Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1838-02-07
Vol. X....No. 20.

Low WAGES OF FEMALES-A case af
Pr0st!tuti0m.-We present the two fol.
lowing documents, the first is an extract
from the Advocate Of Moral Reform and
tho last contains the views of A. E,
Grimke, being part of one of her letters
but recently put into our hands N. E.
Spectator.
"A work has recently been published,
entitled, DE la Prostitution. dams Ia
Vile de Paris" and reviewed in the Ju}v
number of the Foreign Quarterly Re-
view, which supplies the very kind Of
information, in regard to Paris which we
want respecting our American citizens
We are now more concerned with the
cause of female depravity, than with The
number of the depravcd.
Of FIVE thousand one hundred ana
eighty-three prostitutes in Paris,-
l44l We're led to that course by sheer
destitution;
1855 were orphans, OR abandoned by
their parents;
81 took TO this course TO support lsc1
and destitute relatives;
20 TO support young relatives;
% were widows cndea voring TO SUD-
port families;
$50 came to Paris to conceal themselves;
4O4 were brought there by soldiers or
students; =
$50 were servants seduced by their
masters;
l425 were kept miStresses, deprived Of
their protectors or abandoned by them.
The above statistics are invaluable to
the friends Of moral reform. They pre-
sent the very facts wanted 10 enable them
10 arrive at the conclusion necessary 10
guide their efforts, and without which
those efforts must be in a greater or less
degree i'll directed.
Two thousand seven hundred arI
eighty-6ve Of the above number, it would
appear, were driven to an immoral life
bv WANT Not that We think this a u.s.
LITIGATION Of sin, but ii suggests the iuqu.-
ry whether, BY tImel y provision for the
destitute, many might not be prevented
from sinking into intamY} And another
thing: it has been usual TO blame the
GuiIIv female alone, and to charge upon
her all the guilt. Blu, is it so? Do not
the above facts show that men are found
50 base 50 inhuman, as 10 make the dav
of want the opportunity Of attacking the
citadel Of virtue, and OF destroying forever
the poor victim of misfortune. What an
exhibition of human depravity is here
presented Were an examination ros-
} sible, in Newly ork or PhiladeIL hia, bow
> many among the abandoned females
would be found to have been forced, by
utter restitution, to adopt their Present
course Of life How many might ha, y
been saved, had some kind hand been
stretched out for their reliet Instead Of
this, some low, base, unleeling wretch,
calling himself man, profting by tI,,ir
necessity, has accomplished the work OF
ruin.
There is another way in which the qen.
eraI opinion, that women are inferior &c
men, is manifest, that bears with .renoeo.
-, dous effect on the laboring class, and in
deed on almost all who are Obliged to
earn a subsistence, whether it be by men.
tai or physical exertion-,I allude 10 the
dlsproportlonate value set on the time srd
labor of men and women. A man uho
is engaged in teaching, can alwavs. bc.
ieve, command higher price for toition
than wonan--even when he teach
the same branches, and is not in any re.
spect superior to the woman. This +
know is the case in boarding and Other
schools with which | have been acquaint.
ed, and it is so in every occupation in
which the sexes engage indiscriminately
= AS tor example, IN tailoring, man has
twice, or thrice as much for MAKING q
y Walstcoat or pantaloons as a woman. a !
Z though the work done bv each NAV &c
II equally good. In those emoluments
y which are peculiar to women, their time
= is estimated at onl y half the value of thai
:, OF men. A woman who goes out to wash
" works as hard in proportion, as a wooc
- sawyer, or coal HEAVIER, but she is nc
generally able 10 make more than half q!
:. much by days work. The low remu
~ neratlon which women receive for thei
y work, has claimed the attention of few
- phllanthrepists, and hope it will eontir
; ue to DO so until some remedy IS appliet
=. tor this enormous evil. have known
widow, left with four or five children t,
provide for, unable to leave home becaus
;, her pless babes demand her attentio,
~ compelled TO earn a scanty subsistence
e by making coarse shirts at IL cents
" piece, or taking in washing, for which ST.
" was paid by some wealthy persons IL l.
cents per dozen. Ali these things eyinc
the low estimation in which woman
# held There IS get another and more dis
al astrouS consequence arising from this VI
tie scr'pturat nolon-women being educa
in ed from earliest childhood, to regar
ar themselves as inferior creatures, have rc
e. that self-respect which conscious equal,