of the wise men offer no warnings to women and girls of the greater dangers that assail them. The early Phoenicians made prostitution compulsory, and compelled women to jdeld the proceeds to the sup- port of their goddess. This was afterwards changed in favor of the women, so that they could keep the proceeds as matrimonial prizes. Babylon regulated prostitution in the name of its god- dess (Mylitta) , requiring every virgin girl to make at least one pilgrimage to the temple and surrender herself to the choice of men in honor of the goddess. A similar rule was observed and enforced in Armenia in honor of the god- dess Anaita. Chaldea also commanded prostitution by law. Indeed this practice prevailed in Egypt, Syria, Cyprus and Carthage. The Lydians and Parthians pro- vided that young girls might thus earn their marriage portion. In Greece prostitution early became a state monopoly and was so profitable that a superb temple was erected with the proceeds, and dedicated to Venus. Solon estab- lished laws for the gratification of men's lusts. Houses of prostitution were provided and filled with slaves who were compelled to yield to all demands, and the business became a source of revenue to the government. One writer states that among the Greeks there were "just as many houses with male as with female prostitutes." ^ Socrates, who is called the "wisest of the Greeks," rec- ' "Woman in the Past, Present and Future." Bebel. 18 The World's Social Evil ognized the courtezan, Theodota, with favor, giving her advice as to her relations with her lovers. Plato sought to abolish marriage and to regard woman only as a child- bearer in the interests of the state. Thus, female virtue was not esteemed, but rather held in contempt. It is said that Socrates "regarded sodomy as a privilege and sign of higher culture." At Sparta a system was adopted, which is credited to Lycurgus, in which the female was forcibly sacrificed to lust. In classic Athens there were four distinct classes of recognized public women, one of which, the Hetairae, ex- ercised vastly more influence in society and were more free than married women. Another class was under the control of the municipal police — the women being held in professional brothels. By the payment of a license fee, or tax, to the state, speculators were permitted to open schools for the teaching of the basest forms of immorality. Lecky says: "The only free woman in Athens was the courtezan." Italy. — We find no official statistics of the numbers of female prostitutes in Italian cities at this early period, but Sanger states that during "Trajan's reign the police were enabled to count thirty-two thousand in Rome alone, but this number obviously fell short of the truth. One is ap- palled at the great variety of classes into which the pros- tibulae, or registered prostitutes, were divided. ' ' Prom the same source we learn that "the number of male prostitutes were probably fully as large as that of the females; that, as in Greece, the degrading phenomenon involved very little disgrace; that all the Roman authors allude to it as a matter of course." But we do not learn that any at- tempt was ever made to regulate, or license, these male History of Regulation 19 perverts. "The aedile abstained from interference, save when a youth suffered violence." It was the duty of the aedile magistrate to arrest, punish and drive out of the city all loose prostitutes who were not inscribed on his book. This regulation was practically a dead letter. At no time in the history of the empire did there cease to be a large and well-known class of prostitutes who were not recorded. They paid no tax to the state, while their registered rivals contributed largely to the municipal treasury, and if they ran greater risks, and incurred more nominal infamy than the latter, they more frequently contrived to rise from their unhappy condition. The Eegulation system was formerly modeled on that of France, and was equally rigorous. In 1888 it was abol- ished by Signor Crispi, who was then Prime Minister, but the decree remained a dead letter, and the police allowed such scandals in the streets that re-enactment was de- manded. Subsequent decrees in 1891, 1901 and 1905 have introduced considerable modifications. The present system is briefly as follows : special facilities are given for the treat- ment of venereal diseases in dispensaries and hospitals, and the cost is borne by the State; no fee is charged to such patients ; no compulsion is exercised, and they are not even obliged to give their names; for out-patients there are spe- cial departments or dispensaries at convenient hours; in- patients are treated in the General Hospitals, as well as in special hospitals. Prostitution of minors is forbidden. In regard to adults, there is no interference with prostitutes unless they cause public scandal. But if two or more such women live together the house must have a permit from the author- ities ; the keeper of such a house is responsible for the 20 The World's Social Evil health of the inmates, but has no legal power to detain them." "The rapid progress of a sensual tone in all the schools of Italian art in the sixteenth century, is a fact which is too man- ifest to be questioned, or overlooked. Sleeping like Venus of old upon her parent wave, Venice, at least in the period of her glory, comprised within herself all the influences that could lull the moral sentiment to repose. Wherever the eye was turned, it was met by forms of strange and varied and entranc- ing beauty, while every sound that broke upon the ear was mellowed by the waters that were below. The thousands of lights that glittered around the gilded domes of St. Mark, the palaces of matchless architecture resting on their own soft shadows in the wave, the long paths of murmuring water where the gondola sways to the lover's song, and where dark eyes lustrous with passion gleam from the overhanging balconies, the harmony of blending beauties, and the languid and volup- tuous charm that pervades the whole, had all told deeply and fatally on the character of the people. At every period of their history, but never more so than in the great period of Venetian art, they had been distinguished at once for their intense appre- ciation of beauty and for their universal, unbridled, and undis- guised licentiousness. In the midst of such a society it was very natural that a great school of sensual art should arise, and many circumstances conspired in the same direction. The study of the nude figure, which had been the mainspring of Greek art, and which Christianity had so long suppressed, arose again, and a school of painting was formed, which for subtle sensuality of coloring had never been equalled. Both the sculptor and the painte;: precipitated art into sensuality, both of them destroyed its religious character, both of them raised it to high aesthetic perfection, but in both cases that perfection was followed by a speedy decline." — Rationalism in Europe, Lecky, Vol. I, pp. 254 to 256. Rome. — The sensualities of early Rome are known, more or less, to every reader of history. The records of them are open books to the youth of our high schools and col- leges. Tiberius, Caligula, Augustus and Nero are names History of Regulation 21 which reek with the abominations of vice, mingled with the cruelties that attend unbridled lust and power. In Rome segregation, as applied to one sex, was the law, licensed women being relegated to a certain prescribed quarter of the city. Wherever Rome ruled the license sys- tem prevailed, and in every country under that rule female prostitutes were allowed to carry on their business in pre- scribed quarters, and were subject to a special tax. In many places they were compelled to wear a special uniform. These women were compelled to register as prostitutes and to declare that they intended to make it the calling of their lives. Roman law aimed at closing all doors against the reformation of such women. Archdeacon Farrar writes in his "Life of Christ" of the morals at that time as the "bad age" when corruption was so universal when, in Rome, marriage had fallen into such contempt and desuetude, that a law had to be passed which rendered celibates liable to a fine. Is there any wonder that the "Fall" of the Roman Empire should so soon follow its unprecedented "Rise" to affluence and power, when it could be said that "the idea of sanctity was so far removed from the popular divinities that it became a continual complaint that prayers were offered which the most depraved would Mush to pronounce aloud?" "■ "We are reminded of the words of the eminent British statesman. Sir James Stansfeld, at the first international congress against commercialized vice held in Geneva, Swit- zerland, in 1872. "There is no Nation in the world's his- tory which has given itself up to sexual vice without ie- coming enslaved, or disappearing off the face of the earth, as if at the breath of God." ' Suetonius, quoted by Lecky. 22 The World's Social Evil The pages of Suetonius remain as an eternal witness of the abysses of depravity — ^the hideous, intolerable cruelty, the hitherto unimagined extravagances of name- less lust that were then manifested on the Palatine. "It was the most frightful feature of the corruption of Ancient Rome that it extended through every class of the com- munity. Greek and Oriental captives were innumerable in Eome. Ionian Slaves of a surpassing beauty, Alexan- drian slaves, famous for their subtle skill in stimulating the jaded senses of the confirmed and sated libertine, be- came the ornaments of every patrician house, the com- panions and instructors of the young. The disinclination to marriage was so general that men who spent their lives in endeavoring by flatteries to secure the inheritance of wealthy bachelors became a numerous and notorious class. The slave population was itself a hotbed of vice, idleness, amusement and a rare subsistence were alone desired, and the general practice of abortion among the rich, and of infanticide and exposition in all classes still further checked the population." ' Tacitus informs us that "from time immemorial pros- titutes had been required to register in the office of the aedile" and Sanger says that the "prostitute once inscribed incurred the taint of infamy which nothing could wipe off. Repentance was impossible, even when she married and became the mother of legitimate children; the fatal inscription was still there to bear witness of her infamy." This has ever been true of the "license" and the "reg- istration" system. Once a woman is inscribed on a police register, as in Prance, or in England under the Contagious Diseases Acts, the door of hope was closed. There is more hope for a criminal in the penitentiary whose portrait ■ "European Morals," Liecky, Vol. I, pp. 263-4. History of Regulation 23 hangs in the rogues' gallery than for a woman registered as a public prostitute. France. — The Prance of today is reaping the harvest of its wild oats-sowing in the Middle Ages, and all civiliza- tion is affected by the rampant vices which were clothed with gilded gayety, and spread by the influence of the aristocracy and the court of that country. Under Louis VIII., A. D. 1225, efforts were made to regulate prostitu- tion, which proved so disastrous that Louis IX. tried to cure the evil by banishing the prostitutes as exiles from the kingdom. "Women were seized and imprisoned, or sent across the frontier, and severe punishments were inflicted on those who returned to Paris," but we do not read of any action, here or elsewhere, to punish men. Sanger says that "in the reign of Charles VI. the rev- enues of the traffic in the city of Toulouse were yielded to the hospitals, on condition that they would receive and cure all females attacked by venereal diseases; it was found, after six years' trial, that it cost more than it yielded, and the hospitals surrendered the revenues back to the city." Charles and his wife conducted their Court in open de- fiance of all forms of decency, and the insanity of the King is attributed, by historians, to his immoralities. Charles VII. was hardly an improvement on his pre- decessor, and his son, Louis XI., had a seraglio and a colony of bastards before he became King; nor did he abandon his immoralities when he wore the crown. Francis I. was an early victim of sjrphilis, and it is related that the Court in his day was the grossest and general conditions of morals were the worst ever known in France. The surrender of private ladies to the King 24 The World's Social Evil was the price paid for favors to their friends. Francis was another King who died of syphilis. Henry II. was faithful, not to his wife, hut to his mis- tress, with whom he shamelessly appeared in public. During all this period indecency in art, lewd books and instruments of debauchery were freely sold ; poets, painters and sculptors prostituted their genius to the basest uses, and no one was prosecuted for selling or distributing their base products. Charles VIII. was but a boy of 13 when he became King, and although his Court was conducted a little bet- ter, yet his personal conduct was such that his chroniclers say he died a victim of his passion. In 1684 Louis XIV. provided prisons for prostitutes; in 1724 they were turned over to the police, who have ever since been the irresponsible rulers and licensing authority of the brothel and its inmates. Parent-Duehalet, an eminent authority, states that from 1724 to 1788 the following rules applied : 1. Brothels were licensed by the police. 2. Prostitutes were never troubled except on complaint of a responsible person. 3. Brothels that were disorderly were subject to the police. 4. Punishment was left to the discretion of the Mag- istrate. 5. Penalties rose higher toward the close of the period. 6. Certain streets in Paris were wholly occupied by prostitutes and their keepers. France, says Benjamin Scott, "has the bad pre-emi- nence of being the most forward and most devoted copyist of the vile Grecian and Eoman systems of vice-licensing." "In 1796 the new Register was begun in Paris and History of Regulation 25 under the government of the Eevolution, agents were em- ployed to find and register the women. Buonaparte re- established the Workmen's Guilds, amongst which that of the prostitutes was reckoned, and these guilds were put entirely under the control of the police, who kept the prostitutes as a distinct caste, in a prescribed quarter of the city, and enforced registration and submission to their regulations." ^ A distinguished authority has recorded his judgment that the overthrow of the third Napoleon and his mag- nificent armies was due less to German physical superiority, battalions and bullets than to the emasculation of French manhood by the refinements of scientific vice. "The Government in 1903 appointed an extra Parlia- mentary Commission. This Commission consisted of 68 per- sons, 7 senators, 17 deputies, 6 professors of medicine and 2 of law. The rest were mainly officials of Law Courts, Gov- ernment Departments or municipalities. The Commission included one woman. The report was presented in 1907 in the form of a bill to deal with the whole matter. The main points in this bill are as follows : The arbitrary action of the police is to be put an end to by bringing the whole matter under the ordinary law, equal for men and women ; no register is to be kept of prostitutes and no laws or reg- ulations are to be made for them other than those which apply to the community in general; the law is to take cog- nizance of prostitution in one case only, namely, its prac- tice by minors and then only to prohibit it absolutely ; any person who exploits the immorality of others for his own pecuniary gain, even with the consent of the persons concerned, shall be punished ; this is to include persons who let rooms or houses for the purposes of prostitution. ' ' ' "A State Iniquity," Benjamin Scott. 26 The World's Social Evil Spain. — Spain was one of the countries in Europe that resisted the Roman system in the early period. In the twelfth century procurers were subject to civil death. 1. Men who trafficked in debauchery were banished. 2. Keepers of houses were fined and the houses con- fiscated. 3. Brothel-keepers who hired prostitutes — ^if slaves, were manumitted; if free, were dowried at the cost of the offender. 4. Husbands conniving at prostitution, or the dishonor of their wives were liable to capital punishment. 5. The Ruffians, who were the pimps and bullies, were banished, flogged, imprisoned or punished — any way to get rid of them. In 1556 this latter class were, on conviction, sentenced to ten years at the galleys ; for second conviction, two hun- dred stripes and the galleys for life. But in later years Spain succumbed to the prevailing influences, and regula- tions were enforced similar to those in France. "Regulation of the French pattern is in force in most cities. A Royal Decree in November, 1910, ordered the closing of the tolerated houses in Madrid, but it does not appear to have had much effect. ' ' England. — State sanction of vice began in 1161 and assumed degrees of moral obliquity that seems incredibly low. Some of the prominent men of the church sought it as a means of revenue. Brothels called "stews" were actually located in church property, and at Southwark they were licensed and regulated by the Bishop. This fact is confirmed by various authors. Professor Sheldon Amos publishes a list of regulations which were sanctioned by Parliament in the reign of Henry 11.^ ' See "Laws for the Regulation of Vice.' History of Regulation 27 Repeated reference is made to the maintenance and regulation of these "stews" in Stew's "Survey of the City of London" and Fuller's "Church History of Brit- ain." In 1381 the "stews" were farmed by William "Wal- worth, then Lord Mayor of London. According to Fuller, the South wark "stews" were suppressed in 1546, under the reign of Henry VIII., which, he says, "was proclaimed by sound of trumpet no more to be privileged and used as a common brothel, but the inhabitants of the same to keep good and honest rule." "But," continues Fuller, ' ' though the sin was no longer allowed in this place, yet the same sin still remained. ' ' "Soon after the death of Charles I, the supremacy of the Puritans secured the passing of a severe enactment 'for sup- pressing the detestable sins of incest, adultery and fornication.' The Act was passed on the 10th of May, 1650. Incest and adul- tery were to be generally punished with death. In case of fornication, both parties were to be punished with three months without bail, and were to give security for good behavior for a year. Every common bawd, be it man or woman, wittingly keeping a brothel or bawdy house, for the first olfense was to be openly whipped, set in the pillory and then marked with a hot iron with a B, also to be committed to the house of correc- tion for three years and until suflScient security be given for good behavior during life. The persons, a second time found guilty of all the last recited offenses, were to suffer death. — Par- liamentary History of England, Vol. 19, p. 259. This, at last, assumed the character of suppression in place of regulation, but, like the old law which Angelo re- vives in Shakspeare's "Measure for Measure,"^ the ex- treme penal measures defeated their object. Professor Amos says: "From the date of the important effort of this Act of 1650, a hundred years passed before the next phase of "See "The Bible in Shakspeare," p. 70. 28 The World's Social Evil legislation presented itself, and which extends from the year 1752 almost to the present age. ' ' "Macaulay, describing the conditions of society in Eng- land when some of the noblest and purest spirits were driven to other lands to seek liberty and the right to wor- ship God, speaks of those days, "never to be recalled with- out a blush; the days of servitude without loyalty, sen- suality without love, of dwarfish talents and gigantic vices, the paradise of cold hearts and narrow minds, the golden age of the coward, the bigot and the slave. "^ "In the Middle Ages prostitution was regarded as a necessary part of the social organization; any laws on the subject aimed at keeping prostitutes as a distinct class and exploiting them for the purposes of revenue. The great epidemic of syphilis in the fifteenth century led to attempts at penalization, sometimes of disease, sometimes of prosti- tution itself. On the statute books of some countries there are stiU laws which date from this earlier period. ' ' The nineteenth century was the era of Regulation. The first definite registration of prostitutes for the purpose of medical control was instituted in Paris under Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802, and other countries by degrees followed suit. By the middle of the century it had spread all over the continent of Europe, not by legal enactments, but as a matter of police administration."^ In England a general policy of laissez faire existed. No other action was taken by the government of England, ex- cept such general police laws as were supposed to discour- age, or repress, prostitution, until in 1864, when the first of the Contagious Diseases Acts was passed. This Act was repealed and the Act of 1866 substituted; and this again lEssay on Milton. 2Dr. H. M. Wilson, London, England. History of Regulation 29 was amended in 1869, extending the operation of its pro- visions over a wider area. British Colonies, Etc. — For about 100 years the mil- itary authorities of the British government sought to reg- ulate prostitution for the assumed benefit of the British army. Naturally, therefore, when the home government adopted the Contagious Diseases Acts the military depart- ments in India applied them, and they enforced them with vigor and employed«more revolting methods than were oper- ating in England. In so doing they made the government a public "pander" and a gigantic "white-slave" trader. Dr. Ross, an army surgeon, gave the following evidence before the British Royal Commission in 1871 : "When a Regiment arrives in India, a certain establisliment is told off for each regiment as it arrives, and amongst others there is an establishment of prostitutes, who are housed in the bazaars, and regularly looked after by the matron appointed for the purpose, and superintended and examined by the surgeon of the regiment. "When a Regiment goes on a line b€ march, there is a form to be filled up, and in one column there is amongst the camp- followers one for prostitutes, showing the number who are per- mitted to follow the regiment; and those women we made a point of examining every fortnight. "There is a head woman under the name of the Matranee, who Is at the head of the kusbees or prostitutes. She selects the women; she is told that such and such a regiment is com- ing into the station, and, according to whether the regiment has had a name sent before it or otherwise, she gets a small or a large number of women to come to her." These practices were zealously fostered by the Authorities. Laws were passed and numerous official instructions were from time to time given in regard to them. One of these (dated 12th July, 1884) drew attention "to the desirability, when con- structing free quarters for registered women, of providing houses that will meet the wishes of the women. Unless their comfort, and the convenience of those who consort with them is 30 The World's Social Evil considered, the result will not be satisfactory." In other words, efforts were to be made to render Immorality as agreeable as possible to both of the parties to it. Another of these instructions (which has been well desig- nated "the infamous memorandum") was issued in 1886 under the authority of Lord Roberts — then Commander-in-Chief in India. It stated among other things that it is necessary "to arrange for the effective inspection of prostitutes attached to regimental bazaars, whether in Cantonments, or on the line of march, .... to have a sufficient number of women, to take care that they are sufficiently attra<^ive, to provide them with proper houses " Is it surprising that one com- manding officer promptly acted on this advice by sending a "requisition for extra attractive women for regimental bazaar in accof dance with circular"; and that others acted similarly? The Contagious Diseases Acts in England were abolished in 1886; and in 1888, a resolution condemning the whole system in India, and urging its discontinuance, was carried in the House of Commons without anyone venturing to vote against it. The horrible practices, therefore, ought to have been dis- continued at once, but the military authorities disobeyed in- structions to that effect, and it was proved before a Depart- mental Committee in 1893 that things were going on as before. Consequently the British Government ordered the Indian au- thorities to pass an act prohibiting all those practices, or the making of any rules to sanction them, and this was done in 1895. Queensland. — ^A Contagious Diseases Act is in force in Queensland and Cape Colony. New Zealand repealed a similar act in 1910.^ No system of regulation such as the Contagious Diseases Acts prevails in Canada. Attempts have been made there to introduce it, but failed. Hong Kong. — In the British dependencies of China the same military influences were at work. Sir John Bowring introduced a license system in Hong Kong in 1857. The ' Similar ordinances were In operation in New South Wales, the Cape of Good Hope and other British dependencies. History of Regulation 31 ordinance enacting this license law contained all the most rigorous features of segregation, registration and license. Malta. — Sir Henry Storks became famous for his vig- orous enforcement of the system when he was governor of Malta, and an ordinance was passed in 1861 which was sim- ilar in its operation to that at Bombay. Later Storks sought election for a seat in the English Parliament, but lost it in a perfect storm of opposition because of his attitude on this subject. See Chapter 3. Germany. — ^According to a German authority public brothels were dissolved in 1537, and in 1551 they were again established and women "were provided for guests of rank at the expense of the town. In all towns there were brothels belonging to the municipality, to the Sovereign, or even to the Church, the proceeds of which flowed into the treas- ury of their proprietor." (August Bebel.) In Berlin the regulations are police orders which pre- vail under a "Resolution of the Royal Presidency of Police" Dec. 18, 1850. The following is the preamble of that resolution: " It is admitted that prostitution, that parasite of society, cannot be suppressed by any violent measure of any kind whatever ; that every attempt in this direction only aggra- vates the evil, and that, in consequence, it is necessary to accord to it a certain tolerance, under police supervision, varying according to places and circumstances. ' ' The practice in different cities varies widely. In many places tolerated houses are encouraged and the French sys- tem is followed. In Bremen there is a segregated district — a kind of barracks where a large number of prostitutes live, each in her own quarters, under the strictest police and medical control. In Berlin, on the contrary, the police endeavor to enforce the law against brothels, which are 32 The World's Social Evil believed to be strongholds of the White Slave Traffic. The registration and sanitary supervision of known prostitutes is very vigorously carried out, but in Berlin, as elsev^here, there are a great many elandestines who escape the vigilance of the police." Hamburg. — ^A public edict, of 1506, forbade the keeping of brothels in Hamburg and Amsterdam except by the municipal police themselves. Dr. Jeannel remarks, in his work on Prostitution, that the regulations of 1834, which are now in force, "appear to have something of the spirit of the ancient edict by virtue of which the police agents themselves were the brothel keepers." In the Berlin regulations, as in those of Hamburg, the keepers of brothels are designated as men. Vienna. — The British Government received a dispatch dated March 19, 1869, from the Royal Ministry for Foreign Affairs, which stated that "No registry of prostitution is kept in Vienna, as allurement and pimping, and fraud iu allurement are forbidden by the laws of March 27, 1852." In a work on the Institutions of Austria, quoted by Shel- don Amos, the following statement is made: "Public brothels are not tolerated by the police, and common women are sent into houses of correction ; this, however, is but the letter of the law, not the practice, for though it has been stated that, owing to the present condition of morality, such persons are not required in that country, yet the Bloch, a great German authority, says that "in the middle ages a sufficient supply of women was imported by way of en- tertaining the delegates to Church congresses and the follow- ing proverb is quoted "Uem Studenten ist ja alles erlaubt. To the student everything is allowed." "Dr. Magnus Moller tells of a club of military officers existing in Stockholm in the early nineties to which no one was eligible until he could prove that he had had syphilis. Quite as flagrantly boys have been practically coerced into sowing wild oats." — Prostitution in Europe, Flexner. History of Regulation 33 lowest calculation allows the number of common women in the capital to be 15,000." Denmabk-Copenhagen — Parent-Duchalet publishes a paper by M. Braestrup, Director of Police at Copenhagen, in which he says: "The general administration has not only tacitly tolerated the existence of prostitution, but it has given it indirectly a sort of sanction, by a royal ordi- nance dated the 9th of March, 1809, which has remained in force since that time. The situation of the common women does not consequently depend upon any legal pro- visions; they are placed under the discretionary authority of the police, which has iosensibly acquired the control of prostitution, as was demanded by public morality." Broth els here are not publicly licensed; there are periodical ex- aminations of registered prostitutes once a fortnight. Li- censing of brothels was discontinued a few years ago. "A stringent system of Regulation was in force up to 1906, when it was abolished and the present system sub- stituted. Its fundamentals are — ^no special measures for prostitutes, penalties for communication of disease, free medical treatment for all with a corresponding obligation on the patient to carry out treatment." In Denmark, doctors have for many years been required to notify all venereal eases for statistical purposes, though without name or address. As might be expected, the re- moval of the motives for concealment which are inevitable under Regulation coupled with the provision of free dis- pensaries, produced a considerable increase ia the number of cases under treatment. The totals in Copenhagen for all forms of venereal disease are as follows : Year No. of Cases Year No. of Cases 1905 6,666 1908 9,957 1906 7,065 1909 9,280 1907 8,383 1910 9,274 34 The World's Social Evil Belgium and Brussels. — Belgium has the distinction of being the most thoroughly regulated, and is quoted in other countries as the model. Dr. Mireur in his work on prostitution says, "Things had arrived at a certain degree of perfection when, in 1855, the Belgian government, desirous of further extend- ing these sanitary measures, invited the superior council of hygiene to make a supreme efifort, and to elaborate a gen- eral regulation of prostitution, so complete and so prac- tical, as to be recommended to all the communes of the Kingdom. In 1856, the council of hygiene, in response to this appeal, submitted its scheme of regulation, which is the last and most perfect expression of the measures in- stituted in Belgium." "The Brussels system received a great blow in 1881, by the revelations of the traffic in English girls and little chil- dren carried on in the tolerated houses with the connivance of the police. The system is believed to be much relaxed, but no very recent information is available." The System includes the registration of every woman "known to live on prostitution" and such are forcibly ex- amined and registered and must appear regularly for ex- amination. All brothels must be licensed by the council of burgomasters and are divided into two classes. HuNGAET. — Police regulation is authorized by statute in this country. With the exception of the English "Con- tagious Diseases Acts" this is the only record of such legis- lation by a national authority, the rule being to refer the subject wholly to the police, who made their own laws on the subject and became absolute in authority over the women subject. Austria. — "Until 1873 very severe penalties were im- posed on all prostitutes but the law proved inefficacious. History of Regulation 35 as such laws always do. To remedy the scandalous condi- tions that prevailed regulations were introduced, and these have been very frequently changed and modified. The Penal Code at present resembles that of Germany, and is equally self-contradictory; a revision is under consider- ation. ' ' Switzerland. — "Each Canton has its own Penal Code. Several of the more populous Cantons have tried Regula- tion for longer or shorter periods; all but one have aban- doned it. The exception is Geneva, where a system mod- elled on that of Paris is in full force. ' ' Russia. — "The Regulation system was introduced in 1844, and is still in force; important protests are being raised against it." Turkey. — "According to a report dated 1899, prostitu- tion was stringently regulated, and the Government de- rived a considerable revenue from it. No recent informa- tion is available." Sweden. — A Regulation system of the usual pattern is at present in force in the larger cities. Since 1864 any person suffering from venereal disease is entitled to free treatment in a public hospital. Since that time syphilis, which was previously endemic in many localities, has gradually diminished in the towns and has become very rare in the country districts. The diminution, however, does not apply in the two large cities — Stockholm and Gothenburg. Prostitution is prohibited under the Penal Code. The age of protection for girls is 15. A Royal Commission was appointed in 1904 and re- ported in 1910. The Commission unanimously condemns the regulation of prostitution, and proves its failure by a very careful analysis of the official statistics. As preven- 36 The World's Social Evil tive measures it recommends further improvements in the system of free treatment and a campaign of moral educa- tion. The majority also recommend the adoption of cer- tain features of the Danish system, viz., dealing with pros- titutes as vagrants, and applying compulsion to venereal patients who neglect treatment; from these two recom- mendations a minority of the Commission dissents. Holland. — "Regulation was formerly carried out in most of the large towns, though it never obtained in Am- sterdam. Forty years ago, prostitution was registered in 37 towns ; one by one all these towns have abandoned it. In 1911 an 'Act against Public Immorality' was passed, con- taining a clause which makes it a penal offence to encour- age or provide for the immorality of others for pecuniary benefit. This makes brothel-keeping illegal. Souteneurs are severely punished, and there are stringent laws for the protection of minors. Prostitution is not a penal offence, nor is the communication of disease. There are no special arrangements; venereal diseases are received in the hos- pitals like any others. The age of protection for girls is 16." Norway. — "The Regulation system was in force until 1884. In that year brothel-keeping was prohibited, and in 1887 the registration of prostitutes was abolished. In 1902 penal enactments against prostitutes were repealed. Thus at present the only laws on the subject are enactments against procuration, brothel-keeping and vagrancy." Japan. — "The old Roman status, in its essential aban- don, is faithfully reproduced in the licensed and wholly undisguised Yoshiwara of Tokyo, which is quite as much a matter-of-fact feature of the city, in spite of its horrid commerce in girls, as its hotels and temples. The same plan of government provision for 'regulated' vice prevails History of Regulation 37 in all Japanese cities, and seems to be regarded with quite as much complacency as the public parks and the inno- cent-looking tea-houses. The inmates are virtually the galley-slaves of lust, having been sold by fathers and brothers to the cruel servitude."^ "In Nagasaki the prostitutes are confined to their brothel districts, named respectively Mornyama, Namino- hira, and Lornachi. The public women in the two latter districts voluntarily submitted themselves to medical exam- ination weekly. At the first inspection 56.8 per cent were found affected with venereal disease, which showed the necessity of the preventive measures being made general and compulsory, more especially as many of the women had suffered for months, even years, -and presented sad evidences of the power of the disease. The brothels in which the women who are inspected periodically reside are indicated to the public by large numerals painted over the doors. "In the seventeenth century the Japanese Government set apart a special quarter in the capital where all prosti- tutes were to live. The example was gradually followed by other cities. Sanitary Regulation was introduced in 1872 under European influence, and is now carried out with great thoroughness. It appears, however, that disease has not diminished and that prostitution is by no means confined to the segregated districts. In 1911 a very influ- ential movement arose against the whole system. "In nearly every large Japanese city and town the police collect considerable revenue annually from the traffic. Mr. David S. Spencer, who lived in Japan about thirty years, contributed an article to 'Vigilance,' April, 1913, •Christian Missions and Social Progress. — Dr. James B. Dennis. 38 The World's Social Evil in which he says: "In 1909, Osaka had 1,948 licensed houses of prostitution, in which were 9,378 licensed women, and men paid that year $2,139,304 to the brothels. That means one licensed woman to every 38 men in Osaka; Count Okuma says there are 50,000 of these poor women in that empire, but it is probable that this figure is today too low by nearly 25,000. China. — ' ' In China there is no licensed immorality ; yet a state of things which is frankly acknowledged in Japan is simply an open secret in among the Chinese. Society re- gards it with a sly frown, the Government prohibits and professes to discipline it; yet vice festers in every city of China and presents some shamefully loathsome aspects. The traffic in young girls, especially those who may be af- flicted with blindness, is the usual method of supplying brothels with inmates. "The domestic slavery of the country is mostly con- fined to the use of purchased female children as servants, who often become cojicubines in the families of their mas- ters, and are sold again for this purpose. The most abomi- nable form of this curse is the purchase of women and girls for transport to distant cities for immoral uses." — (Quoted by Dr. Dennis from "Forty Years in China," by Jona- than Lees.) Bayard Taylor states it is his deliberate opinion that "there are some dark shadows in human nature which we natural shrink from penetrating," and he says, "I have made no attempt to collect information of this kind; but there was enough in the things which I could not avoid see- ing and hearing — ^which are brought almost daily to the notice of every foreign resident — to inspire me with a pow- erful aversion of the Chinese race. ' '^ 'India, China and Japan, 1855. History of Regulation 39 In 1885 a Committee was "appointed in San Francisco to report upon conditions in "Chinatown." The Rev. Otis Gibson, who resided in China ten years, testified before the Committee that the women of China, "as a general thing, are slaves. They are bought or stolen in China and brought here. They have a sort of agreement to cover up the slavery business, but it is all a sham. ' ' In their report the Committee said : ' ' There is a moun- tain of testimony of a similar nature, all of which might properly be quoted here; but it would be simply cumula- tive. We have shown that Chinese prostitution exists among us as the basis of the most abject and satanic con- ception of human slavery. That it is conducted upon the most inhuman principles. That our own laws are success- fully invoked to shield, protect and foster it. That it is the source of the most terrible pollution of the blood of the younger and rising generations among us, and that it is destined to be the source of contamination and hereditary diseases among those who are to come after us, too fright- ful to contemplate, and, possibly, already too strongly en- trenched as an evil to be successfully modified, much less eradicated." The United States. Attempts to Introduce the License System. — The regulation of the State towards the commercialization of sexual vice is, every year, commanding more and more at- tention because of its vital connection with the moral and physical health of the people, and in no part of the world is the subject of more concern than in the United States. Public attention has been awakened to the traffic in girls and to the bold effrontery of investors of capital to increase their revenues from vicious enterprises. Citizens' movements are starting up all over the country 40 The World's Social Evil to contend with these evils. Eescue Societies are broaden- ing out for education and prevention; Medical Practition- ers are organizing in the interest of better knowledge as a basis of physical health ; a saner view of the right attitude of parents and teachers in regard to the physiological facts for children is developing, and the literature of the subject is no longer left wholly to the vicious novelist or the sen- sational and venal quack medicine vender. At the same time there has been an increasing tendency among certain influential people of cities to approve and urge the regula- tion by means of so-called "segregation" and compulsory medical supervision, for the presumed purpose of (a) checking the spread of prostitution over all parts of the cities and, (b) to lessen the spread of diseases attending the practices of sexual vice. For ages the problem has engaged the minds of Rulers and Governments. We have had this advantage over an- cient nations, that we may now see what were the effects of the policy adopted, in different ages and countries, and thus avoid, if we will, the mistakes made by them. Especially instructive is the experience of Great Brit- ain, with the "Contagious Diseases Acts" (1866-68) which were supposed to eliminate some of the worst features of a license law, but which adopted and enforced the essential provisions of the regulation system. The working of that law, its effect upon the morals and health of the people and the public agitation against it, which forced the Government to repeal it in 1886, form a unique chapter in history, which ought to be available to American students of social order, and is therefore treated in a special chapter of this work. Had the system continued in England unopposed or had it been triumphant against opposition, it would have History of Regulation 41 been held as an example for this country, and would doubt- less have found many advocates on the score of expediency. Indeed public officials, medical men and others, in the United States, did approve and advocate the adoption of similar measures while the "Contagious Diseases Acts" were in operation. In 1876 Dr. Marion Sims submitted a scheme to a large meeting of the medical profession in Philadelphia in favor of introducing a law similar in character to the English C. D. Acts. This move of Dr. Sims had been preceded by an agitation in the course of which Prof. Gross delivered an address to the American Medical Association at De- troit, Mich., June 3, 1874. In that address Dr. Gross said : "The only remedy for this evil (venereal diseases) is the licensing of prostitution, a remedy which could not fail to be productive of vast good in promoting the national health. One very great difficulty in regard to the practical operations of a licensing law would be the passing of a bill of an entirely un- exceptional character. Great judgment and care would be nec- essary in the selection of a proper title. If this be offensive or too conspicuous, it would at once call forth opposition. My opinion is that the entire subject should be brought in, as it has been in England, under the head of the 'Contagious Dis- eases Acts,' a phrase not likely to meet with serious opposi- tion, as it would serve as a cloak to much that would otherwise be distasteful to the public. The word 'licensing" should not be used at all — 'regulate' is better, but even that has its ob- jections." Dr. Gross's significant reference to the name and man- ner of the English Contagious Diseases Acts points to the obvious need of an actual statement as to the history and working of those Acts, in order that we may be prepared for similar movements in favor of laws that are framed so as to "serve as a cloak" to the public. In New York legislation was adopted in 1871, but the 42 The World's Social Evil bill which was passed failed to become law because it was not signed by the governor. The state committee on crime reported in favor of a regulation law in 1876 and the grand jury of New York City made a presentment in favor of it. In 1877 a committee of the New York Legislature, by a majority of its number, recommended a license law. They said: "The Committee are willing to take upon them- selves to recommend the regulating or permitting or, If the word be not deemed offensive, the 'licensing' of pros- titution. . . . As to the terms, the Committee are not tenacious. If anybody's conscience can be soothed, his moral doubts assuaged, by dropping the word 'license' and using the word 'regulation,' the Committee have no earthly objections, but that the objection to the substance of the proposition is an ill-founded one we cannot doubt." St. Louis. — ^Another attempt to copy the English sys- tem in the United States was made in the city of St. Louis, Mo. We cannot obtain a better view of that experiment than by quoting from a letter written to the British "Medi- cal Enquirer" by Dr. W. 6. Eliot, President of "Washing- ton University, dated April 14, 1879. Dr. Eliot says : "In 1869 the system of 'Regulation' was introduced here, and was in full force until 1874, with all the usual results, — a plausible show of superficial benefits, toith deep and increasing demoralization, and demonstrable increase of disease. Then, by strong effort, after carrying the case through the Courts, which sustained the legality of the ordinance, the State Legislature repealed them. But the laws were left in a 'muddled' condi- tion, and an organized, persistent effort was begun for re-en- actment of the law. The attempt came in shape of an Amend- ment to the City Charter, to be voted on by the people at a special election. The vote was three to two against the Amend- ment. "But as it was evident that renewed effort would be made. History of Regulation 43 the case was co-lncidently carried before the Legislature by petition of eight or ten thousand citizens, among whom were the Archbishop and Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church, the large majority of Protestant clergy, and many leading physi- cians and lawyers. No local legislation sanctioning, permitting, recognizing, or regulating prostitution can now take place, un- der any pretence whatever. "Through the whole contest, English example of the C. D. Acts have been the greatest obstacles we have had to overcome." Mr. Aaron M. Powell, speaking of the St. Louis experi- ment tells us that "a German municipal office-holder was deputed to visit Europe, to familiarize himself with the regulation laws there." Under the law referred to by Dr. Eliot, St. Louis "was divided into six districts, with one medical examiner to each. Bach examiner was required to visit the houses and apartments of prostitutes, to make inquiries, and, if he thought necessary, physical examina- tions. . . . The keepers of licensed houses were re- quired to pay a tax of ten dollars a month, and one dollar "Referring to these conditions in St. Louis, a committee of one hundred (1903) in presenting a memorial to the Board of Police Commissioners of that city, opens its brief with the fol- lowing statement: "More than twenty-five years ago St. Louis had a segregated district in which vice was licensed by law and where the keeper of a house of prostitution displayed her name over her place of business and solicited her trade like any other merchant. But this was in the day when unenlight- ened men thought that public prostitution was a 'necessary evil' not only to be recognized but to be licensed and regulated by the state. "This shameful partnership between law and crime, be- tween government and lust was many years ago dissolved not only in this city but throughout the civilized world. "In place of a licensed social evil St. Louis, like many other cities, substituted a 'tolerated' district. Under the scheme of 'toleration' the entire trafBc is Illegal and the keepers and in- mates of bawdy houses are criminals before the law, but the police, for effective administrative purposes, as they aver, 'tol- erate' or 'wink at' such offenses as are committed within the boundaries of a district which they have set apart for this traf- fic." 44 The World's Social Evil a week for each prostitute therein; each prostitute paying fifty cents a week. . . . The sequel during the progress of the experiment proved an increase of 34 per cent in the number of brothels, and an increase in the number of registered women of more than 35 per cent. There was an undoubted increase of clandestiae prostitu Mfln. '"^ Mr. Powell quotes Dr. Eliot as to the sanitary results as fol- lows: "What is still more startling, when the stamping out process is examined, it appears that while the number of diseased women under treatment in 1871 was 38 out of 480, or 3.75 per cent, it has risen now to an average of 40 out of 653, or 6 per cent. Showing the remarkable fact — to which, however, we have a parallel in Paris itself — that even among the registered and regularly-inspected prosti- tutes the hateful disease may increase." Chicago. — A vigorous effort was made in 1871-2 to introduce the regulation system into this city. This was met by an effective opposition, and two years later, some physicians revived the effort. Again vigorous opposition was offered and an able advocate was found in Dr. An- drews, who published a pamphlet giving the results of such legislation in Europe and elsewhere. An effective blow to this effort to bring the system into Chicago was dealt by a State law which passed the legislature in 1874 by a vote of 115 to 6. This act provided that "it shall be unlawful for the corporate authorities of any city, town, or village in this State to grant a license to any person, male or fe- male, to keep what is known as a house of ill-fame or house of prostitution." The Nation Swings Backwards. — It seems strange that in the most progressive country in the world there should be found individuals and organizations who persistently '"State Regulation of Vice," pp. 65, 66. History of Regulation 45 advocate a policy which has proved so disastrous in every country where it has been tried. It has been our boast that hitherto we have not legal- ized the license system, as applied to prostitution, by any state law in the Union. But in New York state an act was passed in the session of the legislature of 1910 under the title of the Inferior Courts Act. Clause 79 of that Act provided that — "On and after the first day of September, 1910, any person who is a vagrant, as defined, etc., shall after conviction be taken to a room adjacent to the court room, and there be physically examined by a woman physician of the Department of Health detailed for such purpose. "After such examination, the physician making the same shall promptly prepare and sign a written report to the court of the prisoner's physical condition, and if it thereby appears that the prisoner is afflicted with any VENEREAL DISEASE, which is contagious, infectious or communicable, the magistrate shall commit her to a public hospital having a ward or wards for the treatment of the disease with which she is afflicted, FOR DETENTION AND TREATMENT for a minimum period fixed by him in the commitment, and for a maximum period of NOT MORE THAN ONE YEAR." The purpose of this clause is entirely hidden from view in the title, as is the custom of advocates of this system. The clause did not provide for the treatment of dis- ease as such, but for the examination and compulsory holding of women who are prostitutes, or, to use the terms of the Act, "any person who is a vagrant as defined" etc., and "the magistrate shall commit her" for treatment of "the disease with which she if afflicted" and if cured "she shall be discharged," etc. Thus, according to a statutory law of the great state of New York, in the year 1910, it was made a crime for a 46 The World's Social Evil prostitute to be out of health but no such provision was made against her male consorts. The law said, in effect, to every fallen woman: "You are guilty of no crime against the state if you pursue your trade under conditions prescribed by the law." There is still a set purpose on the part of many to main- tain a form of registration for medical examination of women. In number 10, Vol. 27, March 8, 1912, of the Pub- lic Health Reports, Congress published an account of the Fifth International Sanitary Conference of American Re- publics. One of the resolutions adopted at that Conference and printed in the Congressional Document reads thus : "(10) Resolved, That the regulation of prostitution in cities and especially in seaports, is recommended; said regulation to be in the hands of physicians especially prepared for this kind of work, the necessary examinations to be carried out in fully equipped dispensaries, and where possible, sufficient power con- ferred to confine in hospital those liable to transmit venereal diseases." The proposal herein is identical in purpose with the English Contagious Diseases Acts of 1866-8. In one form or another this proposal is constantly being submitted to public influential bodies for approval. The danger of it lies in its apparent beneficial hygienic purpose. The ad- vocates of it hide the fact that its operation is only con- templated in regard to women as a part of a system of "regulation of prostitution," which offers a false security to frequenters of immoral houses — and always fails because it does not reach the male offenders who convey the disease to innocent persons. A few years ago a strong wave of public sentiment arose in favor of segregation but the education which at- tended the work of various societies, through lectures and History of Regulation 47 literature, and the almost unanimous condemnation of it in the numerous Vice Commission inquiries, have greatly dispelled the errors of such a policy. Practically no city in the United States is now prepared to adopt it. So far as we know, every vice commission in this country has unanimously rejected it (segregation) as we do now. It Is neither more nor less than licensed vice. The people of Phila- delphia may not know how to deal with prostitution, but of one thing we are sure, they are not going to say "it is all right if confined to certain localities." Some speak of "The Social Evil," and lay the emphasis on the word "social"; we lay it on the word "evil." When anything is proposed to check or reduce the social evil some one always inquires, what is to become of these women? We frankly answer at the outset that we do not know. Provision can be made for all who desire to abandon the life. But we ask some other questions by way of reply. Here is a trade in which several thousand women are engaged in this city. It is admitted by every one to be Immoral and illegal, but waiving all questions of morality or legality, it is disease breed- ing; it is ruining the lives — the physical lives — of men and women and unborn children. Several hundred of these unfortunate people in this city will die this year, and, if nothing is attempted, their ranks will be recruited from others as yet untainted, in order to supply the demand next year and the years following. Is it rational that no effort should be made to abate this hideous evil because no one can tell just what is to become of the present lot of prostitutes? Are the health and the morals of the coming generation to be ruined because one is unable to find another place for those whose health and morals are al- ready gone? To ask these questions is to answer them. — Report of the Vice Commission of Philadelphia, 1913. "Sophistical defences all vanish in the clear day- light of truth. When a sale is hideously unnatural, intrinsically unlawful, productive of cruel miseries to soul and body, the purchaser also is guilty, — and here is thrice guilty, beyond the seller; because he is seeking for carnal pleasure only; she can have no pleasure, but much rather misery, and is in quest of money only; nay, of the poorer women we may say, they are in quest of a bare livelihood only. The fine flaunting courtesans who are carried away by vanity, and obtain high prices from rich profligate men, less deserve our pity in their present phase of life; only that we know them to be on the fatal slope down which a large number of them will be carried, when the men who have bought them, one by one, abandon them, each justifying himself by the large sums which he has paid! What, then, will a thoughtful man say is the legitimate price of virtue? Either virtue is empty talk or it is above all price. If any hardened man hold virtue to be mere talk, stem fact replies, that at least vice is a hideous fiend, a sub- stantial and terrible reality, and its propagators are agents of cruelty." — ^The late Mrs. Josephine E. Butler. CHAPTER II. WHITE SLAVE TRAFFIC. "What is the history of Fantine? It is society buying a slave! From whom? From misery, — from cold, — from loneli- ness, — from abandonment, — from privation. Melancholy barter! A soul for a bit of bread! Misery makes this offer, — society accepts. "The holy law of Jesus Christ governs our civilization, but it does not yet permeate it. It is said that slavery has disap- peared from European civilization. That is a mistake. It still ex- ists, — but it weighs now only upon woman, and It is called pros- titution. It weighs upon woman, — that is to say, upon grace, upon feebleness, upon beauty, upon maternity. This is not one of the least of man's shames." Les Miserables. Book Y, Chap- ter II. The traffic in women and girls for the market of vice is the most degrading and enslaving of all the features of the regulation system. That an actual Slave-market should exist, organized and capitalized, with inter-state and inter- national exchanges, involving the liberty, honor, and life of thousands of girls, is the most monstrous, the most in- credible, and yet the most notorious of all the crimes of the age. The Encyclopedia Britannica remarks that "though it may co-exist with national vigor, its extravagant develop- ment is one of the signs of a rotten and decaying civiliza- tion — a place which has already marked the decadence of nations." The term "White Slavery" is not of American origin, as is sometimes said, or of so recent a date, as is supposed. It has come into general use, distinguishing the evil from that condition of human barter that so long prevailed, known as "negro slavery." 50 The World's Social Evil Mr. Seligman, in his report of "The Social Evil" at- tributes the use of the term to Victor Hugo and also refers to the use of it by the English labor leaders "to designate the condition of factory operatives in Great Britain. ' ' The term, he says, "spread to the United States where a work on the subject was published in 1853." Victor Hugo's use of the term seems to have dated from 1870 when he wrote a letter to Mrs. Josephine Butler remarking that "the slavery of black women is abolished in America but the slavery of white women continues in Europe." Sixty years ago girls were imported to England for the purpose. A case was tried in the Courts of England and the London Times in an editorial on June 22, 1854, thus broke the prevailing silence of the press on the sub- ject of the Social Evil. "^ "Surely the mind of a man, however profligate, must revolt at the idea of entering a mere warehouse of brutal passion, in which women are bought and sold like cattle in Smithfield market. The thing has attained the dimen- sions of a regular trade. Some villain — generally a for- eigner — chooses a proper situation for an establishment of this kind; he has his agents and his correspondents abroad; he directs them to look out, generally in France or Belgium, for such young women as are best adapted to his purpose, and that purpose is nothing less than to make his profit out of their prostitution. Such a person was the defendant in the case tried the day before yesterday in the Common Pleas. The girls imported by him, are, from the moment they are consigned to him, completely within his power. In a strange country, ignorant of the language and of the customs of the place, unable to find their way from one street to another, they are entirely at his mercy. His method of dealing with them appears to White Slave Traffic 51 be this : In the first place, they are bound to pay him so much a week for board and lodging. Then, they must give up one-half of all the money they receive from the visitors of the house. Then, any article of clothing they may desire, or of which they may stand in absolute need — any purchase they may wish to make, must pass absolutely through his hands. All these items of expenditure are de- frayed from the moiety of the receipts which the unfor- tunate jgirls, ostensibly, are allowed to consider their own."' The Times Editorial shows that the methods adopted then were the same as still prevail in this hellish business. On June 12th, 1913, there was published from Scotland Yard, London, an official Eeport of the Second Interna- tional Conference on the White Slave TrafSc held in Paris, August, 1910. Referring to the use of the term "White Slavery" this Report says: "In America the term 'commercialized vice' is more commonly used, but this is scarcely a happy expres- sion except in so far as it includes prostitution of all kinds when practised for purpose of gain. It is perhaps difficult to find any concise term which represents exactly the double signification of procuration and pecuniary advan- tage to the procurer which mark the essential features of the trade in women for immoral purposes, and it is, there- fore, better to retain the well-understood term of White Slave Traffic. It is well, however, to insist on these two features of the traffic, because there is a tendency, natural enough in this connection, to mix up the more prevalent and perhaps equally lamentable subject of prostitution, with White Slave Traffic. The special distinguishing mark is the pro- » "The Great Social Evil," Logan, 1871. 52 The World's Social Evil curation of girls for the gratification of the passions of others for the profit of the procurer, rather than the seduc- tion of girls with the motive of gratifying personal lust and passion." The Report further states that at the Congress held in Madrid, in 1910: ' ' There was a consensus of opinion that the principal if not the only source of White Slave Traffic is to be found in the 'State Regulation of Vice,' as it is termed in Eng- land, or as it may perhaps be more fully described, the recognition by the State of prostitution as a necessity — an evil which perhaps cannot be suppressed but calls for con- trol by registration and sanitary supervision. This system of registration appears to exist in some form or another in most countries except those under the British Government. It is not proposed to enter in this report into the merits or demerits of the question of State regulation. It sufficed to say that since April 16th, 1886, in England no form of State regulation of prostitution has been sanctioned." In 1875 Pastor Borel, an ardent reformer, and an elo- quent preacher, of Geneva, Switzerland, published a stir- ring appeal under the title of "The White Slavery of Eu- rope." In the course of that appeal he said : "The negro slave trade was carried on by means of abduction or war. It tore individuals from their country and homes, and con- demned them to excessive work and cruel treatment. The White Slave Trade is carried on only by treachery and lying; and whilst it defiles the body, inoculating it with terrible diseases, it strikes a mortal blow at all that is pure and sacred in the soul. The procuresses, who are an in- carnation of the genius of evil, a monstrous excrescence of society, and the last effort of vice to surpass itself in what is most odious, possess the keen scent of a wild beast White Slave Traffic 53 for its prey; they quickly discover the point where their hook will lay hold." Pastor Borel" quotes from an eloquent, impassioned plea of a Swiss lady of rank, Countess A. de Casparin, who says : "Whilst there are markets for it, there will be Yes, I will write this hideous word; there will be mer- chandise. "So long as markets for black slaves remained open in Christian countries, there was black merchandise for christians. So long as slave markets continue to be au- thorized in the East there will be an African slave trade, with its turpitudes, and its atrocities, to supply them. And so long as there is with us a market for white flesh, there will be a trade in white slaves to sustain it. "Shall we any longer endure this? Shall we endure in the heart of Switzerland these bastiles of prostitution, with their bolted doors and barred windows? If it were proposed to establish within our walls a house for assassi- nation, legally constituted, organized and supervised, where only those would go who cut their own throats, re- solving to destroy both soul and body, should we consent to it? Now .what is it, I ask, that is killed in these in- famous dens, in these licensed resorts ? What is it, but the entire individual, soul and body?" Dr. Hippolyte Mireur, of Marseilles, a long-time champ- ion of State regulation of vice, as in operation in France, shows that the slavery "barter" of which Victor Hugo speaks is regarded by all who are concerned in the system, as a door to the bastile of slavery which ever swings in- ward, and from which there is no escape, until death re- moves the victim. He says: "The system of registration which regulates and legal- izes the sorrowful industry of the prostitute, is, in fact, the 54 The World's Social Evil sinister stroke by which women are cut off from society, and after which they no longer belong to themselves, but become merely the chattel of the Administration. They are cut off not from society, but from heaven, from hope, and from the power to repent. ' ' M. Lanaers, Chief of Police at Brussels, officially re- ported in 1887 that women are subjected to obligations without number; "they are forced, so to speak, to give themselves up to the first comer, however deep their repug- nance to him may be; they are compelled to incur heavy expenses and to submit themselves to the yoke of the keep- ers of the houses; their liberty of action is exceedingly limited ; they must never be seen at the door or windows of the house; they scarcely ever go out, and then always un- der the escort of the mistress ; in a word, they possess only that amount of independence which the mistress chooses to grant them, and the mistresses extend or control this in- dependence according as it suits their own interests, and without any reference to the will or preference of the women. ' ' Loaded as Cattle in France. — In 1876, Mrs. Josephine Butler made one of those eloquent appeals for which she was famous, in the following thrilling passage: "Wherever there is a slavery there must be a slave trade, because you need slaves to fill up the market ; women are sent from one country to another as slaves, bought and sold, morals policemen sometimes going with them and taking their tickets. At Liege two trucks (ears) were found at the rail- way station crowded with young girls, — quite young, many of them not more than thirteen, 'crowded like cattle.' They were under the charge of one of the policemen of the sys- tem. He was conveying them from a certain brothel in Liege to hand them over wholesale to another brothel in Paris White Slave Traffic 55 (because these people find it desirable to have an exchange of slaves for it secures variety to the purchasers). These poor girls did not wish to be taken to Paris. Some of them perhaps hoped, wished, to get free, and some of them be- gan to cry, and the infection spread, and they all became more or less hysterical and said they would not go. The policeman thereupon put manacles upon their hands and fastened them behind their backs, and they were thus taken as slaves in chains from one brothel to the other, in Christian Europe. This is with the knowledge and permis- sion of the authorities."^ In the same year, a pamphlet was published by the "British, Continental, and General Federation for the Abolition of Government Regulation of Prostitution" bear- ing the title of "The European Revolt against White Slavery." This pamphlet also bore the name of A. M. Powell of New York, as the American publisher. In 1887 a pamphlet was published from the pen of M. Emile de Laveleye, Professor at the University of Liege, in which he said that, ' ' The women of tolerated houses lead an attack against those odious practices which have lately horrified the public of England and Belgium, and caused an inquiry on the part of the English House of Lords, I mean that which has been justly called 'the White Slave Trade ? ' And what, in point of fact, is the function of these traders in human flesh but that of providing material for an industry which our magistrates authorize and our doc- tors endeavor to make innocuous?" Sir James Stansfeld, M. P., who was a member of Mr. Gladstone's Cabinet, spoke at the Geneva Congress in 1877. In the course of his address he said: "You invent a project by which you — the State — ^propose to set aside a ' Speech at Hull, England, Oct., 1876. 56 The World's Social Evil certain number of women destined to be the slaves and the instruments of men's lust; you propose, by your system of examination, to keep them in good condition ; you find that you cannot, with all your care, keep them in good condition. Why? Because your whole conception is profoundly irit moral, and against nature ; you have no respect for the hu- man body; you forget the soul within it; you think of making these women serve men; you acknowledge not the humanity, the life, the individuality of these poor instru- ments, and you fail because physical human nature refuses to lend itself to your plans." The traffic in the bodies and souls of women, as a busi- ness for profit, did not exist in America until comparativfi- ly recent years. "Writing of the moral conditions of this country in 1763-1776 Lecky, the historian, remarks that "except where slavery had exercised its demoralizing in- fluences, the intercourse between the sexes was singularly free and at the same time singularly pure. In Europe the hideous commerce flourished from the middle ages and un- der later police rule of license, toleration, and graft, was operated by men and sometimes by women who adopted up-to-date business methods; buying, selling, exchanging and shipping "goods," just as cattle dealers do. Syndi- cates were formed for international trading and a vast in- terchange commerce was established. The "goods" were coaxed, persuaded or captured for the market according to circumstances. United States A Eich Maeket. European traffickers, finding that conditions existed in many American cities which offered a specially rich market, eagerly sought our great centers, and it is safe to say that White Slave Traffic 57 the United States has become the most profitable of all the world's markets of human vice. California Cribs. — Here is a statement made by the late Rev. Sidney C. Kendall, of conditions as he found them in Los Angeles, and other cities on the "Western coast : "1. There exists an international commerce in maidens, organized and exploited on a large scale, operating In many cities with the connivance of the authorities and the protection of the police. "2. Its managers are largely foreigners with jaw-breaking names and heart-breaking English. "3. Its wares are threefold (1) Japanese girls, marketed mainly on the Pacific coast, kept under lock and key and sub- jected to slow murder by continuous outrage; (2) European girls, scarcely less helpless than the Japanese, who are pro- cured by employment agencies, shipped to this country in squads and distributed through our cities, according to the demands of trade; (3) Girls procured In this country by all means that lust can prompt or avarice devise. "4. The fourth conclusion is that women are not the orig- inal offenders in the Social Evil. Many of them are victims of a traflSc that is maintained by the lust and avarice of men. "5. This market exists not because the ungovernable pas- sions of men make it an imperative necessity. It exists be- cause there is money in it. Its incentive is not lust, but avarice. "6. Men are lustful because they have every inducement to be so. And the greatest inducement is the existence In al- most every city of the open and public market In women. "7. The commerce in maidens is not a private vice, but a public business. In which great fortunes are made. "8. As a public business it can not continue without civic recognition and certain public conveniences, which it can not ob- tain without the passive consent of the public. "9. In almost every city there are laws that would sup- press this traflSc If they were enforced. "10. These laws are almost universally inoperative. "II. They are not enforced because the public have not per- sistently demanded their enforcement. 58 The World's Social Evil "12. That much of the social evil that owes Its existence to the non-enforcement of law could be abolished by the Imper- ative demand of the entire Christian public." — Speech at La Crosse, Wis., October, 1905. Mr. Kendall's vigorous indictments were sustained by a mass of facts relating to the horrors of the traffic, which were perpetrated in those cities, and the revelations that have since been made, show that this traffic obtained a hold in the United States, so vast and so vile, that it would be unbelievable, were it not proven by many unimpeach- able witnesses. At the annual meeting of the Illinois Vigilance Asso- ciation held in Chicago, February, 1909, Mr. James Bron- son Reynolds said: The status of the white slave traffic is this: It is a traf- fic with local, interstate, national and international ramifica- tions. It has the complete outfit of a large business; large capi- tal, representatives in various countries, well paid agents, and aWe, high salaried lawyers. Its victims are numbered yearly by the thousands. They include not only the peasant girls of European vil- lages, but also the farmers' daughters of our own country. Some are uneducated and wholly ignorant; others have enjoyed good education. While most of them come from the homes of pov- erty, occasionally a child of well-to-do parentage is numbered among the victims. The alert agents of the traffic move from place to place, alluring peasant girls and farmers' daughters from their homes, entrapping innocent victims at railway stations and public re- sorts. Today there is an organized system of commerce In human flesh between China and Japan and this country, and an organ- ized system of slavery in certain of our coast states. After the payment of money for this human property, title is passed just as for real estate, and the alleged property rights are respected by our officials. White Slave Traffic 59 Mr. Reynolds is especially qualified to testify on this subject. He investigated the traffic in Panama, Japan, and Chiaa, as well as on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States. In other important investigations he was a special commissioner of former President Roosevelt. The "War on the White Slave Trade," edited by Ernest A. Bell, contains testimony of the best authorities as to the character and extent of the evil traffic. The chap- ters by Mr. Clifford G. Roe, Mr. Edwin Sims, and those by Mr. Harry A. Parkin, Chicago, mark the book as an inval- uable record of the facts of this monster's grip on the land, and of the laws which deal with it. Mr. Edwin W. Sims, who, as the United States District Attorney of Chicago, prosecuted many of these criminal traffickers, said in 1909 : "The legal evidence thus far collected establishes, with com- plete moral certainty, these awful facts: That the white slave traffic is a system — which has its ramifications from the Atlan- tic seaboard to the Pacific ocean, with clearing houses or dis- tributing centers in nearly all of the larger cities; that in this ghastly traffic the buying price of a young girl is $15, and that the selling price is generally about $200 — if the girl is especially attractive the white slave dealer may be able to sell her for $400 or $600; that this syndicate did not make less than $200,- 000 last year in this almost unthinkable commerce; that it is a definite organization sending its hunters regularly to scour Prance, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Canada for victims; that the man at the head of this unthinkable enterprise is known among his hunters as The Big Chief." Mr. Sims tells the stories of several typical cases. One of these was a child of fourteen who was "quickly and un- ceremoniously broken in." "On arriving in Chicago she was taken to the house of ill- fame to which she had been sold by the procurer. There this child of fourteen was quickly and unceremoniously 'broken in' 60 The World's Social Evil to the hideous life of depravity for which she had heen en- trapped. The white slaver who sold her was able to drive a most profitable bargain, for she was rated as uncommonly attractive. In fact, he made her life of shame a perpetual source of income, and when — not long ago — he was captured and indicted for the transportation of other girls, this girl was used as the agency of providing him with $2,000 for his defense. "After she had furnished a night of servitude to the brutal passions of vile frequenters of the place, she was then com- pelled each night to put off her tawdry costume, array herself in the garb of a scrub-woman and, on her hands and knees, scrub the house from top to bottom. No weariness, no exhaus- tion, ever excused her from this drudgery, which was a full day's work for a strong woman. "After her scrubbing was done she was allowed to go to her chamber and sleep — locked in her room to prevent her pos- sible escape — until the orgies of the next day, or rather night, began. She was allowed no liberties, no freedom, and In the two and a half years of her slavery in this house she was not even given one dollar to spend for her own comfort or pleas- ure. The legal evidence shows that during this period of slavery she earned for those who owned her not less than eight thou- sand dollars — and probably ten thousand dollars!" And with his characteristic application of facts, Mr. Sims adds: "J/ this is not slavery, I have no definition Jor it. "Let me make it entirely clear that the white slave is an actual prisoner. She is under the most constant surveillance, both by the keeper to whom she is 'let' and by the procurer who owns her. Not until she has lost all possible desire to escape is she given any liberty." Clifford G. Koe gives a number of illustrations of the methods used by these agents of the vice market. He says: "The panders make no distinction between girls who are innocent, quiet and modest, and those who are more wayward, flirtatious and frivolous. The procuring of the former adds zest and sport to the hunt, while the latter are White Slave Traffic 61 easy prey for them. Girls who flirt merely for the fun of flirting, who go to dinners with strangers and roam about the streets at night, are those who are easily won by flattery and the appeal to vanity." Another volume," Panders and Their White Slaves," which more than confirms the awful facts of this traffic, comes from the pen of Mr. Roe. It consists mainly of stories of the vile business, told from the author's own ex- perience, as prosecutor of the law-breakers, as assistant States Attorney of Chicago. No one can read this volume, with an open mind, without reaching a conviction of the realities of the infernal traffic and a sense of horror fills us that such conditions can be possible in the United States without provoking a storm of public indignation and pro- test strong enough to drive them into the Hades from whence they come. ^ The traffic thrived until its enormities, at length, awoke interest on the part of reformers and there followed able articles in the Ladies' Home Journal, The Woman's World, McClure's, Hampton's, Everybody's, Pearson's, Leslie's, and others. United States Investigation Commission. But of still greater authority is the Report of the Im- migration Commission which was presented to Congress, December 10th, 1909. The following paragraphs contain abundant proofs of one phase of the traffic, viz: the im- portation of foreign women and girls for the market of vice: (1) Since the above was written, Mr. Clifford G. Roe has issued another book which is attractively illustrated and which has already reached a large sale through agents throughout the country. 62 The World's Social Evil Undeniable Facts of Imported Siates. — "The importation and harboring of alien women and girls for immoral purposes and the practice of prostitution by them — the so-called 'white slave traffic' — is the most pitiful and the most revolting phase of the immigration question. It is in violation of the immigra- tion law and of the treaty made with leading European powers. This business has assumed large proportions and it has been exerting so evil an influence upon our country that the Immi- gration Commission felt compelled to make it the subject of a thorough investigation. Since the subject is especially liable to sensational exploitation, it is important that the report be primarily a statement of undeniable facts which may form a basis of reasonable legislative and administrative action to lessen its evils." Thousands Yearly — Profit is the Object. — "To the motive of business profit is due beyond question the impulse which creates and upholds this traffic. The procurers who seduce or otherwise entice the women to leave their foreign homes, the importers who assist them in evading the law or who bring them into the United States for sale, the pimps and keepers of disorderly houses who exploit them body and soul, have only profit in view. The work is strictly foreign commerce for profit." . . . "In the judgment of practically everyone who has had an opportunity for careful judgment, the numbers im- ported run well into the thousands each year." > Innocent Girls Captured. — "Far more pitiful, however, are the cases of the innocent girls. A French girl seized in a raid of a disorderly house in Chicago stated to the United States authorities that she was approached when she was but 14 years of age; that her procurer promised her employment in America as a lady's maid or a companion at wages far beyond any that she could ever hope to get in France; that she came with him to the United States, and upon her arrival in Chicago was sold into a house of ill fame." A Typical Case. — "The testimony taken in a typical case in Seattle in 1909 shows some of the methods used in recruit- ing their victims by those engaged in the traffic. Flattery, prom- ises of work, love-making, promise of marriage to a wealthy person, seduction without marriage, kind treatment for a month or two, then travel with the procurer as wife, continual deoep- White Slave Traffic 63 tlon, then an explanation to a girl of only 17 of the life await- ing her, which in her innocence she could not understand, then experience in a house of ill-fame in Montreal, Canada, then personal brutality, even physical violence, taking every cent of the hard-earned money, transportation to Vancouver, to Prince Rupert, to Alaska, and to Seattle, in every city forced to earn money in a shameful life, with total earnings of more than 12,000, none of which she was able to retain." Unspeakable Consequences. — "This importation of women for Immoral purposes has brought into the country evils even worse than those of prostitution. In many instances the pro- fessionals who come have been practically driven from their lives of shame in Europe on account of their loathsome dis- eases; the conditions of vice obtaining there have even low- ered the standard of degradation of prostitution formerly cus- tomary here. Unnatural practices are brought largely from Con- tinental Europe, and the ease and apparent certainty of profit has led thousands of our younger men, usually those of for- eign birth or the immediate sons of foreigners, to abandon the useful arts of life to undertake the most accursed business ever devised by man. "This traffic has intensified all the evils of prostitution which, perhaps more than any other cause, through the infection of innocent wives and children by dissipated husbands and through the mental anguish and moral indignation aroused by marital unfaithfulness, has done more to ruin homes than any other single cause. "This statement of the conditions found by the agents of the commission may seem strong. The more detailed state- ments of the facts, with evidence upon which they are made, will show that the picture is not painted in too dark colors and will make evident the necessity of remedial legislation to check the traffic, which, perhaps more than any other one thing, is a disgrace to American civilization." System of Exploitation. — "Most pitiful for the women, and most brutal on the part of the men, are the methods employed for exploiting these women imported contrary to law, both those coming willingly to lead a vicious life and those lured into the country as innocent girls by deception and by their affections. "With rare exceptions not only the innocent women imported 64 The World's Social Evil into this country, but the prostitutes as well, are associated wjth men whose business it is to protect them, direct them, and control them, and who frequently, if not usually, make it their business to plunder them unmercifully. The procurer or the pimp may put his woman into a disorderly house, sharing prof- its with the madam. He may sell her outright; he may act as an agent for another man; he may keep her, making ar- rangements for her hunting men. She must walk the streets and secure her patrons, to be exploited, not for her own sake but for that of her owner. Often he does not tell her even his real name. She knows his haunts, where she may send him word in case of arrest. She knows the place given her to which she must come every night and give him all her earnings. She must deny her importation, must lie regarding her residence, her address, and the time she has been in the country. If she tries to leave her man, she is threatened with arrest. If she resists, she finds all the men about her leagued against her; she may be beaten; in some cases when she has betrayed her betrayer she has been murdered." In reading these statements it is necessary to bear in mind that they are the testimony of government investiga- tors who by their official life are naturally cautious and conservative. The realism of the following picture drawn from an- other conservative official document rivals any condition ever revealed of the auction marts of negro slavery in its worst days. "An absolutely new number — tall, handsome of figure and body, 20 years and 6 months old. She wants to earn money. "The brother of Antoine and Pierre, nicknamed, 'dealers in live stock.' I do not want to ask any favors of them; they are great rascals. "A woman the like of whom you can never find; young, beautiful, most * * * and who fully decided to leave. You can well understand I gave them a song and dance. • * * Without praising her highly, she is as beautiful as it is possible to find in this world, and I hope she will serve your purpose well. ♦ * * I will send you her photograph. Her beautiful teeth alone are worth a million." — Senate Document No. 196, Dec. 10, lff09. White Slave Ti'affic 65 Enormous Business in 1908. In February, 1909, a second report was issued by the Commissioner of Immigra- tion. This report stated that "an enormous business is con- stantly being transacted in the importation and distribu- tion of foreign women for purposes of prostitution, which business also includes the seduction and distribution of alien women and girls who have entered the country in a regular manner for legitimate purposes, and to some extent of American women and girls." Eight Hundeded Men Lived on the Earnings of Girls IN Seattle. — U. S. District Attorney, Elmer E. Todd of Seattle, "Washington, summarized the report of the Federal Grand Jury in May, 1909, as follows : ' ' There are between seven and eight hundred men in Seattle who live from the revenue from the "white slave" traffic, almost all of whom could be reached by the State courts if proper effort were made. It was established by the Grand Jury that the Fed- eral Government had gone as far as the law allows. It is now up to the State authorities, who could break up this business in short order." The Cadet System. — ^Very active agents are employed under the name of "cadets" incidental to and a part of the white slave traffic. Prom the report of the "Com- mittee of Fourteen" we learn that, "The conditions under which the business of the social evil is carried on in this city of New York require the services of both the 'cadet' and of the 'pimp,' and it is necessary to keep the distinc- tion between them carefully in mind. According to the ac- cepted meaning of the word the 'cadet' is the procurer who keeps up the supply of women for immoral houses. By various means, 'giving the girls a good time,' force, fake marriages, entrapments, threats of bodily harm, seduction, fraud and duplicity — he leads women to become prostitutes. 66 The World's Social Evil The 'pimp' or protector is generally selected by a wom- an after she has become a prostitute. She voluntarily gives him more or less of her earnings, and in return he uses all the methods in his power, political, physical and financial, to protect her while she is soliciting on the street or when she is arrested and needs bail or fines paid. "Where prostitution is highly commercialized and the demand artificially stimulated for the profit of those not di- rectly involved, women alone do not conduct the business of prostitution. Not enough of them are willing to become professional prostitutes, so the 'cadet' must procure them by breaking down the natural safeguards which keep them from such a life. There is not sufficient natural demand for them, so the protector must protect them in their com- petition, find patrons for them and for disorderly houses, and stand between them and the business interests that prey on their earnings and frustrate, as far as possible, any efforts to lessen the evils by means of prosecu- tions." .... The New York Grand Jury Report. — Stronger indict- ment of the existing evils could be hardly looked for from a body appointed and publicly announced, as was the Grand Jury of New York, of which John D. Rockefeller, Jr., was Chairman. The report says : "Owing to the publicity given to the inquiry at its incep- tion, it has been difficult to get legal evidence of the actual purchase and sale of women for immoral purposes, and our in- vestigators have been informed in different quarters that a num- ber of formerly active dealers in women had either temporarily gone out of business or had transferred their activities to other cities. However, five self-declared dealers in women had agreed upon various occasions to supply women to our agents, but be- cause of their extreme caution and the fear aroused by the con- tinued sitting of this grand jury, these promises were fulfilled in only two Instances, In each of which two girls were secured White Slave Traffic 67 for our agents at a price, in the one case of ?60 each and in the other of $75 each. Indictments have been found against these two persons; one pleaded guilty and the other was con- victed on trial." Much misunderstanding became current in the public mind because of newspaper headlines that this report found "No White Slavery in New York," and these head- lines were based upon the first paragraph of the Report which stated: "We have found no evidence of the existence in the County of New York of any organization or organizations, incorporated or otherwise, engaged as such in the trafflc in women for im- moral purposes, nor have we found evidence of an organized traffic in women for immoral purposes." But, as Colonel Bingham says, in Hampton's Maga- zine, November, 1910: "Of course the white-slave dealers have no international formal or incorporated business organization. There could be none in the very nature of things; but, as the grand jury said, there is international traffic carried on by Individuals. This was established beyond a reasonable doubt by the investiga- tion started by the congressional commission. This congres- sional investigation showed that there was a connected chain of men and women trafficking in girls brought into this country to be used and sold as prostitutes. The chain has its largest center in New York and Chicago, and branch connections In many other cities. It operates most freely in San Francslco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Nome (Alaska), Omaha, Denver, and New Orleans." When "white slavery" is understood to refer to cases of capture, or holding by force, girls who are wholly un- willing and innocent of all consent in sexual wrong, the mind views the most revolting of all its phases. The rec- ords of our courts, the reports of the Government Immi- gration Commission and other Vice Commissions, the re- 68 The World's Social Evil ports in newspapers, and the testimony of midnight mis- sion and rescue workers, abundantly show that force has been used to entrap the innocent and unwary in numbers of instances. Judge Gemmill of Chicago, in an address delivered on January 10th, 1911, referred to white slavery as a minor problem. In an able article which appeared in the North- western Christian Advocate he says: "The white slave traflBc is based upon the proposition that girls are forced against their wills. The number of such girls in proportion to the whole number who become inmates of such places is very small. But one genuine case of this kind has been before me in two years." Judge Gemmill, in the same address, says: "Hundreds of girls have been arraigned before me. Many, having been be- trayed, sought a hiding place from all the world. This community would be startled if it could gather together these poor abandoned souls of the city and confront them face to face." If this is not a picture of slavery — ^what is it ! It is cer- tainly not prostitution by choice or consent of will. The full and accepted meaning of the term "white slave" includes all that large proportion of "inmates" of brothels, who do not choose the life, but have been en- trapped into it by the various seductions and compelling methods so well known to the trafSckers. "Slavery means' ' "Any man or woman who traffics In the sexual life of any woman or girl for financial reward or gain Is a trafficker In women, and therefore Is a 'white slaver.' In the more restricted meaning the 'white slaver* Is a man who by means of coercion or bodily punishment compels a woman or girl against her will to sell herself to some other man for money which he, the 'white slaver,' takes from her for his own benefit." — MassachVr setts Report on White Slave TratHc. White Slave Traffic 69 that condition in which an individual is not master of his own person." It may be estimated that at least 25 per cent of all the inmates of houses of prostitution are included in this defi- nition. Keepers of the vile dens find that the supply of girls for their infamous trade cannot be maintained with- out the aid of the "pimp" or traders of girls for the mar- ket of vice, and the traders could find no market for the girls if there were no recognized houses of ill fame. A girl betrayed is the principal stock in trade of the "house of ill fame." The "house" cannot run without her and human fiends set traps to catch her. Depriving her of her honor, more dear than life itself, she becomes a slave with little or no hope of redemption. Drawn by forces she does not understand, lured by lies, or driven by want, she falls into the net of the hunter. Thus the market is supplied with fallen women. A girl is sold and resold into deeper and deeper depths of in- famy, debased, diseased, until death ends her sad career. Whose girls are these? Whose daughters will be next? That the White Slave traffic continues its ravages in all parts of the United States is established by the fact that current newspapers throughout the country record such cases daily. "Vigilance" devoted several pages of each of its issues of September to December, 1913, for a monthly record of such eases collected from newspapers from a clip- ping bureau. In the month of September, the number of newspapers quoted were 104. The cases reported were : SEPTEMBER— Girl Tictlms 14 to 17 years of age 63 Women arrested 6 Men arrested or sought 135 70 The World's Social Evil OCTOBER— Arrested 26 Charged with White Slavery Offenses 12 Held for Grand Jury 4 Indicted 6 Held for Court 2 Convictions 14 NOVEMBER— Arrested 27 Charged 12 Held for Grand Jury 4 Indicted 3 Held for Court 8 Arraigned 7 Trials 5 Convictions 2 DECEMBER- Arrested 31 Charged 8 Held for Grand Jury 3 Indicted 7 Held for Court 9 Arraigned 2 Trials 10 Convictions 14 The Massachusetts State Commission just issued, Feb., 1914, says : ' ' The detailed reports of the investigators show that prostitution in all its ramifications constitutes a vast business extending all over the State. Millions of dollars are invested in the parlor houses, call houses, road houses, apartments, lodging houses, cafes, saloons, hotels, etc., uti- lized in this business. The large amount of money re- quired to produce the income for this investment is de- rived from the proceeds of the prostitution of the inmates and the incidental sale of intoxicating drinks." White Slave Traffic 71 Sources and Causes op the Teafpic. The relative degree of the many causes which lead to the prostitution of women and girls cannot easily be de- termined. According to the experience, or study, of social conditions, they appear the greatest and most serious. Drink, low wages, dance halls and other pleasure resorts,'^ poverty and seductions, lack of home training, ignorance, ! bad books, love of finery; all these are among the common causes, — and chief among them is alcohol. ,^; Dr. Prince A. Morrow says: "A large proportion of men and a still larger proportion of women owe their initial debauch to the influence of alcohol. Perhaps more than any other agency, alcohol relaxes the morals while it stimu- lates the sexual impulse. "Langstein's statistics of 169 cases of venereal infection, comprising for the main part statistics of military men of different grades, are as follows : 18 were drunk at the time of sexual commerce ; 55 were intoxicated ; 85 had drunk but moderately; 1 was a chronic alcoholic; 48.3 per cent were under the influence of alcohol. M. Porel's investigations show that 76.4 per cent of venereal contaminations were effected under the influence of alcohol, and the greatest number of contaminations occurred in persons below twen- ty-five years of age." All authorities agree that alcoholism is an enormous factor in the social evil problem. Dr. Tait of Edinburgh, Scotland, in his work on "Magdalenism," published in 1842, says intemperance "is almost invariably associated with every species of crime. There are few causes of pros- titution more prevalent, and none more powerful." Dr. Sanger stated in his "History of Prostitution," published in 1856 that "not one per cent of the prostitutes in New York practice their calling without partaking of intoxicat- 72 The World's Social Evil ing drinks," and Logan quotes the words of a "London Magdalene," "No girls could lead the life we do without gin." Parent-Duchalet, speaking of this class of women, says "they insensibly accustom themselves (to the liquor habit) until the practice becomes so strong as to preclude all chance of returning to a better state and finishes by plung- ing them into the lowest state of brutality. ' ' We could fill a volume with similar testimonies. But it is sufficient to add to these here given the fact that every Vice Commission of recent times and every authority who speaks on the subject points to the intimate relation be- tween the saloon and the brothel, and between liquor and lust, not only in their close relation as cause and effect, but also to the fact that the worst forms of the Social Evil could not exist were it not for liquor and the saloon. The Kansas City Inquiry on Vice conditions of that eity reported the declared "causes of the first act of prosti- tution" on the part of 226 girls as follows: Drinking 26, Dancing 24, Buggy Riding, 14, Parks 17, Shows 10, At School 11, Coaxed 78, Forced 17, Betrayed 29. Thus more than 10 per cent declared their ruin as whol- ly due to drink and if one reflects upon the other eight "causes" there will be little doubt but that liquor was a chief contributory agent in them. Drinking and dancing for example as causes of prostitution are usual- ly related. The large proportion of those who said they were "coaxed" could probably have told stories of how liquor entered into the coaxing. Many contributory "causes" are shown in the evidence obtained by the various vice commissions throughout the country, as well as in the testimony of authorities in other lands. Some of these causes are strikingly named in the White Slave Traffic 73 following paragraph from the Chicago Eeport, page 175, 176. "From the records of 156 girls committed to legal custody from other portions of the State than Chicago, 86 were the chil- dren of intemperate fathers and 13 of intemperate mothers. These cases of degradation in country families parallel the con- ditions found in many homes from which the Chicago children came before the court. Unregulated play in early childhood and prurient pleasures in youth were the occasion of the per- version of many of these children, both in the city and the small town as well as in the country. The first experience in sexual irregularity came to 14 Chicago girls and 22 country girls while at play when very young; to 45 Chicago girls and 65 country girls it came as an incident to such forms of recreation as the theater, walking in the parks, picnics, skating rink, and buggy riding. In 3 cases the girls were going to or from church. To 35 Chicago girls and 39 country girls their first experience of wrongdoing came in the gratification of a certain curiosity; to 14 from Chicago and 24 from the country there was an at- traction of something like affection; to 23 from Chicago and 34 from the country it meant obtaining small sums of money, from $1.00 to |3.00, and in some instances only some candy. The victims of force and fraud numbered 25 from Chicago, 62 from the country. Those who were only ten years old or younger numbered 18 from Chicago, 24 from the country." The seductions of men in one form or other are chiefly responsible for the fall of nearly all girls who are in the ranks of prostitution. On this point another paragraph from the same source reads: To one who hears the ghastly life story of fallen women it Is ever the same— the story of treachery, seduction and downfall — the flagrant act of men — the ruin of » soul by man. It is a man and not a woman problem which we face today — commercialized by man — supported by man — the sup- ply of fresh victims furnished by men — ^men who have lost that fine instinct of chivalry and that splendid lionor for 74 The World's Social Evil womanhood where the destruction of a woman's soul is ab- horrent, and where the defense of a woman's purity is truly the occasion for a valiant fight. On this subject also the words of Dr. Prince A. Mor- row are of special interest : "In tracing the essential cause of prostitution we find that while socio-economic conditions are contributory causes, we must face the fact that the taproot of this evil is grounded in the polygamous proclivities and practices of man. More than the inherited tendencies to vice in certain women, more than the love of finery and luxury, the laziness, the economic dependence, the force of want that impels many of them along the road to ruin, more than all these and other alleged con- ditions, the chief cause is the unbridled instinct of man, which in seeking the means of its gratification creates the supply to satisfy the demand. The prostitute is largely the creation of man's sensual appetite. The methods of dealing with the social evil have been based upon a recognition of this demand as a necessity for men, and they fail because they endeavor to correct the effects without touching the cause. "Efforts should be directed not to making prostitution safe, but to prevent the making of prostitutes." — ^American Journal of Sociology, July, 1907. Until society changes social conditions there must ever remain with us the fallen woman. But there is a distinc- tion between the natural results of bad moral and social forces, and the merchandise of that criminal, cruel and entirely preventable market, where the bodies and souls of young girls are the stock in trade ; — seduced, captured and sold into hopeless, irredeemable slavery. The Traffic Must Go. All the evidence in hand points clearly to the fact that the whole structure of this abominable traffic would fall White Slave Traffic 75 with the suppression of the regulated or permitted brothel. This does not mean that all vice would be thereby elimi- nated but if the market was closed the trade would cease. At the International Conference held in Madrid, in the fall of 1910, Dr. DeGraaf, a distinguished citizen of Hol- land, presented some important testimony on this subject obtained from the heads of departments of authority. "The French Committee," he said, "states that the house of prostitution, owing to the facility which it offers to the traffickers for speedy realization of the profits of their commerce by the easy sale of their victims, is one of the most frequent sources of the traffic, and all the corres- pondents of the International Council of "Women, affirm that the tolerated house is the principal source of the traf- fic; some of them maintain that it is the only source." Said Professor Stoos, of Switzerland: "Nowhere in Switzerland is morality lower than in Geneva, the only town where Regulation still exists." The Dutch Committee quotes official reports of the in- quiries undertaken by the municipal council of Amsterdam in 1895, and by Police Inspector Balkenstein in 1901, which declared that the women in the houses of prostitution are really in slavery, and that wherever these houses are tol- erated the purveyors are certain to find a sure market for women they collect and dispose of; and since the suppres- sion of the houses in Amsterdam in 1903 the White Slave Traffic has completely disappeared in that city. After the closure of the houses in Amsterdam the name of this city was erased from the annual list of the traffickers giving the addresses of the best buyers of women. The German Committee declares that the principal source is the tolerated houses; none but an official house 76 The World's Social Evil would be able to pay the high prices demanded for pretty young girls, prices which go as high as 4,800 francs. Dr. DeGraaf adds: "The principal question appears to us to be as follows: Is there any reason why we should only attack the traffickers? Ought we not equally to pur- sue the buyers? To this last question we may say that there has been an almost unanimous response; the buyers are for the most part the keepers of houses of debauchery. If this be so our Association cannot refuse to make a vigor- ous attack on the tolerated houses, and to prove to the Gov- ernments that they have taken the wrong road in main- taining the system of segregation." We have only to turn to the great cities of the United States to observe how closely we are faced with a similar set of facts. Wherever there is a "redlight district" girls can be bought and sold. The great centers of vice which are, not only tolerated, but regulated, with a view to their con- tinuance and prosperity, rather than with a view to their suppression, are the centers of the trade in girls. Havelock Ellis recently remarked: "The white slave traffic is not prostitution; it is the commercialized exploitation of prostitutes. The independ- ent prostitute, living alone, scarcely lends herself to the white slave trader. It is on houses of prostitution, where the less independent and usually weaker-minded prostitutes are segregated, that the traffic is based. Such houses can- not even exist without such traffic. There is little induce- ment for a girl to enter such a house, in full knowledge of what it involves, on her own initiative. The proprietors of such houses must, therefore, give orders for the 'goods' they desire, and it is the business of procurers by persua- sion, inisrepresentation, deceit, intoxication, to supply them. White Slave Traffic 77 'The White Slave Traffic, ' as Kneeland states, 'is thus not only a hideous reality, but a reality almost wholly depend- ent on the existence of houses of prostitution,' and as the authors of 'The Social Evil,' add, it is 'the most shameful species of business enterprise in modern times.' In this intimate dependence of the white slave traffic on houses of prostitution, there lies, it may be pointed out, a hope for the future." — Metropolitan Magazine, January, 1914. "The supply of women for prostitution does not come as largely as is commonly thought from the ranks of those willing or seeking to enter this life. Were this true there would be no necessity for the 'cadet' procurer, and protec- tor, who lead women astray ; for seduction, false marriages, drugs, pleasure halls, drink, and force, to entice them into this life; and compulsory prostitution, division of fees, cost of living and of protection would not be used to keep them in such a state of subjection. The procurer and the combined interests are aware that if the safeguards of childhood can be broken down, the work of procuring women and patrons is easier. ' ' ^ The panders, cadets and other procurers, who furnish the victims at prices according to the beauty and attrac- tion of the "goods" would find no purchasers in any city, > Committee of Fourteen, New York, 1910. "The commission has definite information, including names and addresses, of many men who are procurers of women and girls for the business of commercialized prostitution. "The pimps constitute a well-recognized class of exploiters of women. These idle, flashily dressed, smooth-talking men, often with no visible means of support, may be found in every city of any size. They usually spend their time in low drink- ing places, amusing themselves by gambling, playing pool, etc. They are keenly on the lookout for young girls who have just begun a life of immorality. They openly boast of the girls they have seduced, and tell of their carefully planned schemes for the seduction of other Innocent girls who have attracted their notice."— ilfossacftMsetfs State Commission, Feb., 1914. 78 The World's Social Evil if the brothel was suppressed by the police authorities, ac- cording to laws already existing in most of our States. Big Business in Chicago. — ^Dive keepers were found guilty of operating houses of ill-fame in Chicago on Jan. 5th, 1914. Inspector of Morals W. C. Dannenberg ar- rested the two principals and forty-seven inmates in No- vember, 1913. The two houses adjoined each other — one of them "a saloon and redlight cafe," the other "a large so-called hotel." The testimony showed that thirty -six girls worked for the two prisoners. They "had to report for duty" at 3 o'clock each afternoon and remain on duty until 3 o'clock next morning. "Each of the girls had to contribute 25 cents a week to a fund for the payment of the professional escorts who sat at the table with her until a spender took his place. For each dol- lar's worth of drinks bought at the girl's table she received a red ticket, which she cashed in every morning at the rate of 40 cents on the dollar. White tickets were sold to men for $2. each, and were cashed in by the girls for 50 cents. "Rolls of these tickets were introduced as exhibits. The last serial number on the spool of red tickets was 27,000. The last figure on the roll of white tickets was 48,300. Attorney Reker computed that these figures showed that a business that ran as high as $150,000 had been done." — Chicago Tribune. So long as a girl can be sold for sums varying from $15.00 to $500.00, there will be pimps — ghouls — ^who feed and fatten on human flesh ; and so long as there are broth- els, open by the grace or apathy of law, there will be a market for the purchase and sale of them. It is easier to find a market for the sale of a stolen woman than for a stolen horse, and while there is a police hunt for the man who steals an automobile, the police force is indifferent to the robbery of a woman's body and soul. The price of the woman is rated by her personal charms White Slave Traffic 79 — ^her youth and innocence being regarded as important aissets. The younger and fresher a girl, the bigger the price. It is the only business in the world of commerce that puts a premium upon inexperience and ignorance. Compared with the chattelism of negroes, the slavery of girls for profit through lust, is a far more damnable depth of human barter. The female slave of the lust traflfie has no redemptive feature — no domestic life — ^no poetry of love — ^no "daddy" and 'mammy" or old "auntie." She is doomed to a perpetual merchandise of her body, with- out love or pity. Sold from one slave-hell to another — each a transfer to a deeper depth, without hope of a change for the better. "I am chained to a stake with the devil's links," said a woman who still retained sufiBcient of her youth and beauty to be clothed in gaudy satins. But when the remnant of her beauty fails, the human devil will let go her chains and cast her out — a hopeless, pitiless, de- spised, scorned, diseased leper, to be spurned and loathed until she is — "Mad from life's hlBtory Glad to death's mystery, Swift to be hurled Anywhere — anywhere Out of the world!" The self-righteous world may wrap itself in a mantle of prudery, and close its ears against sickening details; the complacent public may demur at an approach to sin and misery; the self-satisfied community may object to view wretchedness drawn from the obscurity of its hid- ing-place to the full light of investigation; nevertheless, there is now existing a moral pestilence which creeps insidiously into the privacy of the domestic circle, and draws thence the myriads of its victims, and which saps the foundation of that holy confidence, the first, the most beautiful attraction of home. There is an ever-present physical danger, so fatally destructive that the world would recoil, as from the sting of a serpent, could they but appreciate its malignity which is daily and hourly threatening every man, woman, and child in the community; which for hundreds of years has been slowly but steadily making its way onward, leaving a track marked with broken hopes, ruined frames, and sad recollections of stricken friends ; and which now, in the full force of an impetus acquired and aggravated by concealment, almost defies opposition. There is a social wrong which forces upon the com- munity vast expenditures for an object of which they are ignorant ; which swells the public taxes and increases individual outlay for a vice which has hitherto been studiously kept in concealment. — Introduction to the "History of Prostitution" by Wm. Sanger, M. D., pub- lished fifty years ago. CHAPTER III. THE ENGLISH CONTAGIOUS DISEASES ACTS. How AJSTD Why Adopted. THE LAW IN OPERATION — ^THE BRITISH LION AROUSED THE STORM BURSTS THE LAW IS REPEALED. In the year 1860 Lord Herbert, then Secretary of War of the British Government, called attention to the preva- lence of venereal diseases among men of the army and navy which were said to be seriously diminishing the active strength of the forces. It was found that the sanitary pro- visions for the soldiers in barracks were ' ' grossly inefficient, indecent, and filthy," — ^that there was little or nothing done to promote the moral and intellectual life of the men, and that the leisure hours of the soldiers in garrison towns were subject to continuous evil tendencies and resorts. Accord- ingly Lord Herbert introduced important changes, which had a marked effect, both on the moral character and be- havior of the men, and upon their health; venereal disor- ders decreased throughout the entire army, from 146 per 1,000 men to 87 per 1,000, in six years. While these improvements were going on, another set of men were looking towards a compulsory system of regu- lation and registration of women who consorted with sol- diers and sailors, as a remedy for physical disorders. In 1862 the Committee recommended legislation for British garrison towns, but condemned the compulsory pro- vision for medical introspection. The advocates of the sys- 82 The World's Social Evil tern, however, regarded this compulsory feature as neces- sary to the success of the system. But they were fully aware that Parliament, as representing the people, would not agree to the passing of such a law if the real character of it were made known. Accordingly they planned, secret- ly, to get a bill through Parliament without arousing public attention. About this time the country was alarmed by the ravages of disease among cattle, and various measures were taken in Parliament to prevent the spread of these diseases, which measures were called "Contagious Diseases (Animals) Acts." Here was the opportunity, and also the name ready to hand. A bill was drafted and called by the same name, only that the word in bracket (animals) was dropped out and the word "women" was substituted. This bill was in- troduced and rushed through Parliament in the following manner and order. How THE Acts "Were Passed : — On June 20th, 1884, at two o'clock in the morning, when there were but few mem- bers present in the House of Commons, and most of these were indifferent and sleepy, the bill was read without a word of comment or explanation. One week later (June 27th) it was read a second time, again without discussion or comment. Three days later (June 30th), again at 2 a. m., a committee of state officials and others known to be favorable to the proposed act, was appointed and the bill referred. On the 15th of July this committee reported, and on July 20th it was read a third time and passed. Thus, in exactly one month, this bill was put through all the formal stages, and it became law, without discussion, or any public knowledge whatever of its nature or purpose. "Not one member of Parliament in twenty knew of its real The Contagious Diseases Acts 83 import,"^ while the daily and weekly press merely recorded the fact that a bill with that name had passed, assuming that it referred to cattle. This bill, which was understood to be a temporary one and did not provide for compulsory examination, was made operative in only a few garrison towns. A society was im- mediately organized to promote the extension of the sys- tem, and it was advocated in certain circles as a "benevo- lent measure for the benefit of the poor woman who suffered from the diseases in question." Through the influence of this society another bill was introduced to Parliament in 1866. This bill proposed to repeal the first act, substituting for it a new one, extending the system over a widfer area and making the provisions far more stringent — including compulsory medical examination, fortnightly. The public mind had not yet been awakened on the sub- ject, and so this second bill was introduced and carried through, in a precisely similar manner as the first. At one o'clock in the morning of March 16th, 1866, the bill was read without comment, and on the 22nd it was read a second time. On April 9th it was referred to a com- mittee, the members of which included five vice-presidents of the society for the extension of the acts to the whole population, and others who had served on the former com- mittee; on the 26th, at two o'clock in the morning, the bill was recommitted. This Act was amended in 1869 so as to make it apply to places, not otherwise named, and to the territory of fif- teen miles around each place named. The Acts, which were now know as ' ' The Contagious Diseases Acts, 1866-69, ' ' were ■Chas. Bell Taylor, M. D., Nottingham, England. 84 The World's Social Evil in operation in eighteen military stations and naval ports in the southern part of England and Ireland.^ Bach district in which the Acts were operative was equipped, at public expense, with hospital wards for the medical examination and treatment of women and girls, and special police detectives, dressed in plain clothes, under the direction of the military and naval authorities, were ap- pointed. The sole business of the police detectives was to bring all women, or girls, whom they suspected, or who were living in circumstances of temptation, into the net, to be regularly, officially and systematically inspected by medical men. These medical officials exercised their dis- cretion) in giving to such women a clean bill of health for their business, or holding them for hospital treatment. The examinations were often attended with the most brutal vio- lation of all sense of decency or gentleness, and instrumental introspection was the general rule. Violation of a Fundamental Principle op the Con- stitution: — ^When once the Acts were put into operation it was found that they were constructed without regard to the constitutional law of England and against the prin- ciples of equity and justice which generally prevail in all enlightened countries, in matters affecting the rights and liberty of individual citizens. In the United States their constitutionality would have been tested in the courts. Condemned by the Leading Medical Journal : — ^When the first of these Acts was passed in 1864 the "British Med- ical Journal" characterized it as "the grossest violation of the liberty of the subject that had ever been proposed to a British Parliament — an act which reduced women to the 'The reader may find a brief sketch of the passing of these Acts in Herbert Spencer's "Study of Sociology" which is substantially in accord with the above. The Contagious Diseases Acts 85 condition of mere animals." This statement of a leading medical journal was more significant because in later years this same journal joined in a conspiracy of silence when the system was under the fire of public criticism. It will be seen, however, that the Journal's sweeping charge against the first and mildest of the acts was a mod- erate statement when the actual working of the later acts is considered. 1. Only One Accused in a Double Act : — These acts were directed against only one of two parties to the same offense (women only), i. e., assuming that the offense con- sisted of an act of prostitution. The accusation, however, was not against prostitution as such, but against incur- ring the risk of disease among soldiers; yet men were not subject to it. 2. MiLiTAET Lavst: — It placed the authority in the hands of military and naval officials, yet it was not directed against either the army or navy, but against women who are civilians — ^neither soldiers nor sailors. 3. The Law Unequal and One Sided : — It was an un- equal and one-sided law. It treated one sex only — and that the weaker, and rarely the first offender, as the sole agent in a double act of wrong doing. It treated the woman as a criminal in an act which, in the man, was regarded as an "irregular indulgence of a natural impulse." (Royal Com- mission Report). 4. Accused Treated as Guilty: — It ignored a most important principle of Brittish law, viz. : that an accused person is regarded as innocent until proven guilty. 5. Trial by Jury Denied: — It denied to the accused the right of trial by jury. The acts provided for the sum- mary commitment to prison of any woman who refused to Se The World's Social Evil sign the "voluntary submission" or to obey an order for registration and periodical introspection, and she was im- prisoned for three or for nine months without appeal. 6. Compulsory (Voluntary) Submission: — It created an instrument of self-crimination, which was placed in the hands of men who were professionally interested in en- forcing it upon unwilling women. It is a recognized princi- ple in the treatment of accused persons that they need not incriminate themselves. Yet, here was an instrument, de- signed and used for the purpose of inducing women and girls to incriminate themselves. The following is a copy of the so-called "voluntary submission": I of in pursuance of the Contagious Diseases Acts, by this submission, voluntarily sub- mit myself to a periodical examination by the visiting surgeon for for calendar months from the date hereof. Dated this day of , 18 Witness Signed The bl&nks were filled out by the oflB^cer, who usually entered "twelve" before the word "months," the woman being required to sign her name or make her mark, — the witness being the same officer. Copies of this innocent looking document were in the hands of every member of the special police department, ready for use at any moment, as a means to persuade or threaten women into a life of registered prostitution. Its voluntary character may be imagined when it is remem- bered that every such officer had power to bring the accused girl or woman before a magistrate or judge and have her imprisoned for refusal to obey. It was voluntary in the same sense as it is a voluntary act to throw up one's hands at the command of a robber who thrusts a revolver before one's eyes. 7. No Evidence Necessary to Secure Conviction: — It called for no evidence against an accused woman, except The Contagious Diseases Acts 87 the suspicion of the special policeman "that he has good cause to believe" that the woman whom he accuses "is a common prostitute." (Clause 15.) Thus the reputation of any woman was at the mercy of the police against whom such woman had no remedy. And it should be borne in mind that a suspicion so directed, against any woman, is vital to her whole life. 8. No Means of Redress : — It gave no right or power of appeal or defense against any false or damaging charges. Mr. Herbert Spencer pointed out in his "Study of Sociol- ogy" that "not only do the provisions of the acts make easy the establishment of charges by men who are placed under temptations to make them; but these men are guarded against penalties which are apt to be brought against them for abusing their power. A poor woman who proceeds against one of them for making a groundless accusation ruinous to her character, does so with this risk before her : that if she fails to get a verdict she has to pay the costs, whereas a verdict in her favor does not give her the costs ; only by special order of the judge does she get her costs." 9. No Chance of Escape oe Rescue: — ^Under these acts the suspected woman was condemned to a life of shame. Let the reader imagine a woman, subject to the police, whose business in calling on her is known to her neighbors, — branded, ticketed, registered as a "common prostitute," who has been subjected to the hateful, en- forced, examinations, — not for the purpose of her relief or for rescue, but to provide her with a ticket of leave to further prosecute her vile business. 10. Blackmail Made East: — It is not necessary to think of the police as worse than the average man to real- ize that they are liable to use their power for extortion and sometimes for degrading compliance with other and 88 The World's Social Evil worse demands. But it also exposes the most unprotected and helpless class of people to the attacks of vile men falsely personating the special police. And this is not an imaginary possibility, but many such cases occurred and are stiU occurring in countries where such laws are in operation. See chapter on extortion and graft. THE LAW IN OPERATION MOEAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL EFFECTS OF THE SYSTEM. The general effects of the working of this law in Eng- land and Ireland were much the same as elsewhere. The moral results and the consequences upon the rights, honor, liberty and life are everywhere identical. Royal Commission Repoet : — In 1870 a Royal Commis- sion was appointed by the government to inquire into the working of these Acts. This inquiry became necessary, in the mind of the government, because of the public uprising against the Acts. The commission consisted of twenty-six men, several of whom were well-known supporters of the Acts, and members of the society for extending them to the whole country, three others were at one time members of that society, but withdrew their names in presence of the uprising against the Acts; only one was a member of the association for repeal of the acts, and one was a repre- senative working man. The report was published by the government as one of its official Blue Books,^ a volume of 848 pages (folio size) and consists of: This "Blue Book" Is of value because of the extensive Inquiry which Is reported in it, including testimony of many eminent men, such as John Stuart Mill, Professor F. W. Newman, and numerous medical practitioners and public officials. It con- tains much that is unfit for general publication, but as a refer- ence book on this subject it is an exceptionally important docu- ment. The Contagious Diseases Acts 89 1. The report of the commission. 2. Minutes of the evidence taken over a period of 45 days from 86 witnesses, and contains 20,385 questions and answers. 3. A mass of statistical matter presented to the com- mission. 4. Copy of the Acts, together with legal forms, etc. Moral Effects Upon the Women: — As to the effects of the law upon the character and conduct of the women who were subjected to it. Among those who acknowledged themselves as prostitutes the compulsory registration and examination was at first a shock, both to their remaining sense of modesty, and to their personal rights in regard to their own bodies. One witness, who lived in a town in which the acts were in force, the Rev. Fraser, chaplain of Maidstone gaol, testified before the Royal Commission that he knew of 31 women who refused to be examined (within one year) at Maidstone, 19 of whom were sent to prison rather than submit. There is much other evidence of simi- lar purport. There were others who were not so degraded, but who were poor or were otherwise liable to the suspicions of the police. These were often shocked and outraged by the per- secutions of the officers in visiting them at their homes for the purpose of inducing them to sign the hated "voluntary submission" papers, and thereby creating an odious suspi- cion, both in the minds of licentious men and the neighbors generally; and further, such women were frequently sub- jected to gross injustice amounting sometimes to the cru- ellest persecution through the powers invested in the po- lice, of forcing them into the ranks of registered prostitu- tion. Such women and sometimes j^oung girls, if seen 90 The World's Social Evil walking with or talking to a young man, especially if he were a soldier or sailor (though he might be an honorable friend, sweetheart or a brother) found herself pounced upon by one of the police spies who were ever on the watch. Many refused to obey, some going to prison, others fleeing the district, like slaves from old-time own- ers ; and some of these sought refuge in death rather than submit. Driven to Death: — The case of Mrs. Percy was well known to the writer. She was the widow of an actor who, with his wife, had supported themselves for years at a local theater in Aldershot, — the largest military camp in England. A few months after her husband's death, Mrs. Percy, and her young daughter of sixteen years, were vis- ited by a police spy and ordered to present themselves for examination. Mrs. Percy wrote a piteous letter to the Lon- don Daily Telegraph, describing the persecution she was subjected to, and left Aldershot rather than submit, re- moving to Windsor. There she failed to get an engagement and returned to Aldershot at which place she could easily find employment. The police, however, hunted her down again, and by threatening the man who employed her, that he would have his license taken away, he caused her dis- charge from employment. She was soon reduced to penury, and spent the last three pence in refreshment at the eating house of an old friend, to whom she told her wretched con- dition and said she would drown herself rather than sub- mit, for "she was not of that class." The next morning she was found dead in the canal. All the facts here re- lated, were proved at the inquest. No attempt was made at the inquest to justify the police, or to prove that Mrs. Percy had ever been a prostitute. This shocking incident naturally provoked much criti- The Contagious Diseases Acts 91 cism of the law ; some newspapers for the first time taking strong grounds against it. The sixteen years old daughter (Jennie Percy) was rescued by Mrs. Josephine Butler, who sent an agent to Aldershot to take her to Liverpool, where she lived for some weeks in Mrs. Butler's own home. She afterwards came to the home of the writer, and in the course of a few months she became a much respected waiter in a res- taurant, and the writer can testify that she was a most ex- emplary young woman. Other Cases of Suicide : — This was not the only suicide traceable directly to the Acts. At least three other cases were known of by the writer. Eachel House, aged 28, con- fined in the Royal Albert Hospital, as a registered prosti- tute, threw herself out of the window and killed herself. Ellen Mulcarty, a married woman, a registered prostitute before her marriage, drowned herself at Millbay April 16th, 1873. She had frequently complained of the harsh treatment of Inspector Anniss, one of the spy police. She had threatened to destroy her life rather than be compelled to submit and suffer. She was advised to marry the young man with whom she lived, but even this did not free her from police espionage and the fortnightly examination, and she chose death in preference. Elizabeth J. Brown (about 20) drowned herself July 1, 1874. Her complaints of the harsh treatment by the police and painful sufferings at the hand of the surgeon were well known» She had made a previous effort to destroy herself. Hardening Effects Upon Some Women : — One of the results of the Acts was to reduce some women to a condi- tion of reckless indifference to all moral sense. Evidence was given before the Royal Commission that they some- times called themselves "Government women" and 92 The World's Social Evil "Queen's women." In the earlier stages of the working of the system in England, as elsewhere, the women received certificates from the doctors, which they used as means of solicitation. Agents of the London Eescue Society gave many instances of this in their evidence before the Royal Commission showing that it resulted in "the utter deaden- ing of conscience, which is the rapid and invariable result upon the minds of all women, who are taught by those reg- ulation systems to look upon their condition as a lawful one." Thus, one inevitable result of this system is to stamp out the last vestige of moral susceptibility of the women, whom it proposes to keep in a measure clean, not for the purpose of improving their moral, or even their physical condition, but to fit them temporarily for the use of men. In reviewing the system it is important to keep this fact in mind: The English Acts, the Paris poUce des moeurs, the Belgian law, or any other regulation force, makes no provision for the health of the women for their own sake. It assumes that "once a prostitute always a prostitute," and only offers sanitary aid for the sake of the men with whom she consorts. Unequal and One SmED : — Bearing upon the inequality and the one-sided operation of the Acts, upon women only, the Eoyal Commission in its main report says : "Many witnesses have urged that, as well on grounds of justice and expediency, soldiers and sailors should be subjected to regular examinations. We may at once dispose of this recommendation, so far as it is founded on the prin- ciple of putting both parties to the sin of fornication on the same footing, by the obvious but not less conclusive re- ply, that there is no comparison to be made between pros- titutes and the men who consort with them. With the one The Contagious Diseases Acts 93 the offense is committed as a matter of gain; with the other it is an irregular indulgence of a natural impulse." Here, then, is a positive, official statement, made de- liberately over the signatures of the Eoyal Commission, including one bishop, several other clergymen, and several doctors and legislators, openly avowing the degrading and unjust doctrine of an unequal standard both of morals and legal rights, as a basis of this system. The principle of these Acts, and indeed the whole sys- tem of regulated prostitution, stands forever condemned by this infamous proposition. This doctrine that what is wrong in women is only irregular in men is responsible for the utterly false education which young men face as they enter society. It is nothing that these poor outcasts were brought down to the very jaws of hell, by the deeds of men in the pursuit of "indulgence of their natural impulse." It is nothing that, each new day and night, fresh victims are seduced, from innocence and home, into the market of lust, through the "irregular indulgence" of a natural impulse on the part of men. The one noble distinction between them is, that "he" is only seeking "indulgence" while "she" is seeking bread and clothing. He pays, she receives. The avowed difference is, that in paying for "indulgence" "he" is a virtuous and honored citizen, to be protected, while "she," who is his partner in the same act, is a vicious crim- inal because she receives the money which her companion pays. Many people in modern society have disseminated this doctrine, justifying the "wild oats of men" and condemn- ing the "fall" of the girls who are the victims of those same wild-oats-sowing men, but it remained for an English "Royal Commission" consisting of clergymen, doctors and 94 The World's Social Evil legislators to frame the unholy creed into a written dec- laration, and deposit it in the archives of government State papers in England. The British Lion Aroused — Public Agitation Against THE Acts : — The struggle against the Acts in England did not hegin until some considerable time after they were in actual operation. Harriet Martdjeau Protests: — ^Before the first Act was passed, one distinguished lady, however, Miss Harriet Martineau, wrote a series of articles which were published in the London Daily News protesting against it, as a scheme which was ' ' set about in an indirect way, with the cunning of conspiracy." These articles were written as a protest and also as a warning of the danger of coming legislation on the sub- ject, but it fell upon no ears that were sufficiently quick to apprehend the danger. In June, 1868, a bill was introduced to the House of Lords for extending the operation of the Act of 1866 to the Metropolis of London. The Rescue Society saw the im- minent danger of such a proposal and called a conference in London, at which a strong protest was prepared and a copy sent to members of the House of Lords and the Com- mons — and the bill was withdrawn. The First Battle: — This was the first real battle in what proved to be a long continued warfare against the system in England. About this time, a number of persons opposed to the system were attracted towards each other, and began to make protests from various localities. Dr. Charles Bell Taylor, of Nottingham, an eminent oculist, who had lived in Paris and Berlin, and attended The Contagious Diseases Acts 95 the hospitals there, was well acquainted with the working of the system on the European continent. He begem a cam- paign of letter-writing to the public press, but of forty letters sent in one week to various publications, only one was printed. Conspiracy op Silence-. — ^A conspiracy of silence was evident. Everj^where the subject was treated as one not to be discussed — ^but to be "hushed up." The press, in some instances doubtless, honestly, but more often, hypo- critically, — affected an air of concern for the morals of the people, and refused to discuss the subject; while on the other hand, frequent attacks were made upon the character and motives of those who were responsible for the agitation against the system. Some publications, notably the Satur- day Review, abused the reformers in true Billingsgate style, casting offensive and filthy epithets, especially at the women who were among the very choicest spirits of the land. Another drawback, at the beginning of the agitation, was the absence of prominent public men in connection with it, and the conservative mind of the country was not easily aroused to a belief in the real nature of the acts. But the advocates of the system grew bolder and more progressive in their efforts to secure its adoption on the whole country. As Mr. Benjamin Scott says of them — "the strategy of silence had succeeded, publicity damned them.'"^ A Woman's Petition : — In 1869, aroused by this activ- ity of the pro-acts party. Miss Martineau ^ain took up the subject, and her personal influence with the London Daily News was such that she induced the Managers of 'See "A State Iniquity," by Benjamin Scott, Chamberlain of London. 96 The World's Social Evil that journal to publish four letters to which she attached the signature, "An English- woman. " These remarkable letters aroused such an interest among influential women of the land that a protest which she drew up was signed by thousands of women, foremost among whom were the following: Harriet Martineau, Mary Carpenter, Florence Nightingale, Josephine Butler. This protest so ably sets forth the principles upon which women entered into this struggle, that it has been made historic. It reads as follows: We, the undersigned, enter our solemn Protest against these Acts: — 1st. — Because, involving, as they do, such a momentous change in the legal safeguards hitherto enjoyed by women in common with men, they have been passed, not only without the knowledge of the country, but unknown to Parliament itself; and we hold that neither the Representatives of the People, nor the Press, fulfill the duties which are expected of them, when they allow such legislation to take place without the fullest dis- cussion. 2nd. — Because, so far as women are concerned, they remove every guarantee of personal security which the law has estab- lished and held sacred, and put their reputation, their freedom, and their persons absolutely in the power of the Police. 3rd. — ^Because the law Is bound, in any country professing to give civil liberty to its subjects, to define clearly an offense which it punishes. 4th. — Because it is unjust to punish the sex who are victims of a vice, and leave unpunished the sex who are the main cause, both of the vice and Its dreaded consequences; and we con- sider that liability to arrest, forced surgical examination, and (where this is resisted) imprisonment with hard labour, to which these Acts subject women, are punishment of the most degrading kind. 5th. — Because, by such a system, the path of evil is made more easy to our sons, and to the whole youth of England; inas- much as a moral restraint is withdrawn the moment the State The Contagious Diseases Acts 97 recognizes, and provides conveniences for, the practice of a vice whiich it thereby declares to be necessary and venial. 6th. — Because these measures are cruel to the women who come under their action— violating the feelings of those whose sense of shame is not wholly lost, and further brutalizing even the most abandoned. 7th.— Because the disease which these Acts seek to remove has never been removed by such legislation. The advocates of the system have utterly failed to show, by statistics or otherwise, that these regulations have, in any case, after several years' trial, and when applied to one sex only, diminished disease, re- claimed the fallen, or improved the general morality of the country. We have, on the contrary, the strongest evidence to show that, in Paris and other continental cities, where women have long been outraged by this forced inspection, the public health and morals are worse than at home. 8th. — Because the conditions of this disease, in the first instance, are moral, not physical. The moral evil through which the disease makes its way separates the case entirely from that of the plague, or other scourges, which have been placed under police control or sanitary care. We hold that we are bound, before rushing into the experiment of legalizing a re- volting vice, to try to deal with the causes of the evil, and we dare to believe that with wiser teaching and more capable legis- lation, those causes would not be beyond control. A Startling War Cby: — This protest was published in the London Daily News Jan. 1, 1870. It proved to be the most startling war-note that had yet been sounded and it attracted the attention, not only of the advocates of the system in England, but also of the Police des Moeurs of Paris, and the authorities of other continental cities where the system had been long in operation. In Oct. 1869, a meeting was called at which "The Na- tional Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Dis- eases Acts" was formed, with Frederick C. Banks as Sec- retary. There were no women in this organization, and it was soon felt that another society, composed of women, 98 The World's Social Evil should be formed. Accordingly "The Ladies National Association" was organized and Mrs. Josephine Butler be- came its distinguished Honorary Secretary. Other Societies sprang up aU over the country; the Northern Counties League with Henry J. Wilson (after- wards M.P.) as President; the Friend's Association; and the Midland Counties League. Cardinal Manning wrote a letter to the author of this book which appeared in the Medical Enquirer. The fol- lowing is a copy of the letter : "Westminsteb, Jan. 23, 1875. "Sir: — In reply to your note received this morning, request- ing me to give my opinion on the Contagious Diseases Acts, 1 have no hesitation in saying that I regard them with the strong- est repugnance, and with the gravest fear for the sake of the puhlic morals of the country. "I am assured, upon trustworthy evidence, that those Acts have never been sufficiently discussed in the Legislature, and to that cause I must ascribe their present state. "On every ground of Christian and natural morality the administration of these Acts appears to me to be fatal to our public moral sense. "I can conceive of no argument that can justify these Acts, even in particular cases, except overwhelming sanitary reasons. But I am assured, upon evidence which I cannot doubt, that the alleged sanitary benefits have not been obtained. I am, therefore, of opinion that every dictate and law of morality re- quires the Repeal of the existing Acts; and in this opinion I am the more confirmed by the fact that they are the first introduc- tion into our legislation of a system, which, in my belief, has had disastrous consequences in other countries. "I may convey my meaning in the following words: Medical and surgical practice in the subject-matter of these Acts can be justified on moral grounds only where its application is free from immoral consequences. But such cannot be the case in the public and systematic administration of the Contagious Diseases Acts. "Henry E., Archbishop of Westminster. "To William Burgess, Esq." The Contagious Diseases Acts 99 The following letter from Professor F. W. Newman was published : A lengthy letter also was received and published from Prof. F. W. Newman from which we take the following paragraphs : "Weston Supee-Make, Oct. 9, 1876. "Dear Sir: "I need not re-assert my own hatreS and disgust for the Contagious Diseases Acts, offensive as they obviously are to Justice, to English Rights, and to the vital interests of Morality and Family life. Nor need I express my contempt for the judg- ment of every one, be he physician or statesman, who hopes to stamp out disease by measures which increase vice — the main and essential cause of disease. * * * * "More than 50 years ago I was pierced to the heart at the profligacies of young men at Oxford, and desired to utter some public cry against it, but saw no rightful opportunity. But now that the State has enacted unjust and pernicious laws, based upon moral despair, and designed to make vice healthful, every one of us is under duty as a good citizen, to cry aloud and spare not, but avow (whether we are men or women) our abomi- nation alike of the false doctrine and of the unjust demoralizing law. Many have been slow to learn the facts; but every year all the worthiest part of the nation will be more united against the law and against the evil. "Fbancis W. Newman. "To Mb. Wm. Buegbss, Secretary." No single question of moral welfare ever called forth more profound and deeply earnest floods of eloquence. Men and women came out from every sphere of social and political life, like prophets inspired — stirred only by an in- tense purpose to deliver the nation from a great political and moral wrong. No sense of pleasure or sentiment moved them, and no self-interest was sufficient to check them in their self-sacrificing labors. The anti-slavery agitation, the temperance movement, and others, had in them, various factors of romance and 100 The World's Social Evil social fellowship. A temperance entertainment seemed to be in proper form, and a concert is a suitable annex to a benevolent enterprise; stray stories of negro humor and song accompanied the abolition movement. But here is a theme that admits of no merry song or funny story. It is wholly dark, sombre, uncongenial, un- social, appalling. Its sole attraction lies in its call to a profound sense of mercy and duty. To those who bore its cross there was for many years nothing but a cross. Yet, there were not wanting, leaders from the ranks of the high and the lowly, many of the most distinguished in social, educational and political circles. Mrs. Mary A. Livermore wrote of a number of those, whom she met during her visit to England in 1878. John and Jacob Bright, John Stuart Mill, Cardinal Manning, the Taylors, the MacLarens, the Ashworths, Sir James Stans- feld. Prof. Stuart, Miss Prances Power Cobb, Mrs. Faw- eett, Madame Venturi, Mrs. Lucas, Miss Martineau, and others. Greatest of all, as a leader in this new abolition, Mrs. Josephine B. Butler. Mrs. Livermore says: "At Cambridge I met Mrs. Jo- sephine Butler. She was a very beautiful woman, but much worn with the long struggle, the leadership of which had devolved mainly upon her. She had consecrated her- self to the work, with no thought of withdrawing from it until the Acts should be repealed. Knowing no fear, she had appealed to the best people of every nation in Europe, and had drawn them into the contest, leading them so wisely throughout the whole nauseous contention that she retained their loving confidence and challenged the admir- ation of the world. One cannot but hope that some great joy will crown the life of this noble woman, to compensate her for those awful years when she went down into Hades to save her fallen sisters." The Contagious Diseases Acts 101 The readers of this story will learn that "great joy" did come to "crown the life of this noble woman." She lived to see the disgraceful laws wiped from the Statute books of her country, and more — it was her privilege to in- augurate an international Federation of purity forces that has already borne much fruit, and is destined to change the mental and moral attitude of the entire world on this subject, abolishing the double standard — not by lowering it to men's old level, but by raising both men and women to a nobler sense of justice, mercy and purity. The writer, as a humble worker in this crusade in Eng- land, knew Mrs. Butler and served under her leadership. He would gladly add his testimony, not only to her great and noble character, but also to her wonderful power of inspiring in others, something of the intense love and de- votion which ever moved her and permeated her speech and counsel with an eloquence that has rarely, if ever, been excelled. An eloquent and fitting tribute to Mrs. Butler has been written by an American woman in recent magazine liter- ature. Writing of the uprising against the Contagious Diseases Acts, Mrs. Spencer says: "By 1866, however, the nation began to understand the A splendid tribute is paid to Mrs. Butler at the magnificent Episcopal Cathedral, now In course of erection at Liverpool, England. In the cloisters or courts, leading to the very fine "Chapel of Our Lady," already completed, there are several fine windows. These windows are devoted to memorials of women who, during the past century or two, have given their lives to heroic and self-sacrificing service to humanity. Here, for exam- ple, are portraits of Mrs. Elizabeth Pry, Miss Florence Nightin- gale, Jeanne d'Arc; and notable among them Is a portrait of the classic and beautiful face of Mrs. Butler in the days of her prime, to which is attached the following legend: "Josephine Butler and all true champions of purity. Josephine Orey was born at Milfield Hill, on the Cheviot Hills, in 1828. 102 The World's Social Evil signiiicance of the act. And to one woman came a call to stir that nation to revolt. That woman was Josephine Butler, perhaps the most unique combination in moral re- form of a lawyer's brain, a prophet's passion, a mystic's certainty of divine guidance, an orator's power of appeal, a poet's recoil from the ugliness of evil, and a mother's tenderness enlarged by sorrow and sympathy to enfold a world of suffering and sin. When the new abolition move- ment has triumphed, when the traffic in womanhood has ceased, when the permitted brothel is unknown as an in- stitution, when the slavery of the prostitute is ended with the abolition of man's "right of privilege" to hold her captive to his vicious indulgence, when these insuperable obstacles to a "white life for two" have been removed, mankind may at last begin true race culture on the basis of justice, wisdom and love. And when that time comes, the world will place high in some temple of remembrance of the great and good who have achieved this miracle of progress, the fragile figure and the sad and lovely face of Josephine Butler as the embodiment of the crusade for the better life. ' ' — ^Anna Garlin Spencer in The Forum, June, 1913. Mes. Butlee Appeals to Woekmen : — To the working men Mrs. Butler wrote with her facile pen, and to them She was the daughter of John drey, a loeH-knoion agriculturist and political reformer, and married in 1852 Dr. George Butler of Exeter College, Oxford, afterwards Principal of Liverpool College and Canon of Winchester. "She took an active part in movem,ents for the higher educa- tion of women; for the married women's property iill, and later for the removal from the statute hook of a law for the regula- tion of immorality and in favor of moral reform in the army. All these movements have met considerable and som,e with com,- plete success. She was the author of numerous books and pamphlets on social subjects, several of which have been trans- lated into various continental languages. Her death took place in 1906." The Contagious Diseases Acts 103 she spoke, wherever opportunity afforded, in that search- ing, thrilling, matchless eloquence, which was more than oratory — it was a message inspired — a message of right- eous indignation, of mother and sister sympathy, and of holy love. It took time, however, to arouse the conscience of the public. The greatest difficulty she found was to make men and women believe that such a system was ac^ tually in operation in England. In 1870 the first meeting of workingmen to discuss the subject was held when Prof. James Stuart (afterwards M.P.) gave a course of lectures to artizans. Mr. Stuart urged Mrs. Butler to speak at one of these meetings. She shrank, at first, from speaking in public to men, but finally consenting, the impression made and the sympathetic hear- ing which these men gave her was such, that she was prompted to the thought that ultimate success in the movement lay in the co-operation of working men. The writer recalls an interview with Edmund Jones to induce him to enter the campaign. He was one of nature's noblemen — an able, thoughtful, working man. Years be- fore, he had been a vigorous advocate of the moral sua- sion wing of the Chartist agitation, in which Henry Vin- cent and Ernest Jones were distinguished as martyr agi- tators. Edmund was a natural born orator, whose trumpet voice had been heard on the temperance question for a quarter of a century. For more than a quarter of a cen- tury he had been teacher of basket-making at the Liver- pool School for the Blind. Edmund Jones Could Not Believe It : — I talked with him of this legalized iniquity. He replied: "There is some mistake. I cannot ielieve that there is such law on the Statute Books of this Country. I have heard some- thing of it lut it is surely an exaggeration." * * * But I 104 The World's Social Evil can prove it; I will bring you a copy of the Acts and will show you the working of this system in England and Ire- land. Then he looked at me with that honest eye of his and exclaimed, with a rising passion which always kindled in him at the thought of a political iniquity: "Why, that's the most infernal thing out of hell! If you can prove to me that all you have said of it is a fact I will never rest another day until the infernal thing is wiped out." That same night the "infernal thing" was proven to him and he kept his word. The old man eloquent made speedy arrangements to stump the country, and his voice was heard everywhere ; on the platforms of great halls, sometimes in the counsels of labor unions, appealing to his brother workman to resist the tide of this iniquity. Mrs. Butler had said — "if the working men of Great Britain can be aroused the day will be won." Very soon the "Working Men's League was formed, and 50,000 members were enrolled in a few months. Parliament Stirred: — ^Meantime the agitation had been carried into Parliament. The first notable attack on the Acts in the House was made by Mr. Jacob Bright, M.P. (brother of John Bright) who moved that the Army esti- mates be reduced by 3,648 pounds (about $18,250) the sum asked for to maintain the special police employed under the Acts. This was in 1872. A bill had previously been presented for the repeal of the Acts by Mr. Fowler, but it was "counted out," a nice little scheme of legis- lators to strangle any measure which is unpopular with them. Mr. Bright 's proposal to withdraw the funds with which the Acts were enforced was voted upon, with 74 for, and 140 against. Sir Harcourt Johnstone afterwards led the repeal forces in Parliament for several years by forcing a vote each year on the question. The Contagious Diseases Acts 105 A GovEENMENT SUPPORTER : — But the most conspicuous and influential help came to the Repealers in the open and avowed adherence of The Right Hon. James Stansfeld. He was, at the time, a prominent member of Mr. Glad- stone's Cabinet, a position which prevented him from be- coming a leader in the movement, but later, when a change of Government occurred, he sacrificed his place in the Cabinet and entered into the fight with all the vigor and ability of his well-known statesmanship. The London Times in an editorial "sincerely regretted to find a states- man of Mr. Stansfeld 's eminence identifying himself with the hysterical crusade against the Contagious Diseases Acts, in the discussion of which it is impossible to take sides without herding with prurient or with cynical fa- natics. ' ' Such utterances indicate the attitude of the pub- lic press generally. It became evident, also, that although the basis of the struggle must rest upon the moral and constitutional ques- tions involved, yet in official circles the battle would have to be fought out on hygienic grounds. If it could be stated without contradiction, that the system promoted the health of soldiers and sailors, even though it were at the expense of the liberty, honor, and safety, of some women, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to change the official mind on the subject, and to get Parliament to agree to set it aside. A NATIONAL MEDICAL ASSOCIATION A National Medical Association was therefore organized at Liverpool in November, 1874. One of the first things done by this Association was the issue of a Manifesto, which is so important a document that it was circulated widely among statesmen and physicians in Europe. The medical press of the country shared in the "eon- 106 The World's Social Evil spiracy of silence." The New Medical Association, there- fore, established a monthly journal, "The Medical En- quirer," which was published by Secretary Wm. Burgess, who also acted as Assistant Editor, with Dr. J. Birkbeck Nevins as Chief Editor, and a number of leading medical men as contributors. This paper did valiant service. It thoroughly riddled the whole question of hygiene, in all its relations to the system, and it was mainly through this agency that the hygienic failure of the Acts was proven. After publishing the "Enquirer" for three years, the Medical Press of the Country began to discuss the subject and the general movement had reached the importance of a great public question so that the Press withdrew its attitude of silence and in the later days no subject of pub- lic agitation was more fuUy reported in the great news- papers than this. It was, therefore, deemed unnecessary to continue the publication except as an occassional num- ber might be called for. The first number was issued March 15, 1875, when a copy was sent to practically every medical practitioner in the country, and the last regular issue was dated Feb., 1878. The Fight Is On: — The fight was now on in earnest. Public meetings were held everywhere and, while many of them were brutally disturbed, and in some instances the very safety and life of the speakers were endangered by organized mobs, yet these were regarded as evidence of the straits to which the advocates of the system were put. "Whom the Gods destroy they first make mad." One of the old handbills now lies before me as I write. It announces two meetings in Dublin, one of them a women's meeting held Oct. 1st, 1878, to be addressed by Mrs. Butler and other ladies. The second meeting was held in the great Rotunda, a tremendous gathering. The speakers an- The Contagious Diseases Acts 107 noimced were the Eight Hon. James Stansfeld, Sir Har- court Johnstone, M. P., Prof. James Stuart, Mrs. Josephine Butler, Dr. Thos. Carson and Edmund Jones. A list of 67 prominent local men who promised to attend was also given. The writer was present as the Secretary of the meeting and will never forget the tactics employed by the- opponents to break it up. Medical students of Dublin were organized into a rowdy gang who seated themselves, at an early hour, in the gallery of the hall. When the pro- ceedings opened they threw coppers (pennies and half pence) down into the crowd, among whom were some boys, who had an inkling of possible "fun," and a general scramble took place. Riots at Repeal Meetings: — The "gang" hooted, shrieked and indulged in every kind of hideous yelling, drowning Mr. Stansfeld 's voice, who, therefore, was only able to speak to the press representatives. The rising of Mrs. Butler to speak was the signal for a general stampede towards the platform, where a defense guard was quickly arranged, while the speakers made good their exit through the platform door, and the whole meeting was broken up in violent disorder, the police mildly pretending to aid in quelling the disturbance. This is only a sample of many of the meetings held throughout the country, especially when, at election times, the candidates were questioned on the subject. In one in- stance rowdies brought live sparrows into the meeting and let them fly, while the speaker was addressing the meeting. Another time Prol. Stuart arranged for a meeting of women and found the floor of the hall strewn with cayenne pepper. At another time a deliberate plot was made to kill Mrs. Butler and many a time her safety was threat- ened. 108 The World's Social Evil A striking incident of a by-election which occurred at a vacant constituency (Colchester) illustrates this: Sir Henry Storks, an ex-Governor of Malta, who had enforced the regulation system in that island, with great severity against women, was selected by his party to represent the Government in the election contest for Colchester. Mr. Storks had given publicity to his views in an open letter as follows: "/ am of opinion that very little ienefit will result from the iest devised means of prevention until prostitution is recognized as a necessity." In Colchester the liberals were quite sure of returning Storks. But the opponents of the C. D. Acts could not allow such a conspicuous advocate to run in without protest. Dr. Baxter Langley, himself a liberal in politics entered the field against Storks, and Professor James Stuart and Mrs. Josephine Butler went to Colchester and joined in the campaign. Mr. Scott, Chamberlain of the City of London, thus de- scribed the brutality of the opposition to these valiant op- ponents of the C. D. Acts: "The blood of the liberal partisans was up. They attacked the hotel in which Mrs. Butler and her friends were staying, and when Dr. Langley began to hold public meetings they went mad and created a riot. Dr. L'angley tried to hold a meeting in the theatre, but he and Professor Stuart were scarce able to announce their principles before they were driven from the platform and chased to their hotel, which they reached, Langley covered with flour and dirt from head to foot, his clothes torn, his face bleeding, and Stuart wounded in the arm by a heavy blow which some ruflSan had inflicted with a chair. The followers of Storks may have justifled this playfulness as one of the amenities of political warfare, but there was no sort of justifica- tion for the next thing they did. They posted on the walls an exact description of Mrs. Butler's dress, m order that she might The Contagious Diseases Acts 109 be recognized and mobbed. Every day she had to alter her dress, and her friends never addressed her by her name in the street lest some listener should rally the ever-ready mob to attack her. One after another, hotel-keeper and lodging-house keeper dis- missed her from their houses. On one occasion, after repeated flights from different houses, a room was taken for her in a hotel, under the name of Gray. There she had gone to bed and was falling asleep when she heard a knock at the door of her room, followed by the shout of the proprietor, "Madam, I am sorry to find you are Mrs. Butler; please get up and dress at once, and leave the house. The mob are around the house breaking the windows. They threaten to set fire to it if you don't leave at once. They have found out that you are here. Never mind your luggage, leave it here; dress quickly and I will show you out of the back door." Then he harangued the mob whilst Mrs. Butler was dressing, and, led by one of the servant girls, ran along a little back street as fast as they could go, until she found shelter In the humble house of a kind-hearted woman. The next morning it was seen that the doors of the hotel had been battered, and the windows had been shattered by stones. "A Wesleyan Minister In the town wrote a letter against Storks, and for thus daring to express a righteous opinion, not held by his infuriated flock, these pious folk drove him from his church and the town. "There was nothing but the Contagious Diseases Acts to be heard of throughout the election struggle. As the polling day drew near Sir Henry Storks sent a friend to the Repealers to ask for terms. They replied Instantly by offering a written form of pledge to vote for the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts, and it was said, 'Let Sir Henry Storks sign that. If not that, then nothing.' The messenger went away sorrowful." Storks was beaten by a majority of 527 votes. The good sense of the people was sufficiently strong to prevent the purpose of these conspirators against free speech and in course of time it became evident that such practices were contributing to the feeling of repulsion against a system which could not bear the light of free 110 The World's Social Evil public discussion. Still the official mind of the governing classes clung to the Acts and the vested interests which had been created were factors to be encountered. It re- quired a moral earthquake to shake the country. Even this was at hand. The Stoem Bursts — The Law Is Repealed: — The storm gathered slowly. Public feeling gradually, but surely, became intense and the moral sense of the elec- torate was getting ready for a revolution. And a revolt there would certainly be, unless the British Government could be awakened out of its indifference. Thus far the government refused to make "repeal" a cabinet question, and every year the motion of Sir Har- eourt Johnstone or Mr. Stansfeld for repeal of the Acts was voted down. Meantime the working population was beginning to make things lively. They viewed the Acts as an increasing menace to the liberty and virtue of their own daughters and a danger to the manhood of their boys. The working- men's league became a power. Great outdoor meetings were held in the northern cities, where the Acts were not in operation, and in the subjective districts of Portsmouth, Plymouth and Davenport, in the south of England, and of Cork, and other places in Ireland, mass meetings were held at which the officials under the Acts stirred up small mobs to disturb the meetings. It was a great sight to witness one of the tremendous public meetings at London, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Dublin, Glasgow, and other large cities at which Mr. Stans- feld, disdaining the crown of glory as a Cabinet Minister, for the sake of the virtue and honor of womanhood and the ultimate deliverance of his country from human slav- ery, employed his powerful eloquence together with Mrs. The Contagious Diseases Acts 111 Butler; and often by their side the plain, home-spun bas- ket maker of Liverpool, Edmund Jones. One of the exciting factors in this agitation was seen in the hunted victims who committed suicide rather than submit to the Acts. "The ghost of Mrs. Percy would not down." Men, sterling, honest workmen, heard of her death, whom they regarded as a martyr to the conspiracy of a one-sided, unrighteous and dastardly law. They heard of her young daughter hounded by secret police — insulted with the abominable "voluntary" submission pa- per, and vengeance was in their hearts against the men who framed the law which had made her an orphan. The question of "repeal" was therefore forced into the elections, and candidates for future parliamentary honors found it inconvenient to face their constituents without clean hands on the subject, or if they did, some of them shared the fate of Sir Henry Storks. The church, too, was aroused out of its slumber. It became a deep religious conviction over the country that these laws were revolting to the moral sense — an outrage against womanhood, and a breach of God's law. And so the great heads of the church, from Cardinal Manning to the humble priest of the Eoman Catholic, and the Bishop and Clergy of the Episcopal Church, as well as practically all the Free Church or "dissenting" people, were as one voice against the system. Meantime the National Medical Association had shown the fallacy of the doctrine that physical immunity for dis- ease can be purchased at the cost of moral depravity and decay. By unstinted labors and the most careful and con- vincing statements of facts, and the statistics of the de- partments responsible for the working of the system. Dr. Birkbeck Nevins, the president, furnished a weapon against 112 The World's Social Evil the Acts that was irresistible to any honest inquirer after the truth. But the storm suddenly swept the whole country as out of the darkest sky. A new infamy became known, an in- famy, not directly a part of the C. D. Acts but arising out of the conditions which those Acts fostered, together with the iniquitous law which made the child of 14 legally re- sponsible for her own ruin. Attracted by prospects of a harvest, through human female slaughter, the vampires of the continent found a way to open a new market for trafBc. Organized bands of human vultures quietly opened their secret slaughter-mar- kets for the purchase and sale of women and girls. Josephine Butler, EUice Hopkins, Ellen Tod, and other women knew of it, and were travailing in soul over the dreadful fact. Government officials and heads of police knew, and cooUy regarded it as inevitable, and necessary to the social conditions. But when hell sent its worst agents to set up an auction block for the purchase of human souls, in a country which had paid $100,000,000 to free the black slaves from one of its dependencies, there followed such a cyclone as comes only once in an age to any country. W. T. Stead, through the columns of the Pall Mall Ga- zette, denounced the purchase of English maidens by rich debauchees who sat in high places, some of whom were not remote, even from the Royal Crown of England, and there was "something doing." "When that great newspaper ap- peared one day with its awfully vivid but truthful edito- rial, "The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon," London, and all England were staggered. It was like the charge of John the Baptist against The Contagious Diseases Acts 113 Herod. In Herod's time, Stead, like John, would have lost his head. As it was he was arrested and thrown into prison on a "technical flaw before a biased court." But Stead had not written until he knew. He had heard things that made him shudder. Speaking to one who revealed some of the horrors of child-girl outrages he said "it is enough to raise hell," to which his informants answered "it does not even raise the neighbors." "Then I'll make it raise England," cried the intrepid editor. A National Sensation : — Benjamin "Waugh, Honorary Secretary of the London Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children, was in close touch with Stead through the con- flict and he writes thus of Stead's revolutionary movement: No time was to be lost. The last weeks of Parliament had come; In a dozen more. It would have passed away. A plan struck him. He would go where he had never been in his life before, Into the night streets and brothels of London; he would go himself to the hells where manhood was destroyed, and woman damned; he would see and hear; and then make his fellow countrymen see it all, and hear it all, and feel It. He forgot that he was a journalist; that his readers might not stand the shock; that his reputation might not survive; that if once suspected in his di£9cult, almost impossible decep- tion, the wretched traders he sought to expose would malm him, imprison him, kill him; he forget that he was a husband, a father, a brother; that Government authorities had refused to help him; he forgot that many able men would call him shame- less, mad, filthy; he forgot everything in the one daring resolve to kindle England with a pitiful rage, burning as his own against plunderers of girlhood's virtue; and, come what would to himself, by the opponent will of an indignant people, force Parliament to amend the Bill and pass It. In order that he might have the benefit of their knowledge of why he went, he confided his object to the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of London, the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, and Lord Dalhousle. To dissuasion, he returned 114 The World's Social Evil but one answer: he could not heed. To all considerations of personal safety, a strong sense of duty rendered him deaf and blind. He got valuable introductions from good names to the fashionable brothels; he personated a wealthy voluptuary; he won his way into the lady keeper's private rooms, and through the good names he had and the free spending of money, he heard confidential secrets. He made acquaintance of procuresses; priced and bought their virgins; he entered the shuttered and cloth-curtained room, where shrieks were drowned of maddened girls; saw the chambers of children, the chloroform which the tender mercies of the wicked administered to "very little things,'' and the women that healed them; he heard their inhuman laugh at his suggestions of pity, their confidence as to being "Within the law." The keepers of brothels knew flesh and blood very well; but they did not know him: he was the son of a Puritan, a child of the Father in Heaven: the room was turning round, the fur- niture swam. Again and again did he break down and stumble out into the dark street, giddy, with a bursting brain. It seemed as though it would kill him; and yet he returned again. He had but one thought — It must be done. • * * * Then came the day of his revelation. And England gave a great cry, a shriek of anguish, and wept, and prayed God, and commanded the Commons. And in four short weeks every Eng- lish child, under sixteen years of age, was safe behind the pro- tecting care of the Crown, and as for their wrong-doers, they had to settle with the gaol. The revelation— "The Maiden Tribute of Modern. Babylon"— was necessarily horrible. In it he opened doors; threw back shutters; dnew curtains; and let pitying Christian eyes see the sights over which voluptuous Londoners were nightly gloating. He showed gins and snares in which simple country girls were nightly caught, to leap and shriek like a hare with the feel of the wire on its foot; he showed the girl-poacher mad with joy in his damnable sport; he made us see hot stinging girlish tears, and hear girlish voices full of wild pitiful despair. He took us across the sea to the Continent, and made us gaze on an eager, cultivated girl who had to earn her ■ living, The Contagious Diseases Acts 115 lured by the offer of a place in a Christian family as governess, the very place she had been seeking, and who, to get to It, had gratefully spent almost her last penny, finding for a Christian family a brothel whose shut door was henceforth, by the law of the land, her prison; who was awoke from her first weary sleep to find a gloating devil resolved to have his way with her. His vivid pen, and burning brain and abandoned pity, did all that." In July of that year (1885) the venerable Lord Shaftes- bury made his last appeal for downtrodden humanity. And that noble philanthropist, who, like Tolstoi, was a born Aristocrat, yet, like him, gave his life for the uplift of the oppressed, devoted the closing public address of his long life in praise of Stead's whirlwind campaign. Meantime the agitation had so fully entered into poli- tics that at the general election of that same year (1885) 257 candidates were elected who were definitely pledged to vote for repeal of the C. D. Acts. On March 16th, 1886, Mr. Stansfeld '(afterwards Sir James Stansfeld) rose, in. the new House of Commons, and moved a resolution in favor of repeal, which was car- ried; and on the 18th the same statesman introduced a bill, which was read a second time one week later, and in less than a month it was passed into law, and the Con- tagious Diseases Acts of England were dead and buried forever. I thank God that it is not, for any medical skill or any medical care under a system of this kind, the object and purpose of which is to train a number of woman as mere instruments to be at the beck and call, at every hour of the night and day, of any number of lustful men ; it is not possible, I say, for any medical skill or care to guarantee that those poor instruments shall not be the means of conveying disease from man to man. It is well that the moral law asserts itself in human life, and that it not only forbids, but that it prevents the success of those demoralizing miscalled hygienic laws. If they could succeed from their point of view, if they could defy the precepts and defeat the object of the moral law which providentially governs this world, then farewell to all decency and purity of life. The nation would then have succeeded in teaching its youth how, easily, constantly and safely, to sin. It would have familiarized it with vice in its lowest form and in its deepest degradation; society would become cor- rupt, like the corruption of the Lower Empire, from base to summit, and women, pure or impure, would be but the slaves and instruments of men; and moral and religious teachings would come to be received with an indifference and a contempt hardly attempted to be disguised. I claim to speak now, not in the language of religion or of morals, but in the language of science, when I say that it is impossible that an immoral law can be a truly hygienic law. — The late Sir James Stansfeld, M. P. CHAPTER IV. WEIGHED IN THE BALANCES. Hygiene and Police Rule in Europe. According to the best authorities, the original pretext for the system of Regulation as applied to the Social Evil, was not the physical health of either men or women, but "the preservation of public order. The behavior of the prostitutes, not their bodies, was the object of police at- tention.'" This pretext was long ago abandoned for that of hygiene, as urged by medical experts and police officials. Dr. Diday of Lyons gave to it the title of a "system of making prostitution healthy." And Dr. Mireur, Examin- ing Surgeon at Marseilles, says in his book on "Syphilis and Prostitution:" "The Administration pretends not to authorize prostitution, but only to tolerate it. But it is time to cease plajdng with words; let us be logical and let us be sincere." • • • When a woman has sub- mitted herself to the surveillance of the police, certain obligations are imposed upon her; certain limitations are prescribed to her, but .at the same time she acquires at this price the right to live by debauchery, to devote her- self to prostitution with impunity." Paris: — For more than a hundred years Paris has been subject to a rigid system, with compulsory examina- tion of public women. Every device that could be of- >A State Iniquity.— Benj. Scott. 118 The World's Social Evil fered by the medical advisers, and enforced by the astute, and almost absolute, police authorities, have been enforced. "It was in Paris," says Mr. Scott, "in the year 1802, that the first 'Health Dispensary' was opened to give ef- fect to the then new theory that men should be saved from venereal diseases by the compulsory examination of women, and by the incarceration of such of them as were suspected of having any such disease." Yet, no city in the world offers stronger testimony of the failure of the system as a hygienic measure. For many years M. Lecour was the supreme head of the Paris police. In 1878 he said: "The administration has redoubled its activity, it has multiplied its Acts of repression with regard to prostitutes, and it has definitely succeeded in maintaining in a satisfactory condition the sanitary state of public registered girls, and yet sanitary statistics prove that prostitution is increasing, and that it is .becoming more dangerous to the public health."^ In the same year (1873) the Paris correspondent of the London Medical Times and Gazette wrote: "Dr. Armand Despres, for thirty years surgeon to the Lourcine, the great hospital with upwards of 300 beds devoted solely to the treatment of venereal diseases in women in Paris, has published an important work in which he says: 'The liberty of some women has been destroyed in order to give security to debauched men, but the revolt has not answered expectation, for the women examined are not those who most communicate disease. It is little decent for the prac- titioner to place himself like a sentinel between the de bauehee and the prostitute.' Besides, the means are al- most always illusory, and it would be more dignified for the physician to keep himself out of the way." ^Lecour le Prostitution a Paris. Weighed in the Balance 119 France: — The Westminster Eeview, the editor of which was the eminent Dr. Chapman, of London and Paris, published powerfully written articles denouncing the French system as a failure. In July, 1876, the Re- view said: "French surgeons, having the most intimate practical acquaintance with the subject, thoroughly recog- nize that the guarantee in question is illusory. The Doc- tors Belhomme and Martin make the following statement: "This guarantee is very insignificant, sad to say, so in- significant even that syphilis is chiefly propagated by registered women. » • • D]._ Patton writes that at least five times out of six it is in their relations with reg- istered prostitutes that military men derive their syphilitic principle." "Dr. Alfred Fournier, who succeeded M. Ricord as surgeon to the Hopital du Midi, the venereal hospital for males in Paris, wrote a thesis on syphilitic contagion, and in conjunction with M. Puche, carefully traced the disease to its source in 873 cases. The result is contained in the accompanying table, which may be found in Lancereaux's work on syphilis, vol. ii.: — Males infected by public prostitutes 625 Males infected by j;landestine pro stitutes 46 Males infected by Ikept womenT^tresses, etc 52 Males infected by workwomen 100 Males infected by servant women 26 Males infected by married women 24 873 "Thus, out of 873 cases coming promiscuously under the care of these gentlemen, 625 contracted syphilis under the temptation of a false security, from women warranted clean by the gov- ernment inspectors. "Professor Andrews, Professor of Surgery, Chicago Med. Coll., remarked upon this point; — 'As a professional man, I have been compelled to laugh at the frequent instances where young Americans have, with infinite gullibility, cohabited with loose 120 The World's Social Evil women in Paris, because they supposed it safe, but were utterly astounded afterwards to find tliey Iiad contracted syphilis or gonorrhoea. There is a mischievous error abroad as to what medical men can accomplish even on those who are under con- trol. The general supposition is, that when a physician has examined a woman and found no disease visible, she is entirely safe for her paramours. This is a fatal blunder, as many a man has found to his cost.' "Dr. Wm. Acton fells of men who have travelled hundreds of miles, lured by a false security, to visit French brothels in London, where periodical examinations are carried out, and have immediately contracted venereal disease. "M. Lecour says: 'Prostitution is increasing, and Is now more dangerous than ever to the public health. Has the action of the police then relaxed? No; on the contrary, it has more powerfully organized its means of repression, of surveillance, and of sanitary control. It has never been more active than now. This is proved by the fact, that the number of dally arrests of unsubmitted girls is on the increase. The evil is a moral and social one, and cannot be controlled by the police, who can neither restrain nor destroy it. The evil must be over- come by moral, not by legislative means." "A work by a celebrated syphllographer. Dr. Diday, Lyons, acknowledges and deplores the total failure of the system in France. "Dr. Jeannel, in his work published in 1874, states that the number of diseased persons is greater in Paris than in London; and Dr. Drysdale, of the Metropolitan Free Hospital (London), stated that, on. going over the Paris hospitals, he was driven to the inevitable conclusion, that there was far more syphilis In Paris than in London, although the population of Paris is about half that of London; and this after above eighty years' trial of the system, and after exhausting every possible expedient to ensure success. Dr. Drysdale challenged contradiction; and although Mr. Ricord and almost all the great continental auth- orities on the subject were present, the truth of the assertion was acknowledged. Indeed, Dr. Lef ort. and Auzias Turetine cor- roborated Dr. "rr^'°'° °*°tpTn°"* ^jtimio the latter frankly owned that the (dontagious Diseases Act^had converted French women into whlte-lBliVM." --^ Weighed in the Balance 121 The following table, for the year 1868, gives some idea of the effects of the system In disseminating disease in Paris: — Venereal Patients treated in L'Hapital du Midi 3,185 Venereal Patients treated in L'Hdpital de Lourcine.. 1,024 Venereal Patients treated in L'H6pital St. Lazare 1,624 Venereal Patients treated in the ordinary Paris hos- pitals 1,551 Venereal Patients treated in military hospitals 2,046 Total 9,430 "Address to The Medical Profession of America." 1877. Amsterdam: — ^Dr. Huet, first physician to the hospi- tal in Amsterdam, published a paper in 1868, on the ef- fects of government superintendence of prostitution upon venereal diseases in the army in Holland. In some cities there is an amelioration, but the total number is — ^before the introduction of ordinances 1,786 cases among 15,913 sol- diers yearly; after the introduction, 2,241 cases in 16,810; i. e., 11.2 per cent before, and 13.3 per cent after the in- troduction of ordinances. Brussels: — ^Dr. Thierry, of Brussels — in 1874 — ^re- marked: "Every day you see numerous cases of spyhilis in my wards; they are always severe, and often present dif&culties of diagnosis." Indeed, all trustworthy evidence goes to show conclu- sively that we get worse than nothing for the sacrifices which this kind of legislation calls upon us to make. "Whatever renders vice apparently safe, and increases its prevalence, must increase disease." Great Britain: — The British experience of the sys- tem called for masses of statistical and expert testimony. The report of the Eoyal Commission of 1871, appointed for inquiry into the working of the Contagious Diseases Acts, after months of inquiry, with every facility for ob- taining information, and with the reports of the medical 122 The World's Social Evil and police officers who were in charge of the administra- tion of the Acts, and who were, therefore, prejudiced in favor of them, was given in the following words: "There is no distinct evidence that any diminution of disease among the men of the army and navy, which may have taken place, is attriiutable to a diminution of. dis- ease contingent upon the system of periodical examination among the women with whom they have consorted. • • • We recommend that the periodical examinations be discontinued." In regard to the following statistical tables, the reader is reminded that, previous to the year 1866, there had been no compulsory examination of women, and therefore it was not until 1867 that any effects of the Acts upon health could be observed. We have seen in the previous chapter that, as a re- sult of the sanitary and moral improvements introduced to the army by Lord Herbert, there had been a very de- cided advance in the health of the men previous to the introduction of the Acts. The following table is from statistics taken from the Army Reports. It presents a comparison of six years before the operation of the Acts and six years under them, in regard to the whole of the British Home Army. British Home Army — ^Annual Ratio op Secondary Syphilis Per 1,000 Men. SIX years before the acts. 1861 1862 1863 1864 186S 1866 32.68 34.63 35.9 35.0 29.6 24.73 SIX years under the acts. 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 25.1 31.6 26.2 25.4 20.3 24.26 Weighed in the Balance 123 Thus, while for six years before the Acts, secondary disease in the British Army decreased, from a ratio of 32.68 to 24.73, there was an immediate cessation of this improvement, after the Acts went into operation, and while fluctuating, sometimes above, and sometimes below, the ratio of 1866, when the Acts began to enforce exami- nations of women, the average of the whole period of six years after, was actually one-sixteenth higher than be- fore the Acts. Later statistics show that the longer the Acts were in operation, the worse the results. The British Navy. In the British Navy at Home Ports, the Eeports of Primary and Secondary Syphilis were not separated, and Dr. Birkbeek Nevins shows that while the ratio of these diseases combined, fell 6.3 per 1,000 yearly, during the six years before the Acts, after that date (1866) the improve- ment was partially arrested, the fall being only 3.8 yearly for the six years after the Acts; while gonorrhoea fell from 34.8 per 1,000 in 1862 to 20.4 per 1,000 in 1868, in the years 1868 to 1875, it increased to 52.5, that, is to say, under the Acts this form of disease MORE THAN DOU- BLED. Mr. Benjamin Scott, Chamberlain of London, furn- ishes later statistics giving the total results of all forms of the disease in the navy down to the year 1882, from which we prepare the following table : TABLE SHOWING RATIO OF ALL FORMS OP VENEREAL DISEASES IN THE BRITISH NAVY. Also number of days of men in hospital from these dis- orders based on an average strength of 20,000 men. Ratios of loss of service in the British Army from venereal diseases per 1,000 mew'. 124 The World's Social Evil 4s p4 /Ss 1 a o S f^ /f\ ll - g j ■s O a S s Ml If s § ft* ^ 3 » o _ 18BS 1868 1878 1882 Thus, of 20,000 men of the British Army, 172 were in hospital daily in 1866 ; in 1882, after the Acts were in full operation for thirteen years, there were 230 daily. One can only imagine what the state of the health of the British army and navy would have been, in course of time, had not the British public ultimately demanded and secured the total repeal of these Acts. The most extraordinary thing about it is that it should have entered into the mind of any set of men that phys- ical diseases, which are the direct consequence of sexual vice, can be cured by any system which proposes to make lust easy, and offers an alleged guarantee of safety. The fallacy of looking for grapes of physical health from this- tles of immoral planting is forcibly rebuked by these facts. How apparent also is the absurdity of attempting to stamp out disease by treating only one of two parties con- Weighed in the Balance 125 cerned in the act which produces it; and the treatment of that one, not for the purpose of heneficent cure, but to actually pave the way to increasing practices of vice. Dr. Charles Bell Taylor, Surgeon of the Midland (Eng- land) Eye Infirmary, speaking before the London Dia- lectical Society, scouted this one-sided legislation, as a hy- gienic measure in the following graphic, if not very ele- gant terms: "Whoever heard before of a sanitary law applicable to one sex only? What should we think of a proposal to stamp out the cattle plague, or any other plague, by seg- regating females only, while the males were left untouched and free to spread disease? * * * Whatever rendered vice apparently safe must increase its prevalence and this would augment disease." — (Medical Enquirer, June 15, 1876.) APPALLING INCREASE OP DISEASE AND DEATH. But when the evil effects of the system upon the health and life of the women subjected to them are considered, the direct consequences are still more appalling. The statistics of these conditions were not given in the army and navy reports, but appeared in annual reports of Captain Harris, the head of the police department, having charge of the enforcement of the Acts. Table Showing the Annual Ratio op Deaths pee 1,000 Women prom 1865 — the Year Bepore the C. D. Acts Came into Operation — to 1874. Tear 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 Deaths per 1000 Women.... 9.8 15.5 10.4 10.4 16.7 16.8 20.6 21.5 16.4 23.0 Thus in the year 1865, before the operation of the Acts, the ratio of death among prostitutes was 9.8 per 1,000; under the Acts, which went info full operation in 1866, 126 The World's Social Evil Mid which compelled the registration and inspection of the women, the death rate increased, year by year, until in 1874 it reached 23 per cent per annum, or more than double the previous rate. A Parliamentary paper, called for by the House of Parliament, in 1873, gives a return of these deaths of reg- istered women from venereal diseases, as follows : 1865 — 4 deaths in 406 registered women, or 9.8 per 1,000 1867—15 " " 1,439 " " " 10.4 1869—41. " " 2,455 " " " 26.7 1871—53 " " 2,267 " " " 20.64 " 1872—51 " " 2,371 " " " 21.5 This return not only confirms the statistics of Captain Harris; it also shows that the average life of prostitutes in the Garrison towns was about ten years, before the Acts, but under the Acts, it fell to less than five years. If one can be callous and indifferent as to the death rate among these poor creatures, there is yet the serious question as to the recruiting ground of those who fill their places, and the effects of increasing disease upon their men consorts, and, through these, to innocent women and children. Whose children are they who fill up the ranks of the army of victims, killed off, at a ratio of five years ? IMPROVED HEALTH ^WHY? ^REMAEKABLE DECREASE OF VENEREAL DISEASES AMONG BRITISH SOLDIERS IN INDIA. Dr. H. M. Wilson, of London, England, published a statement in 1909 showing the diminution of venereal diseases among soldiers in India since the Contagious Dis- eases Acts were repealed: "The fall in the ratio relating to these diseases, which is one of the most remarkable features of the health sta- Weighed in the Balance 127 tistics of European troops in India during recent years, is common to all kinds of venereal diseases. It is attributed to a number of causes, among which may be mentioned, as being the more important, the efforts of regimental and other officers to occupy the spare time of the men in healthy pastimes, to make the regimental institutes at- tractive and comfortable, and to influence the men to avoid contracting these diseases ; the better education and higher moral tone now existing among soldiers generally; in- creased knowledge of the dangers of these diseases leading to greater care as regards personal prophylaxis; less in- dulgence in alcohol; the more thorough treatment now carried out in all cases." The statistics of this report show that in 1886 the ease ratio of venereal disease, per 1,000 of the army, was, for the Home Army in 1886, 267, which gradually reduced every year until in 1908 the ratio was only 68.4; and that in the Indian Army the ratio in 1886 was 389.5, which also gradually lessened until in 1908 it was down to 69.8. These telling facts, and the reasons given in the re- port are most instructive, which ought to weigh with every student of social hygiene and public morality. These reasons are set forth in the following : EXTEAORDINAEY SHOWING OP IMPROVEMENT IN THE CONDI- TIONS IN ENGLAND SINCE THE REPEAL OF THE CONTAGIOUS DISEASES ACTS. In times of peace armies are recruited mainly from classes of men who are most likely to be in danger of venereal diseases. The following table represents the number of recruits refused on account of syphilis per 10,000, beginning with the year 1884 when the C. D. Acts 128 The World's Social Evil had been in operation for 18 years, and showing a rapid improvement after those Acts were repealed. Compulsory examinations were stopped in 1884 and the acts were re- pealed in 1886. 1064 laas 1666 1667 1669 1890 1691 1S9£ 1694 1895 lS9e 1697 1896 1699 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 19 06 1907 iQoa 1Q09 RECRUITS British Isles Rejected on account of Syphilis per 10,000 ofifering for enlistment NO Regulation: MALADIES DECREASE This shows the ratio of incompetenti, for army service because of these diseases, reduced from 106 to 16 per 1,000. Chart showing the remarkable diminution of venereal diseases in the Home (England) Army beginning with 1884, when the Contagious Diseases Acts were in opera- tion, and the years since 1886, when the Acts were re- pealed, down to the year 1909: Weighed in the Balance 129 S 1864 isas 1666 1667 lasa 1669 1690 16§1 1692 1693 1694 1S95 1696 1697 1696 1699 1900 1901 190a 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1306 1909 21g M IML 212 195 IgT] -la 174J mi 951 :iii r i50l 2T4 g76 ^. HOME ARMA' British Isles "^ar m 9er Admissions Hospital Venereal Maladies per 1000 Soldiers NO Regulation: MALADIES DECREASE 611 3sr GENERAL POPULATION. Another very important testimony comes from the re- ports of the health of the whole population of England and Wales. The report of the Registrar-General gives the number of deaths, at all ages, registered as caused by venereal maladies, per million living. The figures are as follows : 1884. 1885. 1886. 1887. 1888. 1889. .95 .90 .92 .85 .78 .82 1890. 1891. 1892. 1893. 1894. 1895. .81 .80 .79 .82 .78 .80 1896. 1897. 1898. 1899. 1900. 1901. .70 .72 .68 .67 .68 .64 Note: — A large proportion of the deaths caused by venereal maladies takes place In public hospitals and in workhouse asy- 130 The World's Social Evil TESTIMONY OF EXPERTS, INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES IN BRUSSELS, 1899 AND 1902. In 1899 an International Conference for the Prophy- laxis of Syphilis and Venereal Maladies was held in Brus- sels, under the Presidency of the Belgian Minister of Health and the Burgomaster of Brussels. The confer- ence was organized by a committee of medical experts in Brussels, on the initiative of Dr. Dubois-Havenith, a distinguished Belgian specialist. It was specialist and authoritative in the highest degree. Eoughly speaking, it numbered about 360 members, of 33 nationalities. Of these, 107 were government delegates, representing 29 different countries, mostly European, but including Persia, Japan and the United States. Of the entire number, 295 were doctors, and a large number of these held public posts in the "Service of Health" or as professors of the special subject. The 65 non-medical members of the conference included min- isters of state, heads of. poUee or health departments, dele- gates of municipalities, legal authorities and professors, and a few other persons individually invited on the. ground of special competence, and representing, for.the most, partj the "sociological" side of the subject. Among these were sevei*al ladies. A conference, so constituted, meeting in the very center lums. In these cases the causes 6t death are registered under their true name. But this would not always be the case in pri- vate practice, where regard for the feelings of the relatives would sometimes doubtless lead to registration of the cause under some other name. There are also cases where the venereal malady is a complication, without being the principal cause of death. The table given, however, shows a true nucleus of the actual facts, and is to that extent valuable. Weighed in the Balance 131 of authority on the regulation system, and uninfluenced by anything like popular sentiment or enthusiasm, should have great weight on the subject. The proceedings of the conference and the subsequent one, in 1902, which was in the nature of a second call of the same order, constitute an encyclopedia of information and opinion, and has been published in several volumes by M. Henry Lamertine, Brussels, at a cost of 40 francs for the first series. A brief s3rnopsis of the opinions expressed follow : Question: "What has been the influence of existing systems of regulation on the prevalence pf disease?" — and round this question the tide of debate surged for a day and a half. Hygienic Utopias: — Dr. Blaschko, of Berlin, said: "A careful study of all the reports and statistics showed that it was impossible to establish any general rule as to things being better under regulation and worse in its ab- sence. ' There is not one of us who is content with regu- lation as it exists today.' "Hygienic Utopias might be very attractive in theory, but methods which ignored the complex interests of the community — economical, social, ethical — ^would always de- feat themselves. Dr. Augagneur, of Lyons, said 'Doctors were beginning to see the uselessness of regulation ; its partisans complained of it almost as. much as its oppo- nents,' " Disease Not Due to Regulation: — On the other hand Dr. Barthelmy, one of the medical chiefs of St. Lazare, the great Lock-Hospital prison of PariSj replied that dis- ease was due to immorality, not to regulation; that pas- 132 The World's Social Evil sion was an eternal and imperative factor in human life; and that regulation was a means of combating its attend- ant eAdls. Talks of Common Sense: — Prof. Fournier, the head of the French delegation, discarded statistics: "There remained one simple argument — the argument from com- mon sense. Isolate an infected woman, and the infection would go no further; leave her at liberty, and within twenty-four hours three or four men would be contami- nated. That argument was worth all the statistics put together. He added a frightful picture of the varied forms and consequences of syphilis, and of its prevalence in Paris, affecting, as nearly as he could calculate, a sev- enth, if not a sixth, of the whole population." London and New York Compared "With Paris: — ^M. Pierson, Paris, replied that the gravity of the danger un- fortunately did not prove the value of the remedy. Dis- ease appeared to vary in a manner totally irrespective of the regulations. If regulation was indispensable to the public health, why were London and New York, where it had never existed, in no worse condition than Paris? Italian Doctors Speak: — The Italian doctors drew attention to the very serious increase of disease in Italy on the abolition of Cavour's system by Signor Crispi in 1888. Dr. Bertarelli, of Milan, while defending Cavour's system, did not wish to see it restored ; the world had pro- gressed since then, and better methods might be looked for. Disease Through Prostitution of Minors: — Elabo- ate charts and tables were produced by the Paris doctors — the younger Fournier, Dr. JuUien, of St. Lazare, and others — showing the years from 17 to 20 to be the most dangerous age as regards syphilitic infection. Dr. Ed- Weighed in the Balance 133 mond Fournier urged that minors found practicing pros- titution should either be placed in reformatories or com- pelled to return to their homes. Tolerated Houses Decaying: — A fact, admitted on all hands, was the progressive decay of the tolerated houses. This was attributed to various causes — to their having been cleared of minors by the police, and to the discour- agement of the white slave traffic, which deprived them of their most attractive inmates; to their terrors for the women, owing to loss of freedom, strictness and frequency of inspection, etc. ; while, on the other hand, it was found that they afforded no guarantee of safety. Failure in Paris: — The speech of Prof. Fournier, de- scribing the condition of Paris after a hundred years of regulation, made a profound impression. It was felt that, whatever the great professor's opinion, his facts spoke for themselves. It is hardly too much to say that there were moments when a sort of dismay seemed to spread through the assembly, as of men who begin to face for the first time the possibility that a cherished scheme may prove hopelessly impracticable. Tolerated Houses and the System: — M. Bourgeois, chief commissioner of police at Brussels, said it was the opinion of the Brussels medical service that the houses should remain, at all costs, and the women be compelled to live in them. Dr. Mireur, of Marseilles, said regulation apart from the houses was little better than a farce. Out of 5,000 women on the streets at Marseilles only 300 were on the register. It was impossible for the police to deal with such numbers. He would retain the houses, abolish the police 1S4 The World's Social Evil des moeurs, and punish solicitation under the vagrancy laws. The Opposite View: — Dr. Perrin, also of Marseilles, declared that, so far as Marseilles was concerned, the maison tolereewas a thing of the past. "That is the brutal fact," he said, "and with it crumbles the whole fabric of the existing regulations." Some defended the houses on the ground that they tended to clear the streets; but this was denied by Dr. Hoeflfel and others, and Brussels itself was alleged as an instance, M. Hirsch asserting that 15 or 20 years ago, when the tolerated houses of Brussels were famous all over Europe, the streets were full of solicitation, but now that the number of these houses was greatly reduced, the streets were proportionately improved. Several Russian and other doctors spoke against them in the strongest terms as schools of profligacy, and as cen- ters of disease. Professors Neisser, Jadassohn, and others suggested that it should be plainly printed on the women's papers that the medical certificate afforded no guarantee of safety to clients. "It must not be a certificate of health," said Dr. Schrank, of Vienna, "but only a permit to practice." DxrroH Delegate Opposes System: — M. Rethaan Maeare,. a delegate of the Dutch government, said his gov- ernment had sent him to learn rather than to speak. He. thought the doctors asked too much of the legislatures, and things incompatible with sound law. The vast ma- jority of the women outside the tolerated houses escaped the regulations altogether. The houses themselves were high schools of immorality in its worst forms. It was there that the procuresses of the future were trained to Weighed in the Balance 135 prey upon society. It was there that numbers of young lads began their downward course. Brothels the Strongholds of White Slave Traffic : — Mr. Percy Bunting, president of the International Con- ference on the White Slave Traffic, held in London in June, 1899 ; Drs. de Wyslouch and de Pousehkine, of War- saw; Dr. Schrank, of Vienna, and M. Yourievitch, of the Russian Embassy in Paris, who attacked the keepers of the houses as the chief instigators of the white slave traf- fic, and Madame .Bieberboehm, of Berlin, urged various measures for the protection of girls, including the sup- pression of the regulation system, which was simply a trap for them. Education Advocated: — ^Dr. Jonathan Hutchinson, the English specialist, deprecated panic and exaggeration ; said there were many evidences that disease was not in- creasing, but steadily diminishing, in England. Young men in public schools and colleges should be warned and instructed, and the instruction should include moral con- siderations and respect for the purity of women. Conference Adopts Resolutions: — The following resolutions were unanimously agreed upon : 1. That the Governments should use their utmost powers to suppress the prostitution of girls under age. 2. That a permanent International "Society of Sanitary and Moral Prophylaxis" should be constituted, having its head- quarters In Brussels, issuing a quarterly journal In French, Eng- lish, and German, and holding Congresses from time to time. 3. That — since a thorough knowledge of venereology Is one of the most Important means of effectually combating the spread of disease — complete and compulsory courses of Instruction in the subject, for all medical students, should be Instituted in every University, so as to ensure the training of really compe- tent practitioners. 136 The World's Social Evil 4. That guardians of orphans, and others charged with the education of the young, should use every effort to promote their moral development, and to teach them temperance and respect for women of all classes. 5. That the utmost rigour of the law should be enforced against souteneurs (men who live on the earnings of prosti- tutes). 6. That the Governments should appoint In each country a Commission charged to ascertain the amount of these diseases, apart from temporary fluctuations, among the civil population, to Inquire into the existing means of treatment, the distribution of hospitals in various localities, etc., and to collect opinions and formulate proposals as to the best means of preventing the dis- semination of the malady. 7. That the Governments should find means to warn the public, and especially young pSfsons, of the dangers attending an Immoral life. 8. That the statistics of disease should be drawn up in all countries on a common basis. SICOND BRUSSELS CONPEEENCE. The second conference held in Brussels, September, 1902, was constituted much the same as the first, with a similar personnel and included official delegates from the principal European governments, with several from the Bast and from the United States, besides members of the new International Society and a large number of other specialists. The debates themselves were a sort of echo of those of the previous conference. The protection of minors, and the necessity of providing free dispensaries for voluntary patients, took an even more prominent place at the second conference than at the first. The question of penalizing the communication of disease was discussed at some length, but opinions differed as to its practicability, and the con- ference attempted no decision. Professor Neisser came Weighed in the Balance 137 armed with a scheme for bringing venereal patients of all classes under a form of Regulation by means of a standing sanitary commission, with plenary powers to place all such patients under medical supervision and compel obedience to all the restrictions imposed; but the conference refused to consider it seriously. The Eequlation System Contested: — The keenest debate of all was on the great subject of regulation, or no regulation. British Experience: — "The position of Great Britain, as a country which cast off the yoke of regulation after a comparatively brief experiment, and without attempting to build up any administrative substitute for it, acquires a peculiar interest. Dr. Ernest Lane, surgeon to the Lon- don Lock Hospital, and honorary secretary of the British Prophylactic Committee, summed up the English position. He said: "I can well remember the Cassandra-like prophe- cies as to what would take place when the Contagious Diseases Acts were abolished, and the woeful predictions of the devastating scourge of venereal diseases which would result therefrom, and 7 confess that I myself was one of the prophets of evil. But time has proved these surmises to he fallacious, for since the repeal of the Acts the amount of disease is less, as may he seen hy statistics, and the type of disease is milder, as may be proved by observation." Summary of Attftudes op Countries: — A few words may be added as to the present position in different coun- tries. "In Norway and Denmark thepolice des moeurshas been abolished, but some of its powers appear to have been trans- ferred to the ordinary police. Dr. Pontoppidan, the Danish specialist, says that as regards compulsory treatment the 138 The World's Social Evil law has always been a dead letter, and that its rigid en- forcement would only defeat its own object, by frightening patients away from medical treatment. In Italy a complete system of gratuitous treatment in dispensaries and hospitals for all venereal patients has paved the way for the abolition of the entire system of police control over the women. In France the Extra-Parliamentary Commission ap- pointed by the Ministry of M. Combes, and continued under that of M. Clemenceau, reported in favour of the abolition of the police des moeurs and the initiation of a series of measures for the prevention of juvenile prostitution, the punishment of procuration, etc. In Germany an influential Prophylactic Society exists under the leadership of Professor Neisser and Dr. Blaschko ; but here, too, opinions are divided. Dr. Blaschko relying chiefly on instruction and individual prophylaxis, accom- panied by social amelioration, and Professor Neisser and others urging the re-introduction of the "maison toleree," which has so signally failed in Prance and Belgium, and which was abolished in Germany many years ago."^ In Russia an important Congress has condemned the Regulation system; in Germany the Duchy of Baden has not only declared for suppression instead of Regulation, but has officially asked for the appointment of an Im- perial Commission which is to include well-qualified women. This brief review of these international conferences offers to the world the striking fact that, after genera- tions of trial, under numerous forms of regulation, the best interpretation of the present mind of medical ex- >Shield, London, England, Oct., 1900. Weighed in the Balance 139 perts and official heads show, that even the most ardent advocates of the system are in doubt as to the ad- vantages achieved, v^hile the preponderating opinions of the ablest physicians and experts of the world are, that the whole system of regulation is a complete failure, and that it is fast tottering into discredit and disuse, to be followed by the more humane, common sense, and ethical law of discouragement and suppression of com- mercialized vice, and the substitution of education and abundant provision for medical treatment of venereal patients, without regard to sex. The English "Lancet," one of the most influential medical journals of the world, (which in former years was a strong defender of the Contagious Diseases Acts) in reporting the Belgium Congress of 1902, said: "It is evident that many of those who have hitherto been in favor of the Regulation system, and have relied upon that for the prophylaxis of venereal disease, have come to the conclusion that it has not been productive of any marked diminution in the amount of such disease, and that other steps must be taken with a view of mitigating the evil." "We are now a mighty nation. We are thirty mil- lions of people, and we own about a fifteenth part of the whole earth. We have among us, perhaps half our people — who have come from Europe — Germans, Irish, French and Scandinavians — men that have come them- selves, or whose ancestors have come hither and settled here, finding themselves our equals in all things. When they look through that old Declaration of Independence they find that those old men (the early pioneers) say that 'we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal'; and then they feel that moral sentiment taught in that day evidences their relation to those men, that it is the father of all moral principle in them, and that they have a right to claim it as though they were blood of the blood and flesh of the flesh of the man who wrote that Declaration, and so they are. That is, the electric cord in the Declaration links the hearts of patriotic and liberty-loving men together, that will link those patriotic hearts as long as the love of freedom exists in the minds of men throughout the world." — Abraham Lincoln. We may be sure that when Lincoln spoke of the "nation of thirty millions of people" he realized that about one-half of them were women; and now that the nation numbers over ninety millions of people, it is still a nation of one-half women. And every woman, equally with every man, is linked in the "electric cord" in that declaration of equality. — Ed. CHAPTER V. THE WRONGS AND TYRANNY OF THE LEGAL- IZED SYSTEM. "Laws are intended, not to trust to what men will do, but to guard against what they may do. ' ' — Junius. Attention has been given, in some quarters, to the vice problem in its hygienic aspects, not too much, but too ex- clusively. If the facts of modern history were reversed, i.e. if it could have been shown that, under the regulation system, the volume of venereal diseases had been lessened, in- stead of increased, there would still be standing against it, among other wrongs, its harsh, unjust, and unequal treatment of the weali, for the supposed benefit or pleasure of the strong. An equal standard of law and equal standard of morals are the common rights of all people. As the late Prof. James Stuart, M. P. said: "Of all things in this world, there is nothing which is so desirable as justice. It is more difficult to act justly than to act mercifully or benevolently, and more good is done in the long run by justice than by anything else. The poorer and meaner any group of people the more necessary it is that they should be treated justly. No man and no woman can ever shut themselves out of the pale of justice, how- ever erring, however degraded they may be. ' ' Every great battle between right and wrong has really 142 The World's Social Evil been one between justice and injustice. I think, there- fore, that, among the touchstones by which any system may be tested, one of the most immediate and decisive is the question, ' Is it just or is it unjust ? ' Is it equal as between men and women, is it equal as between the rich. and the poor?" Perhaps the most grievous of all forms of injustice is that which denies protection to the honor of young girls. Our laws are absolutely weak, and the interpreters and administrators of law in our common courts are corre- spondingly weak and indifferent on this subject. Lavinia L. Dock, in her excellent book, "Hygiene and Morality," reminds us that "No American state took any steps towards raising the age of consent until 1864" and that since that date, as a general thing, where the age has been raised because of the persistent demand of women, the penalty has been lessened. Arkansas, for example, raised the protection age from 12 to 16, in 1893. But the penalty, which was not less than five years, nor. more than 25 years, was reduced to one year. Alabama and Delaware have fol- lowed the method of making the punishment more severe when the female is under 10 to 12 years, and lighter, be- tween the age of 14 and 16 years. Georgia is reported to have no statute which exactly covers the case. These are fair examples of the careless indifference of our laws in regard to child protection.^ The result has been practically to encourage criminal outrage upon young girls. Of the cases of rape, only a few are ever brought to trial, and of those that are, the ages of the victims are rarely above 17, and more often, below 15. Of 25 cases of Conviction for rape in New York, 'Chart of Lawa etc.. Appendix. Wrongs and Tyranny 143 from January 1 to June 30, 1909, one of the child victims was aged 7 ; one, 11 ; two were 12 ; two were 14 ; five were 15; sevien were 16; the remainder were 17. The crimes were committed by two boys of 18 ; two of 19 ; and the rest were men of varied ages, from 21 to 54. The system of regulating the trade in vice, whether by law, ordinance, or official practice, rests upon a theory which is wholly at variance with this principle of equality and justice. Not only is this system one-sided and grossly unjust in practice; it furnishes no security or protection for the innocent and weak. It is to the everlasting dis- credit of the United States that, until 1864, "no American state took any steps toward raising the age of consent" and where, because of the persistent demand of women, the age has been raised, penalties have been lessened.^ Of the crimes of rape only a few are ever brought to trial and of those that are, the ages of victims are rarely above seventeen and more often below fifteen. Of 25 cases of conviction for rape in New York, from January 1, 1909, to June 30, 1909, one of the child victims was aged seven, one eleven, two were twelve, two were fourteen, five were fifteen, seven were sixteen, and the remainder were seven- teen. ■ The criines were committed by two boys of eighteen, two of nineteen, and the rest were men whose ages varied from twenty-one to fifty-four. The old English Magna Charta, which is the basis of our criminal law, provides that : "No Freeman shall he taken, or imprisoned, or dis- seized, or outlawed, or anyways destroyed, nor will we pass upon him, unless hy lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land. We will sell to no man, we will not ^See Hygiene and Morality, by Lavinla L. Dock.- 144 The World's Social Evil deny to any man, either justice or right." Clause 39, 40 King John's Charter. Blackstone and Coke, and all great American authori- ties, agree that these clauses of the charter are the most important bulwark of our liberties, and DeLolme, the emin- ent authority on constitutional law, says "it was one of the articles of Magna Charta, that the executive power should not touch the person of the subject, but in conse- quence of a judgment passed upon him by his peers. "^ "Power without right" remarked a British statesman, "is the most odious object that can be offered to the human imagination. It is not only pernicious to those who are subject to it, but it tends to its own destruction. Tyranny is detestable in every shape, but in none so formidable as when it is assumed by a number of tyrants." Let legislators ponder these fundamental terms, when they are tempted to adopt measures that would place the liberty and honor of women in the hands of irresponsible men, and let the "city fathers" of every city think well before they invest the police with power to control, pursue and impose penalties of plunder and prison on defense- less girls and women. In discussing the European system, Mrs. Josephine But- ler pointed out that the enforcement of the system always involved the danger of doing irreparable injury to inno- cent women. She asks: "Can it be supposed that wc are so blind as ever to be able to fancy that it is impossible that under this law, an innocent woman may be accused? On the contrary, it is obvious that the question of a woman's honor is one in which mistaken accusations are peculiarly likely to occur * * • We ought never to forget that the very 'De Lolme on the Constitution, p. 354. Wrongs and Tyranny 145 fact of jury trial, which guards the person wrongfully ac- cused, does itself also, more than any other thing, pre- vent such wrong accusations. Nor is there any accusa- tion so likely to be multiplied by the absence of trial by jury as that against woman's honor." That Mrs. Butler did not name a merely imaginary danger is a matter of serious record. We have spoken, in these pages, of Mrs. Percy of Aldershot, England, who chose death rather than submit, and a number of others are rec- orded in "An Address to Members of the American Legis- lature and Medical Profession" sent to this country in 1877 by the British Federation for the abolition of State Regulation of Prostitution. Dr. Barr of Aldershot, an Examining Surgeon, under the Contagious Diseases Acts, said in answer to a question by a member of a Parlimentary Committee, that the class of persons to be suspected for purposes of registration were "milliners and dressmakers, laborers' wives, the wives of small tradesmen, and domestic servants, of course." And so, this doctor, — a fair example of the class of the specialists who advocated and carried out the provisions of the system — regarded "married women and domestic servants of course," as fit subjects to suspect and bring under a law, against which they had no appeal, and which, to many of them was worse than death, even although they may have been irregular in habits and, like the men who sought them — unchaste. In an ably written life-story, which appeared in book form, in New York in 1895, the writer who confesses her- self "a member of the underworld" and dedicates her writing "To my sister outcasts everywhere," says: "Judgment Day has Come for the violators of the 146 The World's Social Evil seventh holy law. "While it takes two, one man and one woman, to break the law, but one, the woman, is held responsible and haled to judgment, and the man is left, as from the beginning, free in his independence to break all (the laws) he cares to, that one included * • * Let it be frankly acknowledged that we, the fallen outcasts, are not sinners above those who make us so, because on us alone judgment has fallen ; and let it go forth that in this new endeavor to destroy evil, punish the guilty, lift up the fallen, and inaugurate millenium happiness, there shall be no discrimination between the parties to the guilt, and one step forward will be taken toward finding the way to a wiser method of abatement, regulation, or suppression than has at any time, among the sons of men, prevailed. ' '^ But a demand for justice in the treatment of this social cancer comes from an unexpected quarter. The greatest authority among the defenders of the French system, a quarter of a century ago, was Dr. Chas. Mauriac of Paris. At that time Dr. Mauriac stated that there was more safety for immoral women in regulated houses than any- where. It was he who spoke of the legalized brothel as "the palladium of public safety." "Wholly different is the tone of his book, written after twenty years of experience of the system. He stands now as the logical and uncompromising opponent of specializ- ing legislation against woman. So clear and striking are his arguments that they have been copied and circulated largely in Europe. He says: "For ages past, efforts have been made to ensure the execution of regulations to pre- vent propagation of venereal maladies. It has been found impossible to accomplish this task without a permanent i"SocIal Damnation," Louise Tresscote. Wrongs and Tyranny 147 outrage on personal liberty, which has been more or less arbitrarily sacrificed in invoking the supreme law. Woman has always been the victim of these coercive measures. In this case, as in many others. Force has dominated Right. With a revolting injustice, and a ferocious egotism, man has condemned the woman. He has caused all the re- sponsibility of the evils caused by prostitution, and its consequent diseases, to weigh upon woman. "It is monstrous that every woman who makes a com- merce of her person should be submitted to a species of slavery, to certain measures which pretend to control the quality of the merchandise, and to protect the consumer. The consumer, however, in the first place, is able to pro- tect himself in the most efficacious fashion possible; that is to say, by not consuming. And again, why not re- strain the consumer by certain obligations and measures which in turn wiU guarantee the merchandise? WUl you ever do it? Never. How many abject creatures among men are more dangerous than women ? It is hardly believed how much there is of baseness, perversity, and absence of all principle existing among certain beings, who constitute a social calamity more degrading and repulsive than the worst of women prostitutes. And yet you respect these persons? No one dares to limit their freedom, nor to per- suade them to remain a single day more than they wish in a hospital, still less to detain them by force. But all this comes quite naturally in the case of women, and these measures in their case are considered as very mitigated measures. Why are not decrees and coercive measures enacted against aU the Knights of venereal industry? — procurers and souteneurs, who form such a dangerous army, exploiters of women under every name, the combinatori 148 The World's Social Evil who are so numerous in Italy, and all that indecent mascu- line personality of prostitution?"^ This is class legislation with vengeance. Can anyone think a more heinous and one-sided practice in law than this, which regards one of two parties to the same act as guilty of crime to be treated as condemned without trial, and often with no other evidence than that of suspicion; while the other is not even accused, or regarded as guilty of any wrong ? It recalls the strange company which assembled before Jesus Christ with an accusation against a woman. That com- pany of men brought a woman "taken," they said, "in adul- tery, in the very act. ' ' They did not bring the man or men- tion him as a party to the wrong. What Jesus wrote may be easily imagined. The one redeeming incident in the conduct of the men was that they read that writing on the ground and heard the words of Jesus, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." They were conscience stricken and went out, one by one, begin- ing at the eldest, even unto the last." John 8:9. 'Treatment de la Syphilis. Paris, 1896. "Men who indulge in base vice lose the fine quality of conscience without knowing it. First goes the power to blush; then comes levity, the coarseness, the positive delight in obscenity, which shocks the right-minded. The roue loses faith in the purity of women and of men, and judges the world by himself. It is simply inconceivable to him that anyone can be other than the debased and polluted creature which he has valuntarily made him- self."— Dr. G. F. Lydston, "The Diseases of Society." "Men have no criterion to judge of purity or good- ness but woman. Some portion of this purity and good- ness always adheres to woman, even though she may lapse from virtue; she makes a willing sacrifice of her- self on the altar of affection, and thinks only of him for whom it is made; while men think of themselves alone." — Byron. Chastity is the flowering of man ; and what are called Genius, Heroism, Holiness, and the like, are but fruits which succeed it. Man flows at once to God when the channel of purity is open. By turns our purity inspires and our impurity casts us down. He is blessed who is assured that the animal is dying out in him, day by day, and the Divine being established. — Henry Thoreau. Since things spontaneously change for the worse, if they be not by design changed for the better, evils must accumulate without end. — Lord Bacon. CHAPTER VI. PLUNDER A^fD GRAFT. Among the worst of the fruits of the regulation systen^ is the plunder and graft which invariably attend it. It has perverted politicians and police. There are, of course, politicians and policemen who are above the bait of bawdy house spoils; but wherever license, registration or police rule are substituted for law, there is also the graft that is drawn from the very bodies and souls of women who have been debauched through poverty, seduced by passion or enslaved by force, for gold. In every large city, the bosses of certain wards or election precincts control the ballot by fraud. Not only is the price paid out of the earnings of th« poor, degraded girls of the red-light district, but the gangs who control them — traffickers who own them — and the pimps who entrap them, are the tools of the bosses; and the police who are supposed to be the servants of the people, are in the pay of the system. We have seen that the vice graft of New York reached colossal proportions for a number of years, under Tammany rule. McClure's Mag- azine published an exposure of the Common Council of 1871, which became known as the "Forty Thieves," and in 1865-1871 "the city was robbed of about $200,000,000 by Tammany, while under the rule of 'Boss Tweed.' " In 1892 revenue from vice assumed great proportions in that city. '.'The estimated annual blackmail by the Tammany police alone" was $7,000,000. Ex-Police Commissioner Bingham estimated that in 1910, from 1,500 to 2,000 members of the 152 The World's Social Evil police force were as unscrupulous as grafters "whose hands are always out for easy money." The same authority de- clares in Hampton's Magazine, in November, 1910, that "The fining system is the most prolific source of police graft in existence," and says: "It is always easier and cheaper for the woman to pay bribe money than to go to a court, so she or her protector sound out a new man on a beat, or a new captain in a station. If he shows a dis- position to treat with them, they pay always in advance." How It Was Done in New York : — The Committee of Fourteen reporting on "The Social Evil in New York," in 1910, says: "In addition to this the main body of the force are continually subject to the temptation of doing 'favors' for friends among politicians and others who are interested in the business of prostitution. The follow- ing illustrations are given: A policeman had been sta- tioned for several months in front of a notorious disorder- ly house, for the purpose of securing evidence and warn- ing prospective patrons from entering the premises. One night a man walked up to the door of this house and the warning he received was that his visit would probably cost him $20. "It is alleged that in May, 1908, an officer was detailed to watch three disorderly houses in one block. The pro- prietors of these houses made up a purse of $300, which was turned over to a business man on 8th Avenue. This money was for the purpose of having an order issued to re- move the officer from duty in front of these houses. With- in forty-eight hours the order was issued, and the officer was transferred to Broadway. "Although the records show that a number of places were not reported, no police officers have been tried on charges of neglect of duty for failure to report these places. Plunder and Graft 153 According to the reports published in the 'Chief/ 5,444 police officers were tried on charges from September 1, 1908, to February 28, 1909, the period covered by the re- ports of the police precinct captains. Not one was for fail- ure to report a disorderly place. A study of 500 con- secutive cases showed that 40 per cent, were for absence from post and 10 per cent, for absence from roll call. Such offenses as failure to report a dead cat appeared, but none relating to the protection from vice. "Such conditions could not have existed in defiance of the laws except through the payment of protection money, through favors shown politicians interested in houses of this character, and through political preferment of lawyers, magistrates and judges, and other rewards. In a recent interview a collector for the police in the 'Tenderloin' during the period described, stated that the amounts paid by the large houses varied from $400 to $600 per month. As an illustration, the amounts paid each month by a pro- prietor of a house on 27th Street, which contained thirty women were as follows: Plain clothes men $205; patrol- men $184; inspectors $100; sergeants in plain clothes $40; sergeants in uniform $50; total $529. In general, money paid for protection was distributed about as follows: Policemen on post from 8 A. M. to 2 P. M. $1.00, from 2 P. M., to 8 P. M., $2.00, from 8 P. M. to 2 A. M., $2.00." In November, 1900, Bishop Potter published a ringing letter, openly denouncing the governing forces of New York, and said: "When a minister of religion goes to the headquarters of the police to appeal to them for the pro- tection of the young, the innocent and defenseless, against the leprous harpies who are hired as runners and touters for the lowest and most infamous dens of vice, he has met, 154 The World's Social Evil not only with contempt and derision (of police officials) but with the coarsest insult and obloquy." The graft scandal of San Francisco was one of the most startling revelations that has ever been published. The city was held up for robbery and plunder by its own government. Mayor Schmitz, with the aid of Reuch, a corrupt city lawyer, made appointments of men to nearly all the chief offices of the city, who were obedient partners in the gigantic swindle. In 1904 three of the officials "conceived the idea of opening a big house of prostitution in Chinatown and running it under the secret protection, if not under the auspices, of the municipal administration. After making a partnership arrangement with Schmidt and Eeuch, they purchased an old three-story Chinese opium joint, which was known to frequenters of the Barbary Coast as the "Palace Hotel." As the building was not adapted to their purposes and asitwould cost a good deal to tear.itdown they had it condemned by the Board of Health, as "un- sanitary," and then got the Board of Public Works to de- molish and remove it, at the city's expense. Upon the site thus obtained they erected, at a cost of $100,000, a large brick building, containing 144 two-room apartments, col- loquially known as "cribs." These cribs were run as brothels and the women who occupied them "paid rent at the rate of $35.00 per week for each apartment; and the gross receipts of the house, including the earnings of its inmates, were probably not less than $500,000 a year. The system was also a tremendous agent in the hands of blackmailers. In Europe, under the license system, not only women prostitutes, but virtuous women, sometimes ac- companied by their husbands or sweethearts, have been grossly insulted and blackmailed. The whole of the black Plunder and Graft 155 catalogue of these monstrous wrongs has never been re- corded and never will be known. "Thieves for their robbery have authority When judges steal themselves." Measure for Measure. Once in a while a quarrel occurs in the thieves' castle and a window pane is placed in the wall. Once in a while, too, one of the thieves finds that his conscience is not dead, and a whole dark chapter of crimes are written — crimes that are so black that the highway robber on the way to Jericho was himself a good Samaritan in comparison. Many abuses have been reported, especially under the European system. In America there are also numerous instances of the system which forces blackmail, directly or in- directly, from the price of the bodies and souls of young girls. At the door of an infamous house in Custom House Place, Chicago, before the red-light district was driven further south, a policeman was stationed on a certain occa- sion. The keeper of the house was asked why the officer was at the door. The answer was: "0, to scare folks away." "Why? "What's up? I thought you were pro- tected." Further inquiry revealed the fact that the woman had been taxed $1.00 each for 500 tickets for the First Ward ball, and that on refusal to "stand for it," she found an officer placed at her door and she supposed he would not be removed until she paid the money. On January 23, 1911, Brolaski, a converted gambler, told a story at a meeting in Chicago called together by the W. C. T. U. in the First Methodist Church. The story was printed in full in the next day's Chicago Tribune. Perhaps all the details of the story could not have been given as Court testimony. But it has been told, with all detail of names and circumstances, so plainly, and so fully, that the 156 The World's Social Evil ridicule with which it is said to have been received in ofS- cial circles, does not shake it from public acceptance as a general statement of actual facts. The Minneapolis Vice Commission, in its able report quotes the following from Dr. Dock's work on "Hygiene and Morality:" (1) "It corrupts and demoralizes the police and offers end- less opportunities for blackmail and extortion. Here it may be emphasized that although there is in the United States no official recognition of vice, yet there is blackmail and extortion because the police in many cities, under the pressure of corrupt social elements, have developed a system of protection for vice which approaches closely to an official alliance with it. (2) "It exposes innocent women to persecution. Numerous instances of this kind are on record. Respectable girls have been reported to the police from motives of revenge, and self- supporting women have been driven from positions and their property manipulated away from them. Cases have been known where such victims have been driven to suicide. (3) "Regulation bears with special hardship on the poorest women. Indeed, it may be said that only the very poor and de- fenceless are exposed to its full horrors. The fact that immoral women who are able to command ample means are safe against the severities of the law has been frequently mentioned by writers belonging to different countries." In Europe, where the system has so long prevailed, this form of outrage grew to such proportions as to menace the safety of people in the public streets. A few such cases are cited: "Berlin, 1872. — The Berlin correspondent of the Lon- don Daily Telegraph, October 26, 1872, says that arrests of virtuous women are made there every day and night by policemen in plain clothes, and they are threatened with being sent to prison on the charge of being 'no better Plunder and Graft 157 than they should be,' unless they give the policeman a bribe to let them off. ' ' "Lille, 1873. — The London Daily News, February 12, 1873, gives an account of a gang of ruffians who had just been discovered in that city. They had assumed an official costume, and under the pretence of being 'special police' had during four years levied blackmail upon men and compelled young women to submit to their desires under the threat of placing the women on the register of prosti- tutes if they refused. A German youth and his sweet- heart resisted. The man was killed, but the woman es- caped and gave the alarm, and the gang of about 20 men were eventually arrested. The leader boasted that during these four years 500 Lille women had thus submitted to him and his accomplices." "England, 1872.— The Times, April 10, 1872, gives the report of the conviction at Canterbury of a man for extorting money from a young man and his female com- panion on the threat of charging her with being a prostitute, saying that he was a policeman under the C. D. Acts. The Government prosecuted, because "such cases were of fre- quent occurrence." The prisoner was sentenced to five years penal servitude. "Society must be relieved by sound instruction of the horrible doctrine that the begetting and bearing of chil- dren are in the slightest degree sinful or foul processes. That doctrine lies at the root of the feeling of shame in connection, with these processes and of the desire for secrecy. The plain fact is that there is nothing so sa- cred and propitious on earth as the bringing of another normal child into the world in marriage. There is nothing staining or deiiling about it, and therefore there is no need for shame or secrecy, but only for pride and joy. This doctrine should be part of the instruction given to all young people." — Charles W. Eliot, President Emeritus, Harvard University. "So live that your afterself — ^the man you ought to be — may in his time be possible and actual. Far away in the twenties, the thirties of the Twentieth Century, he is awaiting his turn. His body, his brain, his soul are in your boyish hands. He cannot help himself. What will you leave for him? Will it be a brain un- spoiled by lust or dissipation, a mind trained to think and act, a nervous system true as a dial in its response to the truth about you? Willyou, boy of the Twentieth Century, let him come as a man among men in his time, or will you throw away his inheritance before he has had the chance to touch it? Will you let him come, taking your place, gaining through your experience, hallowed through your joys, building on them his own, or will you fling his hope away, decreeing, wanton-like, that the man you might have been shall never be?" — David Starr Jordan, Chancellor Leland Stanford Junior University. CHAPTEE VII. A VENEREAL PERIL IN AMERICA. I. THE GREAT BLACK PLAGUE. An Appalling Inventory. — Based upon statements, experiences and opinions of physicians, public officials, and other responsible citizens 50 to 80 per cent, of all men, be- tween the ages of 18 and 30 years, contract gonorrhea. 10 to 18 per cent, of the male population contract syphilis. 40 to 60 per cent, of all operations upon women for diseases of the generative organs result from gonorrheal infection. 80 per cent, of the inflammatory diseases peculiar to women are a result of gonorrheal infection. A large per cent, (some say one-half) of still-born and premature deaths of children is due to syphilis. 25 to 35 per cent, of all cases of insanity are caused by syphilis contracted years before. 15 to 20 per cent, of all blindness is attributed to these diseases. A large proportion of cases of apoplexy, paralysis and sudden death is traceable directly to these diseases. It would be gratifying indeed if we could establish any good grounds of doubt as to the correctness of the main facts represented by these statements, but, aside from cer- tain variations, through insufficient or incorrect data, there can be little doubt that the facts are substantially as given. 160 The World's Social Evil Such a catalogue of physical diseases constitutes an indict- ment against the entire governing and educating forces of America. The decline of nations, ancient and modern, is trace- able to the fact that the physical stamina and health rapid- ly deteriorate in proportion to the extravagances and in- crease of the social evil ; and degeneracy sets in so rapidly that any government may well take alarm in the presence of such terrible facts as are revealed to us. It may indeed be said that, greater than all other perils of disease, not excluding that of tuberculosis, is the one prevailing and increasing evil known as Venereal Diseases. As Dr. Mor- row remarks: "No disease has such murderous influence upon the offspring as syphilis; no disease has such a de- structive influence upon the health and procreative func- tion of women as gonorrhea. — It is the most widespread and universal of all diseases in the adult and male popula- tion." That such conditions are possible, and that the plague is increasing in volume, rather than lessening, means in- evitable national degeneracy and race suicide, to the utter destruction and ultimate downfall of this great nation, unless every force of prevention, regeneration and deliver- ance can be aroused to earnest, united and prompt action. That there may be no mistake as to the magnitude and malignancy of the plague the following statements, and authorities, are quoted: "In 1901 the Medical Society of the County of New York appointed a Committee of Seven for the 'Study of Measures for the Prophylaxis of Venereal Diseases.' Dr. Prince A. Morrow was Chairman, and Dr. L. Weiss, Secre- tary. The report of the Committee was issued from the The Venereal Peril 161 press of the Medical News, Dec. 21, 1901. Circulars were sent to 4,750 physicians and to all hospitals, dispensaries, etc., in greater New York, making inquiry as to the char- acter and extent of venereal infection. Six hundred and seventy-eight of these physicians answered, in a definite way, and from their reports the following facts are taken : Number of cases of gonorrhea reported for 678 physicians, 15,038. Men: 12,966 (when sex was not stated the male was as- sumed). Women: 1,941. Pelvic complications in 724 cases — nearly 40 percent. Children: 265 Opthalmia. 218 Valvovaginitis. 5 Urethritis. Number of cases of Syphilis reported, 7,200. Men: 5,014. Women: 1,657. Of this number it would seem that 988, or nearly 60 percent, received the infection from their husbands. Children: 61 acquired; 468 hereditary. This does not include, except in a very few instances, the numher of children who died at, or before birth. For each of the 468 children with hereditary syphilis, who lived, there were probably five who died at, or before birth, record of which is not included in the totals given here. The' 678 physicians reporting constitutes about one- seventh of the number of physicians in New York. As- suming that the other six-sevenths would average about the same proportion of cases the total number of cases of gonorrhea and syphilis treated in private practice by New York physicians, in one year, prior to 1902, would be ap- proximately 162,372 when the population of the city was less than four millions. This estimate does not take into account the cases treated by patent medicine venders, quacks, etc. 162 The World's Social Evil In addition to the reports from the physicians, forty- five dispensaries and charitable institutions were asked for information. Nine refused. Thirty-seven gave the inform- ation or permitted their records to he searched. The result of this was that the 37 institutions showed 14,649 cases of gonorrhoea, 7,600 case of syphilis, 9,452 unclassified venereal diseases, making a total of 31,708. Based upon these reports the Committee estimated the number of cases of venereal diseases in Greater New York in one year, prior to 1911, at 225,000. This estimate does not include those who came to New York and contracted the disease, but upon whom it did not develop until later, nor did it include the number of sailors who frequent the rough district in the Bowery. The records of the hospitals also abound with cases of locomotor ataxia, rickets, cerebral and spinal accidents, monoplegias, hemeplegias, general paralysis, epilepsy, and various nervous affections of which syphilis is a frequent, though not always a contributing cause. COMPARISON OF SEVERAL CONTAGIOUS DISEASES, WITH VENEREAL DISEASE FOR 1901 IN NEW YORK CITY. Cases Deaths Venereal Disease 225,000 Measles, 12,530 816 Diphtheria 11,001 1,920 Scarlet Fever 7,387 465 Chicken Pox 1,251 1 Small Pox 99 12 Tuberculosis 8,877 8,154 The number of deaths from venereal disease could not be ascertained. Death from these diseases is usually re- corded under some medical term which does not convey to the non-medical public the original cause of the last illness and death. The Venereal Peril 163 The following extracts from an address of Dr. Prince A. Morrow, published in the American Journal of Sociology, July, 1907, are of especial importance in this connection : "With tuberculosis, perhaps even more than tuber- culosis, social diseases, constitute the greatest social scourge of our modern civilization. This class of diseases has been aptly designated 'The Great Black Plague.' " "Gonorrhoea is liable to infect the eyes of the child at birth. Eighty per cent, of the ophthalmia of the new born, and 15 to 20 per cent, of all blindness is attributed to gonococcus infection, to say nothing of the vulvo-vagini- tis, the arthritis, and other accidental infections of chil- dren in family life." ' ' The chief significance of these diseases as a social danger comes from their introduction into married life. It is the popular impression that they are spread exclusively through illegitimate sexual relations. Unfortunately, a large pro- portion of men , contract these diseases at or before the marriageable age. Many of them marry ignorant of the fact that they are bearers of contagion to their wives and offspring." ' ' Gynecologists tell us that 80 per cent, of the inflamma- tory diseases peculiar to women, and 50 per cent, of all the operations performed by surgeons on the maternal organs are the result of gonococcus infection. ' ' One specific effect of this disease upon the pelvic organs of women is to extinguish the conceptional capacity. It is estimated that 50 per cent, of gonorrhoeally infected women are rendered permanently sterile. "If the wife is infected with syphilis, in addition to the risks to her individual health already referred to, the disease may be transmitted in full virulence to the off- 164 The World's Social Evil spring, killing them outright or resulting in physical and mental weaklings. From 60 to 80 per cent, of syphilitic children die before being born or shortly after birth. "It would be a conservative estimate to state that the morbidity from both these infections (gonorrhoea and syphilis) would represent 60 per cent, of the adult male population in this country. While these diseases may occur at any period of life, they are essentially maladies of early life. Probably 60 per cent, of infections occur before the twenty-fifth year. "The significance of syphilis as a danger to health and life is not measured so much by its immediate effects, as by the changes it sets up in certain internal organs es- sential to life; such as the brain, liver, heart, and arterial system, and which are the direct cause of death at a more or less remote period. It is estimated that 90 per cent, of cases of locomotor ataxia, a large but indeterminate proportion of the paralyses and general paresis are caused by syphilis. Recent investigations in the French insane hospitals show that 25 to 39 per cent, of deaths in those, institutions may be traced to syphilis." Dr. Wm. L. Holt says: — "A special committee ap- pointed to study the social evil and its results in New York in 1903 estimated that there were probably as many as 200,- 000 syphilitics in that city. ' ' The fact that venereal diseases find many more victims in America than does tuberculosis is clearly shown by the records of the outpatient department of the Massachusetts General Hospital. During the year 1904 nearly a thousand (983) patients were treated for venereal diseases, while only 430 were treated for all forms of tuberculosis." Elsewhere Dr. Morrow says : "It should be known that The Venereal Peril 165 the spread of tuberculosis is not simply a question of seed and environment, but chiefly one of soil suitable for the development of the tubercle bacilli. It is a fact well rec- ognized by the medical profession that syphilis, by lower- ing the vitality and weakening resistance, produces a con- dition favorable to the development of tuberculosis. Until the spread of syphilis is effectively checked the fight against tuberculosis will be but partially successful. Children Slain by Veneeealism : — The murderous ef- fects of these diseases upon children is stated by the Chi- cago Vice Commission thus: "One of the saddest aspects of the whole problem of the social evil is the fact that hundreds of innocent children have become infected by venereal diseases. "During a period of twenty-seven months 600 children under twelve years of age have passed through the venereal ward of the Cook County Hospital. Sixty per cent, of the children had been innocently infected, twenty per cent, inherited the disease, and twenty-five per cent, had been assaulted by diseased persons. About fifteen per cent, had syphilis and eighty-five per cent, had gonorrhoea. "At one time there was an epidemic of gonorrhoea among little girls in the contagious ward of the County Hospitals. Eighty-six cases of this dreadful disease were brought in by fifteen children. The dreadful results of venereal diseases among children are almost beyond be- lief." Social Evil in Chicago, p. 241. In confirmation of these alarming facts of disease among children. Dr. Clara P. Seippel, Interne at the Cook County Hospital (1909) says: "I have personally gone over the hooks for the year 1910, and find that in those twelve months three hundred and 166 The World's Social Evil thirty (330) children were admitted to the venereal chil- dren's ward of the Cook County Hospital. "Compared with six hundred in twenty-seven months, two years ago, this shows a decided increase, which is further emphasized by the fact that two of the homes which were formerly heavy contributors to this ward, now, (and have for the past year or two), took care of their own in- fected cases, instead of sending them to the county. "Of these 330 cases in 1910, 293 were girls, of whom 252 had gonorrheal vulvo-vaginitis ; 116 of these 252 came to the hospital with the diagnosis made, or they came for that reason alone. The remainder came in for other reasons, and the disease was discovered; that is to say, a child with a broken arm, or typhoid fever is brought to the hospital, a smear is taken of every little girl, and if gon- ococci are discovered she is sent to the children's venereal ward. At least 90 per cent, came from their homes direct. ' ' Dr. Howard Kelly of Baltimore writes thus : "In Balti- more, in my own clinic at the Johns Hopkins Hospital alone, we have had over 189 cases of little children, some but wee babes in arms, violated, and in every instance in- fected with the most disgusting diseases to which flesh is heir, gonorrhoea or syphilis, and in a number of instances the poor little innocent sufferer has contracted both in ad- dition to her defloration. "Dr. Pollack, who conducts this clinic, after making a searching examination of our own and other local records, has estimated conservatively that from 800 to 1,000 chil- dren between the age of one and fifteen are yearly im- molated in our city alone on the altar of perverted brutal male lust, made to suffer the physical tortures, defloration, and often infected with these frightful diseases from which The Venereal Peril 167 they may never recover. Let me emphasize the fact that the 189 cases coming under our own direct personal in- spection were every one of them infected with gonorrhoea, and six were infected with syphilis as well." Locomotor Ataxia: — Dr. Kelly states that "Most eases of locomotor-ataxia, now so common, are traceable to this source. Were it not for this disease and alcoholism, with their immediate or remote consequences, our Insane Asylums would in large measure be depopulated. Almost all the paralyses in men under forty come from this affec- tion. The "Wasserman reaction shows that practically all prostitutes have it. New York is estimated to have 200,- 000 syphilitic subjects and probably four times as many gonorrhoics. Grihon estimated that there are two million cases in the United States. The same authority tells us that these diseases are more to be dreaded than tuberculosis, as far as their effect upon the general health is concerned: "It must he known and recognized that these venereal diseases are far more contagious and far mare widespread and far more important economically than the dreaded tuberculosis which we are beginning to treat so sensibly." J. Bayard Clark, M. D., surgeon to Bellevue Hospital, New York, in an address before the Medical Society of the county of "Westchester, at Yonkers, November 21, 1905, said: "It was not many years ago that gonorrhea was looked upon as a local inflammation which ran in a majority of cases a mild course ending in complete cure. Today we recognize in gonorrhea a formidable infection, which has invaded every tissue of the human body and from which no class of society is immune. Gonorrhea is said to be 168 The World's Social Evil the most widespread and universal disease affecting the adult male population." Insanity : — Dr. Wm. Mahon, Supt. and Medical Direc- tor of Manhattan State Hospital, New York, says : "Among the patients admitted to this hospital during the year ended Sept. 30, 1910, there were 149 cases of paresis and 14 eases of eerebro-spinal syphilis. "During the year ended Sept. 30, 1909, the hospitals for the insane in the state of New York reported the following regarding the frequency of paresis: 731 patients were admitted suffering from this disease; 534 men, equal to 15.5 per cent, of the male admissions; 197 women, equal to 6 per cent, of the female admissions." Dr. J. P. Percival, General Superintendent of Dunning Hospital for the Insane, Cook County, Illinois, says : "During the year 1910 there were admitted 1,239 in- sane patients at Dunning Institution — 60 per cent, male and 40 per cent, female. Out of this number there were 194 paretics, or 16 per cent, due to syphilis. The scientific world is aware of the fact that 90 per cent, of paresis is caused by syphilis. Two-thirds of Chicago's insane are received at Dunning, the remaining one-third are sent to the State institutions of Illinois." In the same state, Illinois, the General Assembly of 1911 appropriated about nine million dollars for the care of the insane, convicts, feeble minded children, blind, etc., for the succeeding two years. Estimates vary as to the proportion of the male popula- tion having been afflicted with these diseases. Dr. Morrow places the proportion of men who are, or who have been, affected by gonorrhoea, at 75 per cent, or more; and he says that, "The prevalence of syphilis, though not nearly The Venereal Peril 169 so universal, is variously estimated at from 5 to 8 per cent. This would mean that in a city like Chicago, there are at least 120,000 persons afflicted with syphilis, and through- out the United States there are 3,000,000 of such syphilitic sufferers, while three-fourths of all men, or — say 10,000,000 of the men of the United States are, or have been afflicted with gonorrhoea." Noeggerath states that "of every thousand men mar- ried in New York eight hundred have or have had gonor- rhoea, from which the great majority of the wives have been affected. Incredible as these figures appear, they are of- fered and accredited by most careful, and conservative, scientific men. Who shall tell to what extent other diseases, such as tuberculosis, are also attributable to these These statistics, however, are not here offered as final or authoritative. In the nature of the case they can only be based upon the experience and observation of the medical profession. We incline to the opinion that some of the estimates are excessive — not taking into account the large proportion of men who rarely or never consult physicians, and who are probably the most free from any form of venereal taint. The truth is that apart from the records of the Army and Navy there are no accurate or scientific data on which to base such statistics, because venereal diseases are not included in the list of those which are compulsorily re- ported. Yet, when all this is taken into account the ratio of men who are, or have been, affected by this revolting and race-destroying disease is appalling and would certainly justify the most urgent attention — not only of all educa- tors, but also of the governing bodies of states and nation. 170 The World's Social Evil No legal action looking to the suppression of the chief cause of it ; — which is admittedly the brothel — could be too drastic, and no vote of money should be deemed excessive which could be wisely spent in promoting a new standard of thought in relation to social evil and a better knowledge of the evils attending it, and of the causes leading to it. THE SOURCE OP VENEREAL DISEASE. It is not within the province of this work to discuss at length the prophylaxis of sexual hygiene. On that sub- ject the medical profession is the proper authority ; and it is gratifying to observe that physicians are awakening to a sense of their obligations in the matter. But we may raise a question. The generally accepted idea of social diseases is that they are communicable only through persons already infected. In other words, if neither of two persons are infected, there will be no ven- ereal disease attending their sexual union. It is not made clear and we do not know that it has ever been definitely stated, with the weight of any author- ity, that these disorders originate only with sexual excess and uncleanness. Fournier, the great French authority on Venerealism, assumes that the contagion is wide-spread and inevitable through contact with persons already affected, but we have not seen that he traces the germs of the disease to an origin- al source. Dr. Acton treats the subject in the same manner, dis- missing the question of its source by this simple statement ; "Venereal diseases are affections more or less directly the consequence of sexual intercourse."^ ^"Prostitution," Wm. Acton, M. R. C. S. 1857. England. The Venereal Peril 171 Dr. Prince Morrow throws a little light upon the subject in the preface of his book on "Social Diseases and Mar- riage." "Venereal diseases, in their mode of origins and pathological effects, strike at the very root of nature's process for the perpetuation of the race. From the many points at which they touch the relation between the sexes, social morality, and the welfare of society, they are pre- eminently social diseases. ' ' Dr. Morrow offered some further light in a contribution to the "American Journal of Sociology, July, 1907." In the ordinary conception, the prostitute with her cortege of infections is the exclusive cause of their propagation; but while the prostitute is the chief source, she is by no means the exclusive agency in its spread; she is but the purveyor of the infection — she returns to one or several consumers the infection she has received from another con- sumer. It is not the prostitute but her partner who carries the poison home and distributes it to his family. The question is important. There will be an added weight to the warnings against all irregular and immoral sexual union if it is shown that the primary origin of venereal diseases is only to be found in excess and un- cleanness, and that there would be no contagion to afflict innocent women or children if there were no sexual vice. If venereal diseases strike at the root of Nature's process of race perpetuation it is not because the seeds of these fearful maladies are sown by Nature, but that they are direct results of her broken laws. To read in the various Vice Commission reports that women in the so-called red-light districts, frequently receive as many as twenty, and sometimes as many as thirty, or more, men in a single night, is a terrible announcement 172 The World's Social Evil which implies to our minds, the inevitableness of disease, even if it had not previously existed in any one of the numerous agents thus associated. The absolute suppression of a business which depends for its very existence upon such barbarous outrages upon nature, resulting inevitably in the spread of diseases, which decimate the population of civilized countries more than war, pestilence, and earthquakes combined, ought not to need any urging upon the governing forces of our coun- try. "in Germany there are 30,000 blind due to gonorrhoea, and with all the skill that the thorough-going Germans can bring to bear upon the treatment of the infection, recog- nized at its very outset in the eyes of the babe, nay, even anticipated, there yet remains an annual crop of 600 cases of this perfectly preventable form of blindness due to voluntary causes. The Venereal Peril 173 II IN THE AMERICAN ARMY AND NAVY. "The venereal peril has come to outweigh in im- portance any other sanitary question which now con- fronts the Army and neither our National optimism nor the Anglo-Saxon disposition to ignore a subject which is offensive to public prudery can longer excuse a frank and honest confrontation of the problem." — ^War Report. The natural tendency of militarism is to attach supreme importance to the physical conditions of the men of Armies and Navies. Physique and health are regarded as the first essentials of their effectiveness and value. Fitness for a soldier, or a sailor, is gauged by a physical standard, with little or no reference to mental or moral ideals. If, therefore, it could be shown that vice contributed to the general health and strength of the men, every argu- ment against prostitution would be swept aside as irrele- vant to militarism. But we are face to face with the amazing fact that the HEALTH AND EFFECTIVENESS FOR SERVICE, OP THE ArMY AND Navy of the United States, are destroyed moke by venereal diseases than by all other contagious diseases combined. This statement — extraordinary and sensational as it may seem — is made on the authority of the reports of the ablest and most conservative of the Military and Naval Department of our American Government. Here are statements taken from "Reports of the Secre- tary of War" during a period of years: 1905: "By far the most important diseases affecting the efficiency of the Army during the year, have been the venereal, which caused 16 per cent, of all admissions, 28 174 The World's Social Evil per cent, of all noneffectiveness, and 18 per cent, of all discharges for disease." p. 8. 1906 : ' ' Venereal diseases were again by far the most important affeetiag the efficiency of the Army during the year, . . causing 19 per cent, of all admissions, 15 per cent, of all discharges, and 30 per cent, of all non- effectiveness from diseases. There were constantly on sick report for this class of diseases 710 men, equal to the loss for the entire year of the service of about eleven companies of infantry. The increase noted in all the rates, except that for discharge, for venereal diseases indicates a most unsatisfactory condition." p. 30. 1907: "Venereal diseases were again by far the most important diseases affecting the efficiency of the army dur- ing the year. There were constantly on sick report for this class of affections 739 men." p. 17. 1908: "Venereal diseases were again by far the most important item affecting the efficiency of the army." p. 21. 1909 : ' ' Venereal diseases cause a greater sick rate than all of the others added together. The total noneffective rate for the venereal group is 11.64, while that of the other nine diseases in 8.88 per 1,000. p. 17. 1910: "While the infectious diseases generally showed a diminishing prevalence, there is, unfortunately, no im- provement in the sick rate for venereal diseases, which caused during the year more sickness and non-efficiency than all other diseases named — (tuberculosis, articular rheumatism, malarial fevers, dysentery, acute bronchitis, typhoid fever, diarrhoea and enteritis, and measles), p. 15. 1911 : "The excellent sanitary record of the army has been marred and its efficiency impaired by the high per- centage of venereal diseases which causes more disability than all other contagious diseases combined." p. 7. The Venereal Peril 175 1912: Venereal diseases still hold first place for both admissions and non-effective rate. Nearly one-third of the total number of admissions for disease were due to venereal diseases, p. 715. Surgeon-General George H. Tomey, in his exhaustive report to the Secretary of War for 1910, furnishes a table showing the relative admissions to hospital for the five dis- eases causing the highest rates per 1,000 men from which the following are taken : Eates of admission per 1,000 men : Venereal Diseases Tonsillitis Bronchitis Influenza Diarrhoea 177.46 64,61 36,66 34,87 38.06 ^ The report for 1912 shows a small decrease in all these ratios. ^ The same chart also shows the "non-effective ratios per 1,000 of mean strength for the five diseases causing the highest rates in the United States proper:" Venereal diseases ^— — — ^-^^^-^^^^— 11.44 11.44 Tuberculosis -^-^^ 3.33 Tonsillitis ^— 1.03 Rheumatism -^ 1.02 Bronchitis — .70 6.08 The reader will see that the combined ratios of admis- sions to hospital for the four serious diseases named is 163.99 ; the ratio of the single class of venereal diseases is 176.46. And, further, that the ratios per 1,000 men, in the 176 The World's Social Evil United States army, who are rendered non-efficient by four other serious diseases combined, including the dreaded tu- berculosis, is 6.08, while the ratio for venereal diseases alone is 11.44, or nearly double the ratio of the other four com- bined. ALCOHOLISM AND VENEREAL DISEASES. It is generally recognized that one of the greatest of scourges that afflict soldiers and sailors, as well as civilians, is intemperance. Surgeon-General Torney has furnished a number of charts, one of which shows, that great as is the evil of alcoholism, it does not compare, as a cause of non- efficiency of the army, with the venereal peril. The same chart shows that there has been a steadily growing increase in these diseases reaching the highest mark in the last year reported (1909) except 1905. Beginning with the year 1898, the following is the record. Table showing the admission rates for venereal diseases and alcoholism in U. S. Army. Black mles veneral. Faint rules alcoholism. 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1906 1908 1907 1908 1909 79.92 18.38 23.80 22.65 24.69 27.61 14S.24 168.E8 156.81 168.08 168.80 163.43 29.42 200.33 190.44 196.62 194.13 196.99 23.88 Report of Surgeon General 1910, page 17 The Venereal Peril 177 Of conditions in the Philippines, Surgeon-General Tor- ney says : ' ' The first place among causes for admissions is still occupied by venereal diseases. Nearly 94 per cent of the admissions for this cause for all troops were from American troops. Among the Filipino troops it occupied the sixth place only, this marked difference doubtless be- ing a result of the fact that a majority of the natives are married. Over one-third of the total number of days lost, were incurred, not in line of duty; due almost entirely to venereal diseases." ROOSEVELT'S VETO OP CERTIFIED PROSTITUTION IN THE PHILIPPINES. "Before the American occupation of the Philippines Manila had not more than a score of prostitutes, and was remarkable among the cities of the world for Its freedom from this com- mercialized vice, but with American occupation lewd women came in by the boat load and ere long military authorities in the Islands without any authorization from the administration adopted a system of regulation and certification of prostitution. The photograph of a Philippino girl would be taken and reproduced by photo engraving and printed on a card with the opposite page containing the statement that the girl, whose pic- ture was presented herewith, had been examined by military surgeons whose name was signed below, and of course the im- pression was given by this certificate that escape from God's retribution for sin is guaranteed. One of these cards was sent to Mrs. M. D. Ellis, Legislative Agent of the National W. C. T. U. at Washington, who had it reproduced entire and sent to Senators, Congressmen, Cabinet Officers and their wives, as proof, that for the first time under the American fiag, this vice had been licensed, for in each case the girl concerned had paid a fee for this certificate. Many protests were sent to President Roosevelt asking him to take action, as having full power for suppression of this dis- grace, and accordingly a cablegram was sent to the Philippines, "by order of the President," over-ruling this certification and in- cluding the words, worthy to be rung out through all the land, and in all the world, as having the weight of the Bx-Police Com- missioner of New York City, as well as the President," "THE ONLY WAY TO DIMINISH THE CONSEQUENCES OP VICE IS TO DIMINISH THE VICE."— Wilbur F Crafts, Baltimore. 178 The World's Social Evil The report includes a chart which gives the rate of ad- missions per 1,000 of the army in the Philippines, from which we take the following: (page 92) For Venereal Diseases 301.85 Dengue 130.18 Malarial Fevers 112.35 Furlncle & Phlegmon 64.08 Diarrhea 59.79 The same chart gives the rate for non-effectiveness of soldiers in the U. S. army as follows : Venereal Diseases 21.15 Dysentery 2.99 Malarial Fevers 2.42 Dengue 2.30 Diarrhea 1.17 Senate Document No. 419 says : "Among the troops stationed in the Philippines, the ven- ereal morbidity during the year 1904 was 297 per 1,000, largely exceeding the morbidity from malarial fevers and diarrhea ; 22 out of every 1,000 soldiers were constantly in- effective from venereal diseases, four times as many as from any other disease." COMPARISON WITH OTHER ARMIES. Surgeon-General Tomey makes the following statement : (1910 Report— page 60) "Reports since the Spanish- American War show a steady and progressive increase in this class of diseases, so that the admission rate which was 84.59 per 1,000 in 1897 has now reached the enormous figure of 196.99 per 1,000. These figures are greatly in excess of those which obtain in The Venereal Peril 179 European armies, the rates for the latter being, according to the latest obtainable information": British (at home 68.4) 75.8 Austro-Hungarlan 54.2 French (at home 27.8) 38.8 Prussian 18.7 Bavarian 15.2 Compare these with the United States, which in 1897 was 196.99. THE NAVT. The Army Surgeon General's Report says : "The United States Navy has suffered to a like degree in its efficiency from venereal diseases." The report of the Surgeon General of the Navy for 1910 contains this ominous statement of conditions : "Venereal disease has resulted in a truly serious situ- ation, there being over 100 primary admissions for this class of affections during the first quarter of 1910, with an aver- age complement of 1,881 (a yearly admission rate of 217 per thousand, among young men who have but recently en- tered the service, from such disease) — page 28." That is to say: Of young men who are free from ve- nereal taint on entering the navy, 217 per 1,000 (more than 21 per cent) quickly become infected, so seriously, that they are admitted to hospital for treatment. The same report remarks of the U. S. Navy Ship "Con- necticut": "The health of the ship's company may be considered as having been good during the years if we except the venereal diseases." (Page 107.) The report of the Navy Surgeon General for 1913 shows a slight improvement in the last two years, viz.: 180 The World's Social Evil 1911 1912 Admission Rate to Hospital, per 1,000. 9,252 150.68 8,996 145.33 An important discussion of "The Venereal Problem in the Army and Navy," by Lieut.-Col. J. R. Kean, of the U. S. Army Medical Corps, reprinted from "The Military Surgeon," contains some valuable statistics on this sub- ject. He publishes a table showing the movement of ve- nereal diseases in the U. S. Navy for a number of years, from which the following table is made : Strength Aggregate Admission of Navy primary rate 1 per 1,000 infection: for Venereal: 1900 22,977 1204 52.40 1901 26,101 1380 52.87 1902 30,249 1661 54.91 1903 36,536 2244 61.42 1904 39,450 2934 74.04 1905 39,620 3604 91.38 1906 41,690 4520 108.42 1907 44,083 3709 84.14 1908 50,984 4681 91.81 1909 55,550 8910 160.49 Lieut.-Col. Kean makes comments explanatory of the figures for 1908 which, if corrected, presumably would have increased the ratio for that year. "With that proviso he gives the above as showing the increase of venereal diseases in the navy, reaching to the enormous ratio in 1909, of 160.49 per 1,000 men. As in the Army, so also in the Navy, the ratio of these diseases is relatively greater in the United States than in other countries. Of six (6) great navies, the American holds The Venereal Peril 181 the unenviable distinction of being the worst in this re- spect, except Japan. Col. Kean gives the following table: German, 1908, mean strength 49,955; rate per 1,000 66 French 1905, mean strength 49,935; rate per 1,000 75 Italian 1906, mean strength 27,338; rate per 1,000 83 British 1909, mean strength 112,700; rate per 1,000 120 American 1909, mean strength 57,172; rate per 1,000 160 Japanese 1908, mean strength 43,857; rate per 1,000 167 "The Venereal Problem in the Army & Navy, 1912," page 11. Senate Document No. 419, presented by Senator Owen, says: "The statistics of the Navy Department show during the same year (1904) that venereal disease was chargeable with a percentage of 25.2 of the total number of sick days in the hospital from all causes combined. In four years 949 men were discharged from the navy for disability from venereal diseases." Col. Kean quotes Piske as an authority that "one man out of every seven in the navy develops a venereal infec- tion each year; assuming an average of four years' service to each individual, we judge that over 50 per cent of the personnel have a venereal disease during this relatively brief period of their lives." Col. Kean also quotes Surgeon General Rixey as stat- ing, in his annual report of 1909, that during the year 1907, if applied solely to the force afloat, this class of dis- ease "would have operated to render entirely inactive for over a month three battleships with a complement of 1,000 officers and men each."'^ "We have here the testimony of the ablest experts of the age. We have the experienced and equipped of army, navy and medical authorities; of men whose official pride 'The Venereal Problem In the Army and Navy, p. 10. 182 The World's Social Evil would be gratified if they could tell of efi&ciency and high standards in the forces which they command, but who are humiliated, as duty demands of them a story of facts so deplorable. From these we learn that, if the nation needs its sol- diers and sailors for defense and security, their efficiency for such defense is depreciated and weakened to an alarm- ing extent, by diseases which are the direct consequence of the practices of the men, and which are every year be- coming worse and worse. A summary of the facts recorded would startle the nation if generally known. Take the reports of these years of experience from 1905 to 1912 which we have quoted from the army reports. Note the fact that in 1908 there were 6,514 admissions to hospital for venereal infections, of which 4,681 repre- sented original infections; these cases furnished 106,526 sick days, which represented a loss of service and treat- ment expense to the Government of $200,000. '■ Let the reader turn back to the table on "Alcoholism and Venerealism" and observe the appalling paralysis of army forces. The admissions for medical treatment for venereal diseases in 1909 represent nearly 20 per cent of the entire army (196.99 per 1,000) ; 14,640 admissions oc- curred during the year 1908 representing 12,605 separate cases. To state it in other words, this means that about one-fifth of the army was laid aside from service, and was on the sick list, through venereal disease, some time during the year. The loss sustained in the army, in one year, is thus equal to about 800 men for the entire year, or more than the equivalent of 11 companies of infantry. ^The Venereal Problem — Lieut. Col. Kean, page 10. The Venereal Peril 183 And these losses continue, without cessation, increas- ing with the years. At the present rate the American navy is losing the service of an equivalent of 8,000 men in ten years, and if it continues to increase at the rate it has increased during the past ten years the next decade will show an awful loss of about 20,000 men. How many more are partially incapacitated is not told — and cannot be told. It is probable that, if all the facts were available, we should learn that the forces for which the nation pays from eighty to one hundred million dol- lars per year are depreciated in value for service, in a greater measure through these diseases, than by all other causes combined, not excepting war. As to the navy, we have seen that 50 per cent of the young men of the navy "have a venereal disease" at some time during their four years of service, and that according to Surgeon General Rixey the loss of service in 1907 was equal to the loss of active service for a full month of "three battleships with a complement of 1,000 officers and men for each battleship." Nor can we measure the far-reaching effect of this im- pairment of human forces, drawn from the best physical blood of the nation, for purposes supposed to be necessary for national safety and security. We cannot trace the flow of poisoned blood as it is turned, in after years, into the life stream of human gen- eration. If "war is hell" what may be said of this great scourge. Verily, the venereal perils are more to be feared than war. 184 The World's Social Evil III Can the Plague Be Stayed? — Remedies Proposed. Turning from these appalling facts the question arises : What can be done to arrest the progress of the diseases which are so rapidly destroying the effective value of the army and navy, as well as a large portion of the general population? After remarking in his report for 1910 that "The venereal peril has come to outweigh in importance any other sanitary question which now confronts the army and neither our national optimism nor the Anglo-Saxon disposition to ignore a subject which is offensive to public prudery can longer excuse a frank and honest confronta- tion of the problem." Surgeon General Torney strikes an optimistic note as follows: "There is no reason to think that these diseases are beyond the reach of preventive medicine, any more than other contagious diseases, and their immunity from re- striction must be attributed to the public disinclination to discuss them and legislate concerning them. It is now believed by most sociologists, as well as sanitarians, that the evil being primarily a social one can only be reached by a propaganda of public discussion and education, and that education in sexual matters, and in the danger oi venereal diseases, should begin with the young and be car- ried on by means of all the agencies to popular enlight- enment. A number of state and municipal health authori- ties, as well as private associations, are now publishing and distributing literature on this subject. It is believed that the "War Department cannot do better than adopt this general attitude and many of these methods, including a philosophical indifference to criticism on the part of self- constituted censors of the public morals whose suseepti- The Venereal Peril 185 bilities are offended by a public discussion of these ques- tions." This is followed up with a program of supervision, education and restraint, which, if carried out with dili- gence, could not fail of some good results. The same report, however, contains the statement that: "The slight diminution in the occurrence of venereal diseases last year gave hope that the campaign of edu- cation on this subject which has been begun through the medical officers was beginning to bear fruit, but 1909 un- fortunately shows an increase not only over the preceding year, but over any other year of which there is record, except 1905." Some strong measures have already been taken which, it is hoped, will accomplish much good. Among these measures are the following: Wearing Unifoem in Grogshops: — "The wearing of the uniform of the army in places of ill-repute and in the company of disreputable companions discredited the uni- form and military profession, and called attention to the evil conduct of the wearer and would be considered a military offense and punished accordingly." Stoppage op Payment: — The following regulation was passed by both Houses of Congress : "Any officer or enlisted man in active service who shall be absent from duty on account of disease, resulting from his own intemperate use of drugs or alcoholic liquors, or other misconduct, shall not receive pay for the period of such absence." The Surgeon General says, in reference to this order: "This stoppage of pay will, it is believed, do as much or 186 The World's Social Evil more than anything else that can be done to lessen the venereal rate in the army. Until the enlisted men can be made to realize the necessity of the prevention of ve- nereal diseases not much can be accomplished." Instructions: — General Orders, No. 17, says: "It is enjoined upon all officers serving with troops to do their utmost to encourage healthful exercises and physical recreation, and to supply opportunities for cleanly social and interesting mental occupations for the men under their command; to take advantage of favorable opportunities to point out, particularly to the younger men, the inevi- table misery and disaster which foUow upon intemperance and moral uncleanliness, and that venereal disease, which is almost sure to follow licentious living, is never a trivial aifair. Although the chief obligation and responsibility for the instruction of soldiers in these matters rests upon company officers should cooperate by occasional lectures or other instruction upon the subject of sexual psysiology and hygiene and the dangers of venereal infection." Must Eepoet: — "Commanding officers will require that men who expose themselves to danger of contracting venereal diseases shall at once, upon their return to camp or garrison, report to the hospital or dispensary for the application of such cleaning and prophylaxis as may be prescribed by the Surgeon General. Any soldier who fails to comply with these instructions, if found to be suf- fering from a venereal affection, shall be brought to trial by court martial for neglect of duty." Chastity Recommended: — The "necessity" doctrine receives a striking blow in the following note from the Surgeon General's report : "It may well be said that every The Venereal Peril 187 enlisted man in the army has received instruction in re- gard to these matters, and that they are well informed regarding the dangers of illicit sexual intercourse. It has been made clear to them also that sexual intercourse is not necessary for a healthy bodily condition, and that sexual purity is a thing that is much to be desired." But, notwithstanding all these restricted and remedial measures, the army and navy authorities are facing the serious problem of an increasing rate of venereal diseases. There seems to be as yet no definite recognition of the real cause of this awful scourge. Even under the best conditions it could hardly be hoped that any group of men, in the years of their virile young manhood, with all the strong, natural impulses of physical life, and deprived of the influences of domestic circles, will be likely to attain a degree of physical and moral restraint that will keep them wholly free of the effects of intemperate and im- moral habits, especially when grog shops still abound and brothels are permitted and practically sanctioned by the inertness and connivance of police authorities. The report of the Secretary of War of 1912 gives the returns for 1911, and remarks as follows: "The ques- tion of prevention of venereal diseases has during the past year continued to claim much time and attention on the part of medical officers throughout the army and of this office, and much faithful work has been done in the in- struction of recruits and efforts in other ways to prevent exposure to infection and to prevent infection after ex- posure. It was hoped, therefore, that the good results of this work might be shown in the venereal statistics. This hope has, however, been disappointed so far as the record 188 The World's Social Evil for syphilis is concerned, and owing to the increased num- ber of cases of that disease the figure for all venereal dis- eases has increased, as shown ?n the following tabular statement. ' ' The rate of admissions to hospital of the entire army for venereal diseases is given as follows: In 1910 174.95 per 1,000 men In 1911 185.13 per 1,000 men In the study of "The Venereal Problem of the Army and Navy" by Lieut.-Col. Kean, he remarks that: "It Is generally recognized by all who have studied the ques- tion that the prostitute is the principal purveyor of venereal diseases, and this is especially true of the spread of them among the young unmarried men who fill the ranks of armies." In its generally accepted sense, this would mean that women, who reside in brothels, carry the disease from woman to man and then back from man to women ; where- as, the fact is that men who voluntarily visit the pest houses become infected and thus become the "purveyors" of disease to others. As Dr. Prince Morrow says: "In the ultimate analysis it will be found that the male factor is the chief malefactor." If a man knowingly visited a small-pox pest house and became infected, no one would blame the person through whom the contagion reached him; if, further, he carried the disease to others, society would regard him as the chief "purveyor" and would hold him accountable. On the other hand, if Lieut.-Col. Kean means that the brothel is the principal center of infection, and that from it diseases are carried to the unsuspecting public, then the attack should be directed against the brothel until The Venereal Peril 189 it is annihilated. Why tolerate and permit a house of contagion with open doors and allow its keepers to conduct a trade in vice and disease? "If men wish to avoid venereal disease it Is in their power to so so, without segregating prostitutes and sending the health department to inspect them." Minneapolis Vice Com. Reports — page 55. Lieut.-Col. Kean quotes Dr. Prince Morrow's remark that: "The health officers of a port might as well at- tempt to prevent importation from a plague-infested vessel by quarantining the infected women, while permit- ting the infected men to go free," and the Colonel says that this statement "lacks the sense of proportion." He adds that "the aim of the quarantine officer is different. It is to prevent the introduction of a single case of plague into a community which is free of it." But, is not this a distinction without a difference? Would any quarantine officer relax his efforts to keep infected passengers from going free, if he learned that the port was already suffering from the same malady? And could he accomplish any good if he were to free all infected males and hold the females? What would be thought of the judgment of such an officer — to say nothing of his sense of equity and equality? The real trouble is that the military and civic authori- ties both persist in the old doctrine that trade in vice is a necessity, that suppression is impossible and that, there- fore, either license, or free trade in vice with police regu- lations, maintained by graft, is the only possible way to deal with the evil. To quote Lieut.-Col. Kean on this point : "It Is an old saying that men cannot be made virtuous by Act of Parliament. It has been the universal experience of 190 The World's Social Evil mankind In all ages and among all nations that sexual incon- tinence cannot be prevented by legislation, and it can by no means be logically considered legalization for the law to recog- nize and attempt to diminish the evil results of practices which it is unable to repress. To Ignore them is to imitate the tradi- tional habit of the ostrich." If we admit that "men cannot be made virtuous by Act of Parliament" or Congress, we must also recognize that the business of government is "to make it easy to do right and difi&cult to do wrong. "^ If sexual incontinence, like theft or any other sin, cannot be wholly prevented by law, must we, therefore, provide that these sins and crimes shall be recognized as trades, to be permitted and regulated ? "The traditional habit of the ostrich" is a good il- lustration of the long prevailing blindness of men who close their eyes to the relation of vice and disease as cause and effect — that a business for profit, in the first, is a prolific promoter of the second. License and regula- tion have been tried for a hundred years or more, under every conceivable method of surveillance, and their signal failure was the key note of the Brussels conferences of 1899 and 1905, which were attended by representative medical practitioners, police ofiScials and legislators from nearly all countries including the United States. Will Lieut.-Col. Kean tell us when and where any government or police authorities have ever tried to sup- press the trade in prostitution by any sustained action of law — and failed? 'W. B. Gladstone. The Venereal Peril 191 MARRIAGE IN THE ARMY AS A REMEDY. Lieut.-Col. Kean calls attention to a most interesting suggestion in reference to the conditions in the army. He quotes army statistics which show that the ratio of disease, per 1,000, among the white soldiers in the Philip- pines was 290 in 1909 ; of colored troops, 418 ; while among the native Asiatic soldiers it was only 49, and he re- marks : "The explanation of this surprising difference Is that the native troops are mostly married, a reason which probably ap- plies also to the native troops of other nations. As these Asiatics are certainly not more continent and have not higher moral standards than the white American soldiers it illustrates well the enormous disadvantage in this respect of the enforced celibacy of the American soldier and to what a small extent moral and prudential considerations can make headway in op- position to a fundamental natural instinct." This is a note of almost supreme importance. The suggestion that marriage is the explanation of the differ- ence between a ratio of 49 per thousand among native soldiers and 290 among white soldiers (while with the colored troops the ratio reaches over 400) ought to be accepted as a revelation, and should receive instant at- tention — ^not only of the heads of the military departments, but of the government and the entire nation. It comes with all the force of a wonderful discovery, amounting almost to a solution of the problem, so far as the army is concerned. The suggestion is not original with Col. Kean, but comes direct from the report of the Surgeon General. In his report for 1910 he says: "Among the Filipino troops it (venereal disease) occupies the sixth place only, this marked difference doubtless being a 192 The World's Social Evil result of the fact that a majority of the native Boldiers are married." (Page 97.) Again on page 114 of the same report (1912) Surgeon General Torney alludes to it in these terms: "The lower rate for venereal cases among the Filipino troops is believed to be due largely to the fact that a large per cent of them are married." This is the most remarkable concession to the truth and unity of the moral and physical law that we ever remember to have seen in a military document. It makes one think of a passage in the Chicago Vice Commission Report, which attains to the dignity of a ser- mon: "The Commission desires to say one more -word to those who support the business of women's souls, whether as bar- terers of the body, or those who demand the service — the Man. There is only one moral law — it is alike for men and women. Again, there is a contract called Matrimony which is a solemn contract made between those who love. It carries with it the elements of vested rights — even a solemn promise before God. A signature represents honor — it is there — like- wise a promise — it is there. Has this contract been kept inviolate? If not, why not?" "War is hell!" said General Sherman. "With equal truth it may be said that armies in times -of peace are death — at least so long as the brothel is permitted as an institution of trade. The plea for the regulation of prostitution, on the part of governments, rests mainly on the claim for health and effectiveness of armies. These armies are selected, re- cruited and maintained from the very flower of physical young manhood. From fields of industry and productive service they are The Venereal Peril 193 transferred to schools of physical training, with much idle, undirected leisure; from responsible citizenship into a life that calls for no sacrifice in times of peace, and in- volves no citizen obligations; from the circle of domestic relations to associations of animal impulse, with the finer sentiments and pure moral atmosphere absent. The "World's Peace Federation calls for the suspension of all armed forces. If this could be attained, an im- measurable gain would be added to purity and social or- der. There is no institution which contributes so largely, and so naturally, to social vice in any country as standing armies of unmarried soldiers. But while we maintain an army, why may not this suggestion of marriage be taken as the bugle cry of reform — a remedy in advance, of any that has ever been seri- ously offered? Surely what is possible to Filipino sol- diers is possible to American soldiers. It would be objected, of course, that provision for married couples in military stations would incur an ex- pense which renders a general provision for marriage impossible. But, it would be an exceedingly interesting study to inquire into the relative cost of a married army, with venereal diseases cut down to a proportion of about one case where there are now seven, to say nothing of the in- creasing worth of the men to the nation. And what a change might come over the conditions of army stations! As a general thing the presence of one or more companies of men stationed at a military bar- racks is a constant source of fear and dread to the sur- rounding neighborhoods. It is no slander of the men to say that the very presence of a company of soldiers is 194 The World's Social Evil usually regarded as a source of danger to morals and the reputation of the whole town suffers.^ This is in the order of a natural consequence — ^not because soldiers, or sailors, are a worse set of men than others. They are sons and brothers of American citizens, and are themselves American citizens, or, at least, have naturalized or given notice of becoming so. When they enter the army they would pass muster in a test of morals with the average boys of the country. But as soldiers they are under con- ditions of physical training with no obligations except to obey orders. Their restraints are all physical, rather than 'A military man, whose personal friendship and critical Judgment the writer esteems, takes exception to this comment on the effects of the presence of companies of soldiers to sur- rounding neighborhoods. I wish I could conscientiously state otherwise, but while I know that there are in companies of sol- diers, many men whom we delight to meet and to honor, I have not yet known of a military station which was unattended, more or less, with patronage of the vicious elements In the nearby towns and a weakening of the sense of moral safety among women, and I have shown why this may be expected, without, in any way, classing soldiers as naturally less moral than other men. My military friend also thinks that the plea for an army of married men Is "untenable." Perhaps it is. But the sugges- tion, coming so significantly in army reports, as a result of experience of the Filipino soldiers, is so noteworthy that I could not fail to call attention to' it. Of course there . are difficulties. But new conditions call for new provisions. The statesmanship of the future may see that an army such as ours need not be so frequently moved from station to station, in times of peace, and that it may become possible for soldiers to remain for longer periods at one station, subject only to call for special duty. We have an army of commercial travelers who only enjoy their homes occasionally, but who find to have a center point towards which their thoughts, interests and af- fections may turn, is mighty as a powerhouse for virtue and character. Might not such motor be available to soldiers and sailors, a port with a home towards which the minds of men may constantly turn — if only once in a while they can take refuge there — a strong leverage . for economic and moral order and for the building up of a nobler physical manhood. — Ed. The Venereal Peril 195 moral. Their acquaintances are men only — men like them- selves who, as soldiers, have no moral purpose, no moral training, and no obligation outside the routine of exer- cise and drill. These men cannot escape the conversation and influence of the worst of their numbers — nor can they go from their places of drill and duty, as business and laboring men do, into an atmosphere of home. The charm of the domestic circle and the refining influence of chaste women are not available to them. Secretary of War Stimson, reviewing the army report of 1912 said: "I believe that the ultimate causes which make the record of our army in this respect shameful beyond that of the army of any other civilized nation are inherent in our shortcomings as a nation in dealing with this matter. So long as in our civil community, and particularly our larger cities, we continue to close our eyes to the magnitude and extent of the evil and re- frain from attacking it with the weapons which scientific know- ledge places in our hands, it cannot but be expected that the younger men in our army, leading the abnormal life of the soldier, will show the effect of the evil to a marked degree."^ It may be true that the "shortcomings" referred to by Secretary Stimson are more prevalent in this country than in some others. But would it not be well to look into economic conditions for some measure of the cause of the greater ratio of immorality and attendant diseases in our army and navy? We are deploring the low wages paid to girls as one of the causes of their downfall. Perhaps the reverse is true of men who have no other use for money than indulgence in certain habits. May it not be that the pay of our soldiers, so much greater than that of soldiers in other countries, enables them to be more reck- ^Gurrent Opinion. 196 The World's Social Evil less in the habit of visiting houses of ill-fame? If this suggestion has any weight the remedy should not be found in reducing the pay, but in encouraging its use in fields of wholesome recreation and more domestic life. Strong pleas are made for family life as a basis of a permanent American nation. Col. Roosevelt has made a mighty protest against "wilful sterility" and others have urged the duty of marriage. Yet here is a national in- stitution, a government enterprise, exploring the country for the pick of young physical manhood and enrolling these youthful athletes with peremptory conditions which prac- tically forbid marriage. Thus government is itself the greatest anti-marriage force in the country — holding from seventy to eighty thousand men from a partnership in the bonds of marriage with a like number of women. Soldiers are servants of the country — in the pay of the country. Is it in accordance with Twentieth Century civilization that these public servants shall be encouraged by circumstances to make war on the honor and life of girls, or else be consorts af abandoned women, sowing moral wreckage and disease — ^while the semi-civilized Fili- pino soldiers marry, and by contrast, are rarely affected with the venereal curse? What is worse? Facility of access is permitted and assumed to women who are, first, demoralized iy men, and who, in turn, become sources of physical disease and moral death to men. This is a concession — may we not say a provision — made under the plea that "what has always been must always be," and that the only possible remedy is to regulate these women and keep them ready for the lusts of men, with as little physical contagion as frequent surgery may make possible, thus offering a false sense of The Venereal Peril 197 security against diseases, which increase as sexual im- morality increases. But there is surely hope. Let the army authorities add to the recommendations referred to in Surgeon General Torney's report one other, viz.: that provisions may be made for the accommodation of soldiers' wives who may substitute a home supper table for the mess room and a domestic sleeping apartment for the dormitory, and a mighty reform will follow. An important note on this subject comes from an arti- cle on "Sanitary Service in the Russo-Japanese War," trans- lated from the German by Louis C. Duncan, Captain, Medical Corps, V. S. Army: "In conclusion, there remains one great factor which causes a large amount of disease in all standing armies. It is the venereal infections. Matignon''' writes thereon: The Japanese made war for 21 months without a woman. It is a thing unique in history. "The Russian troops brought in their camp-suite a cor- tege of official prostitutes; official or disguised under vari- ous appellations denoting a profession not far removed from their true one." — The Military Surgeon March, 1914. *Matignon: Bnselgnemento Medicany de la Guerre Russo-Japonaise, Paris, 1910. THE MAN'S PART. The end of the battle is not yet for those girls who struggle on alone and unprotected with their more pressing financial problems. The great- est menace is before her — the Man. See her as he meets her at the door of her place of employment! See her as she returns to her cheap boarding house ! Huddled away among coarse and vulgar male companions, only, underfed and hungry — hungry not only for food, but for a decent shelter, for a home, for friends, for a S5mipa- thetic touch or word; tired from a hard day's toil even to the point of recklessness — starving for honest pleas- ures and amusements — and with what does she meet? The advances of men without either a spark of bravery or honor, who hunt as their unlawful prey this im- poverished girl, this defenseless child of poverty, un- protected, unloved and uncared for as she is plunged ■ into the swirling, seething stream of humanity ; the advances of men who are so low that they have lost even a sense of sportsmanship, and who seek as their game an underfed, a tired and a lonely girl. She suffers, but what of him? She goes down, and is finally sacrificed to a life of shame, but what of him? He escapes as a "romancer." It is not just! — Chicago Vice Commission Report. CHAPTER VIII. THE ECONOMIC QUESTION. I. "Is It possible that, in the bosom of civilization itself, may be engendered the malady which shall destroy it? Is it possible that institutions may be established which, without the help of earthquake, of famine, of pestilence, or of foreign sword, may undo the work of so many ages of wisdom and glory?" Macaulay. When Lord Macaulay wrote this striking interroga- tory, public thought had not been quickened in regard to the systems of regulation, as applied to the social evil, and their natural product, the "white-slave traffic" in rela- tion to national life had not been exposed as an organized institution. It is, however, a fair inference that the social evil may have been the "malady" in the mind of Macau- lay, for, of all causes, history points to this as the most wasteful destroyer of moral and physical forces. Not even drunkenness bears such intimate and all-per- vading relation to national ruin as the vices of the sexes.' In 1880, Mr. W. E. Gladstone, speaking in the British Parliament, said: "That calamities inflicted upon man- kind by the three great historical scourges of war, pesti- lence, and famine, were not so great, because not so con- tinuous, as those inflicted upon mankind by intemperance." We do not question so eminent an authority, nor would we, if we could, lessen the effect of such a voice against the great curse of intemperance, but it is probable that, if the regulation system, as applied to commercialized vice, had become a public issue — forced upon the attention of 'See Chart on Venerealism and Alcoholism, Chap. VII. 200 The World's Social Evil statesmen — as the liquor question was in Mr. Gladstone's time, he would have coupled these two — intemperance and inpurity— as the twin demons of civilization. The Social Evil has ever been a most serious disturbing agent in economic conditions. In this respect it has not even the claim to consideration which is often made for the liquor traffic. Human lust, with all its allied agencies, pro- duces nothing; it never adds one centime to the general wealth. It knows no limitations of time or circumstance. War is its cruel ally; peace only changes the form and manner of its ravages; prosperity feeds its insatiable fire; poverty aids in the capture of victims ; every other vice is tributary to it. All the time — night and day — through the centuries, the passion and power designed by the Creator to bless and perpetuate life, are perverted, and the poisoned current flows on — wasting resources, cutting off life and health at their fountain, and destroying them in their prime. This evil is as disastrous to the material interests of man- kind as it is to their moral and physical welfare. If it were possible to submit by a Board of Actuaries an item- ized account of all the drafts made upon personal and public wealth, through the channels of commercialized vice, the audit would stagger the world. The traffic is called slavery ; but even negro slavery was productive of wealth. The slavery of vice not only pro- duces nothing, but is wholly an absolute waste. It is a waste of wealth and destruction of the wealth producer. Considered, merely as an economic factor, the highest value in the world is a human being. If we could com- pute the human values daily destroyed by this vice, we should face the greatest of all losses to the sum-total of the The Economic Question 201 world's resources. For it is the most prevalent and destruc- tive of all evils. Think of the women withdrawn, or withheld, from all forms of useful and happy life, and condemned to a brief period of riot and ruin. At the lowest estimate, there are in the United States from three to four hundred thousand young girls and women, living on the price of shame, and doomed to disease and early death at the expense of the commonwealth. And this is only an incident. There are thousands of houses that ought to be dwellings of men and women; instead, they are high-priced shambles of physical pestilence, moral decay, and financial ruin. Think again, of the bill of expenditures — ^the liquor at. four-fold prices, the incidental robberies, the midnight revels, the plunder by keepers of dens, the vile gangs of pimps, panders and cadets, the cost of fines and prisons and the plunder of police-graft. All this, and much more, is drained from the products of labor through the channels of the commerce of vice. The Report of the Vice Commission of Chicago declares that the annual profits of the vice trafiQc in that city amounts to more than fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000.- 00) controlled largely by men. The profit-sharers are described as those who profit off of the place of busi- ness — the landlord, agent, janitor, amusement dealer, brewer and furniture dealer ; those who profit off of the act are the keeper, procurer, druggist, physician, midwife, police officer and politician. As Dean Walter T. Sumner, the chairman of the Vice Commission, pointed out, this estimate of more than fifteen millions of profit means that the expenditures for this vice in Chicago is not less than sixty millions of dollars an- nually. 202 The World's Social Evil In May, 1913, the Philadelphia Vice Commission re- ported its work of investigation under the direction of the American Vigilance Association. The Commission esti- mated that the receipts of what are called "parlor houses" are at least $300 a week. They found 156 of these parlor houses. The investigators found also in this City approx- imately 2,000 street-walkers and the estimate given of the average receipts of these women is $25.00 per week. The report of the Commissioners gives the following as a sum- mary of the total estimated expenditures in that City directly to vice, and state, "we are thoroughly convinced that this is an underestimate rather than an overestimate:" Parlor Houses 2,433,600 Call Houses 1,216,800 Street-walkers 2,600,000 Total 6,250,400 "The wage-earning power of working people depends on their industrial etiiciency, and this eflBciency is impaired by any habits or diseases which lower vitality, shorten life, or hinder the normal growth of a healthy population. Many of the feeble minded, insane, blind, and deaf which have become a heavy burden upon the finances of modern states have fallen into a state of dependence through inheritance of the effects of vicious indulgence, and venereal disease in their parents and more re- mote ancestors. The cost of medical treatment by physicians, hospitals, and unscrupulous "specialists" must be enormous. To our national shame be it said, much of this expenditure goes to paid ad- vertisements of the lowest type of doctors in newspapers which are taken into respectable families and supported by the ad- vertisements of great merchants. Some idea of the economic loss from venereal diseases may be gained by using such statistics as we have. Only a part of those affected enter hospitals, yet the figures for these are startling enough. In Prussian hospitals in 1877-99 about 240,000 persons, or 58 per cent, of all patients were treated The Economic Question 203 for venereal disorders. In more northern lands, because greater care is taken, a larger ratio obtains: in Norway in 1859-70 an- nually 0.86 per cent of the entire population, in Sweden 1.24 per cent., in Denmark 2.03 per cent., in Finland 2.27 per cent. An official inquiry in Prussia, answered by only 63 per cent, of the physicians, showed that on one day, April 30, 1900, about 41,000 persons were treated. It is thought that in all Germany 100,000 were under care of physicians that day. Kirchner estimated the economic loss to Prussia alone from this cause at 90,000,000 marks annually. In the great cities the situation is worse. In Christiana the average sick in 1859-70 were 7.66 per cent, of population; In Stockholm, 16.04 per cent; in Copenhagen, 25.5 per cent. In Russia where these maladies are rife, it is estimated that 13 to 23 per cent of the population is infected and in some provinces almost all are syphilitic. In Berlin the number of new cases of syphilis is estimated to be 5,000 each year, in Paris 8,000 to 10,000. On April 30, 1900, the cases of venereal patients reported by physicians were 10 per cent, of the entire population of Berlin. In Copenhagen, where the records are unusually complete, the number of new cases of gonorrhea reported annually is 56,000, or about one- half the population. Of 8,500,000 persons insured in the sickness funds of Ger- many 6 per cent., or more than 500,000 are annually afflicted with venereal diseases. In Berlin 3.6 per cent, of the soldiers, 8 per cent, of workmen, 13.5 per cent, of female waiters, 16.4 per cent, of young salesmen, and 25 per cent, of students in the sickness insurance associations were treated for venereal dis- eases.'" In May, 1903, McClure's Magazine published the fol- lowing from the pen of Lincoln Steffen : "Disorderly houses are managed by ward syndicates. Per- mission is had from the syndicate real-estate agent, who alone can rent them. The syndicate hires the houses from the owners at, say $35 a month, and he lets it to a woman at from $35 to $50 a week. For furniture the tenant must go to the 'official 'Dr. Chas. R. Henderson. 204 The World's Social Evil furniture man,' who delivers $1,000 ■worth of 'fixings' for a note for $3,000, on which high interest must be paid. For beer the tenant must go to the 'oflBcial bottler,' and pay $2 for a one-dollar case of beer; for wines and liquors to the 'official liquor commissioner,' who charges $10 for five dollars' worth; for clothes to the 'oflBcial wrapper-maker.' These women may not buy shoes, hats, jewelry, or any other luxury or necessity except from the ofilcial concessionaires, and then only at the oflBcial, monopoly prices. If the victims have anything left, a police or some other city official is said to call and get it (there are rich ex-police officials in Pittsburg.") All these are leeches which fatten upon the poor bodies of girls, — girls having a natural and a citizen's right to protection from these rapacious and contemptible blood- suckers. If these many thousands of female victims of the traffic in the United States live only an average of five or six years, when they would, in domestic life, live twenty, thirty, or forty years, what an untold wealth of life's highest values is thus consumed ! Think also of the man — ^young men — for it is mostly in their youth and prime that men are blasted by the poison of this vice — often the brightest and strongest, who go down to death through commerce in lust. Society loses thou- sands on thousands of its ablest men, men of affairs, busi- ness and professional men, some of whom pass out and are buried with a medical certificate which does not hint at the truth, while others are living victims, slowly dying — ^vic- tims, weakened, depraved, diseased, insane. How many thousands of women and children are there, doomed to carry, in their afflicted bodies, a disease which to them is unspeakable, — to suffer pangs, and pains of surgery and drugs, ending in untimely death! These who are sacri- ficed are revealed only to the physician, and not all of them The Economic Question 205 to him. The economic measure of them can never be com- puted. Dr. Prince A. Morrow points out that Venerealism is one of the most important factors in the causation of the destitution which requires relief. The prevention of disease which transforms the bread winner into the dependent up- on charity, has a most important economic as well as a hu- manitarian value. "American Journal of Sociology, July, 1907." Dr. Morrow also says : "The fact that these dis- eases constitute the most potent factor in the causation of blindness, deaf -mutism, idiocy, insanity, paralysis, locomotor ataxia, and other incapacitating and incurable affections, imposes an enormous charge upon the State and community. Millions of dollars are contributed to the support of de- fectives, but not a dollar for the dissemination of the sav- ing knowledge which might prevent." "The frequency of venereal diseases varies with nations, with districts, and especially, with density of population. For ex- ample, in Germany, these diseases are more frequent in northern than in southern districts; more prevalent in the northeast than in the west, in cities, than in rural regions. Of the male popu- lation of Prussia on April 30, 1900, 28 in 1,000 were infected; in Berlin 142 in 1,000; in cities with over 100,000 inhabitants, 100 in 1,000; in cities of over 30,000 inhabitants, 45 in 1,000; In the army, 15 in 1,000. The frequency of these maladies varies also with the social classes. Thus in Berlin, of soldiers in the garrison, 4 to 5 per cent, are annually affected; of wage earners In the central sickness insurance association, 8 per cent.; of female waiters registered in the local sickness insurance as- sociation 13.5 per cent.; but the police records show 30 per cent, of same class; salesmen 16.5 per cent.; students in the sickness insurance association 25 per cent. The figures for students reveal a very discouraging condition. Of 12,000,000 persons in the German workingmen's insur- ance associations about 6 per cent, or 750,000 persons require medical treatment and hospital care at an annual cost of at 206 The World's Social Evil least six to seven million marks (about $1,500,000 to $1,750,000). To this loss must be added the loss of wages and productive labor caused by sickness, weakness, and the physical conse- (juences of the attacks. Economic loss implies diminution of the opportunities of culture; and so venereal excesses and diseases both directly and indirectly affect adversely the educational process.'" Life as an Economic Asset: — This is ably set forth in a governmeiit report issued March 8, 1910. The report is edited by Irving Fisher, Professor of Political Economy, Yale University. The loss of values to the nation through venereal disease may appear from facts given in this report as follows : 1. On the money value of increased vitality. Taking the estimates of Dr. Farr of England, which are based "upon the best method of estimating the economic value of life" the report presents a table showing the net worth of a person at birth, as $90.00; at five years as $950.00; at ten, as $2,000.00; at twenty, as $4,000.00; at thirty, as $4,100.00 ; at fifty, as $2,900.00 ; at 80, as $700.00. President David Starr Jordan, of Leland Stanford, Jr., University of California accepts these figures of the value at 50, and adds : "On this basis, our vital assets could be reckoned at, roughly, two hundred and fifty billion dollars. Against this, set the one hundred and ten billions of dollars at which the physical wealth of the United States is figured, and even the most arrant materialist will admit that the conservation of human life is more important than the con- servation of forests or the eradication of diseases among cattle and hogs." Dr. Harvey W. Wiley, Chief of the Chemistry Bureau ^Dr. Chas. R. Henderson, The Eighth Yearbook of the Nor tional Society for the Scientific Study of Education. The Economic Question 207 of the Federal Department of Agriculture, points to the supreme value of human health and life as factors in the Nation's wealth. He says: "If, in the remote future, coal, iron, gold and silver should become extlnc*:, science would provide substitutes. But there is another natural asset, lying at the very basis of the prosperity of the country, which is sometimes overlooked, namely, the normal function of the human machine, commonly expressed by the term 'health.' This has more to do with the happiness, prosperity and utility of the human organism than any of the other natural assets which I have mentioned." Dr. Wiley estimated the health of the people of the , United States, in terms of money, at $540,000,000,000. This he made "on the basis of $600.00 per capita, average annual earnings, each representing a capital of $12,000 at 5 per cent." To conserve this gigantic national asset, Dr. Wiley calls for a national department of health. Such a department would find its greatest claim for service in the subject of sex hygiene. "If we take the estimate of Professor Willcox of the death rate in the United States, as at least 18 per 1,000 for the 85,500,000 persons estimated by the census as the popu- lation of the United States in 1907, we have 1,500,000 as the number of deaths in the United States per annum. Of these 1,500,000 deaths, 42 per cent., or 630,000, are annually preventable or postponable. Since each postponement would save on the average $1,700, the national annual unneces- sary loss of capitalized net earnings is 630,000 X $1,700, or $1,070,000,000 or about $1,000,000,000." If the yearly loss of life through venereal disorders in the United States is estimated at 50,000, which, according to authorities, is a very low estimate, and taking the value 208 The World's Social Evil of human life at the above stated average, we have in this one item 50,000X$1,700=$85,000,000 annual loss. The relation of the subject to these vital statistics may be further seen on reference to another section of the same report — the Section of Hygiene. Most instructive, although alarming, are the following paragraphs: 1. One disease, syphilis, infects the blood and there- with all parts of the body. While under proper treatment the disease is not always dangerous to life in the earlier years, yet the possibilities of transmitting the contagion should forbid marriage for at least three years. 2. The leading insurance companies refuse to insure the life of a syphilitic person for four or five years after • the disease was contracted, and then only upon special terms, for their records prove that syphilis shortens life. 3. That the syphilitic parent may transmit the disease to his offspring is common knowledge. Some of his chil- dren are destroyed by the inherited disease before birth; others are born to a brief and sickly span of life; others attain maturity, seriously handicapped in the race of life by a burden of ill health, incapacity, and misery produced by the inherited taint, while still others escape these evil effects. One of the saddest facts in both cases is that the parent may escape and the children reap the results ia insanity, tendency to consumption, and prostitution. Gonorrhea, while usually cured without apparent loss of health, has always serious possibilities ; it kills about 1 in 200; it impairs the sexual power and fertility of a much larger number ; it often produces urethral strictures, which later may cause loss of life. 4. The persistence of gonorrhea in the deeper parts long after it is outwardly cured leads to the unsuspected The Economic Question 209 communication of the disease to women with whom the in- dividual may cohabit. Much of the surgery performed up- on women has been rendered necessary by gonorrhea con- tracted from the husband. Should she while infected with this disease give birth to a child, the baby's eyes may be attacked by the infection, sometimes with immediate loss of sight. Probably 25 per cent, of the blindness of children is thus caused. National Vitality: Its Wastes and Conserva- tion. Senate Document, No. 419. Presented by Senator Owen. Keeping in mind the economic aspect of our subject, we quote again from this report on "National Vitality:" "Dr. Prince A. Morrow says that the number of syphili- tics in the United States has been estimated at 2,000,000. This disease is not only in itself a danger, but it also causes a large number of diseases of the circulatory and nervous systems. "Dr. Morrow says that the extermination of social dis- eases would probably mean the elimination of at least one- half of our institutions for defectives. The loss of citizens to the State from the sterilizing influence of gonorrhea upon the productive energy of the family, and the blighting destructive effect of S3rphilis upon the offspring are enorm- ous. In the opinion of very competent judges social disease constitutes the most powerful of all factors in the degenera- tion and depopulation of the world. "What syphilis and gonorrhea represent in the lowered working efficiency of our population — to say nothing of the still more important subject of increased mortality — is im- possible to estimate; but it would be difficult to overem- phasize the grave danger to national efficiency from these and the other venereal diseases." 210 The World's Social Evil Summing up in review, we have these various items of incalculable cost: A. Women and girls withdrawn from normal service and slain in the markets of vice. B. Young men, in the prime of youthful manhood, become burdens upon the public purse, instead of pro- ducers. C. "Women and children, innocent victims, doomed by disease, and sacrificed in suffering and death. D. A multitude of hangers-on, "profit-sharers" so- called, as described by the New York Committee of Fourteen and the Vice Commissioners' Reports of several cities. B. Constant drain upon national strength, as shown in the Report on "National Vitality" — ^paragraphs quoted, Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4. F. Estimate, quoted by Dr. Morrow, of two million syphilitic sufferers in the United States. This is almost equal to the population of our second largest city. Think of a great city of two millions, every man, woman and child, suffering from the most loathsome and disreputable of all diseases — fatal to bodily vigor and life. G. Twenty-two of every 1,000 of our soldiers in the Philippines were constantly disabled from venereal diseases — four times as many as from any other disease. H. In the Navy, in four years, 949 men were dis- charged as disabled — ^useless — from the same cause, and more than a fourth of aU the sickness in the Navy was occasioned by it. Appalling price to pay ? — above, all calculation — a price that no people can continue to pay and remain solvent ! — a price that has involved many ancient cities and nations in bankruptcy and dissolution! The greatest items of Government expenditure are those The Economic Question 211 of our Army and Navy. If the reader will turn to Chapter VII he may see that, by far the most serious of all causes of disability of the men in both these wings of service, are classed as venereal diseases. A study of the table in the same chapter on the two evils of "Alcoholism and Vene- realism" will show that the latter exceeds all others in its disastrous effects upon the physical forces of both army and navy. Think of 800 men constantly disabled, and that the loss of service in the Navy equals the force of three battleships for a whole month of the year, each battleship having 1,000 officers and men ! Colonel Kean shows that the loss of service in the army, in the year 1908, equaled 106,526 days, which represent a loss of $200,000 in that one way alone. If we add to these items of cost the losses to the coun- try involved in the broken health and weakened bodies of men for all future service, not in the Army and Navy only, but in all branches of economic service, it would probably show the greatest waste of forces known to mankind. The American Federation for Sex Hygiene prepared a 'series of exhibits which were described in the press of October, 1912. One of the charts gave the following figures of how we spend our money in the United States : Immorality and the social diseases (esti- mated) $3,000,000,000 Intoxicating liquors 2,000,000,000 Tobacco 1,200,000,000 Jewelry and plate 800,000,000 Automobiles 500,000,000 Church work at home 250,000,000 Confectionery 200,000,000 Soft drinks 120,000,000 Tea and coffee 100,000,000 Millinery 90,000,000 Patent medicines 80,000,000 Chewing gum 13,000,000 Foreign missions 12,000,000 212 The World's Social Evil The losses which directly fall upon productive service through vice are, as we have seen, beyond calculation. But there are also other losses which must be charged up against it. Summarized, they may be stated thus : 1. Losses of time and labor of those withdrawn by it from service. 2. Loss from wasted or non-producing capital em- ployed in the vice traffic. 3. Losses through deterioration of manhood and wom- anhood in skill and power. 4. Losses through wasted physical life and health. 5. Losses by increased taxation for hospitals, insane asylums, and care of the diseased and dying. The General Assembly of the State of Illinois alone voted nine millions of dollars at its session of 1911 for the support of these in- stitutions, and it is admitted by the most competent authori- ties that the larger portion of this — ^if not all — ^would have been unnecessary but for the diseases occasioned by drunk- enness and vice. 6. Loss by diverting the service of police from the protection of property and life to the protection of thQ institutions of vice and incidental crime. 7. Losses arising from demoralized manhood, woman- hood and childhood, which greatly increase the cost of political, religious, social and educational progress. Considered from one other standpoint, we might inquire as to the effect of the withdrawal from legitimate and pro- ductive business of all the vast expenditure of capital and earnings in the business of commercialized vice. Suppose that the trinity of imlawful and destructive trades, gambling, drink and lust, were stopped for a single year, what an immeasurable change it would make on both sides of the Nation's ledger accounts. The Economic Question 213 The Credit side would show the increased earnings of billions turned from markets of waste and destruction to those of blessing and production — ^plus the savings of in- calculable millions, the present cost of disease, insanity, crime and poverty occasioned by those evils. The Debit side would shrink so perceptibly that the Government of cities, states and nation would have to re- duce taxation, or find new avenues for the expenditure of their revenues. Police service could be turned to purposes of public safety. Criminal law courts might take long terms of vacation; half the insane asylums might be con- verted into schools and the cost of penitentiaries would be cut in two. If, to all this, the moral values could be put into the scale, we would have to estimate the worth of a soul as greater than a whole world of material wealth, and then add to it as many worlds as there are souls — lost through these devils' agents. Turning from the general to the individual view of the subject, no greater error has ever been made current than that a prostitute is cheaper than a wife or that the patron- age of a brothel is less costly than a home. This is one of the lies, current along the roadway to hell. If the circumstances of a youth do not justify mar- riage, much less will they warrant a visit to the house of shame. Apart altogether from the dangers which attend a single visit to such a den, it is the first step downward, and the most costly that a poor man can indulge in. It is the be- ginning of financial decline and home is placed further off by every visit. Mr. Con well, in his excellent book, ' ' Manhood's Morning, ' ' quotes a famous lecturer as saying : ' ' The rea- son there are so few marriages is because there are so many young men in jails and penitentiaries ; tramping the coun- 214 The World's Social Evil try and loafing on street corners; spending their money in saloons and in questionable resorts and wasting the flower of their manhood in dissipation." Let us add to this a warning that the "flower of manhood is wasted" before a youth reaches the place described by the lecturer. It is in those beginning steps that "manhood's morning" is blighted. And unless the young men of America will make choice of a humble home and a pure wife, in preference to the poor lost woman of the brothel, our poet will cry in vain : — "God give us men — * * * Great hearts, strong minds, true faith and ready hands." "Anyone that recklessly impairs, imperils, and weakens bodily powers by bad hours and sensualities is a suicide." COST OF THE SOCIAL EVIL. IL LOW WAGES AS A MENACE TO VICE. "The life of an unprotected girl who tries to make a living In a great city is full of torturing temptations. First, she faces the problem of living on an inadequate wage: Six dollars a week is the average in mercantile establishments. If she were living at home where the mother and sister could help her with mending, sewing and washing, where her board would be small — perhaps only a dollar or two towards the burden carried by the other members of the family — where her lunch would come from the family larder — then her condition might be as good as if she earned eight dollars per week. "The girl who has no home soon learns of "city poverty" all the more cruel to her because of the artificial contrasts. She quickly learns of the possibilities about her, of the joys of comfort, good food, entertainment, attractive clothes. Pov- erty becomes a menace and a snare. One who has not beheld the struggle or come in personal contact with the tempted soul of the underpaid girl can never realize what the poverty of The Economic Question 215 the city means to her. One who has never seen her bravely fighting against such fearful odds will never understand. A day's sickness or a week out of work are tragedies in her life. They mean trips to the pawnbroker's, meagre dinners, a weakened will, often a plunge into the abyss from which she so often never escapes." Chicago Vice Commission Report, page 42. In all our large cities there are thousands of girls strug- gling to make ends meet, with a few dollars at one end, and clothing, shelter and food, at the other. "The census of 1900 gave the total breadwinners under fifteen years, as 1,750,000. Here is a little army — no, a vast army — of little soldiers, whose sad and silent files are full of menace for the republic. '"^ Miss Jane Addams tells of the wreck of a young girl who came from the country to Chicago, and the highest wages she could obtain in a department store was five dol- lars per week. And this was but one of many thousands, for, as Miss Addams points out, ofScial reports show that the average employee in department stores earns about seven dollars a week. Another incident which Miss Addams gives is of a Rus- sian girl, who "quite recently took a place in a Chicago clothing factory at twenty cents a day, without in the least knowing that she was tindercutting even that ill-paid in- dustry. The girl rented a room for a dollar a week, and all she had to eat was given her by a friend in the same lodg- ing house who shared her scanty fare. ' ' It is not too much to say that no class of persons in the present age is subject to so much danger, with so little preparation or protection, as the young girl who enters the great army of wage earners for a living. Miss Addams calls attention to the census reports of the »"Tho Spirit of America," Van Dyke. 216 The World's Social Evil United States which indicate that "self-supporting girls are steadily increasing in number each decade, until 59 per cent, of all young women in the nation, between the ages of 16 and 20 years, are now engaged in some gainful occupa- tion. "^ The "Industrial Banner," in pleading the cause of girl workers, says: "Just think of it, 55 cents a day the average wages paid In American factories to girls under 16 years of age. Three dollars and 30 cents per week to clothe and feed themselves and live respectably. Thousands of girls of 16 years of age earn less than $3.30 per week, a vast army of them get no more than f2 per week, and some even less than this. Even this, bad as It is, is not the worst feature, either. "The majority of these girls work in insanitary workshops, the more favored working 10 hours per day, the less fortunate, longer. Is it any wonder that living under such inhuman con- ditions tuberculosis carries off its victims by the hundreds? Ib it any wonder that discouraged and hopeless thousands of these girls drift out upon the street? Is it any wonder that scores of them commit suicide every year? How is it possible for a girl to live on such wages, or to lead a moral life under such con- ditions?" Col. Theodore Roosevelt, in pleading for the "Con- servation of Womanhood and Childhood" in the December (1911) Number of The Outlook, says that in New York state "the canners sometimes require women to work for seventy or eighty hours a week" and that a bill for limiting these hours was defeated in the Senate "by the action of the canners. " " Both official and private investigations agree, ' ' says Mr. Roosevelt, "that canners employ young girls and women shockingly long hours — sometimes up to one hun- dred and ten hours a week. I ask you to picture for your- ^A New Conscience and an Ancient Evil, pp. 62, 80. The Economic Question 217 selves the wearing exhaustion, the hopeless drain of vitality, which such figures mean." Mr. Roosevelt quotes figures to show the hours of wom- en 's work in respective states and says that "New York "is behind many of the states in protecting factory workers." 58-hour week, Connecticut, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire. 56-hour week, Rhode Island. 55-hour week, Wisconsin. 54-hour week, Massachusetts, Ohio, Michigan, Missouri, Utah. 48-hour week, Arizona, California, Washington. The Illinois State legislature passed a bill at its last session, limiting a woman's working day to ten hours. The great public who daily use canned goods have little conception that they are put up in the state of New York, at the cost of barbarous conditions of child slavery. "One of the crying abuses, ' ' says Mr. Roosevelt, ' ' connected with child labor in this state is the employment of hundreds of children, five years of age and upwards, in connection with the fruit and vegetable canning factories in the State. Their work has been held to be agricultural. But it is in no sense agricultural. It is carried on usually in sheds structurally a part of, or adjacent to, the factory proper. A child labor colony is established around each industrial plant. Ac- cording to the latest official statistics (August, 1908) of the Labor Department, hundreds of children under four- teen years of age work in these canneries. Very many of them are under ten years of age." What an indictment is written against a great state in these words ! Think of babes of five driven to toil — children of ten working in the great canning industry. It is enough to discredit our very manhood and to make 218 The World's Social Evil us question whether there is any Christianity left when such outrages are committed for gain against childhood and especially girl children. Mr. Roosevelt mentions a specially pathetic case. "Last summer Alma Whaley, a textile-mill girl in Knox- ville, Tennessee, drank carbolic acid to commit suicide. When examined, she revealed the existence of a suicide pact among the textile-mill girls, whose life was such that they felt that death was preferable to the slavery in which they lived and toiled." In a report of a study of "The Social Evil in Kansas City, Mo., (1911) , " a table is given of the wages of 300 girls of that city, selected as a basis of inquiry. Of these — 31 worked for weekly wage of $ 2 to $ 4 123 worked for weekly wage of 4 to 6 75 worked for weekly wage of 6 to 8 41 worked for weekly wage of 8 to 10 12 worked for weekly wage of 10 to 15 18 worked for weekly wage of 15 to 20 Thus, 270 of the 300 worked for an average wage of from $5 to $7, while 154, or more than half of them, worked for an average wage of from $3 to $5 per week. Similar testimony is given by Miss Zelie P. Emerson, a young woman of independent means who, for the sake of experience, engaged herself to a department store for three weeks of the busy Christmas season, at $6 per week. The Chicago Record-Herald of December 25, 1911, gave the following report of Miss Emerson's experience: "It was hard work, but it was worth while. The one cen- tral thought I got from my experience is that saleswomen are giving up too much of their lives for an existence. They get about three hours a day in which to live the life of a normal human being, and it isn't enough. How can they live on $6 a week? They can't. While I worked in the store I did not The Economic Question 219 let anyone know I did not have to earn my living that way. As a result, many of the girls became confidential and told me of the awful struggle they have to exist. The ten-hour law has proved a great blessing to them, but we should have an eight-hour law for women and there should be a minimum wage law. "I found that most of the girls with whom I talked paid f4 a week for room and board. Car fare costs them 60 cents a week and if they buy their lunches in the store, that costs 7 cents a day. Room and board, car fare and 7-cent lunches leave a girl 98 cents a week out of her salary to pay for every- thing else that she needs. "Where men's goods are sold the girls must look attractive. I spoke to some of them about powdering their faces and asked why they did it. " 'I might get invited out to supper and save 20 cents,' was the invariable answer. Never a thought of anything except saving the price of a supper or car fare home." These various experiences and facts represent the life of half our American girls — a life unknown to the woman- hood of a generation ago. The grandmothers of our girls did not dream of entering the struggle of wage-service un- less compelled by economic necessity. Now, almost every avenue of employment that offers a possible field for them is as keenly contested by girls, as by their brothers, and thousands enter the wage-earning class in the spirit of ad- venture, or of desire for a purse, independent of a common provision of the household. On this point Miss Addams says: "For the first time in history, multitudes of women are laboring without the direct stimulus of family history or af- fection, and they are also unable to proportion their hours of work and intervals of rest according to their strength; In addi- tion to this, for thousands of them, the effort to obtain a liveli- hood has fairly eclipsed the meaning of life itself." The conditions of modern commercial life, on the one 220 The World's Social Evil hand, and the presence of need, on the other, seem to in- vite, and often to force, young girls into a public arena in which they must contend, not only with one another, but also with men and boys. Hence they are subject to ex- posure and risks for which few of them have had any prep- aration whatever. The result is numerous tragedies of body and soul. BETTER VTAGES FOE WOMEN. In April, 1911, we wrote to Miss Grace Dodge, President of the National Young Women's Christian Association, urg- ing the support of that body at its annual Convention in Indianapolis, to support legislative and other measures to protect young women against the dangers involved in the traffic in vice. The subject was referred to the Committee on Resolu- tions and the following were adopted : Inasmuch as the utterly inadequate wages paid to thou- sands of young women throughout the country often hamper and stultify the work of the Association as a great preventive agency, and as the white slave traffic is admitted to be closely related to the lack of living wage, the Association recognizes its responsibility as an influential unit in the body of Christian public opinion, and accordingly it is recommended: a. That the Association shall seek to educate public opin- ion regarding the need of establishing a minimum living wage and of regulating hours born of labor com- patible with the physical health and development of wage earners. This cry for honest pay to youthful womanhood in the market of labor will be heard in every court of appeal in this country and throughout the world. To tax the strength, and starve the bodies and minds, of tens of thousands of our girls is a crime — not against them alone — but against the The Economic Question 221 motherhood and home life of the whole world. It is a draft upon the future that no nation can perpetuate or tolerate, and yet prosper. But the economic wrong is not alone the fault of cer- tain sets of employers. It is a fault much deeper and more general than can be lodged, — say against a given number of manufacturers — or department store proprietors. There are to be sure, employers who grind the pay of employees down to the lowest possible level and who never concern themselves as to the circumstances of the girls whom they employ — often driven to the very verge of desperation and starvation — men like that manufacturer of clothing, of whom Miss Addams tells, employing a Eussian girl at 20 cents a day, while the girl had to pay a dollar a week for a corner in a lodging and accept the generous help of another girl, nearly as poor as herself, for food enough to keep her alive. The indifference and moral turpitude of such a man is not contemptible only, it is criminal. To allow a cat, or a dog, to be in one's keeping and starve it, is a subject for the ofiScers of the humane society. To employ a lone girl whose earnings are insufficient for the barest necessities of life, and drive her to beggary or death, is a crime that some day, ere long, will be placed in the category of murder. "Are flesh and blood so cheap, mental qualifications so common, and honesty of so little value, that the manager of one of our big department stores feels justified in paying a high school girl, who has served nearly one year as an in- spector of sales, the beggarly wage of $4.00 per week? What is the natural result of such an industrial condition ? Dishonesty and immorality, not from choice, but necessity — in order to live. We can forgive the human frailty which yields to temptation under such conditions — but we cannot 222 The World's Social Evil forgive the soulless corporation which arrests and prose- cutes this girl — a first offender — when she takes some little articles for personal adornment." — Chicago Vice Commis- sion Report. It is this criminal enslavement of girl workers which caUs loudly for action on the part of organized society and of government. The problem of working girls springs chiefly from the fact that they do not know how to work. They can usually offer only unskilled labor, which commands short pay for long hours. They were compelled to attend public school where they learned to want many things which they can- not honestly have, but found no opportunity to learn a trade, which would have been a strong bulwark against temptation. Even the skilled workers, are, many of them, thrown out of employment part of the year. In a list of eighty-seven industries, in New York City, there are ten whose season is ten months, twenty whose season is eight months, twenty-one whose season is six months, and others which are stiU shorter. "Whether self-respecting girls, faint from hunger, hunt in vain for work, or are daily exhausted by excessive toil, they can hardly fail to contrast their lives with the lives of women who have luxuries of food and clothing, though "they toil not, neither do they spin." It is infinitely to their honor that the great majority of working girls pre- serve their womanhood under such conditions. If we seek the true source of these conditions, we must look back of the present-day lack of system. How comes it about that so large a percentage of young, untrained girls, without knowledge, even of the most primary condi- tions of business or service — with absolutely no fitness, ex- cept that they have youthful hands and legs to grow weary The Economic Question 223 in incessant use in factory or store, are in this struggle for bread ? After all, economic law will not solve the problem with- out disaster to working girls which, for a time at least, might prove worse than those of present conditions. Right relations between service and wages can only obtain through a revolution of the present hit-and-miss, haphazard, chaotic conditions. As Miss Addams says : "Perhaps nothing In our social order is so unorganized and Inchoate as our method, or rather lack of method, of placing young people in industry, whether we consider this from the point of view of their first positions when they leave school at the wayward age of fourteen, or from the innumerable places they hold later, often as many as ten a year, when they are dismissed or change voluntarily through sheer restlessness.'"^ The rate of wages is determined by a law which asserts itself. If competent, efficient service, such as trained sales- women, dressmakers, milliners or stenographers command a certain rate of wages, employers will not pay the same to untrained hands. Let us suppose that any one or more of the great de- partment stores were suddenly to announce "living wages" for all their employees— say a minimum of $10 or $12 per week; the immediate result would be the elimination of more than half — perhaps in some eases, of two-thirds — of the girls in their employ. The most natural condition of economic law would demand more efficient trained service, and a prompt response to that demand would be forth- coming. The Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy, asso- ciated with the Chicago "Woman's Club, reports, Dec. 27, 1911, on the subject of child labor, and remarks that : ^An Ancient Evil. 224 The World's Social Evil "The 14 or 15 year old child Is very helpless and ill-equipped to enter alone and unguarded upon her wage earning life. The parent is unable to advise or guide; the private employment office is a wholly unsuitable agency; and to the present, the public school has been inactive." The trades inquired into are listed under distinct head- ings, the sewing trades being grouped together. The fol- lowing is a summary of what the investigators found to be the conditions in some of these trades in Chicago : Dressmaking — Pay, $1.50 a week for first few months; at end of two years, $6 to $8. Millinery — Assistants get $5 to $10 a week; average wage is $12 ; makers, $10 to $20 ; trimmers, $15 to $35 ; de- signers, average, $35. Braiding and embroidering — Beginners, $3.50 to $5; usual wage, $12 a week. Artificial flower-making — Beginners get $2 to $3 a week ; average is $8. Bookbinding — ^Beginners, $3.50 to $4 a week; appren- tices over 16 get $5 the first year ; after two years, $8. Engraving — Girls under 16 rarely earn over $4.50 as feeders. Usual wage is $11. Photography — Offers good opportunities for girls, but few girls under 16 are employed. Stenography (typewriting and office work) — Girls un- der 16 get $4 a week; others, $5, $6, up to $15, and in some cases, $18. Telephone operating — ^Average wage to girls $8 a week ; experts are said to be paid as high as $95 a month. These facts are sufficient to establish the general rule that a responsibility is thrown upon young girls wholly out of proportion to their fitness by training or experience. The mistake is that girls are permitted to take the re- sponsibility of their own living at an age, and under cir- The Economic Question 225 cumstances, when they ought to be at home, or at school, or, failing parental or natural guardians, should be cared for by the State. It is a complete reversion of the order of providential care that tens of thousands of children — girls — ^are thrust into the struggle of factory and store, when they ought to be cared for at home. And of those who have arrived at an age when they might fairly be learners, no factory or de- partment store should be permitted to receive them, as ap- prentices, without a knowledge and a register of their homes and guardians. This means State care and provision. The wisdom of caring for the early youth upon whom the State has already expended large sums for education, until they are ready, by growth, experience, and training, to fitly enter the battle of life, must be apparent to all think- ing people. MORAL RESTRAINTS ENDANGERED BY OVER-STATEMENTS. Great perils lie in the direction of over-statement, or misstatement, of the relation of low wages or poverty to social vice. Two aspects of this subject are presented, both of which are attended with serious danger to the young. 1. The first is the suggestion that the wages of sin are greater than that of labor. One of the most commonly quoted paragraphs of the Chicago Vice Commission Re- port is this : "Is it any wonder that a tempted girl who receives only six dollars per week working with her hands, sells her body for twenty-five dollars per week when she learns there is a demand for it and men are willing to pay the price? On the one hand her employer demands honesty, faithfulness and a clean and neat appearance, and for all this he contributes from his prof- 226 The World's Social Evil its an average of six dollars for every week. Her honesty alone is worth this inadequate wage, disregarding the consideration of her efficiency. In the sad life of prostitution, on the other hand, we find here the employer demanding the surrender of her virtue, pays her an average of twenty-five dollars per week. Which employer wins the half starved child to his side in this unequal battle?" When such a statement with the weight and authority of an official document reaches an inexperienced girl, she naturally compares her poor $5.00 a week — ^more or less — with those glittering prospects of five times the amount. Many girls are incapable of reasoning that, even if ob- tainable, instead of increasing her independence and happi- ness, it would mean the absolute surrender of both, with untold suffering, poverty and disease speedily following. The Commission's own report shows that there are no continuous prizes of large pay to girls who enter the life of shame. The charges which are placed against the poor girl's wages for infamy involve them in immediate and perpetual debt and poverty, and the wages of this sin is a rapidly diminishing quantity, while indebtedness increases. The vice trade is the only market in which the largest pay is to the beginner, and the steps down to beggary, disease, and death are short and steep. In many houses the girl is never paid at all. The visitor purchases a check at the door, which is handed her for the service, and from the aggre- gate sum donated by her checks are deducted by the madam the charges against her for board or lodging and articles of dress (all of which are purchased by the madam and sold to the inmate at a large profit), and thus she is often kept in debt. The Report has so much in it that is excellent and wise that one regrets to observe it limping on this very funda- mental matter. Referring to the youth of girls as a chief The Economic Question 227 asset in the market of prostitution, the report says: "What- ever her chances may be, to stand or to fall, she is here in hordes, in the business world as our problem. Let us do something to give her at least a living wage." "Why not "do something" to take these hordes of girls out of the business world? It is their very inexperience and unpreparedness that make them often the easy prey of human wolves. And at such times it is not the small wages which is the main danger, but that their youth is a marketable article, for which fiends contend, and panders offer a gilded premium. Miss Addams, referring to the statement of a twenty- five dollar income for a girl "who enters an illicit life, re- marks: "Of course the argument is specious in that it does not reckon the economic value of the many years in which the honest girl will live as wife and mother, in con- trast to the premature death of the girl in the illicit trade. ' ' It may be added that the girls who are said to earn these sums do not get them. They receive only the portion that the madame chooses to give, and against it all there are the extortionate charges which make them slaves of perpetual debt. To represent the wages of vice as higher, or in any way better, than the wages of honor and service, is to mislead the mind of youth and is as false to economic law as it is to morals. It is undoubtedly true that the seductions of pleasure, dress, and opportunity, are often aided by poverty, yet the more prevalent causes of the fall of girls are traceable to other evils. It is to the credit of the poorer girls that often they resist evil, even unto death. Does a woman ever enter this life by choice; does she, in ordinary, normal-girl conditions, deliberately choose to sell herself into a market of vice? There are doubtless 228 The World's Social Evil some who are born into an environment from which they have not the moral sense or desire to emerge, and who may be said to be horn slaves, but the ordinary girl who en- ters this business is either seduced, deceived, coerced or tricked, or absolutely sold and sometimes forcibly held. Every man who wiU think back to primary causes and re- call what he has known of the virtue of the girls of his acquaintance, will be ready to affirm that nature has en- dowed them with an instinctive horror of indiscriminate commerce of their persons, and when the further question is asked as to those who are absolutely sold and held by device or force, the testimony of men of unquestionable authority and position is the abundant and unimpeachable answer. It is well known that the market of vice is not deter- mined by a natural law of supply and demand. Both are made fictitious by the methods of the vice dealer ; the sup- ply of fresh attractive girls stimulates the demand among men and an artificial supply is created. A whole army of pimps, panders and slave-mongers are necessary to force the supply, and these all find profit in catching victims and consigning them to the shambles for moral slaughter. Katherine Bement Davis, Superintendent of the State Reformatory at Bedford Hills, N. Y., furnishes the follow- ing facts : Of 647 girls in the Bedford Institution 243, or 37.58 per cent of the whole number were domestic servants be- fore they fell into the life of prostitution. Of 52 of these 243, the average wages received (with board) was $4.50. Of 52 others of this number the average wages (with board) was $3.00. In other occupations; of 110 cases the average wages The Economic Question 229 (without board) was $8.00. Of 100 others, the average wages was $4.00. It will be at once apparent that the earnings of domes- tic servants, when room and board, are considered, are much higher than of "other occupations." Yet, of 647 cases, 243 or 37.56 per cent, of them were domestic servants, while of factory operatives only 127 or 19.62 per cent, were included and those who were recorded as having "no work" were 92, or 14.27 per eent.^ This is in accord with other facts and statistics well known to students of social reform, and it shows that poverty is not the chief cause of vice, although as we have seen it is one of many causes. Nor may it be assumed that there is any more inate tendency to vice in girls who enter domestic service than other girls. The explanation of the prevalence of their fall, seems to be that the domestic serv- ant is usually isolated from all home influences, and is a convenient subject for the attacks of men who know of their situation and circumstances. 'Mr. Flexner, In his book, "Prostitution in Europe," published since this chapter was written, remarks: "The servant does not lack food or shelter, and her services are everywhere In demand. She does not therefore resort to prostitution as an alternative to starvation. Animated by a natural desire to excuse their conduct, as most human beings are, the direct pressure of need is rarely assigned by prostitutes in exculpation of their conduct. Mrs. Bramwell Booth, than whom there Is no more competent or sympathetic authority, found among 150 successive and unusually varied cases only 2 percent who explained their prostitution by inability to earn a livelihood; Strohmberg discovered among 462 enrolled women at Dorpat only one who protested poverty as her justification; Pinkus, studying the incomes of 1,550 Berlin women before em- barking on the life, decides that 1,389 had earned enough for self-support. But It would be obviously unfair to say of these 1,389 women capable of earning a living that social-economic conditions had nothing to do with their fall; for precisely these conditions create a situation capable of being exploited." "Sex is a paradox; it is that which separates in order to unite. . . . This much, at least, sex has done for the world — it has abolis^ied the numeral one. Observe, it has not simply discouraged the existence of one ; it has abolished the existence of one. The solitary animal must die, and can leave no successor. . . . The two sexes were not only set apart to perform different halves of the same function, but each so entirely lost the power of performing the whole function that even with so great a thing at stake as the continuance of the species one could not discharge it. Association, construction, mutual help, fellowship, affection — things on which all material and moral progress would ultimately turn — were thus forced upon the world at the bayonet's point. . . . "It is not enough to give time for mutual knowledge and affection after marriage. Nature must deepen the result by extending it to the time before marriage. In primitive times there was no such thing as courtship. ... To give love time has been all along, and through a great variety of arrangements, the chief means of establishing it on the earth. Unfortunately, the lesson of nature here is being all too slowly learned, even among nations with its open book before them. In some of the greatest of civilized countries, real mutual knowledge between the youth of the sexes, is unattainable ; marriages are made only by a higher kind of purchase, and the supreme step in life is taken in the dark." Henry Drummond: "The Ascent of Man" pp. 243, 244, 304. CHAPTER IX. THE AMERICAN AWAKENING. I. The awakening interest which has culminated in the present day movement for the abolition of commercialized vice and a better knowledge of the natural laws relating to sex, takes us back to the first International Congress held in Geneva, Switzerland, September, 1877. A little volume entitled "State Regulation of Vice," by Aaron M. Powell, published in New York in 1878, contains an accurate note of that Congress, as the writer of this book, who was pres- ent, remembers it. The following from Mr. Powell's ac- count is of permanent interest as a record of the founda- tion principles upon which the new abolition movement is based : "In 1875, Mrs. Josephine Butler undertook an important mission on the Continent, chiefly in Prance, Switzerland and Italy. Her reception in Paris was cold, and anything but en- couraging, but her observation in the French Capitol ot the prac- tical workings of the regulation system there, served to render still more obvious the urgent need of reformation. In Switzer- land she found more encouragement; and in Italy, In many cases, she was welcomed with enthusiasm. Out of this mission as a preliminary preparation, grew the International Congress at Geneva, September, 1877, under the auspices of the British Continental and General Federation for the Abolition of Gov- ernment Regulation of Prostitution. "The attendance at the Congress numbered five hundred and ten. Among the delegates were Dr. Bertani, an eminent physi- cian and member of the Italian Parliament, Signer Nathan, of Rome, an able journalist, and co-worker with Garibaldi, Mile. 232 The World's Social Evil Mozzpnl, of Milan, and Professor Colona, of Salerno. From Italy also came a deputation representing 1,600 societies of working- men. Spain was represented by Slgnor Zorrilla, formerly a leader of the Madrid Government. Prom Germany came Dr. Baur, a distinguished Court Preacher bearing a message of sympathy to the Congress from the Empress, also Pastor In- storp of Pomerania. Among the delegates from Prance were the eloquent preacher, M. Pressense, Dr. Gustav Monod, M. Desmoulins, a Paris Journalist, M. Leon Richer, Dr. John Chap- man, editor of the Westminster Review, Mile. Racult, a work- ing woman, and founder of a 'Women's Trade Union' in Paris, and M. Charles Lemonnier, a leading member of the Peace and Liberty League. Denmark was represented by Dr. Meyer. Ma- dame Behrends, M. Nicholet, and M. Button were delegates from Belgium. Holland was ably represented by M. W. Vanden- bergh, of the Hague, and Pastor Pierson. The largest delega- tions were from Switzerland and Great Britain. Among the former were Prof. Amie Humbert, of Neuchatel, Dr. De La Harpe, of Lausanne, Pere Hyacinthe, Prof. Hornung, of Geneva, the venerable Pastor Borel, and M. Sautter de Blonay. From Great Britain there were, beside Mrs. Butler, her husband, the Rev. George Butler, and their two sons, the Right Hon. James Stansfeld, M. P., Sir Harcourt Johnstone, the leader of the Repeal Movement in the House of Commons, Prof. James Stuart, of Cambridge, William Shaen, Esq., and Mr. and Mrs. F. C. Banks, London, Mr. Ashurst, Henry J. Wilson, M. P., George Gillett of London, Mrs. Margaret Lucas, sister of John and Jacob Bright, Edward Backhouse, Esq., Edmund Jones, President of the Workingmen's Repeal Association, Dr. Nevins, President, and Wm. Burgess, of Liverpool, Secretary of the National Medical Association, Henry Richard, M. P., Dr. Carson of Liverpool, P. W. Bunting, Mrs. Sheldon Amos, Miss Estlin, and Mrs. Russell Carpenter, Mrs. Richardson, R. F. Marteneau, Rev. W. Wastell, and Mrs. Kenway, of Birmingham, Eliza Wigham, of Edinburgh, Miss Todd, of Belfast, Henry Allen, Esq., of Dublin, and others." The United States was represented by Mrs. Julia Ward Howe of Boston, Dr. Caroline B. Winslow, and A. C. Winslow Esq., of Washington, and Mr. A. M. Powell, of New York. "Mr. Stansfeld, as President, arraigned the regulation sys- The American Awakening 233 tern as a failure hygienically, as well as wrong morally; as op- pressive to women, delusive to men, and inconsistent with the principles of enlightened jurisprudence. Referring to the regu- lation system, he said: "These laws are and deserve to be a hygienic failure, because those who invented them and those who have administered them were unable to see that no law which offends against human nature can be a hygienic success. But they are far worse than a hygienic failure, they are an outrage against morality, justice, law itself; and have been and will be, wheresoever they are retained, a cause among the na- tions of the ruin of liberty and law, of a general depravation of morals, and of an equal physical degradation and emascu- lation of our race. They bring us back to the vices, the decadence of the Lower Empire. There is no nation in the world's history which has given itself up to sexual vice without becoming enslaved, or disappearing oft the face of the earth, as If at the breath of God." Appealing to women, Mr. Stansfeld said: "The evil we attack is the very existence of prostitution. The existence of the legalized, sanctioned, regulated prostitution of women, in order to satisfy men's Ignoble desires, would be, not only an Indignity, It would be a shame to women If they were not to resist It, to protest against it. I rejoice that there are those amongst us who do this, and I revere them for it. But woman, as a sex, as a class, has not yet risen to the level which her very sex demands from her. Many women shrink from this subject because of Its horrors; let them, too, learn to bear this cross. Let them resist, as an outrage against their whole sex, the outrage inflicted upon these unhappy ones, the most degraded of their sisters. Let them study history and its lessons of providential progress." MRS. JOSEPHINE BUTLER APPEALS TO MEN AND WOMEN. Mrs. Butler followed Mr. Stansfeld in an address of great power and eloquence. She said: "The President has uttered words of earnest appeal and words of blame to us women. Yes, I confess it; I confess it for all women, we have been guilty In this matter, and not merely in the past, we are so still; we are not ready for all sacrifices. But a new light has arisen, a new era dawns upon this question; a voice has been raised, 234 The World's Social Evil feeble at first, but daily gaining strength, until at last a great cry has gone up which has echoed across Great Britian, Europe and America and resounded to the extremities of the world. A new influence has made itself felt, an influence which from the moment of its uprising, owing to the natural and providential law which rouses the oppressed to struggle for deliverance, was predestined to reach the root of the evil. What is the new social force which has hitherto been absent, and which is in- dispensable to all efficacious action upon this question? It is the action of women. The voice of God — as far as we may recognize it from the world's history — has called to this work not merely a few devoted women, but a large army of women, who have identified themselves with the crowd of unhappy and degraded women who are their sisters. This forlorn class has recently found a voice — our voice, the voice of happier women, who abhor the degradation into which their sisters are sunk, and who love them, although they be guilty and fallen. We have been awakened out of our deep sleep by a terrible shock; but we will never sleep again. "You, gentlemen, will no longer find before you a silent and submissive class, having no will of its own, a class of women who have been named by Dr. Hippolyte Mlreur 'the things of the administration;' you have now before you a class which, for the first time, has found a tongue; a revolted class, which comprises all the women upon the earth. It is not merely the unhappy class, now down-trodden, who are wronged; if they are wronged, we are still more so in their wrongs. " 'Inasmuch as ye have done this unto one of these little ones, ye have done it unto Me.' "You hygienists, you legislators, you are the men; you it is who make the laws, who order public measures and prescribe the means of preserving the public health. You are learned and sincere men; but forget not in making your plans for the fu- ture that you have to take into your account the holy revolt of rebels who have rebelled in the name of justice and of the law of God. "Now ladies: if it is henceforth forbidden for men to under- take the solution of this question without the help of women; so also have women a moral obligation before man and before God to play an active and aggressive part in the execution of The American Awakening 235 this task. You can no longer neglect your high responsibility upon this question without being guilty of unfaithfulness to- wards men, who are your brothers, your husbands, your friends, your sons. Our part is not merely that of healing the wounds which men have made, of gathering around us and of saving the broken fragments of this forlorn portion of humanity, which have been destroyed through our selfishness and cowardice. Our duty it is to prevent such destruction; to unite actively and ag- gressively with men In every work of destruction and of recon- struction which has for its aim an attack upon the sources of the evil; our duty it is to rectify the judgment of society at large upon this question; to enter into the discussion and the ac- complishment of every measure, public or private, legislative, hygienic, or economic, by which its solution Is sought; for this question, never has been, and never will he solved by men acting alone; so long as they act alone they must inevitably fail. The noblest amongst men are the first to admit this." Among the English-speaking delegates, at the Congress, Mrs. Howe, of Boston, Mass., invited attention to the de- sirability of eo-edueation for girls and boys, and of enfran- chisement and equal opportunities for v7omen, and was listened to with marked attention. Dr. Winslow, of Wash- ington, read a paper before the hygienic section on the moral attitude of the medical women of America. Mr. A. M. Powell presented a paper upon "Regulation Efforts in America." Contributions were also sent from America by Mrs. Caroline H. Dall, of Boston, Dr. Lozier, of New York, and the "Woman Suffrage Association of New York. The Congress passed a series of resolutions which constitute the foundation principles of this movement for all time. They were as follows : SECTION OF HYGIENE. The section of hygiene affirms: I. That self control In sexual matters is one of the indis- pensable bases of the health of Individuals and of nations. 236 The World's Social Evil II. That prostitution is a fundamental violation of the laws of health. III. Considering that the duties of the Department of Public Health ought not to be restricted to the prophylaxy of the diseases which afflict the population, we declare its true function to be that of developing in the people all the conditions favorable to health, of which public morality is the highest expression. IV. The Section of Hygiene repudiates all systems of police regulation of prostitution, on account of their entire warn of success. It bases this view upon the following reasons, among others: That the compulsory surgical examination of women is revolting to human nature; that it can only reach a certain number of prostitutes; that it is not to be relied upon to discover the gravest constitutional form of disease, or to arrest its progress; and that conse- quently it gives a false security in regard to the health of the women examined. V. The Section of Hygiene urgently desires the removal of the obstacles which prevent the treatment of venereal diseases as readily as all other diseases, in all hospitals under the control of municipalities, or other public bodies, as well as in those supported by voluntary contributions. VI. The Section of Hygiene also expresses its desire that the ordinary police should cause decency to be respected in the streets and in all public places, and that it should re- press all public scandal, whether caused by men or women. SECTION OF MORALS. I. The Section of Morality aflBrms: That the practice of impurity is as reprehensible in men as in women. II. That "Regulation" tends to destroy the idea of the Unity of the Moral Law for both sexes, and to lower the tone of public opinion upon this subject. III. That every system which organizes prostitution is an in- citement to debauchery; that it augments the number of illegitimate births, increases clandestine prostitution, and lowers the level of public and private morality. IV. That the compulsory medical examination of women, which is the basis of all systems of Regulation, is an outrage The American Awakening 237 upon the woman, and tends to destroy every trace of modesty in her. V. That Registration is an oSense against personal liberty and the common law. VI. That the State, by the system of Regulation, ignores its duty of equally protecting both sexes; corrupts them both and degrades woman. VII. That the State, whose mission it is to protect minors and assist them in their endeavors to live virtuously, does on the contrary, incite them to debauchery, by facilitating the practice thereof through the system of Regulation. VIII. That by authorizing houses of debauchery, and making of prostitution a regular profession, the State sanctions the immoral prejudice that debauchery is a necessity for men. IX. That an appeal be made to the conscience of all editors, authors, booksellers and hawkers, upon the two contin- ents, urging them not to aid or favor the diffusion of corrupt literature, licentious books, and obscene pictures. SECTION OF BENEFICENCE. I. The Section of Beneficence aSarms: That the idea Im- plied by State Regulation of Vice are Incompatible with all ideas or endeavors after rescue and rehabilitation. II. That it has been proved that the Regulation of Prosti- tution is a great obstacle to the success of works of rescue, because registration and the medical examination are op- posed to every sentiment of female modesty; a sentiment never utterly extinguished in any woman, however, de- graded, and render more difficult that rehabilitation which may and ought to be hoped for in the case of every woman. III. That it is desirable that Homes should be everywhere es- tablished in which the system adopted should be as little penitentiary as possible, because Christian love is the only efficacious method of saving young girls. IV. That it is desirable that a system of communication be established to put a stop to the white slave trade in all countries, and to watch over the interests of woman seek- ing employment in all countries. 238 The World's Social Evil Resolutions in accordance with the principles set forth at this Congress were also adopted in the Sections of Social Economy and Legislation. The Congress thus marked the beginning of a new era in social progress throughout the world. It proved it pos- sible for a large Congress of intelligent and highly repu- table men and women to meet and deliberate, with a becom- ing delicacy, and a profound reverence for truth, upon the gravest of the problems which concern social science, civili- zation and Christianity. The oppressive silence so long maintained has been effectually broken. An address of the New York Committee was also pub- lished by Mr. Powell, which reads as follows : "New York, August 13th, 1877. "To the International Congress concerning Government Regula- tion of Prostitution: "The New York Committee for the Prevention of Licensed Prostitution hails with much satisfaction your important convo- cation, and sends to you most cordial greetings. "Our chief American city, though suffering from the great evil of social vice, is as yet free from such governmental regu- lation as would extend to prostitution legal sanction and encour- agement. We have, however, regulation advocates who seek to Introduce, by authority of the State, the immoral and oppres- sive license system. Failing in earlier attempts, they have again sought to obtain for New York special legal authority to regulate and 'localize' prostitution with police and medical su- pervision. We are grateful that thus far they have been un- successful. Our chief danger is that, in some indirect, covert manner a regulation scheme may he thrust upon us. Our safety will be assured only when the regulation system shall have been abolished in Great Britain and on the Continent. The perpetuation of Governmental regulation of prostitution in Eu- rope is a standing menace to us in America. "We rejoice to note the progress of repeal work in Great Britain, and of the profoundly important agitation for aboli- tion on the Continent, especially in Italy, Switzerland, France The American Awakening 239 and Spain. This agitation, which has made possible your Inter- national Congress, marks the beginning of a social revolution vital to the welfare and happiness of the human race, and most important as allied to the progress of true Christian civilization. "Having, in America, abolished the cruel and unjust system of chattel slavery, we shall resist to the uttermost the introduc- tion here of another, and, in some respects, a yet more odious slave system which, legalizing prostitution, creates for its victim class. We shall welcome, with thanksgiving, each new triumph in the interest of social purity and personal liberty in Europe, and shall labor and pray for a speedy, complete victory for the 'new abolitionists' ' movement. With eminent wisdom its code of morality exacts an indispensable, an equal, standard of per- sonal purity for men and women, for the rich and for the poor; its principles are synonymous with those of the Gospel of the Prince of Peace. "Invoking for you the guidance of Divine Wisdom in your deliberations, and the abundant blessings of the All-Father, we are your friends and co-workers. "A. H. Gibbons, President. "Aaron M. Poweu-, "Bmely Blackwell, M. D., "William H. Husset, "Anna Ltjkens, M. D., "Vice-Presidents. "Cornelia C. Husset, "Anna Rice Powell, "Secretaries. "Elizabeth Gat, Treasurer." Mr. Powell kept the fires burning while the watchman slept. He was Secretary of the American Purity Alliance for many years, and published "The Philanthropist" at New York. This journal was later merged into "Vigi- lance," with Dr. 0. B. Janney, of Baltimore, as editor. One of the early pioneers who did valiant service was Frances B. Willard, who sought to lay the foundation of the new abolition — deep and strong. Under her leadership 240 The WorlS's Social Evil the W. C. T. U. gave a foremost place to the subject of pure life, and the defense of womanhood. The white ribbon badge stiU emblems the chaste, as well as the sober life, and Miss Willard's "White Life for Two" is a fitting me- morial of her own priceless life. Elsewhere we have noticed the work of Sidney Kendall and Wiley Phillips on the Pacific Coast, to which was added Mrs. Charlton Edholm's noble stand to guard the girls of the Coast. II A DECADE OP PUBLIC INTEREST. For a number of years the movement met with faint response, but during the past decade there has been a mar- velous awakening which promises to lead to aggressive and powerful forces for righteousness in the nation. The be- ginning of the new century was also the beginning of a new public spirit in regard to the social evil. The conspiracy of silence which had long prevailed, was suddenly broken as if by a concerted plan. The roost con- servative of the professions broke through its reserve and openly declared against silence and ignorance on social and sex hygiene. Dr. Charles W. Eliot says: "During my somewhat long, active life I have never seen such a change of public opinion among thoughtful people as has taken place among them within the last ten years on the subject of sex hygiene, using that term in its broadest sense. ' '^ The great magazines vied with each other in vivid de- scriptions of the social evil, and in articles of great talent ^Address at Buffalo, N. Y., Aug. 27, 1913. The American* Awakening 241 and much detail, portrayed the enormities and ruinous ef- fects of commercialized vice ; newspapers everywhere joined in the war with characteristic enterprise and force. The printing press was employed also, in sending out thousands of different leaflets, pamphlets and books, some of which reached enormous sales. The popular interest was so aroused on the subject that fakirs found it profitable to sell in the streets of our cities spurious copies of parts of these books and of fake stories of the White Slave TraflSc. Playwrights, quick to see the trend of public interest, wrote problem plays — some on the subject of sex hygiene, of which Brieux's play of "Damaged Goods," was the most noted and able. Others appeared on the political, social, and economic phases of the subject, while scores of minor plays and picture-shows were exhibited. Of course, this new activity on a subject which, in the past, had been regarded as a pestilence that must not be named, has aroused some public censorship, and it is curi- ous to note that some plays and books with evident moral intent and purpose have been suppressed because of speech or picture too true and accurate, while salacious fiction, dis- gusting stage exhibits and dances, in which semi-nudeness and immoral suggestions are openly exploited, pass with im- plied approval. A more tangible and even more remarkable evidence of the moral awakening, however, is seen in the attitude of government — both State and Federal — and the activities of civic and citizen bodies in investigating actual vice condi- tions and in seeking remedies. Out of a passionate desire to see something done, big enough to cope with the extent and power of the organized 242 The World's Social Evil infamy, Mr. Coote^ tells of the Conference of European Powers, ofScially invited by the Government of France. "In July, 1902, in response to an invitation from the French Government, sixteen countries were represented by thirty-six delegates, who met at the Foreign Office in Paris, to consider what measures would be adopted to effectually break up these syndicates of evil. After five days' delib- eration, the outcome of their labors was the drafting of an international agreement, which, in our opinion, if adopted by all civilized countries, would so fully protect young women that the moral risks attendant upon their traveling in any part of the world, either for business or recreative purposes, would be greatly reduced, if not altogether done away with. The soil being already prepared, the decisions arrived at by the official conference found ready acceptance by the National Committee of Europe. The subsequent working of this agreement has fully demonstrated its value and effectiveness in the suppression of the White Slave Traffic." An International Treaty. — ^Mr. Edwin Sims records the International movement to suppress the traffic through- out the world. This movement, he shows, culminated on May 18, 1904, in a formal agreement by the Governments of Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, France, Great Brit- ain, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Sweden, Nor- way, and the Swiss Federal Council and was submitted to the Senate of the United States and proclaimed by Presi- dent Roosevelt, June 15, 1908. The most important provisions of the treaty are con- tained in the first three articles: 1. Each of the contracting governments agrees to '"A Vision and its Fulfilment," p. 140. The American Awakening 243 establish or designate an authority who will be directed to centralize information concerning the procuration of wom- en and girls, for the purpose of their debauchery in a for- eign country : That authority shall be empowered to cor- respond directly with the similar service established in each of the other contracting states. 2. Each of the governments agrees to exercise super- vision of railway stations, ports of embarkation and of women and girls in transit, in order to procure all possible information leading to the discovery of criminal trafSc. The arrival of persons involved in such traffic, as procurers or victims, shall be communicated to diplomatic or consular agents. 3. The governments agree to inform the authorities, of the country of origin of the discovery of such unfortunates and to retain, pending advice, such victims in institutions of public or private charity. Such parties will be returned after proper identification to the country of origin. The United States Joins in the Treaty. — The note of International purpose duly reached the United States; our government was somewhat tardy in response, but, in 1908, the treaty was carefully considered and its ratifi- cation advised by the Senate and proclaimed by the Presi- dent, on June 15th of that year. Mr. James Bronson RejTiolds thus writes of this event : "If I am correctly informed, this is the first treaty re- lating to social morality consummated between the leading civilized governments of the world. This action is of the highest significance and importance. The provisions of this treaty should be generally known by our people, which is not the case today, and we should carefully consider our obligations as citizens to its proper fulfilment. It should 244 The World's Social Evil be hailed as a step of progress in this twentieth century, which seems destined to record great improvements in social well-being and in the removal of inequalities of condi- tion." In 1901 the "Committee of Fifteen," of New York, was organized to collect evidence against the gangs of panders and others, and their report was published in 1902 in a volume edited by Dr. Edwin R. A. Seligman, which proved of such interest and value that a revised and standard edi- tion was published early in 1912. Following closely upon the work of the "Committee of Fifteen" the New York Medical Society appointed a "Com- mittee of Seven" to study the effect and prevalence of venereal diseases and their remedies. The selection of Dr. Prince A. Morrow, as chairman of that committee, proved to be of immeasurable importance and value to the country. As chairman of the committee Dr. Morrow pre- sented a remarkable report which was published in the Medical News, December 21, 1901, and a reprint was is- sued. (See chapter on The American Peril.) In May, 1904, Dr. Morrow went one step further in his aggressive attack on venereal diseases, advocating the for- mation of the American Society of Social and Moral Prophylaxis, and early in 1905 this society was organized. This proved to be the beginning of a rapid growth of interest in social hygiene, and Dr. Morrow's great work on "Social Diseases and Marriage" has done much towards working a revolution in the thought of intelligent citizens throughout the country. It is an authority on the subject. Scores of smaller books by medical authors, designed to reach the masses, have followed it, such as those by Dr. Winfield Scott Hall, of Chicago, who has done great service by his lectures and books on Social Hygiene. The American Awakening 245 In 1905 the New York "Committee of Fourteen" be- gan its work. The ' ' Committee of Fifteen ' ' had shown that a very close connection exisited between professional vice and "Eaines Law Hotels" which notoriously offered facili- ties for vice and were charged with being especially con- tributory to the seduction of young girls. As these evils increased, rather than abated, this committee was created to find a way to suppress them, and in 1907 a sub-committe^ was formed called the "Research Committee of the Com- mittee of Fourteen." Dr. Seligman furnished an account of the work of this committee in his revised volume referred to above. "Beginning in the year 1906, and rapidly following in the succeeding years, such societies were formed in Syra- cuse, Baltimore, Buffalo, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Hart- ford, Milwaukee, Detroit, Oakland, Denver, Chicago, In- dianapolis, Portland (Ore.), Spokane, Blkins (W. Va.), San Antonio, Providence, Seattle and East Orange. Of these eighteen societies, one-half (California, Colorado, Con- necticut, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Texas and "West Virginia) are states, the remainder, local associations. Many of these societies publish literature of their own, and are aiding materially in spreading a knowl- edge of the movement throughout the country, co-operating also with the vigilance committees, and designed to sup- press the White Slave Traffic. In several states, notably California, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michi- gan, Ohio, North Dakota and Rhode Island, the State Board of Health has been induced to take up the matter and spread broadcast suitable literature. "At the beginning of the year 1910 a quarterly period- ical was started entitled 'Social Diseases.' This did its work so well that in June of the same year a meeting of 246 The World's Social Evil the delegates from the different societies was held in St. Louis, and a national organization was formed under the name of the American Federation for Sex Hygiene. The purpose of this Federation was declared to be the educa- tion of the public in the physiology and hygiene of the sex, and the study and application of every means — edu- cational, sanitary, moral and legislative — for the preven- tion of syphilis and of gonococcus infection. Dr. Morrow was elected president and President Emeritus Eliot, of Harvard University, was made honorary president, with a distinguished list of vice-presidents of national reputa- tion." Notable and valuable were the resolutions of that body passed at the St. Louis meeting of physicians, which read as follows: "Whereas, There is ample evidence of a belief, deeply grounded, among the laity that sexual indulgence is neces- sary to the health of the normal man ; and ""Whereas, There exists, in consequence, widely dif- fering and double standards of moral and of physical health for the male and female sexes, that lead directly to the disease and death of many women and children : "Be it resolved, That the American Medical Association, through its Mouse of Delegates, hereby presents for the instruction and protection of the lay public, the unquali- fied declaration that ilUcit sexual intercourse is not only unnecessary to health, hut that its direct consequence in terms of infectious disease constitutes a grave menace to the physical integrity of the individual and the nation." ^ A still more significant demonstration of the new at- titude of physicians on the subject is given in the recent work of Dr. M. J. Bxner, Secretary, Student Department of 'The Social Evil, pp. 227-230. The American Awakening 247 the International Young Men's Christian Association. He publishes a statement of the problem of the significance of sex to young men which includes the following declara- tion: "In view of the individual and social dangers which spring from the widespread belief that continence may be detrimental to health, and of the fact that municipal toleration of prosti- tution is sometimes defended on the ground that sexual in- dulgence is necessary, we, the undersigned, members of the medical profession, testify to our belief that continence has not been shown to be detrimental to health or virility, that there is no evidence of its being inconsistent with the highest physical, mental and moral efficiency; and that it offers the only sure reliance for sexual health outside of marriage." In addition to the able statement of the whole question, as it relates to young men, a list of the 367 physicians who signed the above is given. A NEW WEAPON. But the traffic in women and girls thus far remained almost undisturbed. There had been no following up of the Kendall and Phillips whirlwind attack in Los Angeles, which ultimately closed forever the vile cribs of that city. The white slave dealer and his henchmen, the panders, were intrenched behind a system more or less organized, with a police policy in most of our large cities which vir- tually guaranteed protection to the criminal vice traders for a price. A new weapon, however, was forming against commer- cialized vice. In Chicago, up to this time, no moral senti- ment existed which was at all adequate to the enormity of existing evils; nor was there any force to combat the combination of the trading conspirators against the honor and safety of women and girls. But a series of events 248 The World's Social Evil occurred which were destined to prove of incalculable value to the development of a nation-wide struggle. In 1905, Clifford G. Eoe, a young lawyer, junior member of a Chi- cago law firm, was charged with the duty of looking after all criminal cases for his firm. Among these cases was one to defend a girl, Stella R , who was charged with lar- ceny. In the course of his quest for evidence in defense, he found that the girl had been trapped into a house of iU- f ame and that by the aid of a man — a barber — ^who was a visitor at the house, she had escaped. The "madame" with the usual assurance that custom had begotten, brought a charge against the girl of stealing the clothes she wore when she fled. Mr. Roe tells the story in his own clear way.^ Mr. Eoe is a young man of highly moral character and of settled religious life, and he is also made of the sterling stuff that, once aroused to a fight, is not easily daunted. By process of law he secured the release of "Stella," but the case started him into a line of hard thinking. Was this one of many such cases? Was it possible that there existed extensive trading of this kind which drives young women into practical enslavement? The second event was linked to the first in the follow- ing way: A three days' conference was held in Chicago, on October 9th, 10th and 11th, 1906. Jenkin Lloyd Jones, with his characteristic broad-minded liberality, offered the use of the finely equipped "Lincoln Center" for the occa- sion. The Chicago committee consisted of Jenkin Lloyd Jones, Bishop Samuel T. Fallows, Rabbi T. Schanfarber, John Balcom Shaw, D. D., Mrs. J. B. Caldwell, Prof. W. S. Jackman, Dr. David Paulson, Rev. J. F. Flint, with the Rev. William Burgess, then pastor of the Park Manor ^Panders and Their White Slaves. The American Awakening 249 Congregational Church, as chairman of the committee. The announcement that the Eev. Sidney C. Kendall, of Los Angeles, would speak on "White Slavery," attracted the attention of Mr. Roe, who thus learned of the amazing story of a great organized national and international trafle in girls, with its unspeakable cruelties and degradation. These facts were related so clearly and Mr. Kendall's statements were so evidently charged with truth and conviction, that the young lawyer could not help taking them seriously, es- pecially as other local eases were already coming to his knowledge. Another link, in the chain of events, was added in the change of the Police Court system in Chicago (which Mr. Roe describes as "seething with obnoxious practices and customs"), to the new Municipal Court with "wider lati- tude," juster methods and abler judges. Thus encouraged, Mr. Roe, who by this time had been ap- pointed assistant state's attorney, set himself the special task of attacking panders and white slavers. "First we turned," he says, "to those good mission workers who had been laboring in the brothels and slum regions. With all the good people of this type whom I could find, I held many extended interviews in my office. The tales they told me of the underworld were terrible, and at first I was inclined to be- lieve they were somewhat colored by prejudice. The Rev. Ernest A. Bell, who aided in the trial of Pansy Williams, and Deaconess Lucy M. Hall, known as the 'mother of outcast women and girls,' in particular told me of their experiences in the dis- trict. "Deaconess Hall had worked in the red-light district for over ten years, personally visiting houses of ill-repute and talk- ing with the Inmates wherever she was allowed to do so, and in these years she had gathered a great fund of information which now she submitted to me. In her quiet way she had gone about unmolested. She had come to be regarded almost as 250 The World's Social Evil an angel by the victims of the vice system and many of them had confided in her when they would not and could not have confided in anyone else. Her protests in the past against this unspeakable slavery in girls had been unheeded. She had la- bored almost alone and was powerless to do much more than sympathize and console." Mr. Roe then sought the aid of the Citizens' Associa- tion and the Chicago Law and Order League, and while these organizations were unable to assume responsibility of the work, they promptly loaned the services of their de- tectives. But he early found that the way of true and persistent war on vice is not easy. He says : "As I gathered this information I discovered that I was entering upon a flght, practically single-handed, against some of the most skillful and shifty men that the office of the State's Attorney had ever dealt with. There were no funds at the disposal of this office with which to employ detectives, and the only detective force the State Attorney's office had was four men from the Police Department of the city. These men were always kept busy going out of town and bringing back prisoners who were arrested in other cities. Because of this lack of funds and lack of detectives, I often found it necessary, as had other Assistant State's Attorneys, in other matters, to act in the role of detective. "From time to time I called upon some of the influential men of Chicago with the idea of interesting them in a fight against the panders, but these men were too busy to go through the evidence which I had collected, and instead of gaining their support, I generally received rebuffs and jests at the expense of my attitude towards the white slave traffickers, men, who, as well by their active as their moral support, failed us at that time, should have been the first to rise and strike down white slavery. Mr. Robert Catherwood, however, studied the question thoroughly and became convinced of the existence of a traffic and sale of women for immoral purposes. Together we dis- cussed many plans for the elimination of this slavery. While neither of us realized at that time that it would be a warfare The American Awakening 251 of years, and not a battle of days, we were agreed that the public must be awakened to the seriousness of the sltuation.'"^ Men who, as well by their active as their moral sup- port, failed us at that time, should have been the first to rise and strike down white slavery. Mr. Robert Cather- wood, however, studied the question thoroughly and be- came convinced of the existence of a traffic and sale of women for immoral purposes.- Together we discussed many plans for the elimination of this slavery. While neither of us realized at that time that it would be a warfare of years, and not a battle of days, we were agreed that the public must be awakened to the seriousness of the situation. ' '^ "Too great prominence," says Mr. Roe, in another book, "cannot be given the sturdy and sacrificing efforts made by such workers as Rev. Ernest A. Bell, Rev. Mel- bourne P. Boynton, Deaconess Lucy A. Hall, and Salvation Army Workers, and many others who stood night after night in the midst of the vice exposition in Chicago. Yes, amid the clatter and clamor of Chicago's shame, and preached and prayed for better conditions. Harassed and jeered at, they continued unceasingly.^ "Rev. Ernest A. Bell had established The Midnight Mission in the worst part of this district as early as August, 1904. This mission continues in its work of endeavoring to better social and moral conditions to this day, and may it long continue to help uplift the fallen." The movement now began to assume more general im- portance. Dean Walter T. Sumner headed an investiga- tion on the west side of Chicago and "such eminent jur- "Panders and Their White Slaves. ^Prodigal Daughters. 252 The World's Social Evil ists as Judge Julian W. Mack, Judge Philip Stein and Honorable Adolph Kraus, who had interested themselves in this matter, especially because it had been charged that the men engaged in the business of supplying the West Side levee district with new girls were chiefly young Jews, joined in the view that the law must be changed. While Mr. Eoe sought the co-operation of business and professional men, others moved among the clergy. A number of small conferences were held in the fall of 1907. Miss Lucy A. Hall, a deaconess of the M. E. Church, and Mrs. Ida Evans Haines were persistent, amid many dis- couragments, in their efforts to promote a local organi- zation. A committee for suppression of the traffic in vice was created, with the Eev. Louis P. Cain, D. D., as its chairman. This committee continued active until early in 1908, several groups of men and women co-operated to bring about a great gathering, and several hundred min- isters of all denominations assembled in the Auditorium of the Central Y. M. C. A., February 10, 1908. The meet- ing was presided over by Bishop W. F. McDowell, and the Rev. A. C. Dixon, now pastor of Spurgeon's Taber- nacle, London; Mrs. Eaymond Robins, Judge Fake, Clif- ford Gr. Roe and Dr. 0. E. Janney, of Baltimore, took part. Dr. Janney, as president of the National Vigilance Committee, addressed a second meeting in the afternoon of the same day, urging the organization of a State Vigi- lance Society, and on the motion of the Rev. William Bur- gess, such an association was agreed upon. Thus, the Illinois Vigilance Association was born. The Rev. M. P. Bo3Titon, D. D., was elected president, and the Rev. Ernest A. Bell, corresponding secretary. A committee on leg- islation was appointed, with Mr. Robert Catherwood as The American Awakening 253 chairman, and a joint committee was formed to invite the aid of men's clubs, of which the following responded: The Union League, City Club, Hamilton Club, Iroquois, Jefferson, Press, Quadrangle, B'nai B'rith, Chicago Law and Order League, Citizens' Association and the Illinois Vigilance Association. The effect of this move was to secure the next essen- tial link in the chain of events, which Judge Mack had declared necessary, viz., a better law against "pander- ing." Mr. Roe tells in his book on "Panders" how this was promoted and how, on July 1, 1909, the law came into effect which is an acknowledged model state law. With this new instrument of law, there followed a campaign of prosecution against white slavers and panderers, which is probably without precedent in this or any other coun- try. The persistent, plucky, intelligent work of Assistant State's Attorney Roe resulted in the conviction of scores of scoundrels until over 400 convictions were ohtained in Chicago. Other states sought to copy the law. The New England "Watch and Ward Society" of Boston became interested. Mr. J. Frank Chase, the secretary, published an article en- titled, "Pandering Around Plymouth Rock," and a pand- ering law was passed in Massachusetts which Mr. Chase says was borrowed almost veriatim et literatim from the Illinois law. The first ease under this law broke up the Panama Gang — a story which might have formed a chapter from some romance of Turkish atrocities, and, like some others told by Mr. Roe, are more tragic than anything in Uncle Tom's Cabin. During the period of activity in Chicago, events were 254 The World's Social Evil moving elsewhere which furnished other links in the chain. On June 6, 1908, President Eoosevelt issued the procla- mation, making the United States a party to the Interna- tional treaty against the infamous transportation of women and girls for the white slave traffic, and in the same year the Immigration Act was passed, to suppress the importa- tion of foreign girls for such purposes. The White Slave Teatfic Act. — In 1908, Mr. "Wirt W. Hallam, the present Secretary of The Illinois Vigilance Association, who was interested in the transportation of lumber, suggested that the principle which governed inter- state transportation of goods could be applied to the inter- state traffic in women. Attorney Eufus S. Simmons of Chicago, gave a legal opinion that this suggestion was in harmony with law. On September first, of the same year. Rev. Ernest A. Bell, Superintendent of the Chicago Mid- night Mission, speaking at Winona, Ind., called attention to the accepted doctrine of the Supreme Court of the United States that "Congress, under the commerce clause of the Constitution has control of transportation between the states, of persons as well as of goods. ' ' A copy of Mr. Bell's address was handed to Mr. Edwin W. Sims, who was the United States District Attorney at Chicago. In 1909 Congressman Mann, after consultation with Mr. Sims, introduced a bill which with characteristic vigor he pushed through Congress and on June 25, 1910, Presi- dent Taft signed the White Slave Traffic Act and it be- came law. See Appendix for Copy of the Act. The validity of this Act has been challenged on three separate occasions and the Supreme Court has sustained it ; first on Feb. 24, 1913 and twice since that date. "The law was assailed as unconstitutional on the ground that The American Awakening 255 women are not articles of commerce and that the power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce does not apply." This, however, was overruled in the decision and the New York Tribune regarded it as "one of the most significant interpretations of the Constitution as a grant of national power adequate to developing national needs." In 1912 the Department of Justice appointed Mr. Stan- ley "W. Pinch a special commissioner to suppress the traffic in girls and Congress voted $100,000 to sustain the cost of this work. The Injunction and Abatement Law : — In 1909 a bill was prepared in Iowa, called "The Injunction and Abate- ment Act," which proposed to turn the forces of law against the property used for immoral purposes and against the victimizers, instead of against the victims. Attorney- General George Cosson, and Mr. John Hammond, both of Des Moines, very vigorously championed this bill. It was passed into law and its provisions were immediately di- rected toward the red-light district of Des Moines and other cities of Iowa. Under the new law, the house of ill-fame was closed — the furnishings were confiscated, and a penalty of $300.00 attached to the property. Testimony comes from many quarters that aU the gloomy prophecies of the evils being scattered into respectable neighborhoods have proved false. The safety of women and girls on the public streets is now assured, the crime of rape has almost disappeared and general crime has been greatly reduced. There may be objectors who fear that the drastic action of such a law might inconvenience some who are not actually in the business, but the real opponents are, in the words of U. S. Senator T. J. Brooks of Tennessee: 256 The World's Social Evil "Every mistress of every bawdyhouse; every keeper of every assignation house; every degraded wretch who Is In these dens from choice; every procurer, 'cadet,' pimp, panderer, and white- slave dealer; every debauchee who places lust above honor and lascivlousness above virtue; every conscienceless brute who wants to blight innocence and glut his beastly passion on the jewel of some home; every heartless scoundrel who wants to coin money from the misfortunes of the foolish and the shame- less revels of the vice-seeking denizens of the underworld; every unprincipled landlord who had rather rent a house for a high price to be used as a hellish den than to rent at a lower rate for legitimate business; everyone who cares nothing for humanity but thinks 'the world is a fraud and one who doesn't play his part is a fool.' " Nebraska followed Iowa, in adopting a similar law, which went into effect in that State, July 10, 1911, and excellent results immediately followed, especially in Oma- ha. In the same year the Illinois Vigilance Association made strenuous efforts to secure the passing of a like bill for that State and the Senate adopted it by a vote of 39 to 2, but a House Committee viciously killed it by prevent- ing a vote of the House upon it. In 1913 the Associa- tion made another vigorous effort, but again a conspiracy to defeat the bill in committee, prevented a vote being taken on it. In 1913, similar bills were passed in the states of "Wash- ington, Oregon, California, Kansas, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Minnesota ; and Senator Ken- yon 's bill for "Washington and the District of Columbia was passed early in February, 1914. This bill was signed by President "Wilson, Feb. 7th, 1914, and became law. A copy of the Act is given in the Appendices to this volume. The principle of injunction, as applied to houses of ill- fame, is not new. In almost every State in the Union such resorts are declared a nuisance by the common law. An in- The American Awakening 257 junction may be issued against them as nuisances to neigh- boring property. Such injunctions have been granted against property, but the process of law is technical and ex- pensive and does not protect the citizen against the "nuis- ance" unless he is a property owner, whose property suf- fers in value. Such action, however, has been used with great advantage to public morals. With characteristic courage, Arthur Burrage Farwell, President of the Chicago Law and Order League, with the backing of his Committee and others, at a cost of about a thousand dollars, went over the heads of the Mayor and Police authorities, in an action by injunction, under the common law, against owners of property in the notorious red-light districts of the city and a decision was given in the Circuit Court of Cook County in the ease of Philo A. Otis vs. S. L. Brierly and Cira Abbott, restraining them from using the property for immoral purposes. At Seattle, "Washington, a more sweeping use of injunc- tion proceedings was made by "The Public Welfare League." On August 4, 1910, a suit was entered against the Mayor, Chief of Police, Commissioners of Health, City Council, and the owners, managers, and lessees of property in the district, maintaining and operating the same ior im- moral purposes. Mr. James B. Murphy acted as the plain- tiff in the case. On October 12th the same year, a tempor- ary injunction was granted, a bond of $2,500.00 being re- quired. No appeal was made, within the limit of ninety days Billowed, and the injunction became permanent. Pros- titution, however, was still allowed to flourish and "Con- tempt of Court" proceedings were issued against the city officials and the owners, managers, and lessees of the prop- erty in question. Meantime the Welfare League started proceedings of 258 The World's Social Evil Be-call against Mayor Hiram C. Gill, who was held respon- sible for much of the contempt of law. A great popular wave was created in the effort to get the requisite number of voters to sign the petition and on December 20, 1910, these petitions hearing 10,701 names of voters, sufficient under the law; and the Mayor was recalled. In the sub- sequent election social order was the sole issue and the League's Candidate, Geo. "W. Billing, was elected. Thus the red-light district was effectually closed.^ At Atlanta, Ga., an effective movement was conducted under the auspices of the "Men and Religious Forward Movement." They prepared a series of very striking and forceful bulletins on the vice situation in that city; and showing the conditions and manner of meeting them in other cities. In June, 1912, they published these at in- tervals, as paid advertisements in the three daily papers of the city. One of these bulletins is published as an ap- pendix to this volume. In September, four months after the appearance of the first Bulletin, the day before the publica- tion of Bulletin No. 20, the Chief of Police issued the order which closed the segregated district and the recognized houses of prostitution in the city. Police Women: — ^Among the agencies which may con- tribute to a better moral condition in cities, and which are the outcome of the movement to safeguard women and girls, the appointment of women police officers may be named. In Portland, Ore., and Tacoma, Wash., they have Departments of Public Safety with women as officers. In Seattle, Wash., there are three or four police women. In Minneapolis and St. Paul, there are one or two in each city. Baltimore has 'Mr. Gill subsequently saw his mistake and courted re- newed confidence. Being an able administrator, public feel- ing turned again in his favor, and in the early spring elec- tion of 1914 he was re-elected mayor by a large majority. The American Awakening 259 three police women ; Los Angeles, two, and a police matron. In San Antonio there are four police matrons ; and in Den- ver, Col., there is at least one as Inspector of Dance Halls. In October, 1912, Chicago appointed ten police women. San Francisco, Oakland, and other cities are considering such appointments. The year 1910 was notable for several events that marked the wonderful progress of this movement. It was early in this year that New York appointed a special Grand Jury, with John D. Rockefeller, Jr., as chairman, to which reference is made in Chapter II of this work. "Vice Commission Reports : — It was in 1910 also that the Chicago Vice Commission made its remarkable investiga- tion. Its report was published in a cloth bound volume of 300 pages, bearing the title, "The Social Evil in Chi- cago," of which two editions, of 10,000 copies each, were privately circulated to legislators, public ofl5cials and pri- vate citizens. A third edition of 10,000 copies was pub- lished by the American Vigilance Association, and is being distributed, at cost, to students of social reform, libraries, and others. The Commission, appointed by the Mayor, consisted of thirty prominent and conservative citizens of Chicago, of whom nine were ministers, eight business men, five physi- cians, four college professors, three judges or attorneys, and one other. Two of the number were women, one of whom was a physician. Dean "Walter T. Sumner was Chairman, District Attorney Edwin "W. Sims was Secretary ; and Mr. George J. Kneeland, chief investigator. The overwhelming testimony which the invegtigation brought resulted in an unanimous verdict against regulation or segregation, and was summed up in the opening words of the report, thus : 260 The World's Social Evil "Constant and persistent repression of prostitution the immediate method: Absolute annihilation of the ultimate ideal." Such is the recommendation of this commission. That it may be put in force effectually and unremittingly, we further recommend: First : The appointment of a Morals Commission. Second: The establishment of a Morals Court. Minneapolis followed the lead of Chicago, and in Aug- ust, 1910, a commission of fifteen was appointed by the Mayor, with the Rev. Marion D. Shutter, D. D., as Chair- man, and Eugene T. Lies, Secretary. At the opening of the inquiry the same doubt, as to segregation, which existed in Chicago before the investigation, existed here, but the conclusions were almost identical with those of the Chicago Commission. The same may be said of other reports that followed, with remarkable unanimity of findings and opin- ions. The following is a list of such commissions up to the beginning of the present year, 1914 : VICE COMMISSIONS AND INVESTIGATION. MtTNICrPAL COMMISSIONS. Chicago, III.: Appointed April 5, 1910; reported April 5, 1911. Minneapolis, Minn.: Appointed August, 1910; reported July 12, 1911. Atlanta, Ga.: Appointed April 15, 1912; reported October 7, 19'12. Columbia, Mo.: Appointed March, 1913. Columbus, Ohio: Appointed April, 1913. Denver, Colo.: Appointed Sept. 15, 1912; became the Den- ver Morals Commission, January, 1913. Hartford, Conn.: Appointed January, 1912. Jacksonville, Fla.: Appointed September, 1912. Little Rock, Ark.: Appointed January, 1912; reported De- cember, 1912: The American Awakening 261 Philadelphia, Pa.: Appointed May, 1912; reported April, 1913. Portland, Ore.: Appointed September, 1912; first report January, 1912; second report August, 1912; last report Janu- ary, 1913. Shreveport, La.: Appointed April, 1913. STANDING COMMISSIONS. Denver Morals Commission: Appointed January 31, 1913. Chairman, Rev. H. P. Rail. Minneapolis Morals Commission: Appointed March, 1913. Chairman, Dr. Marion D. Shutter. Pittsburg, Pa.: Morals Efficiency Commission, appointed May, 1912. Chairman, Frederick A. Rhodes. STATE COMMISSIONS. Illinois: Appointed February, 1913. Maryland: Appointed March, 1913. Massachusetts: Appointed April, 1913 — ^Reported. Missouri: Appointed April, 1913. Wisconsin: Appointed 1913. UNOFFICIAL COMMISSIONS. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Baptist Brotherhood, appointed May, 1911; reported October, 1911. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Moral Efficiency Commission. Chair- man, Bishop John N. McCormick. Macon, Ga.: Appointed January 6, 1913. Chairman, E. W. Stetson. St. Louis, Mo.: Appointed September, 1912; first report February, 1913. LaPayette, Ind.: Ind. Church Council; reported October, 1913. Lancaster, Pa.: Published February, 1914. INVESTIGATIONS. Kansas City, Kans.: Reported January, 1912. New York City, N. Y.: Committee of Pourteen-Research Committee. Reported in 1910. New York City, N. Y.: Bureau of Social Hygiene, Janu- ary, 1912. Reported May, 1913. 262 The World's Social Evil New York City, N. Y.: New York Citizens' Committee. Re- ported February 27, 1913. Chicago, 111.: Committee of Aldermen. Appointed October 12, 1912. Reported March, 1913. Peoria, 111.: By Committee of Citizens; Chairman, Rev. Clement G. Clarke. Investigation began January, 1914. Pittsburg, Pa.: Voters' League of Pittsburg, October 4, 1912. San Francisco, Cal.: Commonwealth Club of California to ascertain the prevalence and influence of venereal diseases. Re- ported February 8, 1911. Syracuse, N. Y.: Syracuse Society for the Prevention of Social Diseases. Social Evil Committee to ascertain prevalence of venereal diseases in Syracuse. Reported February, 1911. Syracuse, N. Y.: Made by Syracuse Moral Survey Commit- tee, March 25, 1912. Reported March, 1913. SUNDAY SCHOOL INTEREST. It is significant that a body so conservative, on matters outside the immediate domain of religious instruction as the International Sunday School Association, should have felt the importance of creating a purity department of its work. At the great International Conference of the United States, San Francisco, 1912, Mr. E. K. Mohr was appointed Superintendent. In another field of service came the remarkable con- tribution by Miss Jane Addams, in the series of articles published in McClure's Magazine, bearing the title, "A New Conscience and An Ancient Evil," afterwards pub- lished in a volume bearing the same title. Similar service and even more valuable, because con- tinuous, are the able articles which from time to time have appeared in the magazine and newspaper press, and es- pecially in "Vigilance" and in "The Survey" which mark the steps of progress in economic study and moral progress. The American Awakening 263 In New York, Mrs. Elizabeth Grannis has, with great vigor and intelligence, sustained the work of the ' ' National Christian League for the Promotion of Purity." In Chi- cago, Mr. John B. Caldwell, a printer, has employed him- self and his presses for years, more to spread the thought of pre-natal influences and personal purity than for his personal gain and, with the aid of Mrs. Caldwell, he has carried on the work of the National "Purity League" and published the Purity Journal. In the Northwest, Mr. B. S. Steadwell publishes The Light. He organized the Northwestern Purity Associa- tion afterwards changed to "The World's Purity Federa- tion." The Federation under Mr. Steadwell 's leadership has organized some excellent campaigns of educational value, but thus far, it has not succeeded in federating the forces of the movement. In the West, at Denver, there has long been a band of willing workers and all over the country there are men and women faithfully devoting their talents to this work. It has been said of many of these workers that they have not always acted with discretion, or good judgment; and it is true of this, as of other reforms, that many devoted In an article, published In the Continental Times of June 6, 1914, we read that "in one of those quaint old homes of a by-gone aristocracy, No. 5 East Twelfth street, New York, there lives and labors that veteran champion of public morals and women's rights, Elizabeth B. Grannis, President of the National Christian League for the Promotion of Purity, and an Intimate, life-long friend of President Wilson and his family. Mrs. Grannis is a tiny, silver-haired woman, who has been associated for three generations with the foremost reformers and social workers of the nation." The writer called recently at the home of this intensely interesting worker and found her, in her seventy-third year, as full of fire and service as when, years before, we met her at conferences on social purity. 264 The World's Social Evil men and women have undertaken measures for which they had neither means nor ability. Nevertheless, to such devoted souls who have given their time and service in unstinted measure, sometimes at the sacrifice of comfort and actual necessities, this cause owes a debt which can never be paid until the great summing up of the final Court of Justice and reward. Adequate National Organization : — These many unre- lated agencies, directed against the worst foe that ever at- tacked any nation — the one enemy which more than any other, has corrupted and destroyed homes, and cities, and nations — ^have laid upon many hearts the responsibility of creating some efficient, well equipped, and thoroughly or- ganized national force which may furnish direction and aid for continuous service throughout the country. The numerous awakenings occurring, in all parts of the country and from various sources, are as the voice of God calling us to marshal our forces in the name of domestic purity, physical regeneration and moral salvation. Circumstances led Clifford G. Roe to New York, Boston, and other Eastern Cities in April, 1911, where for a whole year he labored, and during which time he met numerous philanthropists who were seeking a suitable channel through which to direct this national work. The National Vigilance Committee, of which Dr. 0. E. Janney was Chairman, and the American Purity Alliance, united about April 1, 1912, under the name of the Ameri- can Vigilance Association with Dr. David Starr Jordan as President, Cardinal Gibbons and Dean Sumner as Vice President and Charles P. Hutchinson, President of the Corn Exchange Bank, Chicago, as Treasurer. At the begin- ning, the executive, with Mr. Roe as General Counsel, was located at Chicago, but a change was desired with the head- The American Awakening 265 quarters at New York, and Miss Grace E. Dodge became the Treasurer and an active member of the Executive. Subsequently Mr. Roe entered the field as a lecturer, and has more recently become the President of the American Bureau of Moral Education, of which he is the founder, and he has made most successful educational tours through the country. Negotiations followed for a still further union of forces and on December 3d, 1913, the union of the American Vigil- ance Association with the American Federation for Sex Hygiene was completed under the new name of "The American Social Hygiene Association," with the following as its leaders: President, Dr. Charles W. Eliot; Vice Presidents, Cardinal Gibbons, Dr. David Starr Jordan, Dr. Wm. T. Foster, Dean Walter T. Sumner, and FeUx M. Warburg. There are some doubts expressed as to the wisdom of this new name. It seems to many that by adopting this name the greater moral and political ends in view are obscured, with a tendency to forget them. It should be remarked, however, that on reading Dr. Eliot's Buffalo Address, pub- lished in Vigilance, November, 1913, one cannot feel that the President has a limited moral vision on the subject. It is certain that the moral issues involved will not be lost sight of. Already there are other forces organizing to emphasize and keep alive the education which is based on ethical and religious principles. The whole question is fundamentally a moral one. To the law of righteousness and virtue the appeal is made. Whatsoever a man (or nation) sows that shall he also reap. The issue of the Report of the Chicago Vice Commission made a profound impression upon that city but its recom- mendation for a "Morals Committee" was not carried into 266 The World's Social Evil effect. The Report was presented just before the close of Mayor Busse's term of office. The City Council later passed a resolution calling for a Committee of aldermen to inquire and report. On October 12, 1912, a Committee of nine Al- derman was appointed. At the outset it was understood that "Segregation" or "Suppression" was the issue and intense interest prevailed and some of the Committee of nine admitted that they favored segregation. The hearings were at first held in one of the Committee Rooms of the City Hall, but public interest increased so that the Council Chamber was opened and day after day this large room was crowded. An able attorney appeared on behalf of the segrega- tionists and lengthy addreses were given on that side of the question. Among the citizens who spoke on the other side were the following: Attorney-General George Cos- son, Dr. Wm. A. Evans, Rabbi Emil 6. Hirsch, Miss Jane Addams, Clifford G. Roe, Jenkins Lloyd Jones, William Burgess, Miss Kate Adams, Father O'CaUaghan, Rufus S. Simmons, Mrs. Joseph T. Bowen, Miss Maud Miner, Miss Virginia Brooks, John B. Hammond. Pamphlets Nos. 1 and 2 were published by The American Vigilance Association containing these addresses, and several thou- sands of copies have been circulated. The Vice Commission of Philadelphia was appointed by Mayor Blankeuburg, May 31st, 1912, and after five months of investigation with the aid of the American Vigilance Association's staff of workers the commission presented an able and exhaustive report. Its treatment of the subject of "education on sex hygiene" is especially valuable. They offer the following practical suggestions: That parents and educators strive earnestly to develop definite methods for giving the home and school life of younger The American Awakening 267 children a more positive Influence than at present toward sex decency In feeling and action. That unclean birth and physical handicaps should be guarded against: (1) By clear teaching as to the change of scientiflc and tra- ditional estimate of chastity, and the hygiene and pathology of sex, both within and outside of wedlock. (2) By correction of the practice, among physicians, of keeping married women who are under treatment for venereal Infection in ignorance of the causation, nature, and effects of their condition. (3) By the cultivation of a sentiment, professional and lay, in favor of making venereal diseases reportable and subject to such regulations as are now used to control less serious contagious diseases. (4) By warning against malpractitloners. (5) By preparation of leaflets, pamphlets, etc., for popular distribution. (a) For those receiving marriage license. (b) On prenatal care of mother and child, with empha- sis on the conjugal duties of the father at this pe- riod, which fathers too little recognize. (c) On care of infants for the first five years of life, especially emphasizing dangers of and safeguards against Infectious diseases. (d) On the care, both physical and mental, of adoles- cent children. That churches, schools, universities, extension societies, educa- tional associations, and individuals should spread ideas af- fecting sex understanding and conduct. As examples of topics based on such ideas, now obscure in the mass mind, but meriting widest dissemination, we instance: (1) History of marriage and development of the home. (2) The development of the care of children as the highest race achievement. (3) The use of children in modern Industry; the hope of their elimination from the economic field. 268 The World's Social Evil (4) The causes of poverty; Its effects — "the destruction of the poor is their poverty"; the hope of its cure as a social disease. In an appendix to the report the subject of education is treated at length. Illustrations of the "Difficulties of Mothers", of the "Perils in Early School Life" of chil- dren and of "Youth in Their Efforts to Find Help" are given in frank and startlingly realistic terms. The illus- trations referred to are of value in such a report, designed as it is, for the study of students of social problems, but are not suitable for a work intended for general circula- tion and use. An able and valuable report was issued in January, 1913, by the Vice Commission of Portland, Oregon. A map was published with the report which shows, by colored disks, the numerous immoral resorts spread all over the city under several classifications and makes this remark: "A person might stand on the roof of one of the principal churches in the city and throw a stone into any one of 14 immoral places, 10 of which are whoUy immoral." The conclusions of the Commission on Segregation agreed with those of the other commissions and are stated thus: Segregation does not segregate. It deals with only a small percentage of the sexually immoral. It promotes and justifies professional prostitution. It does not reduce clandestine immorality. It helps to establish a double standard of morality by stigmatizing the woman and ignoring the moral respon- sibility of the man. It rests on the false presumption that sexual immoral- ity is necessary. It fosters the debauchery of the sex Instinct. It promotes the spread of venereal disease. The American Awakening 269 It affords ofBcial absolution for illegal and immoral con- duct. In so far as it is official sanction of commercial prosti- tution, it is the concomitant of white slavery. It is illegal. Segregation: — "I favor segregation because men need women, and it is better to have them collected and regulated in one section than allowed to spread all over the residence districts." This was the actual statement of a man of good reputation — a man of business^ — and it is the thought of thousands. "I", said another, "would license the houses and get a revenue out of it instead of leaving it to graft." Strange that men are so slow or so unwilling to see the contradiction of this attitude. If vice is a necessity it is not wrong. If necessary, it is normal, right and law- ful, and ought to be as free and untrammelled as any other right or lawful business. No worse error can be promulgated than that which was expressed in the report of the Royal Commission of England, in 1871. The report says: "There is no com- parison to be made between prostitutes and the men who consort with -them; — with the one sex the offense is com- mitted as a matter of gain; with the other, it is an irregular indulgence of a natural impulse." Thus, a great commission, consisting of 26 men, includ- ing British members of parliament, one bishop, several other clergymen, and one working man, was so obtuse that it proclaimed the ancient fallacy and lie, that a greater sin rested upon the poor victim who sold her honor than upon him who bought it. It should be observed that in the minority who voted against it was the one working man. These "blind leaders of, the blind" 270 The World's Social Evil would perpetuate the old doctrine that to buy the soul of a woman for "the indulgence of appetite" is a mild offense, while to sell it under the strain of temptation, or the pressure of need, is a crime. The plea for segregation, as applied to prostitution, has no basis in expedience or justice. The three questions which one may naturally ask on the subject are : Why? This is answered in the light of experience. The medical experts of Europe and of America have declared segregation worse than a failure as a sanitary or hygienic agent; and as a police measure for restricting the vice to a given district it is proven to be a disastrous blunder.^ Moreover, a "regulated" or "permitted" dis- trict of where vice prevails by official permission is, in its very nature, a vice breeding market and that overflow into other districts inevitably follows. Where? This question faces the fact that there is no place where such a district is "wanted" and that when established by police authority it is forced upon the poor who cannot protect themselves. "No one wants the brothel in his own neighborhood; for that he is not to blame. Every one who favors segregation wants it in the other man's neighborhood." "One of the strongest advocates of segregation writes if the segregation plan went through I would not have the nerve to suggest the site, because if it were in the immediate neighborhood of my house, I would resort to an injunction to restrain the project as a nuisance; and I assume that everyone else would feel the same way."^ Who? The segregation plan has always discriminated against the woman. In no city has it ever been attempted 'See appendix "Review of Prostitution in Europe." 2Minneapolis Vice Commission Report. The American Awakening 271 to segregate both the man and woman who share in the vice and who are equally objectionable from the point of view of social order, while the male partner is the most to be feared in regard to the spread of venereal disorders to innocent women and children. "The duty of government is to make it easy to do right and difScult to do wrong." So said Gladstone, the great British statesman. If law is to express equity and morality, it must first be equal and moral. What is morally wrong, cannot be politically right. Therefore it must be the aim of any nation which seeks its own safety and the con- servation of its people, to base its laws on right principles. The report of the Moral Survey Committee of SjTacuse is a valuable study of the problem as it affects cities of its size (137,000 pop.). One of its recommendations is for a city ordinance "similar to the so-called "Tin Plate Ordinance" of Portland, Ore., whereby the owner of any building used wholly or in part as a hotel, rooming house, lodging house, etc., shall maintain at the principal street entrance a plate bearing the name and address of the owner or owners of the building and the land on which it stands. It recommends that "dance halls be placed under the control of accredited matrons ; and that no asso- ciation of the dance halls with saloons or the sale of liquor be permitted," and also that "women be added to the police force." The admission of women into the politics in the State of Illinois promises to be a great factor in the repression of the social evil in that state and will certainly aid in other states as the suffrage is extended to them. "We are fighting commercialized vice and all that it implies," said Miss Marion Drake in her heroic attack on the very citadel of all that is implied in that statement. "To oppose John 272 The World's Social Evil Coughlin (Bathhouse John) in the Aldermanic contest of 1914, who for twenty-five years has carried the first ward of Chicago in his pocket, was to "beard the lion in its den." "Several big political lessons have been driven home to me already," said Miss Drake; "the most patent obser- vation is that women will not vote for a woman candidate merely because she is of their sex. Those who are looking for civic betterment cannot drape a few political clothes and a spring hat on a woman and expect her to win with- out massing behind her all the legitimate election ma- chinery that men and women can command." Jack London says: — "When the women get the vote they will vote for prohibition. The women are the true conservators of the race. The men are the wastrels, the adventiire-lovers and gamblers and, in the end, it is by the women that they are saved. The women know they have paid an incalculable price. Ever jealous for the race, they will legislate for the babes of boys yet to be born; and for the girls too, for they must be mothers, wives and sisters of these boys." Jack London's prophecy has already been verified. When the women of Illinois exercised their powers to vote for the first time, April, 1914, they put out of business in one day over a thousand saloons in that state. The story of "The Awakening", thus briefiy told, is everywhere in evidence. In every part of the United States, and throughout all the civilized world there is a mighty growing interest in a New Morality and a demand for the Single Standard for both sexes. To close forever the market of vice — ^to deprive it of commercial relations — ^to make the business of vice-vender and paiider iinpossible— to give the liberty of life and The American Awakening 273 love to all women, purer honor and nobler courage and chivalry to all men, security and knowledge to all chil- dren, these are the promises and pledges of an awakening world: "to give light to them that sit iri darkness and in the shadow of death) to guide our feet in the way of peace." Theodore Roosevelt in his usual forceful style pub- lished a very able article in The Outlook early in 1911 against the prevalent evil of willful sterility in America. The author of this volume addressed a letter to Mr Roosevelt, of which the following is a part : Your appeal to the willfully sterile will arrest some who may have a change of heart and will, but no appeal to those who are sterile because of vice diseases can avail. These include many thousands of would-be parents, women whose dead hopes are buried with the loss of maternity life, and men who knew not that death of posterity attends practice of vice. Here, then. Dr. Roosevelt, is the supreme need for your forceful voice and far-reaching influence. America needs a .conversion of morals in practice. The vice commissions of New York, Chicago, and other cities all point to the fact that our national increase of wealth has been attended by unparalleled increase of commercialized vice. The willful sin which you deplore, itself has its roots in vice and your persistent protest comes none too soon to arrest the evil. The nation needs a revival of domestic purity, and marriage sanctified to its end. It needs a standard of morals which applies equally to both sexes, that makes no appeal to the divorce courts for mere convenience or charge. It needs education in the essential things of sex life. In this age, when to know is the legal as well as the natural right of every child, the most potential, insistent and imperative call and power of nature is not to be si- lenced by falsehood and pruriency. But above all, we need a return to higher ideals, which revere motherhood and hold every woman's honor as a thing to be defended by chivalry and law. William Burgess. May 11, 1911. Chapter X. THE EUROPEAN REVOLT. A VOICE IN THE DESERT AND A WORLD'S VISION. The movement which effected a revolution in the judicial and public mind of England — repealing the Con- tagious Diseases Acts^ — also reached out to the continental nations of Europe. An influential journal described the agencies which affected this change in England as "a network of social and religious organizations."^ The same authority tells how in 1874 : "The leaders of the English movement became aware that their familiar opponents at home were only the advanced guard of a powerful International Medical Congress, which was vehemently demanding an international organization of immorality. The first International Medical Congress was held in Paris in 1867. The grave subject before us occupied a chief place in its deliberations, but a standing order of the Congress expressly excluded all moral considerations, and rigidly confined readers and speakers to the purely physical aspects of the question. This arbitrary and violent attempt to separate the inseparable, deprived the deliberations of the Congress of nearly all practical value, but it afforded a striking illustration of the narrow and defective basis on which specialists are ever prone to build conclusions as dangerous as they are far-reaching. The Paris Congress did not commit Itself finally to any definite pro- posals, neither did the second International Congress, which took place at Florence in 1870. It was then resolved, however, that the third International Congress, to be held at Vienna in 1873, should prepare a suggested international law for the sanitary regulation of Immorality." 'See Chapter III. The London Quarterly, July, 1876. 276 The World's Social Evil There was a striking contrast in the deliverances and conclusions of these conferences and those of the Brussels Conferences of 1899 and 1902.^ A result of the former was the issuance of a manifesto, officially signed, which contained "the syllabus of the Infallible Council of the medical priesthood,"^ and declared that "this question belongs essentially to the medical profession" and that the administration of the law should be "in the hands of the central government, municipal and provincial authori- ties being unfit to carry it out."^ If the reader will turn to Chapter IV of this volume he may see that at the Brussels Conferences government representatives, police officials and the medical profession all advanced wholly and absolutely from this position. But before the Vienna Conference "A Voice in the Desert" had already been heard. In 1872 Mrs. Josephine E. Butler, whom the London Quarterly writer described as the "Herald of the great Social War," visited Paris with a view to break the spell which official police au- thority had cast upon the whole continent, and to arouse the moral conscience on the subject. She had now been actively leading the forces in Eng- land, as the head of the Ladies' National Association, which, it may be said, was the mother of all other organizations aiming at a new standard of the public conscience and action on the subject, and it became apparent that the system of license or regulation must be faced, understood and attacked at the roots. To Paris therefore she went for that purpose. The heads of police departments received Mrs. Butler with a stare of amazement and treated her with scant •See Chapter IV. Iiondon Quarterly, July, 1876. The European Revolt 277 courtesy; nevertheless she succeeded in visiting the prison of St. Lazare — "the first person who has teen permitted to reveal some of the secrets of this modern bastile." ^ Her visit to M. Lecour, the Prefect of the "Police des Moeurs, ' ' was thus described by Mrs. Butler in a letter to Sir James Stansfeld: "I spent a part of my last afternoon In Paris at the Prefec- ture of Police. The memory of that Interview is so exceedingly painful to me that I feared I should be unfitted for my work if I dwelt upon it. I was struck by the grandeur of the externals of the o£Bce, and by the evidence of the irresponsibility and despotic sway over a large class of the people possessed by the man Lecour. I ascended a large stone staircase, with guards placed at intervals, and many people coming and going, ap- parently desiring audiences. The Prefect's outer door is at the top of the staircase, and over it, in conspicuous letters, are engraved the words, "Arrests. Service of Morals" (the arrests being of women only). In looking at these words, the fact (though I knew it before) came before me with painful vivid- ness, that man, in this nineteenth century, has made woman his degraded slave, by a decree which is heralded in letters of gold, and. retains her in slavery by a violent despotism which. It it were applied to men, would soon set all Paris, and not merely a few of its buildings, in flames. The phrase, "Service des Moeurs," is the most impudent proclamation of an accepted false- hood. Too clearly and palpably is the true meaning of it, "Serv- ice de DebaucJie;" and M. Lecour's conversation throughout showed and confirmed most powerfully the fact (though he him- self may be blind to It) that it is immorality, not morality, for which his oflSce makes provision." From France Mrs. Butler went to Italy, where she visited Genoa, Rome, Naples, Florence, Milan and Turin. "Her noble doctrine found a congenial element in the new life throbbing through every part of that classic 'Medical Enquirer, Liverpool, November, 1876, 278 The World's Social Evil land. The tender soul of Mazzini was one of the first to hail with ecstasy the birth of a great movement against the most despicable and polluting vice. The splendid hu- manitarian instincts of Garibaldi also responded to the appeals of justice and mercy, and the adhesion of the illustrious Emancipator carried with it the popular voice of Italy. "^ Mrs. Butler also went to Switzerland, where she found powerful allies in the eloquence of Pere Hyacinthe, the learning of M. J. Hornung, professor of jurisprudence at the University of Geneva, and the saintly influence of the venerable Pastor Borel, who had been engaged for many years in the reclamation of fallen women. Pere Hyacinthe gave in his adhesion in the following terms: "Deab Madam: — I return to my house deeply moved by the words which we have heard from you. One feels that God Is with you in this heroic crusade against what you have so well- named 'the typical crime,' the gigantic iniquity of our race. God is with you, madam; it is necessary that men should be with you also. I beg that you will count entirely upon my weak hut sincere services." Mrs. Butler's campaign looked towards moral conquest in the name of priceless peace and purity. In 1875 the International Federation for the Abolition of Government Regulation of Prostitution was formed and aggressive work was pushed through many countries with great vigor. Prom this beginning of a new world's conflict with the social evil has grown organized armies in many nations. But there came an apparent need for a new call. Lead- ers in Great Britain and throughout Europe were passing 'London Quarterly, July, 1876. The European Revolt 279 away. When in the course of the present year, 1914, the writer visited England the last of the prominent persons who led the movement in that country, Henry J. Wilson, M. P., passed away. Mrs. Butler, Sir Harcourt Johnstone, M. P.; Sir James Stansfeld, M. P.; Prof. James Stuart, M. P.; Dr. J. Birkbeck Nevins, William T. Stead, and a host of others had already gone. Among those who entered the service in the '70s was one who has become a venerable and honored leader, Wil- liam Alexander Coote. A great change in the attitude of good men and women had been brought about by the movement thus far carried forward. The advocates of regulation and license were no longer in possession of the field. Everywhere the medical world was changing its tone and teaching, the police au- thorities were no longer sure of their method, and the clergy, educators and the press all joined in declaring that this subject could not be treated apart from the moral questions involved. But the traffickers in womanhood had not been idle. They found new means of enslaving girls, new methods of conducting their infamous business and new markets for their slaves. The so-called "white slavery" became a world-wide business, with agents in more or less organized relations everywhere. A World's Vision. In what measure mighty forces for human good have been set in motion through the agency of those dreams which occasionally come as messengers of God calling to new duty and sacrifice "and look like heralds of eternity" no recorder has told us. We think of the visions of Ezekiel. of Daniel, of John, and others, such as John Bunyan or the 280 The World's Social Evil more martial and insistent dream of Jeanne d'Arc. Why may we not record the visions of Josephine Butler and William Alexander Coote as divine messengers, calling to new endeavor and sacrifice? To a friend Mrs. Butler wrote in those early days of her consecration : "As we sat, during these calm silences which I so much love In Friends' Meetings, when God seems even more present than when any voice of prayer is breaking the hushed stillness, I did not think any more of the cold winter, long journeys, cynical opposition, and many difficulties I knew I was going to meet. I knew that God is true, and that certainly I should be able to trample on the lion and adder. My thoughts were carried far beyond this near future, and a vista seemed to rise before me of the years to come, of some great and marvelous and beautiful manifestation of the power of God — of gathering hosts — an ex- ceeding great army — before whom will melt away the monstrous wickedness which men believe to be indestructible." And Mr. Coote tells us in a charming little volume of the vision which led him forth in a missionary journey, the purpose of which was to open the "way to united, in- ternational, world-wide work that would grapple with this evil with an efficient and conquering force. He writes: "In 1898, while I was revising the warning to young women traveling abroad, the utter hopelessness of all our methods came over me with a kind of physical oppressiveness which, reacting upon the mind, overwhelmed me with a bitterness of soul, and I cried out in despair, 'How long, O Lord, how long?' Falling, rather than leaning, back in my chair, I fell into a kind of reverie. Whether it was a Divine Vision, or a day-dream inspired from on high, I know not. Of its intensity and reality I had not, and never have had, the slightest doubt. The Vision was solemnly and vividly impressed upon my mind. It had not lasted more than ten or fifteen minutes, but during that time the ideas came as suggestions, and were by me transmitted to paper. They were these and were read clearly by me In my Vision: 'That I should go to every capital of Europe. Find The European Revolt 281 some leading person In each and tell him the horrors of the White Slave TraflBc. Ask him to call together the leading men and women and the government officials, with a view to my addressing them on the matter, the objects being: "'To form a National Committee to deal with the question from a national and international point of view. " 'To arouse a strong public opinion throughout Europe con- cerning this trafiSc. " 'To hold an International Congress in London on the subject. " 'From the Congress to approach the European Govern- ments, asking them to hold an official conference to deal with the question from an international point of view. " 'To make the National Committees the means in the differ- ent countries of bringing all this to pass.' "Such was the message conveyed to me clearly and distinctly and I had no difficulty In immediately committing It to paper. Having read and re-read It, I was overwhelmed with the stupen- dous nature of the work thus outlined, and with my own total unfitness, from every point of view to undertake it. Neverthe- less, the conviction grew and strengthened that if God would make the way clear, I was willing and ready to go."^ Mr. Coote tells how his hopes were dampened when the necessary £200 was denied him from the only source he thought possible and how it came shortly after in a letter from a wholly unexpected quarter. "I shall never forget the effect of this letter upon me," he says. "I had been much solemnized by the Vision, but the sight of the cheque filled me with awe-inspiring intensity." Then follows a stirring story of his visit to Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Russia, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Spain, Bavaria, Egypt, South Africa, and correspondence with the United States and the Argentine Republic. In all of these places Mr. Coote was able to find kindred spirits in influential circles "'A Vision and Its Fulfillment," 3s. 6d. 282 The World's Social Evil and his beautiful little volume containing the story is embellished with excellent portraits of more than sixty of them. In most of the countries, too, a National Conunittee or Vigilance Association was formed, and at the first in- ternational congress held in London in 1899 an Interna- tional Bureau was organized in London. Conferences followed in Paris in 1902 and in 1910, and a third one in Vienna October 5-7, 1909. National committees were appointed representing seventeen coun- tries. The fulfilling of this vision reached its highest point in the great International Congress held in London June 30 to July 4, 1913. The influential character of its mem- bers and adherents marked a surprising indication of interest among the most distinguished of governing powers as well as of political, clerical and social circles from all parts of the world. The Earl of Aberdeen was the President, who was supported by 153 "Presidents of Honor," including five Royal personages, Ambassadors for France, Russia, Aus- tria-Hungary, Spain, Italy, Germany and the United States. Members and adherents, whose names are published in the Report, which is a volume of 368 pages,' were in attendance from the following countries: Argentine Republic, 3; Australia, 1; Austria, 3; Belgium, &; Brazil, 1; Canada, 16; Chill, 1; China, 1; Denmark, 3; Egypt, 7; France, 17; Germany, 35; Great Britain, 345; Holland, 8; Hungary, 5; Italy, 2; Norway, 4; Portugal, 1; Russia, 13; South Africa, 1; Spain, 4; Sweden, 4; Switzerland, 14; United States, 9. "Vigilance," the organ of the American Vigilance As- sociation, published in September, 1913, reported this con- 'Fitth International Congress— White Slave Traffic. The European Revolt 283 gress at length through Dr. 0. E. Janney of Baltimore, who was one of its representatives, and remarked edi- torially : "Perhaps never has there been a movement, seeking the moral uplift of the masses, which has achieved such an endorse- ment of radical reform as we find in the personnel of the great International Congress held in London in July. "When in 1872 the 'Voice of the Desert' cried aloud to the women of France, no one dreamed that within forty years after. Emperors, Kings, Courtiers, and high ecclesiastical dignitaries of Europe would assemble, in person or by proxy, in one of the most conservative and privileged halls of the world, as an answer to that appeal. "Twenty-four countries were represented — thirteen of which sent government-appointed delegates, and Royal heads took a direct interest in the proceedings. "The Duchess of Albany gave a reception to the delegates when the Lord Chamberlain read the following message from King George of England: " 'His Majesty bids to each and all the delegates a cordial and hearty welcome to England. The King notes with particular satisfaction that these include representatives from almost all parts of the world, and His Majesty is glad that they will be able to visit Windsor Castle during this week. "'His Majesty trusts that, under Divine Providence, the labors of the delegates of this Congress will be greatly blessed and aided, and desires to give expression to his true and heartfelt sympathy and that of the Queen in the international work for the protection of young womanhood. " 'The King further desires to congratulate the National Vigilance Association and the International Bureau for the Sup- pression of the White Slave Traffic in the success hitherto achieved, and bids them go forward with courage and energy.' "The Emperor of Germany and the President of the United States also sent messages manifesting their interest. "The deliberations of the Congress covered many questions and the resolutions adopted prove that each subject was care- fully and profoundly studied." 284 The World's Social Evil Never did an assembly of men and women contemplate a more essential and far-reaching crusade than this. As the distinguished President of the Congress remarked in his opening address, "No future historian of our time will be able to question the need and the work of this crusade, for it depends not on opinion, or creed, or policy, but upon the eternal distinction between right and wrong, and the sacred claims of justice and humanity." And in the valediction, which closed the Congress on its fifth day, the Bishop of Winchester said: "We have been pointed to it (a new hope) by a noble woman.* 'A New Conscience and an Ancient Evil' — ^that has been the motto which she struck. As never before perhaps, we see today in extent and bulk and detail how the ancient evil works; what deviltries it prompts, and sets loose and em- ploys. The traflSe, what is it? It is the 'Beast' arming itself with all the resources, the facilities, the appliances, the locomotion, and the secrecies of modem civilization. But in this same modem civilization, in the great demo- cratic peoples, whatever the form of their constitution — in the great modem peoples there are, thank God, other things astir. There is a new sense, w trust, of the true honor, the sacredness of human life in man and woman — a new conscience. The evil and the conscience — ^they con- front one another. Out of slave emancipation an abolition- ist crusade in the early days of the last century arose, and there sprang up a great impulse of human liberty, for the results of which we have got today still to contend, lest they slip through our fingers. But still that impulse was given, and we feel it vibrating through the European and American body politic ever since." *MlsB Jane Addams. CHAPTER XI. COMMERCE AND CONSCIENCE. It may yet be ages before Commerce can claim to be standing straight up under the golden rule. In almost every department of business selfishness governs. "It is probably fair to say that the great business world is not appreciably influenced in its daily struggles by the con- sciouness that it exists to serve mankind."^ The ethical standard is still so generally low that it accepts the rule that "he who can get should have." A German observer who is also a great scholar, observes that the Ameri- cans, from oldest to youngest, hurl themselves into the chase of the dollar.^ Nevertheless the truth is begin^ ning to possess us that the successful man is not neces- sarily he who gathers the most money. To have accumu- lated millions is not a sure testimonial of the worth of a citizen. The Commerce of a nation cannot long lag behind its conscience. Business must measure up to something be- sides a cash balance. That is why saloon keepers are not now in the class of reputable business men. There is a growing feeling too that brewers, as the real saloon keepers, must be classed with saloon keepers who are their agents. The business of vice-mongers and white slavers have never been in good repute in this country. The herd is now generally regarded with contempt, as beasts and birds '"Christianity and The Social Crises." Rauschenhnsch. "'The Approach to the Social Question." Peabody. 286 The World's Social Evil of prey, feasting on the carcasses of women, — hanging on to commerce, as rats infest a nohle ship. But Commerce too often accepts the alliance of questionable interests, especially when the profits are large. According to the Chicago Vice Commission the profits of prostitution in that city are more than fifteen million dollars annually and estimating a similar amount for other cities proportionately, the nation's sum total reaches to an incalculable sum. Every dollar of this is stained with dishonor and blood, and certain business interests which claim to be honorable and respectable are in complicity with it. In the British House of Commons, in 1834, a "Com- mittee on Drink" stated that at a dinner party where the guests were nearly all distillers, one of them gave this toast: — "The distillers' best friend, the poor prostitutes of London."^ The Vice Commission of Chicago reported that "in- formation has been gathered regarding 445 saloons in different parts of the city. The investigators have counted 929 unescorted women in these saloons, who by their actions and conversations were believed to be prostitutes. In fact they were solicited by more than 236 womeji in 236 different saloons, all of whom, with the exception of 98, solicited for rooms, 'hotels', and houses of prostitution over the saloon." Yet distillers and brewers are members of Associations of Commerce and Boards of Trade, and, as such, exercise their influence against aggressive efforts to suppress the house of shame and judging by certain facts known to us, they have prevented the Vigilance Association in Chicago '"Foundation of Death." Axel Gustafson. Commerce and Conscience 287 from obtaining the endorsement of the Association of Commerce Committees. Sometimes other traders, such as druggists, and even physicians, lend themselves to the supply of deadly drugs to the keepers of dens. The Chicago Vice Commission reports that — "In a canvass of drug stores outside the restricted district it was found that they do not sell more than three drams of cocaine and four ounces of morphine each month. On the other hand the four drug stores within this district sell at least four poimds of morphine and six ounces of cocaine each month." "There are four druggists," the report says, "whose method of catering to the prostitutes is to send clerks to their respective customers in the various houses of prostitution to solicit orders, including cocaine and mor- phine." Yet these druggists remain as members of the honored body of pharmacists. The report also says, "The physician, the most im- portant element in the sale of cocaine, disobeys the law more openly than the druggist. It has been claimed that practically all physicians who examine inmates in houses of ill-fame dispense cocaine and morphine. Yet these physicians are members of the medical profession of the state. Many property owners and real estate agents are guilty of direct complicity with this business. Not only do they knowingly rent houses for purposes of prostitution, but they share the plunder of it by renting at a higher price than the same property would bring for any honorable business. Owners of city property are verily guilty in this matter. Lists of names have been published in several 288 The World's Social Evil cities showing that the owners of certain houses and flats which profit by the renting at exorbitant rents are often rich citizens, sometimes in high social standing, and some- times with church affiliation. Such a list of more than 100 persons startled Chicago when in W. T. Stead pub- lished "If Christ Came to Chicago."^ The Chicago Vice Commission reported in 1910, "The Commission has secured a large list of owners of houses where prostitution is openly practiced. In some instances these owners are vile and abandoned men who make a busi- ness of exploiting these unfortunate women. And side by side with these men, ignorant and vile, stand so-called respectable citizens who are also sharing in the increased values from property used to extend the business of pros- tiution. Indeed evidence has been produced tending to show that a highly honored and respectable company, in whose hands respectable citzens entrust their money, has apparently assumed the trusteeship of four of the vilest houses of ill-fame in the restricted district. Another disgraceful fact is that some ostensibly respect- able women are owners or have control of property where prostitution is practiced. Again "several wealthy and prominent business men, whose advice is sought in matters pertaining to the civic welfare and development of Chicago, are leasing their houses on street and avenue for this business. One of these men has six houses in a part of the district "Mr. Stead pointed out that "It is only just to remember that persons who pay taxes as agents for property have often no means of controlling the disposition of that property. It is also well to state that in many cases the owners of the houses are only owners of the ground on which the houses stand, with next to no power of control over the tenants of the houses built on their land. In other cases they have inherited the property and do not know what to do with it." Commerce and Conscience 289 where the most disgusting and flagrant- violations of the law and police rules occur. Young men hardly out of their teens have been seen reeling in an intoxicated condition from one of these houses to the other. One Saturday night it was all one officer could do to keep a crowd of drunken young men moving and prevent fights on the streets. In one instance he brutally kicked a young fellow and shoved him into the street. In another instance, at the request of the keeper of one of these low resorts, the officer entered her house and threw a drunken young man out on the street, menacing him with his club. ' ' More recently still the "Committee of Fifteen" of Chicago has published lists in the city newspapers of owners of buildings rented as resorts and vice dens. Mr. George Kneeland gives an illustration of the agencies employed by owners in New York. He tells of two owners of a house of ill-fame in West Twenty-eighth street, who on June 26, 1912, sought to rent a house on "West Twenty-ninth street, and succeeded by the payment of a rental of $2,000 a year. Mr. Kneeland furnishes the following statement of the methods of procedure: "In the renting of premises for purposes of prostitution various devices are employed to protect agent and owner, despite the fact that there is an overwhelming probability that in most cases both possess, from the outset, guilty knowledge of the facts. In some places, direct respon- sibility is avoided through renting empty apartments to janitors for a rental ranging from $40 to $50 a month. The janitor furnishes these apartments on the installment plan and sublets them to prostitutes at the rate of $15 to $18 per week. Then, in addition, he often receives from $3 to $5 per week to "look away," as he terms it. 290 The World's Social Evil If the respectable, families do not like it they may move ; and many of them do move.^ The real estate and renting agencies, with exceptions, have not hesitated to rent property for prostitution where a larger rental could be obtained thereby. ' ' In New York during the month of February, 1912, a woman investigator visited 122 real estate agents for the alleged purpose of renting an apartment for immoral purposes. In each case the investigator endeavored to convey to the agent thd object for which the apartment was ostensibly desired. Of the 122 agents visited, only 17 refused outright to be parties to the transaction. A few of these were in^gnant, others said they had to be careful, and still olliers said the owners of the property were exceedingly%Sfict. Sixty- seven agents agreed to rent certain apartments' for this pur- pose and gave the investigator the addresses ojf 98 separ- ate apartments where she could conduct the proposed business."* "In Chicago a field investigation was made in order to determine whether or no flats and houses can be leased from real estate agents for immoral purposes. Dur- ing the month of October investigator visited 65 real estate agents and owners, most of whom were located in reS' idential sections of the city, and in 44 instances they offered to rent rooms and flats. In each instance the investigator stated she wanted to rent the premises for a 'sporting house.' "" Hotel keepers doubtless often find it diflScult or im- possible, to protect themselves wholly from the commerce of vice, but there are, in every city, many who distinctly cater to it, while some make special provision for it. 'Commercialized Prostitution in New York, page 115. The Social Kvil in Chicago, page 89. Commerce and Conscience 291 Mr. Elneeland states that during the investigation in 1912, "103 hotels were found which are classed as being assignation places, disorderly or suspicious. Evidence was discovered which proved that habitual prostitutes were openly soliciting men on the street and elsewhere to go to 65 of these hotels for immoral purposes. A woman investigator discovered 25 additional hotels where pros- titutes declared they could freely take customers or have them openly visit their apartments or rooms. This gives a total of 90 different hotels in Manhattan which may be classified as 'disorderly.' In addition to these, seven different hotels were discovered which prostitutes claimed to be able to use for immoral purposes, though admitting that they had to be careful not to frequent them too often. "^ The Syracuse Moral Survey Committee reports that "32 disorderly hotels were counted and investigated in that city." The Vice Commission of Philadelphia reports that "Investigation was made of 62 disorderly hotels. The investigatigators were solicited by 46 prostitutes to enter these hotels for immoral purposes; aU, or practically. all, these hotels hold liquor licenses, and knowledge of their existence is equally accessible to the police as it was to our investigators.'"' Telegraph and telephone Companies are important arms of public service who must free themselves of all profitable relations with this evil if they would continue to hold the confidence and support of the public. The night messenger •Commercialized Prostitution in New York, page 35. 'The record shows that between Sept. 22 and Oct. 5, 67 en- tries of this kind were made In the hotel register. 292 The World's Social Evil service of the telegraph companies make panders of hoys, employing them in connection with houses of ill-fame: Young boys serve as messengers, and are admitted and sent into the worst places. "The testimony before us on this question is unfit for publi- cation, and shows the utter demoralization of boys of tender age. The telegraph companies which employ these little messen- gers and allow this sort of thing to go on are deserving of the severest censure. It is no answer to say that their officers do not know the facts; they must know them, or if they are In ignorance of them, they are purposely ignorant. We tell them that their messengers are going into places of vice and crime; that their morals are being ruined and their bodies diseased, and it Is their duty to stop it. It may mean less profit from messenger service, but, as things stand today, these companies are allowing these boys to be morally ruined and to contract foul diseases, as appears from the boys' own testimony In our possession, in order that these companies may earn money. The pending Child Labor Bill, if passed and enforced, will protect them hereafter, but It will not extenuate or excuse the guilt of those who, for the sake of business, have permitted the use of these children in so nefarious a trade.'" "The Telegraph Company occupies an office at , which is their nearest branch office to one of the restricted districts. There are about eight messenger boys employed here, ranging from fifteen to eighteen years of age. The majority of these boys are colored. These messengers are called upon to work at all hours of the day and night. As part of their duties they answer calls from prostitutes, to purchase lunch at nearby res- taurants, or to go to the drug stores to purchase drugs and various articles. In this way the messenger becomes an impor- tant link In the system whereby cocaine and various other drugs used by habitues are secured by them."2 Many saloons are in direct partnership with the evil and such can only be dealt with by the nemesis of law as houses of ill-fame. *The Vice Commission of Philadelphia, page 12. 3The Social Evil In Chicago, page 243. Commerce and Conscience 293 "The Commission has found in its investigation that the most dangerous immoral influence, and the most im- portant financial interest, outside of the business of pros- titution as carried on in houses, is the disorderly saloons. The proprietors of these places are using prostitutes as an adjunct to the sale of beer and liquor, and are allowing them to openly solicit for immoral purposes in their rear rooms. This is done in spite of the constant statements of the brewers and wholesale liquor dealers that they are against the use of prostitutes in saloons which they supply." For commercial gain, amusement houses and theatres sometimes ally themselves with the social evil, and these are responsible not only for the downfall of girls, but sometimes, are actual participants in the evil. There is much evidence of this in the reports of the various Vice Commissions of New York, Chicago, Kansas City, Philadelphia, etc. It must be added that the abolition of the brothel means also the suppression of the shady saloon. Intoxicating liquors sold in saloons, to which is annexed the rooming house or back parlor, are the most prolific and deadly of all the agencies employed to capture slaves for the market, to deaden their moral sense and bind them down. These saloons are not separate from, but a part of the infernal traffic. They are partners in the business, and shareri in the plunder. They are joint murderers with the whole gang of pimps, panders and slave traders. "The commission has the addresses of 110 different cafes and saloons in the State habitually frequented by prostitutes for the purpose of securing customers. The investigators have actually counted 6,649 escorted or un- escorted women in these places, who, by the frequency of their presence, their actions, conversation and dress, were 294 The World's Social Evil believed to be prostitutes. In fact, the investigators have been either openly or secretly solicited in these places by 171 different prostitutes to go with them to various hotels, apartments or furnished rooms, etc., for immoral purposes. These immoral cafes and saloons are also the favorite resorts of pimps and procurers, well-known thieves, pick- pockest and ex-criminals. Many of these immoral cafes and saloons are located in densely populated tenement-house districts, subjecting the honest poor to the most evil influences." — Massachusetts Coirmission, Feb., 1914. But what is to be said of brewers and distillers who supply houses of ill-fame with beer and liquors, well knowing that these drinks are used as part of the horrible business and that exorbitant prices are charged for them in such resorts? "A saloon keeper of a disreputable resort in South Chicago declared that certain brewers are trying to buy up the licenses of similar resorts in that vicinity, offering $1,500 for the $1,000 licenses. In one instance it was reported that a certain brewery paid $1,700 for such a license. Only recently a representative from a well known brewery has purchased four licenses from owners of saloons in the South Chicago vice district. The price paid for one of these licenses was $1,800. The reason these licenses were sold, it is said, was because of the agitation against the sale of beer in houses of prostitution. When things were running smoothly in the houses these licenses could not be purchased for $5,000. The Brewers' Exchange, which is composed of 90 per cent, of the brewing companies in Chicago, has repeatedly affirmed that it is absolutely opposed to the sale of liquor in connection with prostitution. An investigation with reference to 236 disorderly saloons shows that representatives of fourteen brewing companies are on the surety bonds for sixty-three of these saloons. In addition there are a number of individuals on the surety Commerce and Conscience 295 bonds (or other disorderly saloons who are also connected with brewing companies but are not given as being representatives.'" For enormous profits made by selling beer and other liquors in resorts see page 111 of same reports. The time has surely come when Commercial Associa- tions, Clubs and Boards of Trade should set up a standard of membership of their respective bodies which would exclude all who are in complicity with this business. No business on earth — ^no practices, even of barbarism, has so deadly an effect upon the moral sense as this. The death of all consciousness of the inveterate evil, resulting from the toleration or license of vice, as a business or privilege, is illustrated by letters published a number of years ago by Dr. Parent Duchatelet of Paris. A woman eighty years of age writes to the Prefect of Police of Paris asking that he will grant her daughter and granddaughter licenses to keep a Maison de tolerance in the following terms: "Eighty years of age and the mother of a large family, I Implore, M. le Prefect, your help and protection. You, the father of the poor, the support of the widow and orphan, the prop of the aflaicted, the asylum of the wretched, you will surely not re- fuse my request. At such an advanced age, and feeling myself on the point of surrendering myself to God, and appearing in the presence of my Creator, it is my duty to provide for the wants of my children, and to hand down to them the means of livelihood."* Two others write, asking a license as a favor, in the following terms : "M. le Prefect: — I have only you as a resource to lean upon; burdened with a family of tender years, I implore you not to re- fuse me an honest means of livelihood, and of bringing up my children. Deprive me not, M. le Prefect, of a consolation of which an afSicted mother stands in so great need."* 296 The World's Social Evil "M. le Prefect: — Mdlle. D has the honor to explain to you that cruel reverses of fortune, that would have driven her to the final act of despair, if she had not been sustained by a sen- timent of religion from parting with that which comes from above. Her grave and circumspect conduct, the care she has taken of her father and mother, and that she lavishes on her children, have won for her the esteem of the better class of people; being unable to bring herself to work, she desires to be authorized to receive at her house six women," etc., etc.* Here is a translation of a certificate of character to a keeper of a brothel signed by twenty merchants of the neighborhood. It was published in L 'Avenir des Femmes : "We the undersigned proprietoires and merchants of the Boulevard de Beleville, declare Madame Louise Joly, dwelling in the Boulevard de la Chapelle, has kept a Maison de Tolerance since 1849, that many of us have known her ever since that time, and that she has gained the esteem of each of us through her morality and her goodness of heart. She is very charitable and always ready to render a service whenever the opportunity presented itself. We consider her a very respectable and honest woman, and a good mother of a family. She is, moreover, much respected in her neighborhood."^ But the moral obliquity represented in these letters is not more complete than that of the twenty business men who in 1912, waited upon Mayor Harrison of Chicago and pleaded for the re-opening of a redlight district in their neighborhood because the closing of it had hurt their business. "One of the large furniture dealers of the "West Side took back $46,000 worth of furniture which he had sold on the installment plan. The streets that had been filled with a rough element were now quiet. A group of twenty so-called 'business men' waited on the Mayor *lies Dames du Maitresses de Maison. 'Social Evil in Chicago, page 126. Commerce and Conscience 297 to make complaint that business was dead on the West Side, and to ask him to ease up on his law enforcement. The Mayor told them 'what he thought of them,' and they went home, refusing to give their names to the news- paper people who wanted to write up the interview."^ The names of these "business men" were not given to the public. In Milwaukee, Wis., a similar petition was presented to District Attornejr W. C. Zabel and in this case we have the names of the signers as they were published in the Milwaukee Free Press, May 30, 1912. Mr. Zabel might weU express astonishment when he received the petition. Here is the petition which marks the depth of the com- mercial conscience in modern America: "Many of us are obligated upon leases and do a large credit business with the inhabitants of said district and have invested all our money in said businesses and are dependent upon them for the support and maintenance of our families, and we respect- fully represent that the sudden and abrupt wiping out of said district would in some instances wholly, and in others partially destroy our businesses," says the petition in part. Those who signed the petition are: L. Deuster, grocer, 525 East Water street; Rossbach phar- macy, 559 East Water street; Louis Zoeller, meat market, 620 East Water street; J. Jerner, grocer, 57 Juneau avenue; A. Cohen, Jr. & Co., grocers, 60 Juneau avenue; John R. Bruckner, grocer, 56 Juneau avenue; Frank Miller, grocer, 46 Juneau ave- nue; Gus Lass, barber, 543 East Water street; W. F. Sandrock, dry goods, corner East Water street and Juneau avenue; Julius Heimann, meat market, 40-42 Juneau avenue; William Kasik, 36 Juneau avenue; Jim Lanzo, fruit dealer, 33 Juneau avenue; Gross-Saxe company, jewelers, 298 Third street; C. N. Bradley Coal company, 29 Juneau avenue; Bargain Shoe Store company, 615 East Water street; Joseph Restram, 571 East Water street; •Pamphlet by Wirt W. Hallam. 298 The World's Social Evil N. ColUon, ladies' clothing, 40 Martin street; Thomas Dorsey, tailor, 32 Martin street; Frank J. Luberlich, 499 Bast Water street; Hugo Borchook, plumber, 27 Martin street; Oscar L. Fland, 22 Martin street; W. and B. Shoe company, 282 Third street, corner State; Joseph Schwori, custom shoemaker, 282 Third street; J. Werner, cloakmaker, 289 Third street; City Hall Drug store, 507 East Water street; Wigart Staab, 505 East Water street; D. J. Williams, cigar store, 521 East Water street; Ed Rivers, grocer, 546 East Water street; H. Grabin, tailor, 501 East Water street. Commercialism has to do with things. When it puts its hands on the bodies and souls of men and women, it violates human and divine law. Its right to barter human bodies has been nobly disputed, with the sacrifice of untold treasure and blood. But the trading in souls for lust and gain is the culmination of all crimes. And this crime of crimes, as yet, remains unchallenged by organized commercial forces. An institution of hell on earth, offering the bribe of false and glittering pleasure to men, as the bait which ensnares the soul to the destruction of mankind, at the very fountain and source of life; the giant curse of all nations, in all ages, has laid the greatest of them in the dust. Let Commerce purge herself of all alliance with it and the social 'evil as a trading institution will receive its death-blow. Let me point out a fact which is of the deepest sig- nificance. It is this — that so long as we women work for the personal reclamation and rescue of fallen women, men of ordinary character applaud, as well as good men. Even vicious men will speak affirmingly; you will meet with no opposition on the part of men; mark me! No opposition. But when you demand and labor for the abolition of the Institution of prostitution the scene changes; opposition arises, bitterness, even hatred and rage are aroused. . . . Evil men know that so long as you merely reclaim individual women from this miserable fate, you do no harm to their own position, or to the institution of prostitution, which they prefer to believe to be a social necessity — they know, full well, that by working as hard as you choose to save some of the female victims you do not in any appreciable degree decrease *he number of these victims. . . Then, observe, that in this war against the institution of vice . . . we arouse by degrees the conscience of the world, while acting with a definite purpose and for a given reason — that is, the abolition of legal prostitution. In aiming at this definite end we, as God's agents and instruments, have attained a far wider, greater, deeper and nobler end — namely a revival of morality, an awaken- ing of the conscience of the people, a conviction that vice is not necessary, and a desire for purer manhood and juster laws. God is leading us on." Mrs. Josephine Butler : Speech to the ladies at Hull, England, 1876. CHAPTER XII. THE WAR AND THE WEAPONS. "The antagonism of principles as opposite as heaven and hell implies conflict, war without truce; until one side is victorious, then, and not till then, can there he peace worthy of the name." — Josephine Butler. Civilization has yet to assume its greatest task. Its amazing progress has placed the world many marches forward in attainment and possessions. But until she breaks the chains herself has forged, the influence of civilization for human good will remain so greatly discounted that the net gain to the world will be in doubt. Alfred Russell Wallace, in his last published works declared a net loss instead of a gain.^ What of modern war? If, in the rude wars of barbaric ages men were slain by the hundred, the engines of modern war contemplate and effect the slaughter of thousands. What of the modern liquor traffic f The very creation and agent of civilization, it is the most active and prolific source of poverty and crime and the ally of all forms of vice, without which sexual lust could never have been sus- tained as a business. What again of the satanic traffic in human flesh and soul values? This infernal trade in vice — ^this barter of child-women — ^this colossal sacrifice of womanhood on the altar of a two-fold lust — ^lust of flesh and lust of gain — ^is a ^"Social Environment and Moral Progress." 302 The World's Social Evil juggernaut more terrible and infamous than any of the worst ages, or the darkest lands of idolatry. It is ancient, only as civilization is ancient, and its monumental waste and destruction are written in the dust and ashes of the cities and nations, once glorious in their pride and power.^ No form of evil has held such continuous sway through the ages as this! Marked changes have taken place in many aspects of the conservation of human life and liberty. Murder, infanticide, and suicide have long since passed out of the list of excusable acts into that of heinous crimes. Slavery of men and women, as property, now finds no defense in the laws of any civilized country; economic freedom and equal franchise is in the air. Cruelty to animals and brutal sports, such as bull-baiting and cock-fighting, are buried under public odium, duels are almost of the past, pugilism is going, and the saloon, as an alcohol institution, is also doomed. But the moral conditions of sex life has changed only in form or fashion. At different periods sexual vice has assumed various dress. At one time, infamous and riotous, it flaunts under the open patronage of kings, rulers, and governments : 'The most important question which humanity ought to ad- dress to its historical scholars is this: "Why. did these other nations die, and what can we do to escape their fate?" For death is not an inevitable and welcome necessity for a nation, as it is for the individual. Its strength and bloom could be in- definitely prolonged if the people were wise and just enough to avert the causes of decay. There is no inherent cause why a great group of nations, such as that which is now united in Western civilization, should not live on in perpetual youth, over- coming by a series of rejuvenations every social evil as it arises, and using every attainment as a stepping-stone to a still higher culture of individual and social life. It has never yet been done. Can it be done in a civilization in which Christianity is the salt of the earth, the social preservative?" RauBchenbusch. The War and the Weapons 303 "Men, blush not in actions black as night." At another time it hides from broad daylight, or it assumes the air of prudes, while young souls are wrecked, and seeds of vile diseases are planted which reap their harvests down to the third and fourth generation. This traffic in womanhood is the very product of civiliza- tion's doctrine of "necessity." Barbarism was brutal and animal. But it was left to civilization to organize, regulate, and protect, a world-wide market with gangs of slave hunters, captors and traders, whose game and plunder are girls — from factory, store, school, and home and whose patrons are men from every grade and rank of society. Even the hell of war is associated with courage, heroism, and patriotism. Drunkenness and its long train of crimes, poverty, and disease, are the fruits of the alcohol- saloon, which is the ally of every form of human vice and degradation — ^but even the saloon contributes occasional humane shelter and some sort of social festivity. The pirate on the high seas or the passenger train, and the burglar in our cities, have no mercy on their victims, but the goods they steal find their way back to the marts of utility and value. But here is a foe of all humanity without a vestige of honor or a single qualifying feature or incident — a rebel- lion against innocence and honor — ^its very plunder — ^the blood and purity of womanhood. Here is a pirate who wars on domestic love and life; spreads unnameable hor- rors to myriads of innocent women and children, wrecks manhood and domestic honor, and never leaves a shred of salvage from the wreck. The ghoul who visits the battlefield to rob the dead is voted a despicable hound, whom, to shoot down in his tracks is deemed a righteous deed; but the pander, the 304 The World's Social Evil pimp, the buyer and seller of human bodies and souls for a price — ^the keeper of a house of death — are lower than the savages of the uncivilized world. "If," as Shaks- peare says, "a babboon could speak it would disown the name of a pimp." PROSTITUTION CAN BE SUPPRESSED. Remedial measures to relieve any great evil are not one, but many, but they must be an unit in purpose and aim if they are to accomplish the end in view. The social evil, as we have seen, is a three-fold curse, striking at the roots of human love and life and culminating in monstrous forms of slavery, through sensuality and cruel greed. No institution, or form of slavery, is comparable with the slavery of commercialized lust, either for cruelty — for utter degradation of the victims — or the depravity of the agents who exploit it; no slavery has ever wrought such havoc upon the physical and moral life, both of its victims and of society generally. Yet strange to say, it is the last of all the social wrongs to be openly and vigorously attacked by society in any effective or righteous way. Every other force of evil has been brought face to face with actual, organized forces of opposite good, tak- ing deliberate and concerted action against it. But throughout the ages, society has treated the social evil as an inevitable condition to be excused and provided for. It is at last dawning upon the minds of many that sensual vice is no more a necessity, as a business institution, than is any other form of evil, and that the attitude of the teacher, the preacher, and the patriot towards it, must be one of absolute and unalterable opposition. But re- demption of men and nations can never come within The War and the Weapons 305 measurable distance until we engage in a common and con- tinuous war against all forms of this evil. We have seen notwithstanding that every imaginable device of toleration, regulation, license and police super- vision have been tried in vain, there are yet literary leaders, doctors, business men and even clergymen, whd cling to the delusion that moral infamy may be lessened by consenting to it, and that venereal diseases may be relieved by offering to the vicious and ignorant a false promise of protection against the consequences of their vices. It must not be assumed, however, that the defenders of this system are all immoral men. They include men who desire to aid reformation in society, who would re- strict and repress vice as well as disease, if they Enew how; they see that "something must be done" and, regard- ing the evil as too deeply rooted and too prevalent for re- pressive legal measures, they think that restriction and regulation will at least afford partial relief. But certain fundamental facts are overlooked: 1. That those who occupy positions of influence, as doctors, authors, journalists, teachers and others, create public opinion, and their views, expressed in language, or enforced by law, become the current thought of the people. The educative power of law, or of legal machinery such as the police, must never be overlooked. All these confirm or discourage social habits, and especially those habits which have their roots in the relations of the sexes. 2. Virtue and vice both grow more strong in soil pre- pared and adapted to them. Just as purity flourishes best where the moral atmosphere is not tainted — so impurity grows rank and rapidly where it is encouraged, permitted, paid for and hedged around with securities or protection. 306 The World's Social Evil It is of course claimed on behalf of regulation that its advocates neither encourage nor favor prostitution, but recognize it only, in order to restrict its fields of operation and to lessen its physical consequences, especially as they affect innocent persons. But, even if this be granted, as the ruling motive of all such action, the character of the treatment cannot be determined by it. The tree must be known by its fruit — not by the intention of the planters. It is the undeviating testimony of facts that when vice of any kind is recognized by regulation, i. e., by determining where and how it may operate, the transparent permission of legal sanction thus given, lends it dignity and assumed rights which greatly increase its influence. What the law approves, permits, sanctions, or allows, it stimulates. Thus, when gambling is tolerated, or sanctioned by police rule, the professional gambler has no need to apologize for his operations. He assumes a right in custom and law; his exploits becoming more daring, conspicuous and prosperous (although he may be heavily taxed for the permission) and, in course of time, he is ready to assume the rights of ordinary busi- ness and claims compensation if he is disturbed. 3. The disastrous effects of a law which consents to conditional or regulated immorality are found, not only in the removal of the legal obstacles which make vice, easier. Such law offers to sensual men, and to ignorant youth, the suggestion that sexual vice is no vice at all, if followed under regulated conditions, and thus it breaks down the guards and warnings, which law ought to pro- vide against wrongdoing. The nation, state, or city, which sanctions or allowB a system of "permits" or regulation, by segregation, registration, or toleration, through its police or other The War and the Weapons 307 agents, becomes a party to the evil — a procurer for the vices of men; a powerful agent against the honor and liberties of women, and a destroyer of home life. Lecky's high-flown passage, quoted in this volume,* is an expression of the uniform thought of ' ' regulationists. ' ' They assume that sex-vice is a normal, unchangeable, con- dition of the male human, and that womanhood must always furnish an offering to the lusts of men, — that, for all time, she must either be a pet-slave of the eastern harem, and its western equivalent, or the poor, despised creature of the vice shambles, — the priestess of humanity, indeed! — a sacrifice, iruised, tortured, diseased, enslaved, and slain for the sins of man. Yet, what true man is there who would not resent, unto blood, any proposal to offer his own mother, wife, sister, or daughter as a contribution to this sacrificial offering. Happily there is a great advance in the attitude of thinking men and women on this subject. It is not recorded that a single protest was offered in all that great body of American physicians when, in 1874, Prof. Gross openly ad- vocated the doctrine of necessity and the policy of license. But as we have shown, there are today thousands of the most distinguished physicians in all parts of the country — and of the world — ^who not only declare the doctrine of necessity false, but proclaim chastity as a normal human condition, in harmony with normal health and physical per- fection. Rescue and Prevention: — ^Born of profound pity for the women and girls who have been debased by men, and then called "fallen women," the service of rescue has been maintained. Rescue is to be welcomed as an angel of mercy, 'See Fore-word. 308 The World's Social Evil and as the star of hope and relief, like the Bed Cross Evan- gel on the field of battle ; like Grace Darling — ^risking the dangers and hardships of the rough winds and the tem- pestuous sea to save an occasional ship-wrecked life. The rescue missionary has nobly and heroically saved many women and girls, who, being mortal, were also weak, and therefore often yielding — and sometimes sinning. But under unequal moral standards, Rescue delivers only from the bondage of life in a brothel; the woman is still doomed to wear the scarlet letter — ^reproached and scorned by pharisaical society. Such rescue does not destroy or even weaken the insti- tution of commercialized vice. It is probably safe to say that for every one rescued, the door is thus opened for at least ten others to be seduced, entrapped and held in the bondage of this slavery. Just as the ministry of the Bed Cross angel does not abate the war, nor bring peace on earth ; so rescue does not lessen the deeds of lust, nor save the innocent from the traps of white slavery. The greater angel of deliverance is called "Preven- tion." This word "Prevention" in this connection, covers all efforts of society against the seductive and slavish condi- tions of the Social Evil. It strikes at the roots of the pestilent tree and welcomes every agency that ennobles man and woman — boy and girl. It recognizes every defect in the social organism, law, usage, hygiene, education and morals. Under the head of law are all the questions which government is so slow to answer. We have in every State great legislative bodies numbering from thirty to more than 300 persons — Senators and Bepresentatives — and a The War and the Weapons 309 National Congress with its two great Houses of Senators and Congressmen. And to all these thousands of men, chosen to do the business of the nation and the common- wealths, the people pay, respectively, from a few hundreds to $10,000 annually. But party and personal interests are placed above the needs of humanity and the real issues of life, liberty, and domestic happiness are left over from year to year indefi- nitely. When the people ask for a fish they are given a stone. A large majority of these legislators recognize the claims of society for relief from pestilent gangs who prey upon society, and from conditions that would be a shame to Hottentots; but tariff, and trusts, and bills for personal ends, are allowed to block the way until the cry for reme- dies grow faint with sheer weariness. Marriage and Divorce are twin subjects that should, long ago, have been expressed in better law. That mar- riage should remain so long a jumble and confusion of crude and ill-considered laws, as many times varied as there are states in the Union, is to our everlasting discredit. That it should be possible for a couple to cross any state line and be legally united on terms that are invalid in another state ; or that a marriage, which is legal in one state may not be so in another, is a monstrosity that might be excused if it were a relic of superstition in a far off heathendom. Marriage is the foundation of the family and "the family is the centre and archetype of the State, and the happiness and goodness of society are always dependent upon the purity of domestic life."^ "Biologically, the family is the primary cell of the whole social organism."' "History of European Morals. — ^Leckjr. ■Religion in Social Action. — Graham Taylor. 310 The World's Social Evil It is useless to attempt any legislation to restrain di- vorce until marriage laws are first made uniform in prin- ciple — (the form and details being left to the State) by the federal government. And such uniformity should make absolute provision against the employment of marriage contracts as instruments, ready at band, to the vice slaver. Provision should be made, by a uniform federal law, that no marriage could take place in any state without a public notice of the license applied for, such notice to be published a number of days before the issue of the license, and the marriage, permissable only, in the country or State in which at least one of the two persons has resided for a period of months. If prior registration is deemed necessary to the exercise of the baUot how much more should it be for a legal contract which affects the life of a family, through generations to come, and through them, the interests of the . State. A student of this subject urges that marriage should be by civil contract only and that "a magistrate alone should have power to legalize marriage." ^ This would have the effect of eliminating the religious element, the value of which has been, from time immemorial, recognized. But the force of the civil tie is not lessened by the religious service, since, as the same author points out, the ininister takes his authority from the State "by the power rested in me by the State I pronounce you man and wife." The minister therefore performs a civil marriage tie, as truly, and by the same authority as a magistrate, with the added impressiveness of a religious obligation and vow. That Society may be delivered from degenerates many other remedies are now suggested. It is the wonder of thoughtful men and women that, having studied and de- 'Woman's Sbare in Soul Culture. — A. GarlinSpeneeh'^' The War and the Weapons 311 veloped, in a marvelous degree, the species of domestic and other animals, transformed the wild rose into an "Ameri- can Beauty'.' and the prolific cactus into a fruitful edible tuber we should thus far have neglected the eugenics of the human species. Here is a new kindergarten — and a new interpreter for every grade in the school of life. "The first legislative recognition of a eugenic public policy was given by the British parliamentary measures of 1909, providing for a 'Maternity Benefit' in the industrial insurance act, and the remission of 7s. 6d. for every child from the income tax upon the head of each family. ' '^ Here is the beginning of a new State-care of the family which may be attended with much good. Age of Consent : — Governing bodies are also criminally slow in protecting the young and weak from the ravages of vicious and unscrupulous men. The "age of consent" laws of many of our states remain, an indictment of crim- inal neglect, or purpose, against all our lawgivers. A chart in the Appendices of this volume shows that in one state the so-called "age of consent" is as low as 7 years; in an- other, 10; in three states, 12; in eight states, 14; while the average age in all the states and territories of the United States is about 15% years. Think of children of eight, ten, twelve, or even of the average of less than sixteen, being held by law as account- able for their own persons, against the villainous attacks of unscrupulous, designing, rascals — such as are of daily occurrence in every city. The legal age of girls and boys should be made equal, and then a uniform law should be agreed upon in every state that the legal age of 21 shall also be the "age of consent." There is new reason for this equality of the "Sraham Taylor. 312 The World's Social Evil legal age since women are so rapidly coining into the political franchise. Saloon and Dance Hall : — The law ought also to pro- tect the young against all relations of the dance-hall with the saloon. There is no greater reproach upon our government — ^na- tional, state and civic — than the lack of protection for hu- man life, honor and liberty. If a purse is stolen the thief is arrested and the penalty is severe. If a girl is robbed of her honor, which is her chief dowry, and is of incomparably more concern to the state than the protection of a purse, or a jewel, the police are not instructed to hunt down the thief. If a man steals a horse he may be sent to the peniten- tiary, but if a pander steals a girl and drains her life to satisfy his miserable appetite or greed, even if arrested, he may escape under the contemptible coward's plea that she consented. Even the vicious brothel keeper is carefully protected against action for debauching the public con- science or demoralizing the neighborhood. Under the com- mon law of the State, a man who owns the house he lives in may bring a civil action for damages against a person who sets up a brothel adjacent to his property, but if he is a tenant his only practical remedy is to move away, with the risk of a similar nuisance elsewhere. Injunction Law : — This defect in law will be met in a large measure by the Injunction and Abatement law which, as we have shown, is now in operation in twelve states and the District of Columbia, but has been defeated in some other states by the deplorably chaotic condition of our State legislatures. Here, however, we have a weapon which has already put the brothel out of business in at least one State, and is The War and the Weapons 313 rapidly doing it in others. And when every State furnishes this weapon, and the people learn how to use it — the brothel will go — the market of open, recognized vice will be closed ; and when the market is closed there can be no sale of girls and this merchandise of death will be ended. THE REPRESSION OP MARRIAGE. The measures now advocated for the restriction and regulation of families by law are not to be accepted without question and consideration. Laws for the proper and orderly observance of marriage are needed; laws that will give security against ill-considered, hasty, marriage be- tween young people, or between older adventurers on the one side, and the young or inexperienced, on the other ; laws that recognize the right of parents and guardians to a knowledge of marriage contracts beforehand; laws that shall hold marriage in one state to be marriage in another, — these are necessary steps before the question of divorce can be dealt with. But laws forbidding marriage at the behest of physi- cians may lead to a flood-tide of unmarried licentiousness, without lessening the evils they are designed to mitigate and will give new opportunities for the graft of quackery. It is probable that new zeal in the direction of eugenics will be attended by some errors. Dean Sumner's ruling against marriage of any couple who do not hold a certificate of a reputable physician certi- fying that they are physically and mentally fit, can do no harm as an experiment. It is operative only as it applies to the Episcopal Cathedral of Chicago and to such others as elect to copy the method and its effects may be watched with interest. But when, as in Wisconsin, it is made a law of the State — ^the edict assumes a different aspect and leads 314 The World's Social Evil to Taridus questions. What, for instance, will become of those who cannot pass the examination of the State, or other reputable, physicians? Will they abstain from mar- riage or, knowing their weakness, will they secure a certifi- cate from some less reputable physician? Or will they decide to live together without marriage and, if so, what may be the effect upon the ratio of illegitimate births? Will not the raising of a legal bar against marriage tend to increase loose concubinage and illegitimacy, thus adding a new evil to that of mentally and physically defective births? State provision for free medical advice to persons in- tending marriage is much needed. Parents and guardians of youths, of both sexes, could then be encouraged to insist upon a medical certificate where a taint is suspected and thus protect their own daughters or sons. The ofl&cial Medical Examiner also, could then report cases of the "unfit" who should be refused a marriage certificate, unless birth of children was prevented by sterilization. But for the State to say to Society — ^thou shalt not live in fornication — and yet to put up an absolute bar against the legal marriage of many is to make provision for chaos in social life. Think again of the danger of placing the power in the hands of any class of men — to forbid the marriage of the sexes and practically to say : — ^you may go just as you are — physically fit or not fit — and dwell together, and beget children in illegitimacy, but you cannot marry and give to your union a legitimate relationship. The late distinguished scientist, Alfred Bussel Wallace, in his last work^ quotes Hiram M. Stanley as saying: ■ '"Sooial Envlronmeat and Moral Progress." The War and the Weapons 315 "In the true golden age, whicli lies not behind but before us, the privilege of parentage will be esteemed an honor for the comparatively few, land no child will be born who is not only sound in body and mind, but also above the average as to nat- ural ability and moral force. The most important matter in so- ciety, the inherent quality of the members of which it is com- posed, should be regulated by trained specialists." To this suggestion Mr. Wallace remarks: ''Of course, our. modem eugenists will disclaim any wish to adopt such measures as are here hinted at, which are in every way dangerous and detestable. But I protest strenuously against any direct interference with the freedom of mar- riage, which, is not only totally unnecessary, but would b6 a much greater source of danger to morals and to the well-being of humanity than the mere temporary evils it seeks to cure. I trust that all my readers wiU oppose any legislation on this subject by a chance body of elected per- sons who are totally unfitted to deal with far less com- plex problems than this one, and as to which they are sure to bungle disastrously." That society should make provision against the pair- ing of the unfit — the weak-minded, demented, and diseased — is strongly advocated by Judge Olson in the address which we publish as an Appendix of this volume. There are stupendous changes involved and many objections to over- come but such a scheme, so ably presented by Judge Olson* has the great merit of dealing gradually with these classes, in their youth, before they acquire a desire for marriage and in such a way as practically to segregate the sexes, at least imtil an age or condition, when offspring cannot be born to them. ... Mr. Wallace declares: "It is in the highest degree presumptuous and irrational to attempt to deal by com- 'See Appendix. 316 The World's Social Evil pulsory enactments with the most vital and most sacred of all human relations, regardless of the fact that our present phase of social development is not only extremely imper- fect but vicious and rotten at the core. How can it be possible to determine by legislation those relations of the sexes which shall be best alike for individuals and for the race, in a society in which a large proportion of our women are forced to work long hours daily for the barest subsistence, with an almost total absence of the rational pleasures of life, for the want of which thousands are driven into wholly uncongenial marriages in order to se- cure some amount of personal independence or physical well-being?"^ He contends that "when men and women are, for the first time in the course of civilization, alike free to follow their best impulses; when idleness and vicious or hurtful luxury on the one hand, oppressive labor and the dread of starvation on the other, are alike unknown; when all re- ceive the best and broadest education that the state of civilization and knowledge will admit ; when the standard of public opinion is set by the wisest and the best among us, and that standard is systematically inculcated on the young; then we shall find that a system of truly natural selection will come spontaneously into action which will steadily tend to eliminate the lower, the less developed, or in any way defective types of men, and will thus continu- ously raise the physical, moral, and intellectual standard of the race." The mode by which this will come about is thus stated by Mr. "Wallace. 1. "That a very moderate advance in the average age of marriage — ^which would certainly result from a truly '"Social Environment and Moral Progress." The War and the Weapons 317 rational system of education combined with economic equality — ^necessarily diminishes the rate of increase of the population. 2. "That every approach to educational and economic equality by effecting a large saving of the lives of males who now die from preventable causes, combined with the fact that male births exceed those of females, would so diminish the number of the latter that they would soon be- come less instead of, as now, more than that of males ; that this would give them an effective choice in marriage which they do not now possess, together with the power of de- lay which for many reasons large numbers of them would exercise. 3. "The law of diminishing fertility with increase of brain-work through education and training would further tend to the diminution of fertility. These three natural causes all tend in one direction — the equality of births with deaths, while their action would be so readily modified by public opinion as to obviate all danger of either in- crease or decrease beyond what was necessary for the well- being of each community, nation or race." "As time goes on, and she (woman) acquires more and more economic independence, that alone will give her an effective choice which she has never had before. But this choice will be further strengthened by the fact that, with ever-increasing approach to equality of opportunity for every child born in our country, that terrible excess of male deaths, in boyhood and early manhood especially, due to various preventable causes, will disappear, and change the present majority of women to a majority of men. This will lead to a greater rivalry for wives, and will give to women the power of rejecting all the lower types of character among their suitors." 318 The World's Social Evil "The certainty that this powerful sielective agency will come into existence just in proportion as we reform our existing social system by the abolition of poverty and the establishment of full equality of opportunity in education and economic position, demonstrates that Nature — or the Universal Mind — ^has not failed or bungled our world so completely as to require the weak and ignorant efforts of the eugenists to set it right, while leaving the great funda- mental causes of all existing social evils absolutely un- touched. Let them devote all their energies to purifyiag this whitened sepulchre of destitution and ignorance, and the beneficent laws of human nature will themselves bring about the physical, intellectual, and moral advancement of our race."^ Ex-President Roosevelt's plea for the family was in- spired by a statesman's view of the dangers to any nation which fails to conserve family life. "The prime need," he says, "is to raise the level of individual morality, and to encourage early marriages and a strict sense of recip- rocal conjugal obligations. The women who preach late marriages are by just so much making it difficult to better the standard of morality." All other questions sink inl" insignificance when the stability of the family is at stake and, as Prof. Rauschenbausch has said, the most significant part of that utterance of Mr. Roosevelt's "was that such a thing had to be uttered at all. In our country the decline has become chronic for some years past. Men marry late, and when the mating season of youth is once past, many never marry at all. In my city of Rochester, N. Y., with a population of 162,608^ the census of 1900 showed 25,- 219 men between the ages of 25 and 44, the years during which a man ought to be enjoying a home and rearing '"Social Environment and Moral Progress." The War and the Weapons 319 children and 7,355 of them were still unmarried. There were 28,218 women of the same years, relatively further along in marriageable age than the men, and 8,109 were still unmarried. Now the attraction between men and women is just as fundamental a fact in social life as the attraction of the earth is in physics, and the only way in which that tremendous force of desire can be prevented from wrecking lives is to make it build lives by home con- tentment."^ The home is not only consecrated and saved- by the child, but the nation itself is saved thereby. George Kibbe Turner has well said: "The chastity of woman is at the foundation of Anglo-Saxon society. Our laws are based upon it, and the finest and most binding of our social relations. Nothing could be more menacing to a civilization than the sale of this as a commodity. To the average individual woman concerned, it means the expectation of death under ten years ; to practically all the longer survivors a villainous and hideous after-life."^ No thoughtful person will dispute the truth of this, but men have not yet learned that it is true also of men. Unchastity of men is the primary cause of the sale of woman as a commodity and of all that attend that sale, including the physical blight and premature death of men as well as women. Tacitus furnishes a sketch of the domestic relations of the ancient peoples of the German race; he does not portray them, of course, as noted for refinement, but he shows that they did not barter their wives and daughters for profit except on a basis of marriage. He says: •Christianity and the Social Crisis, page 272. •McClure's, April, 1907. 320 The World's Social Evil 'The matrimonial bond is strict and severe among them; nor 1b there anything in their manner more commendable than this. Almost singly among the barbarians, they content them- selves with one wife; a very few of them excepted, who, not through Incontinence, but because their alliance is solicited, on account of their rank, practice polygamy. The wife does not bring a dowry to her husband, but receives one from him. The parents and relations assemble, and pass their approbation on the presents — presents not adapted to please a female taste, or decorate the bride; but oxen, a caparisoned steed, a shield, spear, and' sword. That the woman may not think herself excused from exertions of fortitude, or exempt from the casualties of war, she is admonished by the very ceremonial of her marriage, that she comes to her husband as a partner in toils and dangers; to suffer and to dare equally with him, in peace and in war; this is indicated by the yoked oxen, the harnessed steed, the of- fered arms. Thus she is to live; thus to die. She receives what she is to return inviolate and honored to her children; what her daughters-in-law are to receive, and again transmit to her grand- children. "They live, therefore, fenced around with chastity; corrupted by no seductive spectacles, no convivial incitements. Men and women are alike unacquainted with clandestine correspondence. Adultery is extremely rare among so numerous a people. Its punishment is instant and at the pleasure of the husband. He cuts oft the hair of the offender, strips herrand in the presence of her relations, expels her from his home and pursues her with stripes through the whole village. Nor is any indulgence shown to a prostitute. Neither beauty, youth, nor riches can procure her a husband; for none there looks on vice with a smile, or calls mutual seduction the way of the world. Still more ex- emplary is the practice of those states in which none but virgins marry, and the expectations and wishes of a wife are at once brought to a period. Thus, they take one husband as one body and one life; that no thought, no desire may extend beyond him; and he may be loved, not only as their husband, but as their mar- riage. To limit the increase of children, or put to death any of the later progeny, is accounted Infamous; and good habits have The War and the Weapons 321 there more influence than good laws elsewhere. (Tacitus, Ger- many and Agricola Oxford Translation.)* This simple note of an ancient people shows that their conduct was directed by nature's laws. They followed nature so well that they were a race of stalwarts. They were simple, if barbaric. They were brave, even if brutal. They knew nothing of the refinements of education, ethics, or art; but they were chaste and in youth continent, obedient to nature ; and they made choice of suitable mates. They left it to civilization to provide measures of regula- tion, license, and commercialization. They framed their life with a view to physical advantage and healthy, vigor- lives with a view to physical advantage and healthy, vigor- ous progeny. Much of what the sturdy German races owe to these ancestors of two thousand years ago, they, like other nations, have lost in modern licentiousness and the regulated brothel under civilization. Education and Morals. Dr. Richard Cabot has warned us that in dealing with love and sex there is especial need of restraint.^ The learned Doctor's wise counsel must command our respect, but his instructive lectures' are his testimony against leav- •A note to this translation by Edwin Brooks, Jr., says: "The chastity of the Germans, and their strict regard to the laws of marriage, are witnessed by all their ancient codes of law. The purity of their manners in this respect afforded a striking contrast to the licentiousness of the Romans in the decline of the empire, and is exhibited in this light by Salvian, in his treatise De Gubernatione." Tacitus also says that, "The youths partake late of the pleas- ures of love, and hence pass the age of puberty unexhausted; nor are the virgins hurried into marriage; the same maturity, the same full growth is required; the sexes unite equally matched, and robust; and the children inherit the vigor of their parents." 'What Men Live By, p. 225. •Christian Approach to Social Morality. 322 The World's Social Evil ing the field to error and darkness. "There is no darkness, but ignorance," says Shak- speare; and Jesus Christ found no figure that could per- sonify himself as a teacher, like light — ^"I am the Light of the World." Darkness and superstition are twins. Nothing can overcome them but light — the great, bright, sunlight of truth. To those who live in the light, it seems incredible that any should make choice of darkness, and yet millions of people choose darkness rather than disturb their old time superstitions. On no subject does this love of darkness prevail as on that of human race hygiene. The highest conditions are shown and studied in every other department of life. Horses, cattle, and dogs, are carefully studied for race culture. Birds and fowls are studiously mated. Flowers and vegetables are subject to the utmost culture that the best may be produced. But in the human family, ignorance is preferred on the plea that knowledge is indecent. Chil- dren are ignorantly born and blindly allowed to grow up. Sex or race-hygiene is health of the race; health in reproduction; and health in growth and quality.^ To ask any intelligent person: "Ought we to teach it?" should meet an instant answer in the affirmative. Yet, there is no question upon which intelligent people raise so many and varied objections. ^To those who would study this subject from the stand- point of education we know of nothing equal to Dr. G. Stanley Hall's two volumes on "Adolescence," published by Appleton & Co.; and The Eighth Yearbook of the National Society for the Scientific Study of Education; it is edited by Prof. Chas. R. Henderson of Chicago University, and is published by the Uni- versity Press of Chicago in two parts, I and II. The War and the Weapons 323 These objections are based upon one or two main points. 1. That ignorance on this subject is innocence. There is an "innocence" which proceeds from ignorance. A mind, absolutely blank, may be said to be innocent. But ignorance does not always mean an entire absence of facts. More often it means facts perverted, misapplied, unrelatedr. In the old-time fourth of July celebrations, many a boy knew enough of the power of explosives to blow out his eyes — or his life. At the very dawn of intelligence children begin to in- quire into all sorts of problems, and of no one of them so insistently as of the question of sex and life. Absolute, total darkness on the subject is impossible, with very rare exceptions. What follows when primary facts of sex-life are learned through distorted and perverted channels — a grain of truth with a pound of evil? The mere question suggests aU the horrors of a young imagination, peopled with perverted sex images, and ready to feed upon others that follow. Such ignorance not only blinds the eyes, but destroys the moral sense and power of control. Many a child, before it reaches the years of puberty, is already a pervert — not hecause it knows but "because it does not know. Others who miss the perilous path in child- hood, come to it a little further on. The untaught girl meets another — of her own — perhaps of the other sex, and ruin folloivs. The untaught boy en- ters a circle of other boys, a little older, and he speedily becomes a moral pervert, a physical wreck, and a social danger. 2. The second error is based on the proposition that knowledge on this subject suggests evil. Is that true? Does suggestion come of our knowledge 324 The World's Social Evil of facts, or does it come through ignorance ? Is there not a conflict between right and wrong whenever knowledge faces evil suggestion? Is not knowledge a guard and a defence in the presence of evil? The suggestion of evil in sex matters — as in anything else — does not feed upon true knowledge, but upon per- verted facts, filtered in from the sewer — from the slush novel ; the vicious show or dance hall ; or the ignorant and vicious companion. Two other questions follow. And upon them many of the best people seriously differ. The first is WHEN? To this question let us give one answer — NOW. There is no period in a human life when the facts of life should be hidden. They may be presented improperly, or out of season. That is true of any set of facts. To cram a child's mind with chemistry, geography, or any study, in advance of its age, does harm instead of good. But as the child-mind develops, so as to inquire of facts of nature — ^be it the song of birds — the play of lambs — the birth of a kitten; or the coming of a baby, every inqidry should be welcome. There should be no forbidden question. The question of the child may be put off to a more convenient season, but the door should never be closed upon the subject as a forbidden one. Once let a child lose confidence in Mother, or Father, as the true sources of first hand knowledge, on questions which its very nature prompts, and it will seek the answer at the earliest moment from some less fastidious, but wholly dangerous source. And this is just as true of a growing boy or girl as of a little child. The girl who cannot get the meaning of her changing life from mother or father, will try to get The War and the Weapons 325 it elsewhere. The boy who finds his father as close as a clam, on subjects which are burning in his adolescent mind will inquire, where he will receive — not knowledge — iut perverted, poisoned, unwholesome facts. And if these young people, in the dawn of their manhood and womanhood, iind also that, at school, every question of physiology, biology, or anatomy is closed, the moment the study reaches to the human race, and every book, treating of the subject, is locked from them, they will feel that they are driven to discuss it in ways that are secret and in places that are dark. Such young people are ripe sub- jects for suggestive books, and the advertising pamphlets of quacks, or for the still more vile' prints that are secretly circulated under sealed covers. The third question is— JffOW? How shall we teach race, or sex hygiene f The answer is — exactly as we teach any other subject — frankly, simply, truthfully. Primary facts are for primary scholars, on this, as on any other subject. The primary teacher is the mother. She it is that must instill the first truths in the minds of her child; and every sane mother can tell her child the initial truths of ordinary domestic, religious, or nature- life — up to the standard, or measure of her experience, or training. She cannot do more; but this she should be en- couraged to do. Generally speaking, on other subjects, mothers, do this. As the child asks, mother will tell the little child what she knows about fire and water. She will tell it that fire burns and destroys as well as warms and comforts — that a knife is sharp and will cut the fingers, that food can be cooked in several ways and that pain may be relieved 326 The World's Social Evil by simple medicines, but that some medicines are poisonous and dangerous. She will tell the child about God and Heaven, Right and Wrong, according to the measure of her own faith, or training. She will tell that when summer comes, and the sun shines, and the rains fall, there will be grass and flowers, and trees and fruits. If she lives in the country she will tell of the birds with their young, and the kittens, and fowls, and the lambs. But let the child ask an initial or primary question about human life and the mother closes up. "Bun away now Dorothy — you must not ask such questions!" What parents need most is a knowledge of the essen- tial, initial truths, "and guidance as to how to impart those truths. And what school pupils need, is instruction in causes and effects — in the things that lead to a higher moral conception of the realness of life and the dignity of the race continuing process. Boys can be taught as boys, to reverence motherhood and honor all women — that an insult to any girl should be treated by every boy as though she were his sister. They can be taught that life is from within and that the law of sex is the same in the human race as in other forms of life. They need instruction as to the dangers of certain secret actions, and the wrong of unclean thoughts and language. Girls can be taught the meaning of their changing physical life, and the functions and sacredness of mother- hood. They can be taught that the body is a holy temple of generation, and that to tamper with it, or neglect it, is to demoralize and destroy it. Under the question of ' ' How to Teach ? ' ' nothing is per- The War and the Weapons 327 haps so important, in relation to this subject, as the in- culcation of right mental and moral attitude. This is the first essential thing in the premises : //• the attitude is right the average parent will not pronounce themselves incapable of giving initial and essential facts to their own children. The play called "The Blindness of Virtue" was based upon the commonly inherited superstition that this is a subject which cannot be spoken — an error which has grown with generations of prudery and hypocrisy, until intelli- gent parents allow their children to grow to the danger line and to enter life's most serious obligations and re- sponsibilities blindly. In the play the heads of a family, are a scholarly clergyman and his cultured wife. Their daughter is carefully shielded from contact with society; and from every avenue of knowledge she is closely guarded. She reaches the age of seventeen, and does not know the meaning of her adolescent yearnings; nor does she under- stand the need of natural reserve, when she falls in love with a young man whom her father has received into his home as a private student. The result is a shock and a tragedy. The play may represent an extreme of circumstantial life among cultured people, but it is absolutely true in its meaning and lessons. Not merely untaught mothers and fathers; but cultured, educated, parents, deny all informa- tion to their children — ^not because they cannot give it, but because they have accepted the conventional altitude of silence, secrecy, and false modesty. The facts related by Judge Julian Mack of Cook County Juvenile Court ought to awaken the keenest con- cern on the part of parents. The saddest thing about 328 The World's Social Evil these terrible revelations is that they are typical of many such cases, known in every Juvenile Court. "During a three-years' experience as judge of the Juvenile Court in Cook County there came before me several hundred cases of girls, ranging in age from seven to eighteen years, every one of whom had made a misstep. Their pitiful stories have impressed upon me the vital importance of two funda- mental duties that fathers and mothers owe to their children: First, that parents should at all times, from earliest child- hood, have that priceless possession, the genuine confidence of their child: a confidence which will cause the child not merely to obey, but also to trust and to feel implicitly that the parent is at all times and under all circumstances the best friend, the most constant companion, and the wisest and most willing adviser. Second, that, in order to earn and to deserve this con- fidence, parents must be frank in responding to the natural inquiries of their child; yea, more, they must divine the unspoken question at the right time, and answer it clearly and in a manner that will invite further questions as the child develops into young womanhood. I know the difficulties involved in this, even for the more intelligent and educated parents. But I know only too well that too many parents live in a fools' paradise of belief that their silence spells ignorance and innocence on the part of the children. It cannot be too emphatically repeated that every child mingling with other children, whether in private or in public schools, is going to learn much even at the age of ten, and, in circles in which children are not carefully guarded, even as early as seven. The words picked up, the thoughts awakened, arouse the inquiring mind. If the silent inquiry be felt and responded to by the parents a relation is established which, developed by mutual confidences, throws a protecting mantle over the little one that in many cases will guard her for life. If the spoken or unspoken query be avoided or checked the first barrier is raised, which, followed by the conventional story, easily and quickly discovered to be untrue, destroys the child's faith in her mother. This may close her lips for all The War and the Weapons 329 time and turn her to those who are always within reach and are only too ready to initiate her not only into a complete knowledge of but also into an experiment with the mysteries of life. Whenever a number of school children are in court for these wrongs one leader among the girls has Invariably been found responsible for spreading the trouble. The boys instinc- tively recognize the difference in girls and know which are possible victims and which are not. From one of the schools located in an excellent region of Chicago came a ,glrl of seventeen years of age. Her parents were an old couple, her sister a trained nurse and her brother an excellent business man. This seventeen-year-old girl was the baby of the family and in their eyes an innocent child, the object of universal love. The family never suspected that instead of visiting one of her girl schoolmates after supper, as she said she did, she was keeping an appointment with some of the neighborhood boys. Her influence led at least three other girls of from twelve to fifteen to follow in her footsteps. Two of her in- timate friends were twins of the age of fifteen, and one took the keenest pleasure in these clandestine meetings. The other twin knew practically nothing about them, as not only the boys, but even the girls, recognized her innate modesty and refrained from mentioning them in her presence. The boys told me that they would be ashamed and afraid to make an indelicate suggestion in her presence, while they hesitated at nothing in the presence of the other twin and her companions. None of these girls had the slightest knowledge of the physical consequences of their acts. They all realized, of course, that they were disobeying and deceiving their parents and otherwise doing wrong, but not one of them had ever been told anything about the origin of human life. As to whether this knowledge would have protected them or not I cannot be sure, but I believe, from my conversations with them and with their parents, that it would have done so. The incident became generally known in the school and caused a complete awakening of the parents in that section of the city to a realization of their obligations. The school is located at the border line between a section occupied by fairly well-to-do people and a section occupied by the poorer classes. Every one 330 The World's Social Evil of the boys and girls Involved in this trouble came from the well-to-do class. In another case some half a dozen boys and half a dozen girls between the ages of ten and thirteen were involved. The leader here, again, was a girl of eleven years. She was one of the seven or eight children of a widow. This girl had never received the slightest instruction in these matters — in fact, she was the victim of parental neglect to such an extent that it became necessary to take her away from home. In a small suburb of Chicago half a dozen high-school girls of fourteen and fifteen years of age made a regular practice of receiving a company of their male fellow-students at their respective homes on Thursday afternoons when the mothers were away attending their club meetings. These boys and girls were all of the so-called better classes and the mothers were intelligent women. In their club affairs these women had dis- played an active interest in communal welfare, but they had forgotten to gain the full confidence of their daughters; not one of these girls had ever been told anything of the mystery of life, or understood the physical consequences of her act. A group of seven little girls, from nine to twelve years of age, were the victims of a gray-haired scoundrel, all led on by a child of twelve, the first victim, who persuaded the others to follow her example. Candy and a few pennies were sufilcient inducement in this case. In another case, a group of half a dozen girls of fourteen and fifteen years of age made It a custom, after church on Sun- day morning, to visit a man who gave them ice cream and played music for them, and the parents thought that they were going for a walk! One little girl of nine years of age, who was kept in ignorance of these things by her parents, was the victim of more than a dozen boys, ranging in age from ten to sixteen. She was a beautiful, innocent child. A widowed mother with two beautiful daughters of fifteen and seventeen made no attempt to instruct either of them. She was a weak, pleasure-loving woman, and the natural results followed. Both girls were faithful attendants at Sunday-school and church, but were easy victims of their school companions. The younger girl was subsequently responsible for leading three The War and the Weapons 331 of her girl Sunday-school mates Into like adventures. A mother disregarded some rumors that came to her about her eleven-year-old daughter. She pooh-poohed them, declar- ing that she knew her child, and that the child's "innocence" and ignorance were absolute protection to her. The mother's discovery of her mistake was something heartbreaking to wit- ness.* After all it is not so mueli scientific knowledge that is needed, but simply the use of the common knowledge which most of us possess. The mother in the play is like the average moflSter. She has turned her child away when it craved to know; and now when the child has become a budding woman, she says: "I cannot talk with her on the subject." The same is true of the average father. Can a woman be a mother and not know enough to answer her little girl's simple, primary questions on the subject, as those questions naturally arise, which begin at three or four years of age ? Can a man be a father and not possess sufficient knowl- edge to explain to his boy that a union or marriage of the two sexes is necessary to generation and birth, that just as the birds must mate, and the boy's pet dog must mate, so man and woman mates, or marries, for off -spring ? Shall we perpetuate the social lie; that it is perfectly right to teach the commerce of sexes among stock on the farm, or of domestic pets in the home, but the extreme of impropriety to apply the lesson to human beings? Change the attitude, from a conspiracy of silence, to one of open, simple truth, and the problem of sex education will be halfway solved. Ample and efficient scientific teaching is for the »The Eighth Yearbook of The National Society for the Sci- entific Study of Education. 332 The World's Social Evil specialist, and cannot be too efficient. But to the masses — the millions — this is impossible. It is as impossible for all of us to be physiologists, as it is for all of us to be chemists or astronomers. If it were assumed that mothers could not give the first lesson in cooking, because they are not chemists, what would become of the dinner table in the average home? It does not depreciate a cook if she is also a chemist; but if it were a current doctrine that a mother could not teach how' to make bread without explaining the law of fermenta- tion, how many breadmakers would there be in the next generation of wives and mothers? If fathers cannot tell their boys the essential difference and relation of the sexes, than Governor Dunne's action in closing the State University of Illinois against race education to future fathers and teachers is a crime. Again the spirit of candor and frankness should enter all forms of social education on the subject. Books of value are not those which in the name of science, or morals, revel in details or enter, into descriptive scenes. It may help to sell a book if a story of questionable deeds is introduced, or a picture of sex organs is given, but the value of such a book depends upon its spirit and purpose. Any book that is fit for father or mother need not be locked away from the child. In my own library no book or picture was hidden from the boys or girls, unless by chance a book found its way there that I was ashamed of, and then I destroyed it. If a boy or girl found a book beyond their years they did not read it, but when it did appeal to them, they would ask me about it, and that was my opportunity. Pictures and plays are either educational or demoraliz- ing. They either teach or degrade. "September Morn" The War and the Weapons 333 in its beautiful simplicity, was forbidden to be displayed in the store windows, of Chicago, but numerous ugly and suggestive burlesques of the picture are displayed every- where in hundreds of windows. Plays that have no vicious purpose are censored and suppressed, for no other apparent reason than that they are avowedly directed against commercialized vice. Some of the so-called White Slave plays are neither artistic nor accurate, but they offer no commendation of vice, and their tendency is on the whole to attack vice. On the other hand, the stage where vice is paraded in suggestive dress and manner; where vulgar, indecent dances, and songs, are given, that are more than suggestive ; such theatres are allowed to advertise the most flagrant displays of sensual nakedness. The tendency of all this is very marked. "Vice is a monster of so frightful mien, As, to be hated needs but to be seen. Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face. We first endure, then pity, then embrace." "Essay of Man." — Pope. Young people should be taught that nature calls for the assimilation of all her secret forces for the building up of the human body, and that self-restraint and con- trol are the very essentials of good physical manhood and womanhood, as well as of moral purity. Such light as this, thrown upon the canvas that our youth may see it, will prepare them for the manifestation of the race-continuing functions, so that they will neither be puzzled nor frightened, nor mislead by ignorant or vicious agencies. So shall we develop a race of men and women who shall perpetuate the wealth, the virtue, the glory of our nation and so may we appropriate the Spirit of the Poet 334 The World's Social Evil Burns, in words addressed to his own beloved Scotland: ' ' Scotia ! my dear, my native soil ! For whom my warmest wish to Heaven is sent ! Long may thy hardy sons of rustic toil. Be blest with health and peace and sweet content! And oh! may heaven their simple lives prevent, From luxury's contagion, weak and vile! Then, however crowns and coronets be rent, A virtuous populace may rise the while! And stand a wall of fire around their much love'd Isle!" RELIGION AND CHASTITY. The religious education of the future must place a new emphasis upon chastity. It is a significant fact that the spiritual life of the church has been weakened in pro- portion to its neglect of this principle. Christ did not consider the soul and body as separate existences or separate interests. He had great respect for the body. The Apostle Paul emphasized the Christ doctrine in his appeal to "present your bodies, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable." The soul itself is glorified by a pure body. Christ honored wedding feasts and chose them as themes for some of his parables. He showed himself strongly in love of pure domestic life, both by his habits, his teaching of the purity of marriage and his absolute disapproval of divorce. So positive and unconditional was his teaching on divorce that he left no room for doubt that true chastity must determine the worth and strength of the marriage vow. The modern church has ignored definite and honest teaching on this subject. Individual, personal, sex-purity The War and the Weapons 335 is still a forbidden subject in the average pulpit, and in the Bible School. The young man is warned of the "strange woman" but seldom indeed is the young girl warned of the seducer, and yet more seldom is any appeal made for the return or the welcome of the penitent woman, — more sinned against than sinning. The church must raise the standard of purity until it shall be a shame and reproach to any man who sins against womanhood. Until it rises, in Jts might and influence, the church must be held responsible for the low and unequal standard of morals. The treatment of the tempter and seducer as one who may sow his wild oats and then be welcomed as the prodigal, — for whom the fatted calf is killed, or, perhaps, is not even treated as a prodigal, — while the girl whom he has degraded, or the degraded girls with whom he has consorted, are rejected from the home and denied a place of repentance, is a gross breach of the law of God and the tenets of Christianity. Churchill King has well said: "It is one of the most puzzling phenomena of the history of the Christian Nations that the just human rights of woman should have been so slowly recognized in the face of the plain implica- tions of the essential teachings of Christ. A race cannot rise a half at a time; and no race can achieve what it ought while its wives and mothers are in any degree de- graded, whether in Occident or Orient, whatever is re- quired to enable woman to come to her fullest and highest development must be unhesitatingly granted, not only for her sake, but for that of the whole race." Not only the underworld, with its thousands of men and women who cry "evil be thou my good", but the whole moral atmosphere must be purged of the poison of the 336 The World's Social Evil "old and chartered lie", that what is sin and crime in woman is but a light, venial, offense in man. It is not the sensualist alone who regards unchastity as a man's necessity and the outcast woman a necessary sacrifice. Men who stand in places of honor, and who are regarded as examples for the young, declare this deadly, unequal, and immoral doctrine. Vice strikes the individual at the very heart, and the train of consequences that follow is, — as the "Scarlet Letter" — ^not alone on the woman's breast, but also in the heart of the man, who is the other and usually the stronger and causative agent in the breach of the law of chastity. Visiting his sins upon little "Pearl", born an outcast of the infantile world, an imp of evil, emblem and product of sin. " "What does the scarlet letter mean, mother?" * * * "Mother, why does the minister keep his hand over his heart?" * * • * * * "Happy are ye, Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom. Mine burns in secret."^ "Something must be done. Something will be done. What is done depends on who does it — the church, or fhe frenzied mob." In this challenge to the Christian Church, Josiah Strong presents a fearful possible alternative. In his thought, either the Christian Church must save the country in this day of social unrest — of economic dis- turbance — of moral infamy — or there will be decay, revolution, and possible dissolution. Here are weighty words for the Pastor and other religious teachers from the pen of Dr. G. Stanley Hall : "The world presents probably no such opportunity to religion, the moralist, the teacher, the wise father, the doctor who is also '"The Scarlet Letter," by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The War and the Weapons 337 a philosopher. There is no such state of utter plasticity, such hunger for vital knowledge, counsel, sound advice. Young men in other respects, headstrong, obstinate, self-sufficient, and inde- pendent, are here guided by a hint, a veiled allusion, a chance word of wisdom. The wisest man I know in these matters and the most experienced, a physician and also a religious teacher, goes to audiences of young men at the end of the academic year, who have been unmoved by the best revivalists, who are losing power just in proportion as they neglect to know or prudishly ignore this field, and wins men by the score to both virtue and piety. I have sat at his feet and tried to learn the secret of his method. It is simple, direct, concise, and in substance this: In these overtense cases the mind must first of all be relieved of worry, and it must be explained that excessive anxiety and at- tention are the chief provocative of nocturnal orgasms. This is itself often a cure. Then the assurance that such experiences, varying greatly with different individuals in frequency, are nor- mal, and that their entire absence would be ominous for sexual health, often comes as a gospel of joy to victims of ignorance, as does the knowledge that their case is common and not unique and exceptional." "Ethical culture alone Is very inadequate, and preaching or evangelistic work that ignores this evil is unsuccessful. Religion best meets these needs because it deals, if true, with what most affects the life of the young and what is the tap-root of so much that is best in them. Youth takes to religion at this age as its natural element. True conversion is as normal as the blossom- ing of a fiower. The superiority of Christianity is that its corner- stone is love, and that it meets the needs of this most critical period of life as nothing else does. It is a synonym of maturity in altruism, and a religion that neglects this corner-stone, that is not helpful in this crisis, that is not entered upon now in- evitably, is wanting. He is a poor psychologist of religion and a worse Christian teacher who, whether from ignorance or prudery ignores or denies all this, or leaves the young to get on as best they may. Sex is a great psychic power which should be utilized for religion, which would be an inconceivably different thing without it, and one of the chief functions of the latter in the world is to normalize the former. Error blights the very roots 338 The World's Social Evil of piety in the heart, atrophies the home-making faculties, and kills enthusiasm and altruism."^ Talent and Monet Needed : — Here is work for strong men and good women. Work which cannot be com- placently referred to so-called reformers, but which de- mands the service of philanthropists and statesmen to the point of sacrifice. It calls for education, moral appeal, legislation and enforcement of law. To make these agencies effective against forces which have had ages of concession, privilege, and profit, there is needed con- secrated wisdom and talent, and great resources to sus- tain them. It is deplorable that while the enormity of the physical and moral evil, and the social and national danger have been pointed out in thousands of masterly and over- whelming testimonies there has been so little response to the call for money. As yet this war is almost without ammunition, especially in the United States. A few of the many who have wealth have furnished means for skirmishing, but the real conflict against the ignorance, disease, and death, which attend it, and against the organized plunder of the enemy is miserably furnished with supplies for the war. Men and women whose labors have been unstinted — who shrank from no peril or sacrifice — have thus far fought the battles and have often been left to bear the suffering and the cost. An attack was made upon a house of ill-fame as one of the strongholds of vice in Chicago. It cost a thousand dollars or so, to bring the gatling gun of injunction, under the common law, against that house. Those who had the 'Adolescence, G. Stanley Hall, pp. 463, 464. The War and the Weapons 339 wealth refused to help and the man who was mainly responsible for the attack has been harassed in payment of the debt/ Half a century ago, Miss Mary Carpenter of England wrote: "The man who should succeed in putting a legal restraint on prostitution would be entitled to deep gratitude and a reward as noble, at the hands of the people, as any philanthropist who ever made their welfare his special and successful study." Dr. Charles W. Eliot has shown that "the attack must be directed against the three principal causes of the pres- ent evil conditions, — first, against lust in men; secondly, against the weakness, dependence, mental deficiency, and lack of moral principle of the women who supply the demands of men ; thirdly, against the greed and depravity of the wretches who maintain a profitable commerce out of this licentious demand and supply."^ The one thing lacking is the means to carry these weapons with full force into the war. If this be furnished the conflict against the evil forces of commercialized vice will speedily end in triumphant and complete victory. THE HEBREW CHURCH AROUSED. "When the Conference of Rabbis assembled in the year 135 of the common era, its members met secretly in a garret in some obscure house in the Palestinian town of Lydda. They were in imminent peril of their lives by reason of the cruel persecutions of the Roman Emperor, Hadrian. Rabbi Akiba was the master spirit of the assembly. In the circle sat such eminent rabbis as Tarphon, Joseph the Gallilean, and Ishmael. Theirs was not the composure which attends mere academic discussion. With bated breath, they argued the question of life and death which it had 'See chapter on "The American Awakening." 'Address at Buffalo Fourth International Congress on Social Hygiene, August, 1913. 340 The World's Social Evil fallen to their lot as the responsible leaders of the people to de- cide: 'How far might one go in obedience to Rome, transgressing the Thorah in order to save one's life?' The decision was: 'To save one's life all laws should be deemed suspended excepting three, viz., those against idolatry, every form of licentiousness, and murder."^ A distinguished prelate of the English Episcopal church, the Archbishop of York, speaks thus highly of Hebrew family life: "To the Hebrew nation the family was not only the unit by which its numbers were counted, but the centre round which all its social and religious life was gathered. Even now, as we see in our own East End, this ancient people is distinguished, is marked by the closeness of the family tie, by the honor which it pays to motherhood, by the pride and care which it takes in its children. And this is one of the reasons of its efficiency: for, from the beginning to the end of human life, the efficiency of the nation will depend upon its family life. The sum of any nation's capacities must be counted after its families; it is the total of the strong, pure, healthy homes which it contains. — The Church Times. Advanced ground was claimed for the Jews by Dr. Berkowitz in his address to the Rabbis at the Charlevoix Conference. "We have been shamed and startled by the recent revelation of broken homes. Is it an illusion we have been cherishing in holding fast our faith in the resistless power inherent in the sweet domesticity of the Jewish family? Evils unknown and undreamed of in my boy- hood days have of late become increasingly familiar in Jewish annals. Desertions, divorces, clandestine marriages, "Quoted by Rabbi Berkowitz at the Conference of Rabbis, Charlevoix, Mich., July 3, 1910. The War and the Weapons - 341 juvenile delinquency in alarming degree, prostitution and 'the White Slave traffic,' all these are new and hitherto unknown entries in the calendar of transgressions on the part of Jews. "Well then may our hearts tremble and somewhat of the solemn seriousness that rested on the men assembled at Lydda, now awaken in our souls. As the exigencies of those dreadful Hadrianic times demanded a clear, strong and frank pronouncement from the religious leaders, so upon us is the obligation to face this emergency which is upon us and confer together as to how we may strengthen and restore the moral supports of our people wherever they have been weakened. We may well renew the ordinance of Lydda and its vigorous admonition against those who destroy the very foundations of the moral life itself. "Ours is a double interest in this painful matter, that of citizens concerned for the honor of our country and that of Jews concerned for the honor of our faith. Every Jewish organization has been moved to denounce the evil and take steps to overcome it. The Independent Order of B 'nai B 'rith has been active in this cause. The Council of Jewish Women has been serving through its agents at the ports, in safe-guarding immigrant girls. The Jewish Immigration Societies in New York, Philadelphia and else- where have been exercising every vigilance. In various cities investigations have been conducted by private organi- zations and by public Grand Juries. A number of trials and convictions have been secured. "These and other movements indicate how widespread and how profound is the agitation, how quick is the public conscience and how responsive to any appeal in behalf of purity. This reveals the fact that we have now come to a remarkable period in the world's progress along 342 The World's Social Evil these lines. That progress is definitely set towards the ideal which has been upheld by Israel from its earliest history." ^ JESUS AND WOMAN. We do not read of any insult ever offered by woman to Jesus, or of any slight, or discourtesy, to woman by Jesus. His absolute purity was so transparent to women that they hailed him with the deepest respect and reverence at all times, in all places. All his relations with them were attended with the beauty and dignity of pure beneficent love. The son of Mary ! How delightful the love and homage between Mother and Son! And in the household of Lazarus, with Martha and Mary, how perfect the friend- ship! It was at the behest of his mother that he honored the wedding feast with his presence and performed the first miracle recorded of him. It was to a woman, much married and socially dis- credited, that he declared the universal application of the spirit of worship, and to her he announced his Messiah- ship. His disciples "marvelled that he talked with the woman," and, by all the standards of Jewish law and social custom it shocked them that he conversed with a Samaritan woman of frail character. Not only had "the Jews no dealings with the Samaritans," but even had she been an orthodox Jewess, to accost her in a public place was a breach of decorum and law. But Jesus swept away every barrier, and opened the mind of this woman to the fact that equality of all man- kind, before God, was only restricted by sin. "Worship", 'Address at Conference of Rabbis. The War and the Weapons 343 he showed her, was not limited either to the tabernacle in the mountain, the temple at Jerusalem; nor by the absence of a priest. That woman was conscious of a new dignity, a new life flowed in her heart — the pitcher which she came to fill at the well was left, and the impulse of an evangel filled her soul. She testified in the city, of the "Prophet" who had revealed herself to herself. In the interest of women Christ enjoined a marriage law, more strict than that of Moses; yet he treated this, erring, penitent, woman with a beneficent and gracious tenderness that was wholly new, and absolutely too exalted and pure for the critics or even his disciples to under- stand. Moved by that gracious manner which welcomed the approach of all, and -especially of women, one entered a room where Jesus was entertained and wept so copiously over his travel-stained feet that, in lieu of a towel, she wiped them with her abundant hair. The Pharisee who was entertaining Jesus, in a haughty spirit of curiosity murmured to himself, "This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him; for she is a sinner." And Jesus answered with a parable which, while it admitted that the woman was a sinner, inspired her with a new sense of hope and virtue. It also expounded the doctrine of forgiveness with a fulness of application to her own case: "Her sins which are many are forgiven, for she loved much." "That woman who had dried witl^ her hair the feet she had bathed in grateful tears raised her whole sex to a higher level. ' '^ Even more significant was the treatment of the woman 'Ecce Homo. 344 The World's Social Evil taken to Jesus for judgment. It is only recorded that he wrote once, and then in the dust. "What he wrote is not stated. But he who reads the story, as it is written, may supply the words which entered, as a swift messenger, the consciences of those men whose moral obliquity was so dense, and whose sense of equity and decency was so obscure that, while arresting the woman and subjecting her to the humiliation and disgrace of a public charge, in the presence of men only, they had taken no notice of the man who sinned with her. "And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, "They said unto Him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. "Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned, but what say est thou? "This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. "So when they continued asking him, he lifted up him- self, and said unto them, 'He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.' "And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. "And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last; and Jesus was left alone, and the woman stand- ing in the midst. "When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, 'Woman, where are those thine ac- cusers? Hath no nian condemned thee?' " ' ' He had refused to judge a woman, but he had judged a whole crowd. "^ In other recorded events, we notice the distinguishing love of women towards Jesus. The story of Mary of 'Ecce Homo. The War and the Weapons 345 Magdala has reached all ends of the world and given a name to the noblest charity which seeks the redemption of woman from the deepest social disgrace and the darkest pit of soul loss. "It has given to christian art the figure of Magdalene which, when contrasted with the Venus of Greek sculpture, represents a very palpable change which Christ has wrought in the moral feelings of man- kind with respect to women. "^ It was probably this same Mary who thought the most costly ointment not too rich a gift for the head and feet of Jesus, and she gained immortal memorial. It was another woman — Martha — who went to meet Him when her brother had died and to whom He de- clared the doctrine of resurrection. "A woman was first at the tomb, the first to see the the risen Christ, the first to believe on him and the first to bear testimony to the resurrection."^ Here is the most significant fact in all Christ's ethical teachings. While every great principle of equity and love is embodied in his doctrines, on this one subject only he gave repeated, concrete, illustrations. He showed that there is no sex in sin; that man and woman stand equally guilty in any sinful act. There is no room in the moral standard, as recognized by Christ, for a condemnation of woman that is not equally a condemnation of man. Re- demption of woman is as real and as complete as redemp- tion of man. The woman who is forgiven is forgiven much, and as fully as man. When Jesus is the judge a redeemed woman returns to home and society on precisely the same terms as a redeemed man. Yet he gave no parable of a "prodigal daughter." Down to his day, and to the 'Ecce Homo. ="Tlie Social Teaching of Jesus." Matthe-ws. 346 The World's Social Evil present day, society has joined the father in greeting the returned prodigal with the best robe and festival. No such welcome is given to the returned girl, even when her fall is the fall of a victim, and not that of a wilful prodigal. Christ showed how unjust this is. He welcomed Magdalene into the inner circle of his friendship, and as if to emphasize his attitude on the subject, he gave a spe- cial message of pity and welcome to each of the sinful women who came to him, and that one who was disgrace- fully brought to him by men, he sent away with joy and peace in her heart, while her accusers — ^hardened and unrepentant — ^were made to feel the sting of accusation and judgment. THE SUPREME APPEAL. The ultimate issue of the warfare against sexual vice, in all its forms, must rest upon individual and social purity. The appeal must fixially be made to morality. The social evil is not primarily an economic question. Kiches do not make men or women pure; poverty does not imply either vice or virtue. Nor is it primarily a question of hygiene. Sanitary laws treat of effects, and horror and fear of disease may scare some away from gross vice. But were it possible that any system of regulation or medical prophylaxis could lessen or destroy all diseases incident to sexual vice it must still be judged by its relation to morals. Since however, there can be no conflict between morals and health, or between virtue and economy, the appeal to righteousness stands with the sanction and authority of TRUTH in its eternal harmony and unity. Sex morality, which is order and purity, is essential The War and the Weapons 347 to goodness. To be a good man or a good woman is to be true to sexual integrity and love. All other virtues must be crowned with purity or they are defiled. Veracity, kindness, temperance, love, are all related, but sex im- morality bankrupts them all. Lust is the enemy of love and the most prolific and universal agent of discord and moral degeneracy. "When lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." — James 1:15. Lecky says: "The continuance of the species is only possible by a sensual act. We have an innate, instinctive perception that there is something degrading in the sen- sual part of our nature, something to which a feeling of shame is naturally attached, something that jars with our conception of perfect purity."^ This statement accords with Lecky 's theory of "neces- sity" and is opposed to the truth and purity of nature. Lexicographers define the word "sensual" as "undue in- dulgence" — "lewdness." Lewdness is false to normal life and only conceivable to perverted human nature. It is the language of lust, the spurious "love" which finds expression in many novels, loose talk, songs, and plays; which associates the thought of sex union with sensualism. Undue, unwedded, or intemperate, indulgence is not necessary to the continuance of the species. On the con- trary, it is productive of degeneracy and weakness. It may be safely asserted that in the degree that the sexual act is governed by love and the natural desire for family, there is an absence of lewdness, or sensuality. The "feeling of shame" alluded to by Lecky, is a product of the thought which lust and sin have made lEuropean Morals. Vol. I., pp. 105-6; 348 The World's Social Evil current in much of human society. In proportion to the pure atmosphere of home, or of any other social circle, there is an absence of the sense of shame in marital rela- tions. As the virgin woman is pure, so also is the new mother. The romance — the secret agitation of mother- hood may be accompanied with a blush, but it is not a blush of shame. It is the sense of a new birth, filling her with wonder and mystery. Ashamed! No. If there is a remnant of shame in the expectant new life, it is a shame occasioned by the social wreckage of pure ideals, expressed in vulgar observation and terms. Does any normal man or woman feel a sense of shame when looking into the face of a child, born of natural and honorable alliance? Does any young mother feel ashamed of motherhood? On the other hand no person, living in a civilized country, can part' with the pearl of chaste life, or wedded purity without more or less of a sense of loss. To woman, especially comes the consciousness of such loss, whether it is stolen from her by force — or yielded amidst seductive pleasures. Shakspeare has expressed this thought in the "Rape of Lucrece" after she has been rifled of her honor by Tarquin: "The light will show, character 'd in my brow The story of sweet chastity's decay. The impious breach of holy wedlock vow ; Yea, the illiterate, that know not how To cipher what is writ in learned books, Will quote my loathsome trespass in my looks." Virtue is not ignorance, nor is it innocence; it is the virile quality of control — ^the mastering of self, the direc- tion of force to the highest point. This is the ethical law applied to the individual, and every great author, poet, and The War and Its Weapons 349 artist, treats it as the essence of social morality. Yet men laugh at personal purity as a thing not normal, and the majority of men do not accept it as a practicable virtue. This "choice" of life and death are not spiritual or ethical terms only. When a man makes a choice of evil, he chooses death — physical as well as moral; — ^witness the physical diseases which attend sensual sin. There is no surer mark of the external law of "life and good" and "death and evil", than in the certain attendant effects of virtue, on the~Qne hand, and vice on the other hand, in relation to sex life. i "The whole period of youth is one essentially of formation, edification, instruction. There is not an hour of it but is trem- bling with destinies — not a moment of which, once past, the ap- pointed work can ever be done again, or the neglected blow struck on cold iron. Take your vase of Venice glass out of the furnace and strew chaff over its transparent heat and recover that to its clearness and rubied glory when the north wind has blown upon it; but do not think to strew chaff over the child fresh from God's presence, and to bring the heavenly colors back to him — at least in this world." John Ruskin. The potentiality and value of all life is vested in its power of self-perpetuation through sex. All life is pro- creative. Flowers and trees, corn and fruits possess in their sex unity, — the life-germ of coming harvests. Birds and cattle mate for the parentage of their kind. Nature has determined this, for all other life, through instinct. And in doing this, great nature has fixed their limitations. But to mankind is given the power to direct and con- trol this force of reproductive life. Here is the dis- tinguishing quality of the human race. The choice of parentage — the control of sex attraction, is the supreme 350 The World's Social Evil power which exalts mankind into the realm of a moral world. Nothing determines a man's moral character or a woman's virtue as does the control of sex, in love and unity, for the perpetuation of the race. One feels that however good man or woman may be — in other respects if they degrade their sex life, they are not moral. This supreme choice, if uncontrolled, reduces man to a creature more despicable than the most repulsive of beasts — generating diseases and resulting in conduct that are unknown in the brute world. The true conception of this lofty function should be made known to every boy and girl. They should be taught that this power which is capable of yielding the highest of all physical pleasure and becomes the sacred seal and pledge of love, wiU be weakened or destroyed, and will become as a whip of scorpions, if it is not made the base of a moral quality, which is virtue. Ruskin traces every good thing to moral purity. "A bad woman may have a sweet voice, but that sweetness of voice comes of the past morality of her race. That she can sing with it at all she owes to the determination of laws of music by the morality of the past. Every act, every vice, affects in any creature, face, voice, nervous power, and vigor and harmony of invention, at once. Per- severance in righteous human conduct, renders, after a certain number of generations, human art possible; every sin clouds it, be it ever so little a one; and pernicious, vicious living and following of pleasure render, after a certain number of generations, all art impossible." Philosophers differ as to the bases and meaning of morals, but human experience, religion and law, agree that it rests upon the power of choice. "See I have set before thee this day, life and good, The War and Its Weapons 351 and death and evil; therefore choose life, that thou and thy seed may live." Duet. 30:15. Prof. W. James says, "When this challenge comes to us it is simply our total character and personal genius that are on trial. "^ The crowning glory of man is that his character de- pends upon his power to ^'choose life". Were man only animal, his self-propagating force would be governed by instinct. But in endowing man with the choice of "life or death," and giving him control over the springs and perpetuty of life, the Creator has established the founda- tion of man's moral character. This is a essential. A man or woman possessing every other virtue, and missing this, is a moral leper. Not only all history, but science also, recognize the choice of the pure stream of life, untainted by sensual vices, as an essential contribution to the perfect quality of the vital fluid, alike in the moral and the physical being. Shakspeare speaks the current thought when he makes a woman say: "My chastity is the jewel of our house, Bequeathed down from many ancestors ; "Which were the greatest obloquy in the world For me to lose."'' The truth is the same, without distinction of sex. Greater than intellect, fame, or wealth, is the jewel of per- sonal chasteness. However, much we may differ in our definition of morality, we are agreed that there is in man and woman a moral center, based upon control of this fountain of life — to depart from which is to lose the "jewel". '"The will to believe." p. 214. ""All's Well." 352 The World's Social Evil An Epoch making book comes to hand after these pages were written. It should be in the hands of every teacher of youth, whether in school, college, or Bible class. The author claims for "chastity" the same active qualities which is here shown to belong to virtue. He says: "Chastity surely means nothing without some temptation to be unchaste. It is as soulless and dead as the 'courage' of those who are not aware of danger, or the 'temperance' of those who hate the taste of liquor. In frigid people the absence of sexual sin is no more virtuous than the absence of hair on a bald head. Purity, like health or peace, may be an accident or an apathy. It may be the fruit of heroic victories. Only the Eternal knows. No acquaintance with a man's daily doings reveals anything de- cisive about the matter. Statistics and science, when asked to testify, have other engagements. Hence no one will ever be able justly to indict half the human race till a measure of temptation as well as of temperature is invented. With such an instrument who knows how many zero readings would be registered? We cannot praise chastity as the abstention from certain acts, for then normal marriage would be unchaste. We cannot praise it as the innocence of evil, for without temptation there can be no virtue. Chastity must mean victory over the enemy, not ignorance of his strength. We must feel the temptation and overcome it. By what power? By cultivating the highest type of personal relation to which we can attain. Whatever person, book, game, or art wakes us to admire or to approximate heroism in personal relations discourages unchastity, for heroism in per- sonal relations is the basis of all genuine chastity. By the consecration of affection we gain victory over the lower or impersonal affection. We do not eliminate the enemy al- together, but we prevent his dwelling on our territory. For un- chastity is domination by the impersonal love of sex rather than by love of an individual. Such domination (inside or outside marriage) disorganizes soul and body even when no visible act of unchastity is committed. A certain type of day-dreaming and novel-reading may disintegrate and ruin character more hope- lessly than prostitution." Dr. Richard C. Cabot; "What Men Live by." "Surely a day is coming when it will be known again what virtue is in purity and conscience of life; how di- vine is the blush of young human cheeks; how high, beneficent, sternly inexorable, if forgotten, is the duty laid, not on women only, but on every creature, in re- gard to these particulars? Well, if such a day never come again, then I perceive much else will never come. Mag- nanimity and depth of insight will never come; heroic purity of heart and eye; noble, pious valor, to amend us and the age of bronze and lacquer — how can they ever come? The scandalous bronze-lacquer age of hungry animalisms, spiritual impotencies and mendacities, will have to run its course till the Pit swallow it." — Carlyle. "A race cannot rise a half at a time ; and no race can achieve what it ought while its wives and mothers are in any degree degraded, whether in Occident or Orient, whatever is required to enable woman to come to her fullest and highest development must be unhesitatingly granted, not only for her sake, but for that of the whole race." — Churchill King. "We are fast learning in every part of America that we men cannot hold another man down in the ditch without remaining in the ditch with him." — Booker T. Washington. APPENDICES 1. A Constructive Policy — Judge Olson. .355 2. Prostitution in Europe — A Review 369 3. Sanger's History of Prostitution — New Appendix — ^A Criticism 383 4. Injunction and Abatement Law 387 5. Pandering Act 391 6. Chart of Laws Against Prostitution . . .392 7. The White Slave Traffic Act 394 8. Regulation Law — Immigration 398 9. Bulletin of Georgia Campaign 400 APPENDIX I. A CONSTRUCTIVE POLICY WHEREBY THE SOCIAL EVIL MAY BE REDUCED AN ADDRESS BY Harry Olson, Chief Justice Municipal Court, Chicago. Under the supervision of the Chief of Police and the Com- missioner of Health of the city, a sub-committee of the Chicago Vice Commission, of which I was a member, in 1911, in the course of its investigation, visited a famous house of ill-repute in .Chicago, which had been run openly for many years, despite the laws of both city and state. It was kept by a woman who was able, intelligent and without conscience. She could cope with the Chief of Police or cover up a murder with equal facil- ity. She answered all the requirements that one could conceive the devil's wife, if he had one, might possess. So bold had she become, by reason of immunity from prosecution, that she issued circulars containing views of the rooms of her house. It was reported that this woman had, among the inmates in her house, graduates of well-known women's colleges. The com- mittee made especial inquiry of the inmates, .some thirty in number, who were brought before it separately, as to their schooling, age at entry into the life, and as to the prevalence of the black plague and other diseases. The rumors regarding the education of these women were not well-founded. Our in- quiries showed that not a single girl in the house had passed the grammar school grades; nearly all. admitted having. one or the other of the venereal diseases, and it was plain that some were feeble-minded. All claimed- to have entered the life of prostitution at early stages — ^before seventeen. If this famous house, reputed to be the most elegant of its kind in the country, and which catered to those with means, had inmates all of whom were ignorant, most of whom were diseased, and many of whom were feeble-minded, what could be expected of the minor houses in the slums? 356 The World's Social Evil Following up this line of Inquiry later, when the Morals Court was established In Chicago as a branch of the Municipal Court, where all the cases of prostitution are brought to trial, I caused the attending physician of the Morals Court, Dr, Anna M. Dwyer, to Inquire of as many of the defendants aa she could, who were charged with being public prostitutes, as to what ages they had left school. She has kept an account since the month of April, IMS, when the branch court was established. Three thousand five hundred and forty-six cases have been brought before Judge Jacob H. Hopkins of this branch court since April last. Dr. Dwyer put her inquiry to 564 women. She reports that 54 women passed through that court in the month of April, of whom only two had passed beyond the fifth grade; in May, S7, one of whom had passed beyond the fifth grade; in June, 94, of whom three had gone beyond the fifth grade; in July, 48, one of whom had gone beyond the fifth grade; in August, 58, only two of whom had gone beyond the fifth grade; in September, 90, four of whom had gone beyond the fifth grade; in October, 63, four of whom had gone beyond the fifth grade. These figures are so startling that at first blush it seems they cannot be true. Dr. Dwyer does not in- clude repeaters in her figures. She found only one high school graduate among all the women who passed through the court in a period of seven months. She declares that of those who were above the fifth grade only one came back to the court on the second charge. Dr. Dwyer conducted physical examina- tions of all those who were not out on bonds. These numbered about one-half of all those who passed through the court She declares that seventy-five per cent of these are affected with venereal diseases. A psychological study of inmates of a number of adult and juvenile reformatories has recently been undertaken as re- ported by Dr. Hastings H. Hart of the Russell Sage foundsr tion. He reports that while psychological examinations of in- mates of reformatories have not yet produced accurate and positive statistics, and while allowance must be made for the difference in the personal equation of the examiners, owing to the fact that definite standards have not yet been established, they have produced tentative statements which may be ac- cepted as approximately correct: The World's Social Evil 357 Per Cent Institution. Mental Detectives. N. Y. Reformatory for Women, Bedford about 37 Mass. Industrial School for Girls, Lancaster about 50 Maryland Industrial School for Girls, Baltimore about 60 N. J. State Home for Girls, Trenton about 33 Miss Mary R. Campbell, a psychologist, recently made an Intensive study of the mental status of 144 out of 235 Inmates in the Wisconsin Industrial School for Girls at Milwaukee, and found 63 per cent mentally deficient. This included the borderline cases, the highest type of feeble-minded. Dr. Katherlne Bement Davis, Superintendent of the New York Reformatory for Women at Bedford, estimates that the subnormal women who belong to the criminal classes, especially those engaged In public prostitution, number 50 per cent. Dr. Alberta Gulbord, of Boston, found, after three months of intensive study of 100 cases at Bedford, that twenty-eight were decidedly feeble-minded, not counting any of the Moron class or doubtful cases, and that in addition there were eight insane, a total of thirty-six out of one hundred, not counting the highest type of the feeble-minded. Miss Maude Miner, an experienced probation officer of New York, in a letter just received, states: "It Is true that it is the exceptional girl who is declared normal and not the exceptional one who is declared men- tally deficient. We are having every girl who comes to us now mentally examined by a mental expert. We find that the majority of girls from sixteen to twenty years of age have a mentality of not more than nine or ten years, and that many of them are not responsible for their acts. "I believe that mental deficiency is more responsible for bringing a large number of girls into prostitution than any other factor." It has been known that the great army of prostitutes in our large cities is partly recruited from ~feeble-mlnded women, but that the percentage should be so high, is startling. Not until the Binet-Slmon system of psychological tests for Intelli- gence is established In our Moral Courts In Chicago can we there ascertain with scientific accuracy what the situation 358 The World's Social Evil really is. We have enough evidence on the subject, however, to point the way to a new method of combating the social evil. The large group of mentally retarded persons who may he included in the term "subnormal" number in this country, ac- cording to the best authorities, about three hundred thou- sand. The term would include the idiot, who has been defined to be a person "so deeply defective in mind from birth or from an early age that he is unable to guard himself against common physical dangers." The imbecile is defined as one, "who by reason of mental defects existing from birth or from an early age is incapable of earning his own living, but is capa- ble of guarding himself against common physical danger." The highest type of the subnormal or the so-called feeble-minded has been defined as the "moron, one who is capable of earning his living under favorable circumstances, but is incapable from mental defects existing from birth or from an early age (a) of competing on equal terms with his normal fellows, or (b) of managing himself and his affairs with ordinary prudence." The lowest group is composed of helpless children, who are no com- fort to themselves, their parents or caretakers, and are generr ally found in custodial institutions. The next higher group comprises those persons who are usually recognized as dis- tinctly backward or foolish. They are, perhaps, those of least danger to society. They have not the mentality to do the damage or take part in the criminal enterprises that those have in the highest group. The moron comprises those per- sons who, to the superficial view, are often considered normal, but merely somewhat dull and backward. The moron is unable to compete on equal terms with his fellows and he is unable to manage his own affairs with ordinary prudence. In the fmall villages of the country they frequently pass as normal persons, but in the stress of life in a great city the fact of their deficiency becomes quickly apparent. To this class be- long a large number of the vagrant tramps; the repeaters in the houses of correction, the petty thieves, the alcoholics and many murderers. Many of this class, not being able to com- pete with their normal- fellows, become objects of charity, or adopt criminal careers. They become beggars and paupers. They are generally unemployed because unemployable. The women of this class form, in my judgment, a large per cent- The World's Social Evil 359 of the women in the slums of the underworld. It Is now gen- erally believed by competent investigators that fully twenty- five per cent of the inmates, male and female, of jails and reformatories and penitentiaries belong to this class. The money society lays out upon them at the present time in the matter of police and court expenditures, their maintenance in workhouses, reformatories, jails and penitentiaries, should te used before they become inmates, and in a preventive way. Mental deficiency as represented by the three types of the subnormal which have been mentioned occurs in all classes of society from the highest to the lowest. The defect may be inborn — germinal — and therefore the hereditary failure of the higher structures of the brain to develop, or it may be acquired, as for example, through an accident or injury to the brain of the child in early life. The failure of the devel- opment of the brain may be due to injury of the child at birth from prolonged and difficult labor. It may also be due to injuries inflicted by the careless attending physician. In- deed, the general public has little information regarding the number of such injuries. There is still another group which includes all those cases due to arrest of growth of the brain from such causes as maternal injury or diseases affecting the developing embryo. These may be said to be congenital, as for example, that in- fectious disease syphilis, known as the black plague, which is responsible for so much physical and mental deficiency. The lower we descend in the social scale the more we find the effect of this disease among females. Dr. Mott, of London, has said that general paralysis of the insane, the essential cause of which is this disease, becomes more and more common among females. Drink, tuberculosis and lack of nutrition also con- tribute in causing mental deficiency, by injuring the germ plasm and poisoning the blood, when acted upon for long pe- riods of time. An important distinction must be made between two groups of the defective classes, those who may and those who should not enjoy social privileges as members of the corrvmunity. From a racial and eugenic point of view the inborn or heredi- tary defectives are by far the most important because the defect is germinal and, therefore, transmissible to the offspring. 360 The World's Social Evil This class forms seventy-five per cent or more of the defective classes. The other twenty-five per cent or less, those whose defect is acquired due to accidents at iirth, negligence of physir dan, etc., are not so dangerous iecause their defect is not transmissible. When so many as seventy-five per cent of the feeble-minded are such hy reason of germinal or hereditary taint, and since perhaps fifty per cent of the women of the underworld are subnormal, it becomes at once apparent that not only in order to reduce the number of women in public prostitution, but also to protect the race itself, we must adopt other methods of eliminating vice than those now employed. This is the age of preventive medicine. Preventive medicine has shown itself capable of removing many of the causes of human misery and sorrow. The hereditary mental defectives, and indeed the whole subnormal group, seldom develop intelli- gence beyond that of the normal child of twelve years. This degree of intelligence is not sufficient for the ordinary affairs of life. Since this age is the determining one in relation to feeble-mindedness, one would expect that the retardation In- cident thereto would be recognized In the public schools. Most children attend school at least until they are twelve years of age. Here then Is the crux of the situation. We must look to the public schools for the early identification of the de- fectives. The Juvenile Court, of which we have been justly proud, begins its care of the defective child after he has be- come delinquent. The Identification of the subnormal should be made before he has reached the Juvenile Court, where, as the result of some inevitable offense against society, he Is sure to land. A recent investigation by a competent expert in a city in the United States of four hundred thousand population de- veloped the fact that the total number of permanent and tem- porarily subnormal children is approximately two and one-half per cent of the total school population in the elementary grades. This does not include pupils in classes for deaf and blind, but does include borderline cases. A survey in the same city of the children of the public schools showed that the subnormal chil- dren were not found in particular sections of the city, as in the case of those suffering from tuberculosis, but they were found scattered all over the city where schoolhouses were to be found. The World's Social Evil 361 The intelligent and progressive school board in the City of Milwaukee caused this survey of the elementary public schools to be made to ascertain the total number of subnormal chil- dren, so that they might plan for their special education. This survey included the borderline cases. The mentally defective numbered about 1,003 in a school population in the elementary grades of 40,799 children. The charts showing these findings are by courtesy loaned to me for this occasion. I use them with confidence, for they were made by Miss Mary R. Campbell, a competent psychologist, who has had many years' experience with subnormal children. Chart I, which follows, shows the grades in which adolescent subnormals were distributed. Children in these grades are from three to six years retarded. The fourth, fifth, sixth and sev- enth grades are the ones in which the adolescent subnormals begin to fail in school work, according to the survey made. It is at this level that the great majority of boys and girls who are not making good leave school and go to work. With such limited education the incapable child, of course, is not equal to the battle of life, and the girls go to recruit the under- world. Chart II of this survey, shows the number of adolescent subnormals according to age — the type of incapable child, per- fectly normal in appearance but mentally behind the grade for age, sometimes three to seven years. It is the dangerous age, particularly for girls, for they do not make good in school; they become discouraged, leave school, go to work as soon as fourteen years of age, and are equally Incompetent sometimes in the business world, and fall easy prey to unscrupulous men. The Juvenile Court records in this same city indicate that the majority of girls reported there have left school while in the fifth, sixth or seventh grade, to go to work. A year or two afterwards comes their first downfall and finally court prose- cution. Chart III contrasts the pedagogical equivalent of ability under the per cent system of estimating a child's mental abil- ity by the method employed in all public schools, with ability equivalent in terms of clinical psychology, showing economic status of child. Those included in the danger zone and below. 362 The World's Social Evil CHART Snomxa C/rAoa 4pa£SCBrr SiammniMcs 3Sms fi£nim>ea A^u/n&er of SuAnor-zna/ CA//i^r»n in rf^£ /*e/SUC SCHOOLS fie^or/eef June. /9/3. ^ccor&mg ifo Grade. PUBERTAL LEVEL trades >t 7 ir TV 56 77 trades The World's Social Evil 363 ^v/n&er o/" Suinorma/ CAi/e/ren //I TH£ f>UBUC SCHOOLS ^epoz-iec/ \June. /9/3. '^ccorc/inp /o age. CHART ■ (^»v*» II ^oousceMr 4cnaeom> fy Jlos PUBERTAL LFVEL 364 The World's Social Evil CHART III The World's Social Evil 365 while only 2% per cent of the total school population In ele- mentary grades, constitute about 25 per cent of the inmates of penal institutions and about 50 per cent of those found in the slums of our cities. The teaching of sex hygiene then in the public schools be- comes secondary to the more important and larger proposi- tion — the identification of the subnormal during school age. The early detection of the subnormal and their subsequent handling along the lines of prevention Is imperative, not only for their own benefit and happiness, but for the protection of society. The public schools should be used as clearing houses. By this means these children may be protected so that they need not recruit the underworld and later be sent to various state institutions — jails, reformatories, penal insti- tutions, insane asylums, almshouses, yes and even in extreme cases, so they need not be subjected to capital punishment. The school teacher frequently is able to identify the sub- normal child because of the fact that he is from two to four years behind his grade. Generally although that is not al- ways true, such retardation under favorable conditions means that the child is' defective, because of acquired causes, econ- omic conditions, or heredity. But the identification of these defects, of course, cannot be left to the school teacher. Psychol- ogists and physicians must be employed to report the condi- tions they find in regard to mental defects in every school in the land. Great care is necessary on the part of the physician in judging. Therefore, consideration must be given to each individual case. Pupils who are falling behind in the present school system might be encouraged to enter vocational schools. Those who are pronounced defective should try this new edu- cational environment. Those who are merely backward be- cause of bad eyes, adenoids, mouth-breathing, insufficient nour- ishment or misdirected effort, can be brought to normality by overcoming the conditions which have made them backward, but the other class, which is distinctly subnormal, needs dif- ferent handling. Once the fact has been established that a child is subnormal, the parents or guardian should be In- formed and a careful record should be kept. Special schools should be established for these children during the period of 366 The World's Social Evil adolescence In which they may be given special education and training in industrial work. It is not generally believed but unfortunately when the mental development is arrested, edu- cation above that level of intelligence is impossible. After these children shall have become adults, if the parents are able to guard them outside of institutions they may be permitted to do so, but if the parents should be unable to safeguard them, because of poverty or for any other reason, schools and homes should be established in detached colonies of small groups, such as that at Faribault, in the State of Minnesota. These special schools should be located near the cities where the parents can frequently visit them. When such institutions are located at long distances from the parents' home the mother is subjected to unnecessary anguish because of the long separation and lack of information as to the child's welfare. Such schools and homes should provide for work in the open air and be conducted so as to permit those who reside in them to lead happy, useful lives. By bravely facing the facts, and by applying psychological tests in the schools to identify the subnormal, and providing for his education and care during the period of adolescence in separate schools, and later,, in those cases where the parents cannot guard them, in segregated colony homes, having ade- quate facilities for their welfare and happiness, we shall be able to deflect from the slums of our great cities those who, through no blame of their own, constitute fifty per cent of its public prostitution and its crime. With this fundamental suc- cess in the elimination of the social evil and of crimes, we will find that the removal of this class from the ranks of prostitu- tion, will reduce the prostitution among the normal by ten per cent merely by removing the helpless who are easy. prey. If then by the effective enforcement of law we can discourage the respectable property owners from renting their property for immoral purposes, and the promoters of commercialized vice from plying their dastardly business under the protec- tion and sometimes with the connivance of public o£Bcials, we shall reduce the traffic by another ten per cent, and, again, if by the wise teaching of animal and plant husbandry in the lower grades, and sex hygiene in the high schools and colleges we can reduce it still another ten per cent we shall have a The World's Social Evil 367 grand total of eighty per cent reduction. These are approxi- mate, not accurate figures. They are used to suggest relative magnitudes. It Is believed that careful investigation will substantiate their value in this respect. They represent what can be accomplished by boldly facing the facts arid applying the known remedies. You may observe that there remains a margin of twenty per cent, the elimination of which even the most sanguine of us will have to agree must be passed to an- other or other generations. The fact that so large a per cent of the women engaged in public prostitution are mentally deficient removes the stigma of social disgrace from womanhood, but we must transfer this stigma then to the males of the race, who commercialize the helplessness of these afflicted women. This policy of prevention will safeguard the coming gen- eration. It will require a decade generally to establish and finance this new order of things. In the meantime, before we can get results from such a policy of prevention, what shall be done to meet the awful situation? I. The mentally, morally and physically diseased prosti- tutes, both male and female, must be segregated, not for pur- poses of commercialization, but for purposes of sanitation. To preserve the integrity of the race, our generation must at once resort to the most drastic measures. Legislation should provide for the care and custody of these human derelicts. They should be isolated in farm colonies, the sexes in sep- arate institutions. When committed by the court the sentences should be indeterminate. II. The renting of property for immoral purposes, with knowledge, should be made a felony. Owners or agents who thus use their property are enemies of the race. III. The operating of such houses should also be made a felony. Individuals so engaged jeopardize the future of the race. IV. The laws directed against the social evil should be enforced by the public officials who have taken an oath of office to do so. V. There should be municipal control, with close super- vision, of all places of public amusement, and the number of these should be multiplied. 368 The World's Social Evil VI. There should be publicity of facts concerning the social evil and dissemination of knowledge pertaining to social dis- eases, sanitation and standards of living. VII. Courses of study in biology should be introduced in colleges and training schools for teachers. These courses should include methods of presenting to children facts pertaining to the origin of life. The time has come when society must employ scientific means to learn the causes behind the conditions it is seeking to improve, and the intelligence of modern business methods in financing the remedies indicated. This congress can do much to influence and guide public opinion throughout the country. The coming of women into a larger participation in public life is a distinct aid in the campaign. They will demand higher ideals of the candidates for public office, higher standards of conduct in office and more efficient service. In view of the fact that nearly fifty per cent of the public prostitutes are feeble-minded, and considering that nearly all of them spread infectious diseases, the idea of their being segre- gated and protected in so-called "Red Light Districts" and as a part of the settled policy of the administration of any American city, becomes unthinkable. APPENDIX II. PROSTITUTION IN EUROPE. A REVIEW. The volume issued, as the second of a series of four, by the Bureau of Social Hygiene, comes to hand after the MS. of the foregoing had been completed. Mr. Flexner treats of the facts of Prostitution — the De- mand — the Supply — the Law — Regulation — Segregation — Disease — Abolition . Under these various heads we are furnished with a new witness — one who has made a first hand, present day. Inspection of the field, charged with the single mission of discovering the facts as existing in Europe and stating them to the world. Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., in an introduction to the book says the — "Investigation was assigned to one who had, on the one hand, previously given it no critical thought or attention, but whose studies of education in this country and abroad had dem- onstrated his competency to deal with a complicated topic of this nature. Mr. Flexner was absolutely without prejudice or preconception, just as he was absolutely unfettered by instruc- tions. He had no previous opinion to sustain; he was given no thesis to prove or disprove. He was asked to make a thorough and Impartial examination of the subject and to report his observations and conclusions. He enjoyed the fullest possible facilities for his inquiries and to them and the writing of this book devoted almost two years." The testimony of such a witness is of great value now that the whole problem of the regulation of vice Is up to the Court of public opinion. Prostitution. Mr. Flexner quotes the French authority — Parent Duchatelet, who officially defines prostitution thus: "where several mercenary acts of immorality have been legally Prostitution in Europe. By Abraham Flexner. Published by The Century Co., New York. 11.30. 370 The World's Social Evil established, when the woman Is publicly notorious, when she has been caught in the act by other witnesses than her accuser or the police agent." He appears, however, to be dissatisfied with this limited definition, and applies the term to "any person who habitually, or intermittently, has sexual relations more or less promiscu- ously, for, money or other, mercenary consideration." The use of the word "person" in the wider sense sug- gests that prostitution is not an act of one sex only; but in the next sentence he says "A woman may be a prostitute, even though not notorious, even though never arrested, even though simultaneously otherwise employed in a paid occupation." Is not this ah acceptance of the old-time one-sided application of the term "prostitute?" Mr. Flexner, however, is too keen an observer to fail to see, as he himself puts it, in another chapter, that in every act of prostitution at least two parties, usually, but not always, of opposite sex, are concerned." And he is also too candid and too honest not to recognise that "it is plainly absurd to speak of prostitution as if it were only, or even mainly, the act of the woman; as If women took to prostitution simply because they were marked out for a vicious life by innate de- pravity, or even forced into it by economic pressure." Demand and Supply. Under the head of "demand" Mr. Flexner combats the idea that it is chargeable against any one set of conditions. "Demand and Supply" he claims, "are vari- able factors." He puts, the case in these terms: "If the pros- titution of women had specific causes, in the sense in which the term 'cause' is used in science, then, wherever such causes are present, prostitution should result." He declares that "the de- mand on the part of the continental male European is prac- tically universal; so true is this, that until quite recently questioned, it has been taken to be an ultimate and inevitable physiological fact." But notwithstanding this statement of an almost universal male depravity on the continent of Europe, Mr. Flexner re- gards supply as a stimulant to demand. "Supply" he says, "everywhere greater than spontaneous demand, is utilized to create a secondary demand." The World's Social Evil 371 If tWs means anything — instructive or definite — it means that the exploitation of women and girls for the market of lust is a chief contributor to, and a principal source of the popular and almost universal belief in "necessity" and therefore of the practice of vice on the part of the men. As Havelock Ellis has recently pointed out "the white slave traffic is not prostitution; it is the commercialized exploita- tion of prostitutes." "The proprietors of the houses," as Ellis says, "give orders for the 'goods' they desire, and it is the business of the procurers by persuasion, misrepresentation, de- ceit, intoxication, to supply them." One has only to reflect on such a business, having vast agencies and interchanging commerce, to perceive that it must be an enormous stimulant, not only of the supply, but — through the supply — of the demand. "There is no more efficient way," says Mr. Flexner, "to manufacture and to develop demand than to crowd supply in an attractive form upon the possible buyer's attention, when he is most amenable to suggestion of the requisite kind. True of every article of commerce, be the need for it native or ac- quired, this principle is nowhere more valid than in respect of a vice that starts with a tremendously powerful momentum, and is easily susceptible of still further stimulation.'' An Old Theory Challenged. In the first chapter of the book the author refutes the current idea that the life of the women of the underworld is so brief that the average is only five or six years. Referring to this he says "there is no basis In fact w"hatso6ver." He seems to regard this as an important discovery. And it must be admitted that if it is found that this notion rests upon a popular error there must be a change of statement in regard to it. He quotes the authority of Parent Duchatelet that of 3517 women inscribed In Paris, 980, or about 28 percent, have been on the Paris list longer than seven years, but he does not tell us what were the average years of life of the other 2537 or 72 percent of them. He gives also a table of statistics showing that, in Stock- holm "the inscribed women, while Indicating a higher death rate than other groups of women, does not show anything like 372 The World's Social Evil the high rate generally named. In the seven years, given in the table, the death rate of other groups of women averages 7.02 and of inscribed prostitutes, 11.6. Here again, however, there is no allowance made for the women who drop out of the inscribed list and are lost to police inspection. In another chapter of the book we find a table showing that "of 2442 women in Stockholm between 1869 and 1884 23 percent leave In the first year after inscription. With a total enrolment of 3582 at Paris in 1880, 1757 women disappeared — 46 by death, one by marriage, six to return to a decent life, the rest simply dropped out, eluding police control in one way or another." What becomes of the 1757 who escape the vigilance even of the expert Paris police? Rescue workers and others tell of many instances of poor wrecks of the inscribed classes who die, in cellars and garrets, in destitution and obscurity. Sup- pose that 30 percent of these missing ones die in the course of the year, that would add 527 to the 46 reported dead, making a total of 571 out of 3682 in a single year. Mr. Flexner makes his strongest point in favor of this theory of longer life expectation among fallen women in quot- ing from Maurice Gregory's book on "The European Movement for Abolition" that "of 11,823 women committed to Holloway Jail (London) in 1908, many of them prostitutes of over five years' standing, only six died in the course of the year." Referring to these statistics however he thinks "the "explan- ation is to be sought in the constitution of the prostitute army." May it not also be sought in the withdrawal of these women, while in jail, from the effects of their degrading and deadly business? Further, it must be borne in mind that, the regis- tration system greatly increases the death rate among such women and these women, in the Holloway Jail, had not been subject to inscription with its accompanying compulsory ex- amination. Regulation Knxs Women. We have had important testi- mony on this subject showing that the average life of the or- dinary woman prostitute is high, but that the death rate of the inscribed or registered women is more than double that of the free women. The World's Social Evil 373 A table in Chapter 4 of this volume shows the enormous increase in the death rate of registered women. SoTjRCEs OF Supply. In regard to the "Sources of Supply" Mr. Plexner found that "the mentally defective are naturally easy prey," thus bearing unconscious testimony to the premises of Judge Olson's valuable address published herein. That girls seek the life, in any considerable proportion, does not appear to Plexner. "There is no reason," he says, "to be- lieve that, as a rule, promiscuity is congenial to the woman from the start; it is sometimes increasingly odious. Low as the barrier may be, the prbstitute has rarely once and for all de- liberately stepped across it. Her demoralization is a progres- sive, not a summary, process. With her, the sex instinct is less apt to be valued at its real worth, or to be properly safe- guarded by deference to exacting opinion; less apt, too, to b6 reduced in comparative urgency by the volume and abundance of other satisfactions. The girl has, however, no notion in the first place of becoming a prostitute. She begins by giving away what ultimately she learns to sell." "Sometimes demoralization has set in so early, or there has been so little development of intelligence or character, that the girl is herself from the start not only willing, but the main in- stigator; in other cases, with intelligence too undeveloped and character too unformed to urge her away from temptation, a vague but profound instinct holds her back until her dumb re- sistance has been overcome by other inducements or weakened by alcohol, pretended affection or interest. Despite this dark picture, however, most girls in the various stations described do resist like a stone wall." In his study of this phase of the subject, Mr. Flexner finds that the source of supply in Europe is chie^y from the lower working classes and mainly the unmarried women of these classes. "They are," he says, "the unskilled daughters of the unskilled classes. Out of 1,327 street-women of Geneva ex- amined between 1907 and 1911, 503 had been servants; 236 tail- oresses and laundresses; 120 factory workers. Of 173 registered Munich prostitutes (1911), 52 had been barmaids; 29 domestic servants; 29 factory employment. Of 2,574 clandestines in the same city, 721 had been servants; 608 barmaids; 255 factory hands; 60 stage-dancers or singers; 170 without definite call- 374 The World's Social Evil Ing. Of 1,200 women enrolled in Berlin 1909-10, 431 had been servants; 445 factory operatives; 479 seamstresses and laund- resses; 145 were without vocation." ElDucATioN. As to the educational standing of these women he quotes German authorities to show that less than one tenth had anything beyond the most rudimentary training. Of the minors apprehended in 1901, only 36 percent of these over 12 years had completed the popular elementary schools: only one- fltth of one percent had advanced further. "One finds here and there," he says, "a stenographer, an elementary teacher, a former actress; but in most of these cases, the woman is, socially speaking, of inferior origin and intellect- ually not more prepossessing than others of her type. Veryy rarely indeed a person of some education, social standing, and personal charm is met with. A Parisian woman to whom this I description is fairly applicable was asked as to the possibility I of finding others like herself. "I am one in a million," shei proudly and truthfully answered." . Home Conditions. The absence of refinement and moral ] tone in the homes of many is shown to have a close relation ! to the supply. "Living conditions are responsible for the fact / that children learn all forms of evil prematurely and forego / all natural enjoyments. Of the inhabitants in Berlin in 1900,^ 73.7 percent lived in dwellings of two rooms or less; 785,000 lived in single rooms; 561,000 in two rooms; 5,450 in one un- heated room; 7,759 in a kitchen. Too frequently, the home,'^ such as it is, is broken besides." / The absence of home relationships also is given as a cause \ of the fall into the ranks of prostitution, of domestic servants.] He points out that servants "who fall into the ranks of prosti- tution show that economic pressure is not in itself a main cause" for the servant does not lack food or shelter and her services are everywhere in demand. "Mrs. Bramwell Booth, than whom there is no more com- petent or sympathetic authority, found among 150 successive and unusually varied cases only 2 percent who explained their prostitution by inability to earn a livelihood; Strohmberg dis- covered among 462 enrolled women at Dorpat only one who protested poverty as her justification; Pinkus, studying the The World's Social Evil 375 incomes of 1,550 Berlin women before embarking on the life, decides that 1,389 had earned enough for self support. But it would be obviously unfair to say of these 1,389 women capable of earning a living that social economic conditions had nothing to do with their fall; for precisely these conditions create a situ- ation capable of being exploited." The Cost. "The cost of prostitution, near and remote, di- rect and indirect, outruns any calculation that one would dare to formulate." After speaking of "the money immediately involved — the sums paid to the prostitute," etc., Mr. Plexner says, "We may not overlook the loss involved in the unproductiveness of this army of women; expenditure on alcohol, gifts and demoralizing amusements; the long score chargeable to venereal disease, In- cluding the loss in earnings, the outlay for treatment, both of the immediate victims and those still more unfortunate on whom, though innocent, some part of the curse and its cost not infrequently devolves. Upwards of 10,000 individuals are now annually treated for venereal complaints in the public hospi- tals of Berlin alone. These are essential items in the cost of prostitution. Of the total loss only the roughest guesses can be made; but it is worth noting that any estimate that en- deavors to include all the factors, direct and indirect, soon reaches into the millions. Losch, for example, has reckoned the annual cost of prostitution to the German Empire at something between 300 and 500 million marks. This outlay may be con- trasted with that spent by the Prussian Government on its en- tire educational system: its universities, secondary schools, ele- mentary school system, technical and professional institutions of all kinds involving a budget in 1909 of a little less than 200,- 000,000 marks. Assuredly the economic burden imposed on so- ciety by prostitution is comparable with that due to standing armies, war, or pestilence." The Law. In Chapter 4 Mr. Flexner treats of "Prostitution and the Law." He lays down the premise that "No one hopes successfully to interfere by means of penal legislation with the occasional immorality of two individuals." He quotes author- ities who claim that the dictum that "these are vices, not crimes" applies only to prostitution, in so far as it involves 376 The World's Social Evil only two adults "without annoyance or profit to others." "In England, Italy, Norway, Holland and Switzerland there is no penal enactment against prostitution as such.'' And he adds: "The change of opinion from the crime concept to the vice concept of prostitution accompanies and denotes not less, but greater, public concern on the subject. For it betok- ens a critical and discriminating study of the problem — a reduc- tion of its vast total into constituent elements, each to be met by its own appropriate procedure. The societies whose laws indiscriminately denounced all immorality as crime are con- spicuous for the futility of most of the steps which they took In dealing with it. A highly learned German authority is quoted as saying: "What Is evil in prostitution Is not necessary and what is necessary is not evil." Regulation. Coming to the subject of Regulation in Europe Mr. Flexner speaks of two opposite policies, "regulation and at>o- Ution." For purposes of regulation he shows that the Conti- nental European police power is practically absolute and irre- sponsible. At Paris, he says, "Administrative punishment is re- garded as the very core of regulation. A registered woman has no legal rights. She is absolutely in the hands of the police inspector, who, on hearing the morals patrolman's complaint against her, pronounces sentence upon her. She may, of course, protest her innocence, but she Is allowed neither attorney to represent, nor witnesses to support her. Nor can the action of the police be reviewed by any regularly constituted court of justice." This police power has been conceded without the deliberate and express sanction of a competent legislative authority. That is to say, no nation has legalized the system, by any definite act or law, except England, in passing the Contagious Diseases Acts and that country found it necessary to repeal the acts in obedience to popular demand. The reasons, or excuses, given for regulation are "that it is necessary for the preservation of order" and "that it promotes the public health." Segregation: Both these reasons are exploded. The segre- gation of prostitution Is proven to be an Inherent failure. Mr. Flexner quotes statistics which he says "disposes once and for The World's Social Evil 377 all of segregation. Segregation in the sense of an attempt to confine the prostitutes of a city, or even the majority of them to a single locality, or even to a few definite localities, is not undertaken In any European city from Budapest to Glasgow." Again he says: "Segregation is impracticable; more than this, any attempt to bring it about is also recognized to be in- advisable. In the first place, the impossibility of thoroughness creates an obvious opportunity for police corruption; a woman who objects to being segregated may for an adequate considera- tion induce the police to overlook her; and as hundreds are bound to be overlooked anyway, the chances of detecting fraud are slender. Again, a segregated quarter would give to vice the greatest possible prominence. Finally, it would expose to moral contagion those who are already most imperilled and whom every consideration of interest and decency should Impel society to protect — the children of the poor. For the segregated quar- ter will inevitably be located where rents are low and where the neighbors have least infiuence." Abolition. London's policy for abolition, which has been in operation for a few years. Is working out the good claimed for it. "Besides the transformation wrought in particular spots, an unmistakable general improvement is noticeable throughout London. This is a fact familiar to travelers returning to London after an Interval of a few years; it was practically the unani- mous testimony before the Royal Commission. On this point It is hardly necessary to do more than to quote the words of Mr. W. A. Coote: 'I have known London for the past forty years, and my memory goes back to quite forty-seven years. I knew the Haymarket and Piccadilly very well forty-seven years ago, and I say that London today, compared with what it was forty years ago, is an open-air cathedral. Everything has gone for the better.' The Laws remain the same, but popular demand has caused, or enabled, police and courts gradually to make more of them." • • • * AJter an absence from London of more than thirty-five years, save for a brief visit eighteen years ago, the author of this book witnessed the marvelous changes mentioned by Mr. Coote, and observed that similar progress has been made in Liverpool and other English cities. — Ed. 378 The World's Social Evil "London has lost nothing and actually gained something through its abolition policy. No community has as yet envisaged and attacked the entire problem involved in commercialized prostitution, — no community, I say, ■whether regulationist or abo- litionist." • * * « "As to the two matters now concerning us — order in the streets and brothels — the lowest level reached in London nowhere falls as low as in the continental capitals where regulation is in vogue." "As far as order goes, therefore, it is impossible to make out a case favorable to regulation." Sanitary Effects. In treating of the sanitary failure of the system, Mr. Flexner could do no more than add testimony to the facts already established, viz., what he calls the "absurdity of supposing that regulation means that the authorities are alive to the problem of venereal disease and that abolition means that they close their eyes to it. Regulation means simply that the police deal with a very small portion of venereal dis- ease; on the Continent, at least, abolition means that the health authorities are energetically attempting to reach more and more of it." "Venereal disease is an evil In Itself, and deserves to be combated with all the resources and facilities known to science and sanitation; but so long as prostitution exists, venereal dis- ease will remain serious and widespread; we have discovered absolutely no reason — statistical or other — to believe that regu- lation at all reduces Its ravages; there is, however, good reason to believe that the bordell and the medical examination con- tribute to its aggravation by increasing miscellaneous commerce and by decreasing resistance." Regulation. What, then, of its sanitary value? For the pur- pose of preventing disease, regulation invested the European po- lice with absolute and irresponsible power to compel regular med- ical inspection. This inspection Is described by Mr. Flexner, in its offensive and corrupting details — its horrible instrumental force — its disgusting liaste, "three minutes being estimated as the time available, while the actual operation is much less" — the in- evitable false security that is thus assumed by men — the cer- tainty of increasing immorality through this assumed security, and the consequent increase rather than decrease of venereal The World's Social Evil 379 diseases are all viewed in panorama in this very comprehensive 'book. This leads us to remark on one at the aspects of the Euro- pean history of the subject that Mr. Flexner seems to have entirely overlooked. Mr. Flexner closes his book with this: "Civilization has stripped for a life-and-death wrestle with tuberculosis, alcohol and other plagues. It is on the verge of a similiar struggle with the crasser forms of commercialized vice. Sooner or later it must fling down the gauntlet to the whole horrible thing. This will be the real contest — a contest that will tax the courage, the self-denial, the faith, the resources of human- ity to their uttermost." The methods and machinery of the old European Systems of regulation of prostitution were believed to be perfected in the English Acts of 1866-9, called the Contagious Diseases Acts — ia name given to blind public observation and mislead inquirers. A letter appeared in the London Daily News in 1869 signed by four distinguished Englishwomen, Harriet Martineau, Flor- ence Nightingale, Mary Carpenter and Josephine E. Butler. That letter was afterwards signed by thousands of women, and It contained "a solemn protest," which nobly expresses every prin- ciple involved in the present day stand taken against regulation. A copy of that protest is given in Chapter 3 of this volume. Prom the day that those four women published their chal- lenge in the London paper "the gauntlet" has been flung down and never for one single day has the contest against the unequal, immoral and slavish system ceased. Already this war has taxed the courage, the self-denial, the faith, the resources of a noble army of women and men, who for forty-five years have fought against principalities and powers and against the powers of darkness. It is to be regretted that in Mr. Flexner's important study of present day conditions in Europe, he should have missed the one great educational movement which explains the change of sentiment and official action which he found to have taken place. In Chapter four he says: "An era of scientific study may be fairly said to have set in. Wholesale and traditional methods 380 The World's Social Evil of attack have been discredited and are being discarded. Frank discussion of the subject, as a social problem, is common on th'.> Continent, and is beginning to take place in Great Britain, where it was long tabooed." But this "frank discussion" began, as shown above, in 1S69. The Contagious Diseases Acts were passed and sustained on medical grounds, and the challenge on those grounds was promptly taken up by the opponents of the Acts. The medical supporters of the Acts immediately affected an air of puritanism, claiming that the subject was unfit for public discussion, and even the medical press was closed against it. But this did not stop the aggressive movement. Untold numbers of able treatises appeared, discussing the hygienic — as well as the moral and legal — features of the subject, and in 1875 the "Medical Enquirer" was started, and was maintained for three years, until the "conspiracy of silence" on the part of the press was broken. During that three years scores of the most eminent medical men of Great Britain entered the charge against the indifference on the subject, and able articles were published from the pens of such men as Drs. Chapman, Editor of the Westminster Review; Drysdale, Taylor, Nevins, Worth, Carter, Hutchinson, Routh, etc. This scientific movement thus begun in England, spread to the Continent, and was the real promoter of the Congress at Geneva in 1S77, and the later conferences at Brussels in 1899 and 1905, where the system was declared "a failure" from a sanitary, as well as a moral, point of view. In order to call the attention of the American people to this aspect of the subject, "The Medical Association for Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts" addressed a 98 page pamphlet to the Members of the American Legislature and the Medical Profession of America, and 500 copies of that pamphlet were sent to New York for distribution. It happens that we have a copy of the letter addressed to Mr. Aaron M. Powell, New York, which is of interest as showing that the social problem was being very vigorously discussed and that, so far from lagging behind in the conflict. Great Brit- ain led in It. The World's Social Evil 381 NATIONAL MEDICAL ASSOCIATION FOR REPEAL OF THE C. D. ACTS. Liverpool, Aug. 2, 1877. To Aaron Powell, Esq., 58 Reade Street, New York City. Dear Sir: — Acting upon advice I have this day dispatched to your address a case containing 500 copies o.f "An Address to Members of the American Legislature and of the Medical Profession" from the British-Continental & General Federation for the Abolition of State Regulation of Prostitution and the above Association. This "Address" has been carefully prepared under the able editorship of Dr. J. Birkbeck Nevins, and has been printed and published in a form which we hope will be acceptable to our friends in America. I have taken the opportunity to enclose in the case a few of our other publications, some of which you may not have seen, and which will throw some light upon the various phases of our movement. These publications include 20 copies of a recent address to medical men by Dr. Routh (an eminent medical man of London), 10 copies each of Chapters I, II and III of "Observations by a Physician", 25 copies each of the "Medical Enquirer" for May, June and July, Sundry other pamphlets and copies of "The Shield" and "The National League Journal", And a complimentary copy of each Volume of the Medical Enquirer for 1875 and 1876. I shall feel obliged if you will kindly acknowledge receipt of this letter and the goods when delivered. I am, dear sir, yours faithfully, Wm. Bubgess, Secretary. We are all witnesses that the remarkable change in the attitude of the public, observed by Dr. Charles W. Eliot In his address at Buffalo, August 27, 1913, applies to the whole ques- tion of social morals, and we hail the change as the hopeful sign of a new advent, with far reaching possibilities beyond 382 The World's Social Evil the dreams of men and women a decade ago. Ere long the doctrine of the necessity of vice and the consequent necessary commerce in womanhood will be universally exploded. The next generation will no more make legal "provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof" than we would now license "firebugs" or regulate the sale of tuberculosis and smallpox germs for revenue. Mr. Flexner's book as a whole is a great contribution to this absorbing all-world subject. In more than 450 pages he packs in a vast variety of facts and proofs of the terrible realness of the problems involved — he fortifies the position, long since taken by advanced students and workers — that what is morally wrong cannot be legally right — that, while the police of Europe have developed a marvellous executive skill, and have tried every method that their ingenuity can devise, license and segregation have totally failed to regulate; that under the varied systems venereal diseases were an increasing menace to civilization, and that the commercialization of vice developed into a gigantic system of vice slavery which spread over into every civilized land. As a testimony against legalization or regulation of prosti- tution in any form it is not merely that of an expert student — but it is a composite witness. Here are the facts gathered from many countries under numerous methods of applying the regu- lation system, and all agree that it is as impossible to make vice decent or physically safe as it is to "gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles." APPENDIX III. THE APPENDIX TO DR. SANGER'S WORK. A Criticism. Certain statements and arguments have been made on vari- ous occasions based upon tlie supposed authority of Dr. W. W. Sanger's History of Prostitution which have not been warranted by the author's words. An edition of that work published in 1910 contains an article of twenty-two pages which appears as "an appendix" to the volume. This "appendix" follows immediately the last chap- ter, without any indication that it is written by another hand. The "appendix" is anonymous and bears no name of authorship. Unless, therefore, the reader takes the care to determine It carefully he is easily led to the error that the "appendix" is also a work of Dr. Sanger, and it has been so quoted on occasions of important public inquiry. Dr. Sanger published his study of this subject more than a half century ago, when European experiments of regulation were supported by the chief medical and military authorities, and were operated by the most accomplished and absolute police forces of the world. Had Dr. Sanger lived, himself to write a twentieth century "appendix" to his work he would not have ignored the great changes which the experience and study of the last thirty years have brought to the subject. He would have known that the English Contagious Diseases Acts had been passed into law and, after operating for twenty years — 1866-1886 — were acknowledged failures, not only as tending to increase Immorality, but also as hygienic measures, and that, following the great uprising of public agitation, they were repealed by vote of the British Parliament. Dr. Sanger also would certainly have taken notice of the attitude of the leading medical authorities of all the countries in Europe, as represented at the Brussels Conferences of 1899 and 1905, and of the great changes of policy in dealing with the subject In European cities. He would have learned also of 384 The World's Social Evil the state of the question in the light of the most careful and thorough investigations made in our day and country. Conservative men who were appointed as members of such bodies as the Grand Jury of New York, the Chicago Vice Com- mission, the Minneapolis Vice Commission, and numerous others, have been invariably led to see that "regulation" is a failure and that the only remedy, in the language of the Chicago Com- mission, is "constant and persistent repression of prostitution, the immediate method; absolute annihilation, the ultimate ideal." Dr. W. H. Evans, former health commissioner of Chicago, and later known as authority on sanitation and hygiene, through the coliimns of the Chicago Tribune, spoke the expression of many of these investigators when he said: "I frankly confess that when I became a member of the Vice Commission I shared the rather loose view of the medical pro- fession, that to segregate vice would be a measure looking toward a control of the problem of venereal disease. I had absorbed this point of view without any particular study, and it did not represent the accurate opinions or the close investigations of myself or anybody else. "It was with this point of view that I became a member of the Vice Commission. What I observed as a member of the Vice Commission sent me to the conclusion that segregation was not a remedy looking toward the ultimate cure of the vice evil from any standpoint. I assume we are all of the opinion that an end of sexual Immorality is not going to be brought about quickly or as a result of the immediate operation of any of the measures that are proposed. The only question is as to the ad- vantage of one method over the other, looking toward a cure of the situation as rapidly as is possible. "The reason for concluding that segregation was not even a gradual cure was that it was very apparent that segregation did not segregate; that there were more people plying the pro- fession of a prostitute outside of the so-called segregated district than there were in that district. Regulation regulates In vary- ing degree according to the efficacy of the officers who are ad- ministering regulation. For, I assume, that we all start with recognition of the fact that though regulation has had no legal The World's Social Evil 385 recognition that it has been in varying measure a policy in this city and in most cities. "An essential part of the idea of segregation is the fact that it offers a cohesion between the groups of people in whom there is the most venereal disease. Venereal disease is, like other forms of contagion, one that should be isolated and therefore that we will gain in using efforts to control if we will put It under observation and will localize it, since bringing under ob- servation and localizing is the method that is employed for the control of diseases that are very similar in their characteristics, at least from the contagion standpoint. "But if this is to be efficacious it assumes that the regula- tion of venereal diseases in segregated districts is comparable with the regulation of smallpox in a smallpox hospital, or of scarlet fever or diphtheria, either, in a scarlet fever or diph- theria hospital, or else in homes' where those diseases have been placarded and where the diseases are under supervision. And one of the reasons for coming to the conclusion that segre- gation did not return results was the fact that the medical inspection that prevails in the segregated districts and that con- situtes one of the most important arguments in its favor — in fact, I believe constitutes usually the most important argument that is offered in its favor, — is that this medical inspection serves to protect, — while, as a matter of fact, medical inspection in houses of prostitution is no more of a success than is the policy of segregation in segregating this vice away from other parts of the community; is no more successful than is regula- tion; in fact, is the least successful of the three effects that are supposed to be the good effects of this particular line of policy. "A good many years ago this particular method, as a method of controlling vice, was adopted. It was adopted and they strove to carry it out in countries where government is very much more powerful than it is in this country. Particularly was this true in European countries, and quite generally it has been abandoned in European countries." — ^Address before Committee of Aldermen, Chicago, November 11, 1912. We take issue with the writer of this anonymous "appendix" when he says, "from time to time since the earliest history of human government efforts have been made to suppress prostitu- 386 The World's Social Evil tion." Abundant evidence is given In this volume that human governments have not made efforts by constitutional or sustained law to suppress this evil. Occasionally rules have been enforced by rigid reformers up to the extreme of persecution. Ancient Puritans exercised their power in this way. Shakspeare has thus dramatized an old law, in the over-zealous and unjust deputy in "Measure for Measure." Such means have always defeated themselves, as when Charlemagne issued his tyrannous edicts which, as Sanger says, "directed vulgar prostitutes to be scourged, and treated the same act as a crime among the poor, and an excusable habit among the rich." The anonymous Sanger "appendix" says this, "There are ample laws against prostitution, both human and divine; but all attempts to rigidly enforce them, whether dictated by considera- tions of public policy or sentiments of religious duty, have sig- nally failed whenever or wherever they have been made." That there are divine laws, ample and qualiiied to meet the evil if obeyed, needs no statement, and that there are numerous statutes in our various states is readily admitted, but the laws of this and other countries, on this subject, have been inter- preted and employed to defeat the end for which they were supposed to exist. They have not been used to suppress the traffic, but generally to regulate and permit it. There has been no law simple and effective — a protection against vice resorts. While common law has declared these to be nuisances, no weapon has been given the people with which to suppress them. Until Iowa passed the Injunction and Abatement Law no such weapon was available in any state. It is gratifying to know that a similar law has now been passed in twelve other states and also by Congress for the District of Columbia. Much more might be said about this "appendix," but suffi- cient has been said to show that reference to it should be re- garded with caution and suspicion. The World's Social Evil 387 APPENDIX IV. THE INJUNCTION AND ABATEMENT LAW. The following is a copy of the bill passed by the Sixty-third Congress at Washington, It was signed by President Woodrow Wilson on February 7, 1914, and became law from that date. This law is substantially the same as the Iowa Law, and also of other States, except where clauses have been added or omitted in harmony with State statutes: AN ACT to enjoin and abate houses of lewdness, assignation, and prostitution; to declare the same to he nuisances; to enjoin the person or persons who conduct or maintain the same and the owner or agent of any building used for such purpose; and to assess a tax against the person maintain- ing said nuisance and against the building and owner thereof. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled. That who- ever shall erect, establish, continue, maintain, use, own, occupy, or re-lease any building, erection, or place used for the purpose of lewdness, assignation, or prostitution in the District of Co- lumbia is guilty of a nuisance, and the building, erection, or place, or the ground Itself in or upon which such lewdness, assignation, or prostitution is conducted, permitted, or carried on, continued, or exists, and the furniture, fixtures, musical instruments, and contents are also declared a nuisance and shall be enjoined and abated as hereinafter provided. Sec. 2. That whenever a nuisance is kept, maintained, or exists as defined in this act the attorney of the United States for the District of Columbia, or the Attorney General of the United States, or any citizen of the District of Columbia, may maintain an action in equity in the name of the United States of America, upon the relation of such attorney of the United States for the District of Columbia, the Attorney General of the United States, or citizen, to perpetually enjoin said nuisance, the person or persons conducting or maintaining the same. 388 The World's Social Evil and the owner or agent of the building or ground upon which said nuisance exists. In such action the court, or a judge in vacation, shall, upon the presentation of a petition therefor alleging that the nuisance complained of exists, allow a tem- porary writ of Injunction, without bond, if it shall be made to appear to the satisfaction of the court or judge by evidence in the form of affidavits, depositions, oral testimony, or other wise, as the complainant may elect, unless the court or judge by previous order shall have directed the form and manner in which it shall be presented. Three days' notice, in writing, shall be given the defendant of the hearing of the application, and if then continued at his instance the writ as prayed shall be granted as a matter of course. When an injunction has been granted it shall be binding on the defendant throughout the District of Columbia, and any violation of the provisions of injunction herein provided shall be a contempt as hereinafter provided. Sec. 3. That the action when brought shall be triable at the first term of court, after due and timely service of the notice has been given, and in such action evidence of the gen- eral reputation of the place shall be admissible for the purpose of proving the existence of said nuisance. If the complaint is filed by a citizen, it shall not be dismissed, except upon a sworn statement made by the complainant and his attorney, setting forth the reasons why the action should be dismissed, and the dismissal approved by the attorney of the United States for the District of Columbia or the Attorney General of the United States of America in writing or in open court. If the court is of the opinion that the action ought not to be dismissed, it may direct the attorney of the United States for the District of Columbia to prosecute said action to judgment; and if the action is continued more than one term of court, any citizen of the District of Columbia, or the attorney of the United States for the district of Columbia, may be substituted for the complaining party and prosecute said action to judgment. If the action is brought by a citizen, and the court finds there was no reasonable grounds for said action, the costs may be taxed to such citizen. Sec. 4. That in case of the violation of any injunction granted under the provisions of this act, the court, or in vaca- The World's Social Evil 389 tion, a judge thereof, may summarily try and punish the of- lender. The proceedings shall be commenced by filing with the clerk of the court an information, under oath, setting out the al- leged facts constituting such violation, upon which the court or judge shall cause a warrant to issue, under which the de- fendant shall be arrested. The trial may be had upon affidavits, or either party may at any stage of the proceedings demand the production and oral examination of the witnesses. A party found guilty of contempt, under the provisions of this section, shall be punished by a fine of not less than $200 nor more than $1,000 or by imprisonment in the District jail not less than three months nor more than six months, or by both fine and imprisonment. Sec. 5. That if the existence of the nuisance be established in an action as provided in this act, or in a criminal proceed- ings, an order of abatement shall be entered as a part of the judgment in the case, which order shall direct the removal from the building or place of all fixtures, furniture, musical instruments, or movable property used In conducting the nui- sance, and shall direct the sale thereof in the manner provided for the sale of chattels under execution, and the effectual clos- ing of the building or place against Its use for any purpose, and so keeping it closed for a period of one year, unless sooner released. If any person shall break and enter or use a building, erection, or place so directed to be closed he shall be punished as for contempt, as provided in the preceding section. Sec. 6. That the proceeds of the sale of the personal prop- erty, as provided In the preceding section, shall be applied in the payment of the costs of the action and abatement, and the balance, if any, shall be paid to the defendant. Sec. 7. That If the owner appears and pays all costs of the proceeding and files a bond, with sureties to be approved by the clerk, in the full value of the property, to be ascertained by the court or, in vacation, by the collector of taxes of the District of Columbia, conditioned that he will immediately abate said nuisance and prevent the same from being established or kept within a period of one year thereafter, the court, or, in vacation, the judge, may, if satisfied of his good faith, order the premises closed under the order of abatement to be delivered 390 The World's Social Evil to said owner and said order of abatement canceled so far as the same may relate to said property; and if the proceeding be an action in equity and said bond be given and costs therein paid before judgment and order of abatement, the action shall be thereby abated as to said building only. The release of the property under the provisions of this section shall not release _it from judgment, lien, penalty, or liability to which it may be subject by law. Sec. 8. That whenever a permanent injunction issues against any person for maintaining a nuisance as herein defined, or against any owner or agent of the building kept or used for the purpose prohibited by this act, there shall be assessed against said building and the ground upon which the same is located and against the person or persons maintaining said nuisance, and the owner or agent of said premises, a tax of $300. The assessment of said tax shall be made by the assessor of the District of Columbia and shall be made within three months from the date of the granting of the permanent Injunction. In case the assessor fails or neglects to make said assessment the same shall be made by the chief of police, and a return of said assessment shall be made to the collector of taxes. Said tax shall be a perpetual lien upon all property, both personal and real, used for the purpose of maintaining said nuisance, and the payment of said tax shall not relieve the person or building from any other penalties provided by law. The pro- visions of the law relating to the collection and distribution of taxes upon personal and real property shall govern in the collection and distribution of the tax herein prescribed in so far as the same are applicable and not in conflict with the pro- visions of this act. Sec. 9. The United States district attorney or other at- torney representing the prosecution for violation of this statute, with the approval of the court, may grant immunity to any witness called to testify in behalf of the prosecution. Passed the Senate October 27, 1913. APPENDIX V. PANDERING ACT. (Passed by Congress and Approved June 25, 1910.) Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That any person who, by threats by himself, or through another, Induces, or by any device or scheme inveigles, any female into a house of prostitution, or of assignation, in the District of Columbia, against her will, or by any threats or duress, de- tains her against her will, for the purpose of prostitution or sexual intercourse, or takes or detains a female, against her will with intent to compel her by force, threats, menace, or duress to marry him, or to marry any other person, or if any parent, guardian, or other person having legal custody of the person of a female consents to her taking or detention by any person for the purpose of prostitution or sexual intercourse. Is guilty of pandering, and shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of not less than one nor more than five years and fined not more than one thousand dollars. Sec. 2. That any person who, against her will, shall place any female in the charge or custody of any person or persons or in a house of prostitution with the intent that she shall live a life of prostitution, or any person who shall compel any female, against her will, to reside with him or with any other person for the purpose of prostitution, or compel her against her will to live a life of prostitution, is guilty of pandering and shall be punished by a fine of not less than one thousand dol- lars and imprisonment for not less than one nor more than five years. Sec. 3. That any person who shall receive any money or other valuable thing, for or on account of procuring for or placing in a house of prostitution or elsewhere any female for the purpose of causing her illegally to cohabit with any male person or persons shall be guilty of a felony, and upon con- viction thereof shall be imprisoned for not less than one nor more than five years. Sec. 4. That any person who by force, fraud, intimida- tion, or threats places or leaves, or procures any other person or persons to place or leave, his wife in a house of prostitution, or to lead a life of prostitution, shall be guilty of a felony, and upon conviction thereof shall be imprisoned not less than one nor more than ten years. Sec. 5. That any person or persons who attempt to detain any girl or woman in a disorderly house or house of prostitu- tion because of any debt or debts she has contracted, or is said to have contracted, while living in said house of prostitution or disorderly house shall be guilty of a felony, and on convic- tion thereof be imprisoned for a term not less than one nor more than five years. APPENDIX VI. CHART OF LAWS TO SUPPRESS PROSTITUTION International Treaty— see pasres 357-35S. f 1. White Slave Traffic Act, June 25, 1910— see pases 368-359. I 2. Act to Define and Prohibit Panderins- June 25, 1910 — see National Laws ^ page 391. 3. Act to Regulate Immigration of Persona for Purposes of Pros- l titution, and Others, March 6, 1910. States, etc. Age of Consent State Laws Passed Prohibiting Disorderly Houses Alabama 14 Alaska 16 Arizona 17 Arkansas 16 California 16 Colorado 18 Connecticut 16 Delaware 7 Dist. Columbia 16 Florida 18 Georgia* 10 Hawaii 10 Idaho 18 Illinois 16 Indiana 16 Iowa 15 Kansas 18 Kentucky 16 Louisiana 12 Maine 16 Maryland 16 Massachusetts 16 Michigan 16 Statute merely declares keeper a va- grant. Statute forbids setting up or keeping a house of 111 fame. Keeping of disorderly house forbidden. Leasing forbidden in certain limits. Statute gives cities power to suppress. No state law forbidding such houses. Injunction and abatement law, 1913. Statute forbids keeping and leasing. Statute punishes keeper of such houses. Statutes forbid keeping such houses. Statute forbids keeping and leasing such houses. ' Injunction and abatement law, 1914. Statute names penalty for keeping. Lease voidable after conviction of tenant. Statutes forbid keeping such houses. Statute forbids keeping and leasing. Owner may terminate lease upon no- tice. Statute forbids keeping such houses. Statutes forbid: Keeping houses of prostitution; licensing houses of prostitution; keeping boats, etc., for . prostitution. Statute forbids keeping or leasing. Injunction and abatement law, 1909. Statute forbids keeping or leasing. Injunction and abatement law, 1913. Statute forbids keeping such houses. No statute on subject. Statute forbids keeping such houses. Statutes forbid keeping and leasing. Statute forbids keeping such houses. Statute prohibits such houses. Statute punishes persons who knowingly lease. Keeping such house forbidden. Owner punished for knowingly leasing such hOUBS. The World's Social Evil 393 states, etc. Age of Consent Minnesota 18 Mississippi 12 Missouri 14 Montana 16 Nebraska 18 Nevada 16 New Hampshire .... 16 New Jersey 16 New Mexico 14 New York 18 North Carolina 14 North Dakota 16 Ohio 16 Oklahoma 18 Oregon 16 Pennsylvania 16 Rhode Island 16 South Carolina 14 South Dakota 16 Tennessee Texas . . . . Utah 18 15 18 Vermont 16 Virginia 14 Washington 18 West Virginia 14 Wisconsin 14 Wyoming 18 State Laws Passed ProhibitinK Disorderly Houses Injunction and abatement law, 1913. No statute on subject. Keeping and leasing forbidden. Keep- ing house within 100 yds. of church, etc., felony. Keeping and leasing prohibited. Injunction and abatement law, 1911. Using, leasing or sub-letting houses forbidden. Statutes forbid keeping and letting within certain limits. Statute gives cities power to suppress. Statute gives cities power to suppress. No statute on subject. Statute forbids keeping and leasing such houses. Special laws on pros- titution in tenement houses. No statute on subject. Statutes forbid keeping and leasing. Statutes forbid keeping and leasing. Nuisance abated on conviction of owner. Statutes forbid keeping and leasing. Injunction and abatement law, 1913. Statute forbids keeping houses. Injunction and abatement law, 1913. Statute forbids keeping or leasing. Penalty named for maintaining and leasing. Lease voidable on convic- tion of tenant. No statute on subject. Injunction and abatement law, 1913. Statutes forbid keeping and leasing. Nuisance abated on conviction of owner. Statute punishes owner or lessee for keeping such house. Injunction and abatement law, 1913. Statute forbids keeping such houses. Statute forbids keeping such houses. Statute forbids keeping such houses. Injunction and abatement law, 1913. Keeping and leasing such houses for- bidden. Statute forbids keeping and leasing. Injunction and abatement law, 1913. Statute forbids keeping, selling up or leasing. Statute forbids keeping or knowingly leasing. APPENDIX VII. THE WHITE SLAVE TRAFFIC. THE "MANN" ACT. Approved June 25, 1910. Section 1. States the operation of the Act in the United States or foreign country. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the term "interstate commerce," as used In this Act, shall include transportation from any State or Territory or the District of Columbia to any other State or Territory or the District of Columbia, and the term "foreign commerce," as used in this Act, shall include transportation from any State or Territory or the District of Columbia to any foreign country and from any foreign country to any State or Territory or the District of Columbia. Sec. 2. That any person who shall knowingly transport or cause to be transported, or aid or assist in obtaining transporta- tion for, or in transporting, in interstate or foreign commerce, or in any Territory or in the District of Columbia, any woman or girl for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose, or with the intent and purpose to induce, entice, or compel such woman or girl to become a pros- titute or to give herself up to debauchery, or to engage in any other immoral practice; or who shall knowingly procure or obtain, or cause to be procured or obtained, or aid or assist in procuring or obtaining, any ticket or tickets, or any form of transportation or evidence of the right thereto to be used by any woman or girl in interstate or foreign commerce, or in any Territory or the District of Columbia, in going to any place for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose, or with the intent or purpose on the part of such person to induce, entice, or compel her to give herself up to the practice of prostitution, or to give herself up to de- bauchery, or any other immoral practice, whereby any such woman or girl shall be transported in interstate or foreign com- merce, or in any Territory or the District of Columbia, shall The World's Social Evil 395 be deemed guilty of a felony, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, or by imprisonment of not more than five years, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court. Sec. 3. That any person who shall knowingly persuade, in- duce, entice, or coerce, or cause to be persuaded, induced, en- ticed, or coerced, or aid or assist in persuading, inducing, entic- ing, or coercing any woman or girl to go from one place to another in interstate or foreign commerce, or in any Territory or the District of Columbia, lor the purpose of prostitution or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose, or with the intent and purpose on the part of such person that such woman or girl shall engage in the practice of prostitution or debauchery, or any other Immoral practice, whether with or without her consent, and who shall thereby knowingly cause or aid or assist in causing such woman or girl to go and to be carried or trans- ported as a passenger upon the line or route of any common carrier or carriers in interstate or foreign commerce, or any Territory or the District of Columbia, shall be deemed guilty of a felony and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars, or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or by both such fine and imprison- ment, in the discretion of the court. Sec. 4. That any person who shall knowingly persuade, in- duce, entice, or coerce any woman or girl under the age of eighteen years from any State or Territory or the District of Columbia to any other State or Territory or the District of Columbia, with the purpose and intent to induce or coerce her, or that she shall be induced or coerced to engage in prostitution or debauchery, or any other immoral practice, and shall in fur- therance of such purpose knowingly induce or cause her to go and to be carried or transported as a passenger in interstate commerce upon the line or route of any common carrier or carriers, shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars, or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court. SEa 5. That any violation of any of the above sections two, three and four, shall be prosecuted in any court having juris- 396 The World's Social Evil diction of crimes witliin tlie district in which said violation was committed, or from, through, or into which any such woman or girl may have been carried or transported as a passenger in interstate or foreign commerce, or in any Territory or the Dis- trict of Columbia, contrary to the provisions of any of said sections^ Sec. 6. That for the purpose of regulating and preventing the transportation in foreign commerce of alien women and girls for purposes of prostitution and debauchery, and in pur- suance of and for the purpose of carrying out the terms of the agreement or project of arrangement for the suppression of the white-slave traffic, adopted July twenty-fifth, nineteen hundred and two, for submission to their respective governments by the delegates of various powers represented at the Paris conference and confirmed by a formal agreement signed at Paris on May eighteenth, nineteen hundred and four, and adhered to by the United States on June sixth, nineteen hundred and eight, as shown by the proclamation of the President of the United States, dated June fifteenth, nineteen hundred and eight, the Com- missioner-General of Immigration Is hereby designated as the authority of the United States to receive and centralize informa- tion concerning the procuration of alien women and girls with a view to their debauchery, and to exercise supervision over such alien women and girls, receive their declarations, estab- lish their identity, and ascertain from them who induced them to leave their native countries, respectively; and it shall be the duty of said Commissioner-General of Immigration to receive and keep on file in his ofiice the statements and declarations which may be made by such alien women and girls, and those which are hereinafter required pertaining to such alien wom- en and girls engaged in prostitution or debauchery in this country, and to furnish receipts for such statements and decla- rations provided for In this act to the persons, respectively, making and filing them. Every person who shall keep, maintain, control, support, or harbor in any house or place for the purpose of prostitution, or for any other Immoral purpose, any alien woman or girl within three years after she shall have entered the United States from any country, party to the said arrangement for the suppression of the white-slave traffic, shall file with the Commissioner- The World's Social Evil 397 General of Immigration a statement in writing setting forth the name of such alien woman or girl, the place at which she is kept, and all facts as to the date of her entry into the United States, the port through which she entered, her age, nationality, and parentage, and concerning her procuration to come to this country within the knowledge of such person, and any person who shall fail within thirty days after such person shall com- mence to keep, maintain, control, support, or harbor In any house or place for the purpose of prostitution, or for any other immoral purpose, any alien woman or girl within three years after she shall have entered the United States from any of the countries, party to the said arrangement for the suppression of the white-slave traffic, to file such statement concerning such alien woman or girl with the Commissioner-General of Immi- gration, or who shall knowingly and willfully state falsely or fail to disclose in such statement any fact within his knowledge or belief with reference to the age, nationality, or parentage of any such alien woman or girl, or concerning her procuration to come to this country, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction shall be punished by a fine of not more than two thousand dollars, or by imprisonment, for a term not ex- ceeding two years, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court. In any prosecution brought under this section, if it appear that any such statement required is not on file in the office of the Commissioner General of Immigration, the person whose duty it shall be to file such statement shall be presumed to have failed to file said statement, as herein required, unless such person or persons shall prove otherwise. No person shall be ex- cused from furnishing the statement, as required by this sec- tion, on thp ground or foi' the reason that the statement so required by him, or the information therein contained, might tend to criminate him or subject him to a penalty or forfeiture, but no person shall be prosecuted or subjected to any penalty or forfeiture under any law of the United States for or on ac- count of any transaction, matter, or thing, concerning which he may truthfully report in such statement, as required by the provisions of this section. Sec. 7. That the term "Territory," as used in this Act, shall Include the district of Alaska, the insular possessions of 398 The World's Social Evil the United States, and the Canal Zone. The word "person," as used in this Act, shall be construed to import both the plural and the singular, as the case demands, and shall include cor- porations, companies, societies, and associations. When con- struing and enforcing the provisions of this Act, the act, omis- sion, or failure of any officer, agent, or other person, acting for or employed by any other person or by any corporation, company, society, or association within the scope of his em- ployment or office, shall in every case be also deemed to be the act, omission, or failure of such other person, or of such company, corporation, society, or association, as well as that of the person himself. Sec. 8. That this Act shall be known and referred to as the "White-slave traffic Act." APPENDIX VIII. REGULATION OP IMMIGRATION. (Act Passed by Congress and Approved February 20, 1910.) This act excludes from admission into the United States "all prostitutes, or women or girls for the purpose of prostitu- tion or for any other immoral purpose; persons who are sup- ported by or receive in whole or in part the proceeds of prosti- tution; persons who procure or attempt to bring in prostitutes or women or girls for the purpose of prostitution or for any other immoral purpose; all children under sixteen years of age unaccompanied by one or both of their parents, at the discretion of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor or under such regu- lations as he may from time to time prescribe." "Sec. 3. That the importation into the United States of any alien for the purpose of prostitution or for any other im- moral purpose is hereby forbidden; and whoever shall, directly or indirectly, import, or attempt to import, into the United States, any alien for the purpose of prostitution or for any other immoral purpose, or whoever shall hold or attempt to hold any alien for any such purpose in pursuance of such il- legal importation, or whoever shall keep, maintain, control, The World's Spcial Evil 399 support, employ, or harbor in any house or other place, for the purpose of prostitution or for any other immoral purpose, in pursuance of such illegal importation, any alien, shall, in every such case be deemed guilty of a felony, and on conviction thereof be imprisoned not more than ten years and pay a fine of not more than five thousand dollars. Jurisdiction for the trial and punishment of the felonies hereinbefore set forth shall be in any district to or into which said alien is brought in pursuance of said importation by the person or persons accused, or in any district in which a violation of any of the foregoing provisions of this section occur. Any alien who shall be found an inmate of or connected with the management of a house of prostitution of practicing prostitution after such alien shall have entered the United States, or who shall receive, share in, or derive benefit from any part of the earnings of any pros- titute; or who is employed by, in, or in connection with any house of prostitution or music or dance hall or other place of amusement or resort habitually frequented by prostitutes, or where prostitutes gather, or who in any way assists, protects, or promises to protect from arrest any prostitute, shall be deemed to be unlawfully within the United States and shall be deported in the manner provided by sections twenty and twenty-one of this Act. That any alien who shall, after he has been debarred or deported in pursuance of the provisions of this section, attempt thereafter to return to or to enter the United States shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be imprisoned for not more than two years. Any alien who shall be convicted under any of the provisions of this sec- tion shall, at the expiration of his sentence, be taken into cus- tody and returned to the country whence he came, or of which he is a subject or a citizen in the manner provided in sections twenty and twenty-one of this Act. In all prosecutions under this section the testimony of a husband or wife shall be ad- missable and competent evidence against a wife or husband." APPENDIX IX. BULLETIN OP CAMPAIGN At Atlanta, Ga., the Executive Committee of the Men and Religion Forward Movement, published about forty bulletins in the daily papers of that city, paying for them as adver- tisements. "In September, four months after the appearance of the first bulletin, the day before the publication of No. 20, the Chief of Police issued the order which closed the segregated district, and the recognized houses of prostitution in the city." The following is a copy of No. 1 of these bulletins: Ere she can walk alone, the girl clasps her doll. As child- hood slips away, she lays aside the toy and, with beating heart. Innocently craving companions, seeks to be attractive. By her nature, God is calling her to the glory of motherhood. But a girl betrayed is of commercial value in the houses in our midst; and men set traps for her feet. Drawn and impelled by forces she does not understand, lured by lies or driven by want, she falls into the hands of her hunters. Her heart is broken, the instinct for motherhood destroyed; but in our markets there is a fallen woman — the girl — to be sold and resold until death, more merciful than men, gives sleep. The dead and unfit must be replaced with frightful frequency since five to seven years is the average life in the houses; while the traffic lasts, an inexorable law of supply and demand applies. In the United States sixty thousand girls and more are required annually to meet the needs of "the white slave trade." Whence do they come? Whose girls are they? Whose daugh- ters will be in the next quota? The hunters are ever in the field and will be while the houses buy and sell. Jesus said: "All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do ye also unto them." You would not have men give to these beasts in human form the right to enter your home; you would not have these houses wait to receive and sell those whom you love: you cannot approve these unspeakable things for the daughters of other men. Yet, forty-four houses are in our midst. Toleration of them authorizes the procurers to seek their prey. Their stock in trade is the fallen woman; for one to fall, a girl must be deceived; a license to the open market Is a permit to the hunter to pursue and obtain the victims for sale therein. The World's Social Evil 401 The Golden Rule requires action. Were you to see these harpies aflame with the hope of gain hovering over your home and children, you would not prate of "necessary evils," nor would you rest content with praying, "Thy will be done"; you would fight to destroy — to uproot the root of the evil, the houses in our midst. Tou should not stand idle and silent while the hunters seek and the houses await for your neighbor's daughters. The shame of these houses depending for their merchandise upon the seduction of girls cries out to God against us. None would hurt the pitiful inmates. Help in the name of Jesus Christ is offered those who will leave the life! But in His Name let us put an end to the shameful commerce! Laws of the State of Georgia and Ordinances of the City of Atlanta forbid the existence of these houses in our midst. The location of each one of them, the daily and nightly violation of the law and ordinance, is known to the police force and the police board, whose members are sworn to enforce the law. The return in gold and good to our city from the wrecked lives of those betrayed must be great to have induced her citi- zens to approve so long this open disregard of the law of God and man. It should not continue! "It is time for you to awake out of sleep." Later will be shown the price paid and to be paid by innocent women and children for the existence of the houses in our midst. THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE MEN AND RELIGION FORWARD MOVEMENT. INDEX Authors and Other Authorities Quoted Acton, Dr. Wm., London, Eng. Author of "Prostitution," 120, 170. Addams, Jane. Author and Phil- anthropist, 215, 217, 219, 221, 262; Bishop of Winchester's tribute to her, 284. American Commonwealth, Jas. Bryce, 9. American Journal of Sociology, 171. American Vigilance Ass'n, 265. American Social Hygiene Ass'n, 265. Amos, Sheldon, Prof, of Jurispru- dence, Bng. Leoky's picture of the prostitute on. 14; quoted, 26, 27, 32, 44. Andrews, Dr., Chicago Med. Coll. Gullability of Young Men on, 119. Army Reports, Annual (1905- 1913), 173-178. Banks, F. C, Sec. Nat'l Ass'n for Repeal of English C. D. Acts, 97. Barr, Dr., Examining Surg. Al- dershot, 145. Bebel, A. Author of "Woman, Past and Present," 17. Bell, Ernest A., Sup't Midnight Mission, Chicago, 59, 251, 254, 258. Berkowitz, Rabbi, 340. Bible, The, 8, 16, 17, 273, 322, 334, 344. "Bible in Shakspeare," 27. Bingham, Col., ex-Police Com. N. T., 67, 151. Blackstone, Law Authority, 144. Blaschko, Dr., Berlin, Hygienic Utopias on, 131. "Blindness of Virtue," play of, 327, 331. Bloch, M. D., quoted by Flexner, 32. Borel, Pastor, Switzerland, 52. Boynton, Rev. M. P., Chicago, 252. Braestrup, Dr., Copenhagen, 33. British Royal Commission, 29. Bright, J., British Statesman, 104. Brolaski, a former gambler, 155. Brooks, T. J., U. S. Senator, 255. Brussels, Conferences, 133-6. Bryce, Hon. Jas., Author and Statesman, 9. Bunting, Percy, British Philan- thropist, 136. Burgess, Wm., Author, Chicago, 27, 248, 252. Burns, Robt., Scottish Poet, 334. Butler, Mrs. Josephine E., 48, 50, 54, 96, 144; Mary A. Liver- more on, 100; Anna G. Spencer on, 102; Mission to Continent, 231; Appeal to Men and Wom- en, 233 ; Letter on Chief of Paris Police, 277, 379; first tour in Europe, 278; Rescue and Abolition on, 300. Byron, Lord, Women and Purity on, 230. Cabot, Dr. Richard C, Physician and Author, 352. Caldwell, J. B., Chicago, 263. Carlyle, Thos., 353. Carpenter, Mary, England, 96, 339, 379. Casparln, Countess, Switzerland, 53. Chase, J. F., Boston, Sec. Watch and Ward Society, 253. Chapman, Dr., Physician, London and Paris, Editor of Westmin- ster Review, 119, 380. Chief, police organ, N. T., 153. Chicago Tribune, 78, 384. Chicago Vice Commission Report, 73, 78, 192, 225, 259; repression advocated by, 260. Church Times, Hebrew family life on, 340. Clark, Dr. Bayard, Surg. Bellevue Hospital, New York, on Gonor- rhoea Widespread, 167. Coke, Law Authority, 144. Conference, Paris White-Slave Traffic, Report of, 51. "Commercialized Prostitution," Kneeland, 289. Committee of Fourteen, New York, 77, 152. Committee of Seven, Medical, 160, 244. Committee of Fifteen, Chicago, 289. Committee of Fifteen, New York, 244. Congress, U. S., Health Beports, 46. Congress, Madrid, Report of, 62. Congress, International London, 282. Coote, W. A., Sec. Vigilance Ass'n, London, 242; Vision of, 279; Book by, 281; European Tour of, 281; Congress in London, 283. Cosson, Geo., Atty. Gen., Des Moines, 255. Crafts, Rev. W. F., "Washington, D. C, 177. Crispi, Slg., Italy, Laws and, 19. "Current Opinion," 195. Davis, Katherine, Supt. Bedford Hills Reformatory, N. T., 228; quoted by Judge Olson, 357. De Graaf, Dr., Madrid, 75, 76. De Lolme, Law authority (Brit- ish), 144. Dennis, Dr. J. B., Authority on China, 37. Despres, Dr. Armand, Hospital Surg. Lourcine, Treatment of Venerealism on, 118. Diday, Dr., Lyons, France, 117, 120. Dock, Lavinia, Physician, 142, 156. Dodge, Grace, Philanthropist, Pres. T. W. C. A., 220. Drake, Marian, Chicago, 275. Drummond, Prof. H., "Ascent of Man," 230. Drysdale, Chas., Physician, Met. Free Hospital, London, 120. "Bcce Homo," Prof. Seeley, Bng., 344. Eliot, Dr. Chas. W., Pres. Emeri- tus, Harvard Uni., Change of Sentiment on, 240; Address at Buffalo, 265; Causes of Sex Vice on, 339. BUot, W. E., M. D., St. Louis, Mo., opposed license, 42, 43, 44. Emerson, Zelle P., 218. Bncy. Britannica, 49. Evans, Dr. W. A., Chicago, Segre- gation on, 384. Exner, Dr. M. J., Sec. Student Dept. Y. M. C. A., 246-7. Farr, Dr., Statistician, England, Money Value of Life on, 206. Farrar, F. W., Author of "Life of Christ," 21. Parwell, A. B., Chicago, 257. Finch, Stanley W., White Slave Commissioner, 255. Fisher, Irving, Prof. Yale Uni., 206. Flexner, A., New York, 32, 229, 369. Forel, M., France, Prostitution and Alcohol on, 71. Fournier, D. A., Paris, Authority on Venerealism, 119, 132, 170. Gemmill, Judge, Chicago, White Slavery on, 68. Genesis, Book of, 8. Gibbons, Cardinal, 264, 265. Gibson, Rev. Otis, Authority on China, 39. Gladstone, W. E., Duty of Gov'ts, 190, 271; Calamities of War, 199. Grannis, Elizabeth, Purity Work- er, New York, 263. Gross, Dr., Advocate of License for U. S., 41, 307. Gustafson, Axel, Author of "Foundation of Death," 286. Hall, Lucy A., Deaconness, Chi- cago, 249. Hall, Dr. G. Stanley, Author of "Adolescence," 337. Hall, Dr. Winfield Scott, Chicago, 244. Hallam, Wirt W., Sec. Illinois Vigilance Ass'n, 254. Hammond, John, Des Moines, la., 255. Hart Hastings, Russel Sage Foundation, 356. Hawthorne, N., Author of "Scar- let Letter," 336. Holt, Dr. W. L., New York, 164. Hood, Thos., Poet, "Bridge of Sighs," quoted, 79. Huet, Dr., Physician, Hospital, Amsterdam, 121. Hugo, Victor, "Les Miserables," quoted, 49. Hutchinson, Jonathan, Surg., Bng., 135. Immigration, U. S. Reports, 61 ; Act to Regulate, 399. "Industrial Banner," 216. James, W. Prof, and Author, 351. Inferior Courts Act N. Y., 45. Janney, Dr. O. B., Baltimore, 239, 252. Jeannel, Dr., Authority on Ven- erealism, 120. Jesus Christ, Woman and, 148, 342; Light and, 322; Honored Wedding, 333. Jewish Encyclopedia, Semitic Re- ligions on, 16. Jones, Ed., British Workman Leader, 103. Jones, Jenkln Lloyd, Chicago, 248. Jordan, David Starr, Pres. Emeri. Leland Uni., 206, 264, 265. Jullien, Dr., Physician, St. Lazare, Paris, 132. Junius, quoted, 141. Kansas City, Vice Report of. Causes of Vice, 72. Kean, Lieut. Col., Army Author- ity, United States, 181, 191. Kelly, Dr. Howard, Baltimore, 166, 167. Kendall, Rev. Sidney C, Los An- geles, 57, 68, 249. King, Churchill, Woman's Rights and the Church, 353. Kneeland, Geo., Chief Investiga- tor, Chicago and other Vice Commissions, 77, 289. Lamertine, H. M., Brussels, pub- lisher, 131. Lanaers, M., Police Chief, Brus- sels, 54. Lancet, The, Medical Journal, England, 139. Lane, Dr. E., Surg. London Lock Hospital, 137. Langsteln, Prof., Alcohol and Prostitution on, 71. Laveleye, Bmlle de. Prof. Liege Uni.. 56. "Laws on Prostitution," by Prof. S. Amos, 14, 26, 27, 32, 44. Lecky, W. E. H., Historian, Eng- land, 13, 20, 56, 347. Lecour, M., Police Chief, Paris, 118, 120; Mrs. Butler's descrip- tion of, 277. Lies, Eugene T., Sec. Minneap- olis Vice Com., 264. Light, The, Purity Journal, La Crosse, Wis., 267. Lincoln, Abraham, 140. Livermore, Mary A., 100. Logan, Author of "Great Social Evil," Glasgow, 51, 72. London, Jack, "When Women Vote," on, 272. London Medical Times, 118. London Times, White Slavery, on 50. London Quarterly, The, 276. Lycurgus, 18. Lydaton, Dr. G. P., Chicago, 230. Macaulay, Lord, Author and Statesman, England, 28, 199. JMack, Julian, Judge Cook Co. Juvenile Court, 253; Immorality of Children by, 327. Magdalenism, by Tait, Scotland, 7L Magna Charta, quoted, 13. Mahon, Dr. W., Manhattan State Hospital, 168. Mann, James, Congressman U. S., 254. Manning, Cardinal, Letter of, 98. Massachusetts State, Vice Re- port, 68, 70, 77. Martineau, Harriet, English Phil- anthropist, 94, 379. Mauriac, Dr., Paris Authority, 146. McClure's Magazine, 203, 266. Medical Enquirer, Bng., 125. Metropolitan Magazine, 77. Mill, John Stuart, Note of, 83. Miner, Maude, Probation OfHcer, New York, 357. Minneapolis Vice Commission, Report, 156, 189. Mireur, Dr., Exam. Surg., Mar- seilles, 34, 53, 117, 133, 234. Mohr, E. k:, Supt. Purity Dept., S. A., 266. Morrow, Prince A., Physician, N. Y., 71, 74, 160, 163, 171, 189, 210, 250. Moses, Jewish Degeneracy and, 16. National Vitality, Its Wastes and Conservation, Senate Document No. 419 Wash., 211. Navy Reports, Annual, 1905-1912, 180, 181, 183. New Conscience and an Ancient Evil, Jane Addams, 284. New York Grand Jury Report, 66. Newman, F. W., Prof, and Phil- osopher Eng., 83, 99. Nightingale, Florence, Philan- thropist, 379. Olson, Harry, Judge Municipal Court, Chicago, 315, 355-368. Outlook, The, 216. Owens, Senator, Senate Docu- ment, Wash., 209. Parent-Duchatelet, French Au- thority, 24, 33, 72; quoted by Flexner, 369, 371. Paris Conference Report, 51. Parkin, Harry A., Ass't Dist. Att., Chicago. Parliamentary Hist., 27. Paul, The Apostle, 7; 334. Percival, Dr. L. P., Sup't Dun- ning hospital, 168. Philanthropist The, Purity Jour- nal, 243. Philadelphia Vice Com. Report. 47. Pollack, Dr., Physician, Balti- more, 166. Pontoppidan, Dr.. Danish Special- ist, 137. Pope's Essay of Man, 333. Portland Vice Com. Report, 272. Potter, Bishop, New York, 153. Powell, Aaron M., New Tork, 43, 55, 235, 239, 243, 380. Prostitution in Europe, Flexner, 231, 369. Purity Journal, J. B. Caldwell, 267. Rauschenbusch, W., Prof. Roch- ester, N. Y., Why nations fail on, 12, 302; family life supreme question of social order, 318. Record-Herald, Chicago, 220. Reynolds, James B., Counsel Am. Social Hygiene Assn., New York, 58, 243. Rixey, Surg.-Gen. Am. Navy, 181. Roe, Cliftord G., Chicago, 59, 61, 248-52. Rockefeller, John D., Jr., New York, 66, 369. Roosevelt, Theo., Col., Wilful sterility on, 196, 274; child la- bor on, 216; signed treaty, 242. Ross, British Army Surg., 29. Royal Commission Blue Book, Eng., 88; vice In men not evil as in women, 92. Ruskin, John, Author, Eng., Youth and, 349; traces all good to purity, 350. Sanger, Dr. W. W., Author, Hist, of Pros., 15, 16, 23, 71, 80; Re- cent Appendix criticised, 383. Scott, Ben]., Chamberlain of Lon- don, 24, 108, 118, 123. Seippel, Clara P., Physician Cook Co. hospital, children slain by venerealism on, 165. Sellgman, Dr. B. R. A., Author of "The Social Evil," 50, 244. Shaftesbury, Lord, 115. Shakspeare, W., 14, 15, 155, 303, 322, 348, 351. Shield, The Organ of Ladies' Na- tional Ass'n, Eng., 138. Shutter, Rev. D. Marion, Chair- man, Minneapolis Vice Com. 264. Sims, Edwin W., Chicago, 59. 60, 254. Sims, Dr. Marlon, Regulations for U. S. on, 41. Solomon, Single standard and, 17. Spencer, Anna Garlin, Author, Mrs. Butler on, 102. Spencer, David S., Authority on Japan, 37. Spencer, Herbert, Scientist, Dis- eases acts on, 84. Standard Dictionary, 8. Stansfeld, Sir Jas., M. P., Eng., 21, 55, 115, 116, 233, 276. Stead, W. D., Journalist, Eng., Maiden Tribute his, 112; Na- tional sensation by, 113; "If Christ Came to Chicago," 288. Steadwell, B. S., Pres. Purity Federation, La Crosse, Wis., 263. StefEen, Lincoln, Journalist, 203. St. Louis, Committee of, 100, 43. Stimson, Sec. of War, Washing- ton, 195. Stoos, Prof.. Switzerland, 75. Stow, Author of "Survey of Lon- don," 27. Stuart, James, M. P., Eng., 141. Suetonius, as a witness, 22. Sumner, Walter T., Bishop, late Dean of Chicago, 201, 264. Tacitus, Ancient prostitution on, 22; Chastity of ancient Ger- mans, 319. Tait, Dr., Edinburgh, Author "Magdalenism," 71. Taylor, Bayard, on China, 38. Taylor, Chas. Bell, Surg. Midland Bye Infirmary, Eng., a vigor- ous opponent of C. D. Acts, 125. Taylor, Graham, Prof., Econo- mist, etc., Chicago, 309. Thierry, Dr., Brussels, prevalence of syphilis, 121. Thorem, French Author, 230. Torney, Surg-Gen., U. S. Army, 184, 194. Tresscote, Louise, quoted, 146. Van Dyke, Hy., Prof. Princeton Uni., "The Spirit of America" quoted, 219. Venereal Problem of Army and Navy, Lieut.-Col. Kean, 189. Vigilance, Organ of A. V. A., 69; Dr. Eliot's address in, 265. Wallace, Alfred Russel, Scientist, 301, 315. Washington, Booker T., 353. Waugh, Benj., Sec. London Soc, Stead's revolutionary move- ment In London, told by, 113. Wiley, Dr. Harvey, Chief, Chem- istry Bureau, Wash., Value of health and life on, 206. Willard, Frances, Pioneer In pur- ity movement, 240. Wilson, Henrv J., M. P., Eng., 98. Wilson, Dr. H. M., Daughter of H. J. Wilson, ardent worker for moral uplift, 28. Willcox, Prof., Statistical author- ity, U. S., 207. Tear-book of Nat'l Soc. for Study of Scientific Education, 203, 206, 322. Zabel, W. C, Dist. Atty., Mil- waukee, 297. Topical Index A Decade of Awakening, 240. A New Weapon, 247. A Voice and a Vision, 275. Address, U. S. to European Con- gress, 242; British Physicians to Americans, 105, 380, 387. Adultery, Woman taken, 148, 344. Age of Consent, W. T. Stead on, 113; Lord Shaftesbury and, 115, 142, 311; Chart of Amer- ican laws on, 392. Alcohol, vice and, 71, 293; Vene- rialism, 176, 182. American, nation went to war, 10; education, 10; license and liberty in, 11; Medical Ass'n advocate license, 41, 46 ; Awak- ening the, 235; Federation for Sex Hygiene the, 265; Vigi- lance Ass'n, 265. Amsterdam, regulations at, 121. Ancient Nations, prostitution and, 17. Army, American, statistics of re- liable, 169; venereal peril of, 173; alarming increase of dis- ease, 174-6; loss of men by ve- nerealism, 182 ;, stoppage of pay as a remedy, 186; chastity recommended, 187; Secretary of War on Increase of venereal- ism, 187; prostitution principal cause of disease, 189; marriage of soldiers considered, 191; men who enlist are good aver- age citizens, 194. Art, Sensualism and, 20. Athens, prostitutes, classes in, 18. Auction, Women for sale as at, 64. Augustus and Nero, Vices of, 20. Babes of five working in canner- ies in U. S., 217. Babies' eyes and venereal dis- ease, 16.3, 209. Babylon, prostitution in, 17. Bad pre-eminence of France, 24. Bedford Hill Farm, girls in, 228. Belgium, ideal regulations at, 34. Beneficence, resolutions on, 237. Berlin, regulations at, 31, 156. Bible schools, purity teaching needed at, 334. Big vice business in Chicago, 78, 201. Black plague, the great, 159. Blackmailers, vice and, 154. Blindness, venereal diseases and, 161; children and, 163; in Ger- many, 172; caused by gonor- rhoea, 209, 211. Boys, messengers to brothels, 292. Brewers, brothels and, 294. British Lion aroused, 110. British, regulations at colonies, Royal Commission, action in India — Women furnished to soldiers, 29; Continental and general federation, 55; Royal Commission reported — ^Vice in men not same as in women, 92. Brussels, system attacked at, 34; police chief on women's sub- jection, 54; conferences at — Resolutions adopted, 130, 135. Brothels, white slave traffic sus- tained by, 134-5; principal cen- ter of venereal disease, 189. Business Men, vice dealers and, 296-7. Cadet system, the, 65, 66, 77. Can the Plagde be Stated? 184. Canada, No C. D. Acts there, 30. Carlyle, Thos., Author, Eng., 353. Causes of Prostitution, traffic in women, numerous authorities quoted, 71-74; alcohol, 71, 293; low wages, 217-229; unchastlty of men, primary cause of, 319; Dr. Chas. Eliot on, 339; Plex- ner on, 374. Chaldea, prostitution at, 17. Charlemagne, edicts of, 386. Chastity, Semitic religions and, 16; Urged upon soldiers and sailors, 187; Thoreau on, 230; Physicians' declaration on, 250 ; Women and, 319; Religion and, 333; Shakspeare on, 351; Dr. Cabot on, 352; ancient Germans and, 319-21. Chicago, license sought, 44; Number of cases of syphilis in, 169; Big Vice business in, 78; 201; Vice Commission, 259; Conference at, 252; Business men petition mayor for vice district, 296; Law and Order League, 260. Children, Venereal diseases, 161; slain by venerealism, 165; Dr. Seippel gives alarming facts of, 165; Dr. Kelly and Dr. Pol- lack on, 166; effects of parents' diseases and, 210; blindness of, 163, 172, 209; Babes employed in U. S. factories, 217; work- ing hours and wages of, 219; physical and moral degeneracy of, 323; Judge Mack reveals sad conditions, 327. China, British military in, 30; No license In — women sold, 38; San Francisco report on, 39; Bayard Taylor, 38. Christ, women and, 148 342; light and, 322; Ethical teach- ings of, 345. Christianity, Social Conscience and, 279; supreme need of, 337. Church, the, purity and, 335. Civilization, greatest task of, 301; traffic in women and, 296. Commissions of Vice Inquiry, Table of, 260-262. Committee of Fifteen, New York, 245. Committee of Fourteen, New York, 77. Committee of Seven (Medical), 244. Committee of Fifteen, Chicago, 289. COMMEECB AND CONSCIBNCB, 28,5; Dr. Lydston on, 230: shocking moral obliquity — instances in Paris, Chicago, Milwaukee, 288, 292. Commercialism of Vice, 8, 36, 62, 2S5. CONSTEUCTiVE POLICY, Judge Olson on, 355-368; Charts to illus- trate, 362, 363, 364. Contagious Diseases Acts, prin- ciple of in New York law, 45; How and why passed, 81-2; Character of, working of, 86; No redress — Herbert Spencer on, 87; moral effects of, 89; Suicides caused by — Mtb. Per- cy's case, 90; Women's petition against, 95; Nat'l Ass'n orga- nized, 97; Cardinal Manning on, 98; Prof. Newman on, 99; John Stuart Mill on, 88; Par- liament aroused, 104 ; Cabinet Minister enters fight against, 105; Issue at elections, 110; W. T. Stead's avalanche against them; A national sensation, 113; Lord Shaftesbury's last appeal, 115; The Acts are repealed, Copenhagen, regulation in, 33. Constructive Policy, A, Judge Olson, 355. Continuance of Species, Lecky on, 347. Convictions against white slav- ers, 69, 70, 253. Cost of Social Evil, 201, 211, 212; Debit and Credit of the Evil, 213. Crib System, Kendall on, 57; San Francisco and, 154. Dance halls, 312. Deaths by venereal diseases, not reported, 162; increase of among registered women, 126 ; tabla of In England, 129. Decade of interest in subject, 244-249. Declaration of physicians on chastity, 250, 251. Delegates, first European Con- gress at, 231. Denmark, regulation system of, 33. Disorderly houses, ward syndi- cates and, 203. Divorce, marriage and, 309. Driven to death, Mrs. Percy's case, 90. Druggists, vice vendors and, 287. Economic Question, The, 199; Social Evil and, 200; Cost of prostitution — money averaged at brothels — leeches that fat- ten, 201-4; Values of service, cost of disease; Value of health, life, and soul, 205-10; Table of comparative expendi- tures, 211; Summary of losses, 212; Marriage versus brothel, 213; Low w^ages — army of breadwinners, Jane Addams on, Roosevelt on, Kansas City re- port on, wages in various girls' work, 214-225. Bducatlon, 135; Why needed, 322- 342; Who, when, how, to teach, 324; Need of it, Judse Mack on, 327-9; grades of and subnor- mal conditions in public schools, 365. Egypt, sensual hotbed. A, 16, 17. England, Early sanction of vice in, 26; Stews of, in London, 27; No laws on until Charles First, 27; Puritans' severe act, 27; White slaves imported to, 50; Contagious Diseases Acts passed, 82 ; Extortion case re- ported by London Times, 157. Failure of regulation system in Paris, 133; Bngland, 119, 3S0. Farrar, Archdeacon, on Rome's corruption, 21. Fathers, education and, 331. First International Congress on regulation system, 231. Foreword, 7. France, reaps harvest of vice — its Kings and their immorali- ties, laws of, bad pre-eminence of, 23-4; Rules of brothels, 24; Buonaparte and license in, 25; Venereal diseases in, 119; Westminster Revlew^ on, 119. Germany, blindness and gonor- rhoea in, 172; Commission of Women asked for, 138. Ghouls, pimps and, 303. Gonorrhoea, prevalence of, 161; child-blindness and, 163; wom- en's diseases and, 163; enor- mous proportions of, 167; Esti- mate two millions in U. S., 167; proportion suffering from it — estimates vary, 168 ; Serious possibilities of — skills many, 208; Dr. Morrow on its effects on efficiency, 209. Grand Jury, New York report of, 66. Great Britain, Venereal Diseases in, 122; Navy, 123; Increased death rate in, 125. Grogshops and U. S. Armv and Navy, 186. Hamburg, Edict in 1506, 32. Health as an economic asset, 206. Hebrews and family life of, 340. Hebrew Church, The, Conference of, 339. Herbert, Lord, on army condi- tions in England, 81. History of Regulation, 13. Holland, regulations at, 36. Hong Kong, C. D. Acts at, 30. Hotels, disorderly, Syracuse Re- ports on — hotel registers in evidence, 285. Hungary, regulations authorized, 34. Hygiene, police rule and, 117; morality and, 142; Resolutions on, 239 ; Societies organized to aid, 246; Not the supreme is- sue, 346. Hygiene Utopia, 131. Illinois Vigilance Ass'n, orga- nized, 252; worked for injunc- tion bill, 256. Immigration, Commission Report on white slavery, 61; undeni- able facts — thousands yearly sold — innocent girls captured— a tyijical case, 62; system of exploiting — unspeakable atroc- ities — girls for sale described In detail, 63; law to regulate, 399. Immorality commended, 16; not same in men as in women. 92-3. Indictment of white slavery, Sid- ney Kendall, by, 57; James B. Reynolds, by, 58. Inequality of regulative laws, 146; a woman of the demi- monde on. Dr. Mauriac on, 147. Inferior Courts Act, New York, prostitution licensed by, 45. Injunction anfl abatement law — Iowa first to pass it, 255; twelve states adopt it, 256; Congress passes it for D. C, 256; Text of Act, 387. Injustice, Contagious Diseases Acts of, 96; Prof. Stuart on, 141; of regulation system, 143, 156, 157. Insanity, Enormous rate of through venerealism, 168; nine million dollars voted in Illi- nois in one year — numbers in asylum; Drs. Mahon and Perci- val on, 168. Insurance, Syphilis and, 208; Ger- many in, 205. International Congress, delegates at the Geneva, 235. International Federation, 278. International Treaty, 242; Edwin Sims records it, 242 ; Pres. Roosevelt signed it — text of, 243; James B. Reynolds on, 243. Italy, Vice in ancient, 18. Italian Art-schools, immorality and — Lecky on, 20; Doctors speak on, 132. Iowa Law — • Injunction Act, 255. Japan, Commerce in girls at, 36; segregation at, 37; Japanese war -without w^ o m e n — Russ troops, official prostitutes. 197. Jesus, Women taken in adultery to, 148; honored marriage, 333; woman and, 344. Jewish Women, guard girls, 341. Justice, need of, 141; Age of con- sent and, 1^3. Juvenile depravity, 329, 330. Knowledge of sex not evil, 323; Lecky's contention criticized, 347. Leeches and Ghouls, 204, 303. Life as an Economic Asset, 206; Value of, 208. Lille, women outraged at, 157. Locomotor ataxia, syphilis and, 164; Dr. Kelly on, 167. Ladles' National Association, England, 276. London, Venerealism In, 132; im- proved moral conditions of — Plexner on, 378. Losses through immorality, 214. Low wages, vice and, 216; Jane Addams and, 217; Roosevelt and, 218. Marriage, low rate of venereal disease in Philippine army at- .tributed to, 191; its value to American soldiers, 193; Army reports on, 191-6; cost less than vice, 213 ; is foundation of soci- ety, 309; suggested restrictions need caution, dangers of, 313; Wallace protests against re- pression of, 316; Dr. Cabot on, 394. Marriage and Divorce are twin subjects, 309. "Measure for Measure" quoted, 15, 27, 155. Medical Ass'n to oppose license system, 105. Men, vice less than in women, 92; can avoid venereal dis- eases, 189; demoralization by, 196. Mental subnormals. Judge Olson on, 358,. Messenger boys, house of ill- fame, employed at, 292. Militarism, tendency of, 173. Milwaukee merchants petition for red-light district, 297. Minneapolis Vice Commission, 156. Mothers, best primary teachers, 325. Moral effects of license system, 89. Moral, values considered, 213; issues, 265; conscience degrad- ed, 293-298. Morals, resolutions of Congress. 240; soldiers and — a military critic on, 194; committee of in Chicago, 265, Nation, backward swing of, 44; favored regulation, 146; rela- tion of health and life to, 209. National decay, 160; Macaulay on, 28, 201; Rauschenbusch on, 302; vitality of, 206-209; waste of, 210-213. Navy, venerealism in, 179; table of, 180. Negro slavery, white slavery worse than, 8. New York, licensed vice in, 45; $200,000,000 plunder in, 151; How it was done, 152; Bishop Potter's protest, 153; Com. of 15. 245. New York, Gonorrhoea, reported cases, 161; comparison of ven- ereal with other diseases, 162; men affected with gonorrhoea, 169. Norway, regulations at, 36. Ophthalmia, New York cases, 161; Gonorrhoea a principal cause of, 163. Ostrich-like policy, 191. Pander's, Cliff. G. Roe on, 253. Pandering, law of Illinois, Mas- sachusetts, 257; Text of, 371. Percy, Mrs., Suicide of, 90; Lon- don Telegraph on — daughter of, 91. Paresis, causes of, 168. Paris, regulation and, 117; health dispensary, 118; failure of reg- ulation, 133; syphilis in, 203. Pimps, panders and, 77, 293; Ghouls and, 303. Pharisees, woman and, 343. Philadelphia, Vice Commission, 204, 266; against segregation, 202, Philippines — prostitution in — Roosevelt on, 177; small rates of venerealism among native soldiers — marriages the cause, 191. Physicians advocate license, 41; organize Ass'n against C. D. Acts, 105; start new Journal, 106; failure of regulation and, 119-121; declaration of, recom- mending chastity, 246-7; dis- pense opiates to houses of 111- fame, 287. PLtJNDER AND GRAFT, Tammany's forty thieves and, 151 ; San Francisco and, 154; Bishop Potter's protest, 153. Police graft and — prices paid, 153. 165. Prevention, better than rescue, 308. Price, women's purchase of, 48; slave market — women for, 78; how rated, personal charms cataloged, 64, 79. Property owners, prostitution and, 287-8-9; Chicago Vice Com. testimony, 290. Prophylaxis of venereal diseases, committee on, 160. Prostitutes, Lecky on, 13; Brit- ish gov't supplied them to sol- diers, 29; sickness of a crime, 46; not free but slaves, Victor Hugo on, 49; delegates to church congress furnished with them, 32; carloads sent to Liege, 54; their price and mar- ket value, 78; practically all diseased, 167; unskilled work- ers and, 373. Prostitution, history of, 15 ; Soc- rates and, 18; necessity of, 28; alcohol and, 70, 71, 72; causes and extent of, 71; coat of, 70, 211, 375 ; can be suppressed, 304. Prostitution in Europe, Flexner on, 369-377. Psychology, Judge Olson and, 356; tests by in public schools, 366. Public opinion, change of. Dr. Eliot on, 244; seen in press and plays, 245. Pulpit, sex purltv and the, 334. Puritans, severity of, 27. Queen's women, prostitutes as, 92. Queensland, C. D. Acts, 30. Rabbis, conference of, 339. Race culture, urged, 267. Raines law, bad effects of, 245. Rape, age of consent and, 142; decrease of under injunction law, 255; Shakspeare on. 348. Real estate agents — rent prop- erty for vice trade, 290. Registration, women of, 22, 81, 86. Regulation, history of, 13-48. Red-light, districts petitioned for by business men in Chicago and Milwaukee, 296-7; policy of unthinkable, 368. Religion, chastity and, 333. Remedies, 191, 316-352. Repeal of C. D. acts in Eng., 115. Rescue, prevention and, 307. Riots in England, 107. Rockefeller jury, report of, 6S. Rome, Sensualism In, 20; Farrar on, 21; Fall of Empire, 21; Captive women in, 22. Russia, old system in, 35; Con- gress at condemned regulation, 138. Saloons, prostitution and, 293, 294; dance halls and, 312; part- nership In, 294. San Francisco, graft scandal at, 154. Seattle, pimps living on girls, 65; mayor recalled on vice issue, 258. Seduction, men and, fall of girls by, 73. Segregation, Rome and, 21; Ja- pan, 37; quarantine and, 189; opposed by vice commissions, 268; Why? Where? Who? 269; Judge Olson on, 368; Dr. W. A. Evans on, 385; impossible to make a case for, 377. Segregation, Vice Commissiens all reject It, 47. Semitic religions, vice and, 16. Senate documents on white slav- ery, 63. Servants, wages of, against the- ory of poverty as chief cause of vice, 229. Sex, power and importance of, 337, 349. Sex -Education, Gov. Dunne blocks it in State Univ., 332. See Education. Sex hygiene, American federa- tion for, 246-265; advocated, 267; importance of, 322; how and when to teach it, 324; not the supreme issue, 346; Judge Olson on, 365. Slavery, worse than, 203. Slaves, negro, not prostitutes, 8. Slave-trade, Mrs. Butler on, 54; California Cribs and, 57. Spain, Roman system in, 26. Social Evil, definition, 7; Macau- lay on, 7; Hugo on, 49; Selig- man on, 50. Soldiers, alcohol and, 176; vener- eal diseases and, 122, 127, 174, 178; wearing uniform in grog- shops forbidden, 185; loss of service by disease, 182, 188; remedies for diseases, 190 ; marriage of, 191; a military critic and, 194. Sources, prostitution of, 52: 223, 293, 373; Morrow on — Kansas City report — Chicago Vice Com., 71-74. Venereal diseases of, 170, 171. Souls of women, 192; worth of, 213. St. Louis, license law in, 32; Com. of 100, 43. Sterility, Roosevelt on, 274. Stews of Vice, Early England, 27; church property used, 27. Sub-normal children, vice and, 358, 366. Suicides, women, 90-91. Sunday-school interest, 262. Sweden, regulations at, 35. Switzerland, no license in, 35. Syracuse, morals com., 275. Syria, vice in, 17. Syphilis, how contracted, 119; false security offered, 120; rate of in British army, 122; num- bers afflicted with, 161, 169; in- sanity caused by, 168; how to avoid, 189. Tammany, police toll on social evil, 151. Telegraph service and vice trade — young boys as messengers, 292. Telephone companies and vice trade, 291. The Man's Part, Chicago Vice Commission on, 198. The Supreme Appeal, 346. Traffic, white-slave must go, 74; Dr. De Graaf on, 76. Treaty, international transporta- tion of women, 247. Tuberculosis, not so great a scourge as venerealism, 162, 163, 164, 167. Turkey, stringent laws in, vice in, 36. Unchastity of men and prostitu- tion, 319. Unequal moral standard, 336. Uniform, Army and Navy, U. S. forbids it in grog-shops, 18,5. United States, license substituted for liberty, 10; license advocat- ed for, 39; medical ass'n favors license, 41 ; nation swings backward, 44; rich market for white slave trade, 56; loss of life by venereal diseases, 209; International treaty, 247. Unity of human interests, Lin- coln on, 140. Venereal Diseases, Paris, 118; British Navy, 123; Increased death rate, 125; Improvement after repeal of C. D. acts in England, 127; testimony of ex- perts, 130; London and New York compared with Paris, 132; Jonathan Hutchinson on treat- ment of, 135; Brussels confer- ences on, 133-6; children slain by, 165; sources of, 170; alco- hol and, 176. 182; outweighs all other sanitary questions in army and navy, 185; remedies applied, 186; more to be feared than war, 184; economic losses by, 202-4. Venereal Peril in America, In- ventory of — appalling, 159 ; New York statistics on, 161; army and navy, 183; can the plague be stayed? 185; chastity for soldiers urged, 188. Vice, wages of, not to be com- pared with honest earnings, 226; no continuous prizes in, 228; Jane Addams on, 229. Vice Commission Reports, 259; List of, 260-2. Votes, women's in Illinois, 272. Vigilance Ass'n, III., 252, 256. Vigilance Ass'n, National, 2tg. Voice, A, and a Vision, 257-281. Wages, women's, low, a menace, 214; Jane Addams on, 215, 219; Roosevelt on, 217; Kansas City report and, 218; an experiment by a lady, 218; Grace Dodge and Y. W. C. A. on, 220; effi- ciency and, 222; Bedford Hills farm and, 230. War-cry, a startling, 97. War and its weapons, the, 301. Waste of life and resources, 209- 210. Wealth, social evil and, 200. Weighed in the balances, 117. White slaves, loaded as cattle, 54; described as cattle for sale, 64; men live on earnings of, 65. White slavery, not American — Victor Hugo on, 49; Seligman — London Times on, 50; Cribs for, 57 ; Immigration Commission on, 61; thrilling stories of, 62-4. White slave traffic, European up- rising against, 55; war on, 59; newspaper records on, 69; Mas- sachusetts vice report on, 68; reality of, 77; brothels — the stronghold of, 135; Suppression of, 249. White slave traffic act. How pro- moted and passed, 254; Text of, 394. Woman of underworld writes on evils, 145. Woman suffrage, Illinois aids morals, 275. Womanhood, traffic in, 296. ^P?*?"' petition against license, Working hours for girls, 219. 95-6; moral effects of evils on, ttt , ■ ■., t^ ^, , 89; Innocent accused, 144 Worlcing men, Mrs. Butler's ap- wlves and others accused by P^^' 'O, 102, iSl. police, 145; affected with ven- World's peace, 193. ereal, 161; gonorrhoea, horrors mr i^. ■ . or,n of, 163; wages of, 220; raultl- World's vision, a,, 279. *""^1®.. working — Jane Addams Worship, women and, 342. on, 221; wages of, 222-226; ap- ^ ,, v..,,^ . ,,„ peals to, 237; standards of Y°"?e men, gullability of, 119; purity. Lord Byron on 230 f^i^e security offered them, chastity of, 319; Jesus and, 342.' ■'^^''• Women of redlight — what be- ^9R^^ people, teaching them, comes of them when houses ^^3. closed, 47. Youth — Ruskin on, 349. Tables: Statistical and Reference Newspaper Records of White Slavery 69 Syphilis in France 119 Venereal patients in French hospitals 121 Syphilis in British Army 122 Syphilis in British Navy 123 Ratios of Venereal in British Army, before and after C. D. Acts 124 Death rate of registered prostitutes 126 British Army recruits — Venereal diseases, 1884 to 1909 128 British Army: Admissions to hospital, 1884 to 1909 129 Venereal diseases, England, general population 129 New Tork, Cases of gonorrhoea reported by 678 physicians.. 161 New York, Comparison of diseases in 1901 162 U. S. Army: Ratios of admission, venereal and other diseases 175 U. S. Army: Noneffectiveness through 175 Alcoholism and venerealism compared 176 Diseases in U. S. Artny in the Philippines 178 Venerealism in Armies, compared 179 Hospital Admission — Venereal, U. S. Navy 180 Hospital Admission^ — Ten years' reports 180 Comparison, U. S. with other armies 181 Venereal diseases in entire U. S. Army 188 Houses of prostitution in Philadelphia 202 Expenditures, social diseases, etc., U. S 211 Weekly wages of women, Kansas City 218 Wages of women in different trades 224 Average women's wages report 228 Vice Commissions and Investigations 260 Percent of Mental Defectives 357 Laws of U. S. for suppressing prostitution 392 JUDGE OLSON'S CHARTS 1. Subnormal children in public schools, according to grade 362 2. Subnormal children in public schools, according to age... 363 3. Percent system of estimating mental ability 364 "DOOKS by the same -^ author are announced on following pages. Orders for copies of any of them may be addressed to SAUL BROTHERS Publishers 626 Federal St. CHICAGO Library Edition, 6x9, handsomely bound. 300 pages. Price $1.50 net. Postage 16 cents. Published by Fleming H .Revell Company, London, NewYork.Chicago The Bible in Shakspeare Some Sentences '^'*'* Outlook: "This excellently printed vol- c TVT ume may well find a place on the shelf of rrom INumerOUS every reader's library; for what reader has Proas IVnt-inAo not heard of the so-called 'absence of rellg- X 1C9S 1.1 u I ices ion in Shakspeare?' The author proceeds to show the effect of the Bible on the poet, his versatility In its use, his types of character taken from the Scrip- tures, and the religious thought in the plots of his plays." Xe"- York Post: "Scripture and Shakspeare lend and borrow light by mutual re- flection." Philadcliihla Item: "After reading this book it Is impossible to argue for one instant that Shakspeare was not a natural Christian." Ueligrious Telescope: "It Is hard to estimate the value of this work. Certainly no one should be without it." The Consrresationalist: "Of interest to Christian students of Shakspeare and of the Eng- lish Bible." 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