The New York herald., 1867-02-07
THE SOCIAL EVIL.
Qua BOSTON CORRESPONDENCE.


The Social Evil and "sfiiiiary Necessity
How They Came In Collision af Nashville
History Of the License System mt That Post
Results of If-Interesting Stntisfics-tser er
erai Grant Approved a Practical Plan, &,
Boston, Feb. A. 1867.
The HERALD is doing Invaluable service to the ii
ssress OF public morals by its discussion Of tho cause
of the socal evi and the remedies for it, have Il
information that enables to make a contribution
&hs topic which will probably be new to ninetenths
khe educated men in the country and for the reason
mainly that the religious press will not permit the fear
tu evi 10 be named excepting in the most distant an
eehe dainticst terms Body and soul, men and women
gyouth and age innocent and guilty are alike its vic
stms. and yet neither England nor America has eve
scred to regulate H. although they slways admit tina
sshey cannot abolish it. France Holland, nearly all 0
.ens Continental nations to greater less degree
sarain the wrong that they cannot exrcae but in the
mother country, land and in the British colonies
'ssT s sroasa.appery policy Is everywhere triumphant
me social evil was and only grappled with
ro9s gloves Dy "a man who had no humbug in him. and
wno h.d power tocsry out his plans refer colone
fvpauiding. = Michigan officer, who Afterwards com
.nanded the Twelfth Tennessee cavalry
the facts that will now we're gathered at Nash
Vile Tennessee from the manuscript sports of Surgeon
aand his starr "'''' A'''
Earty IN the sammar Of 1853 General r. S. Granger
shon commanding the post Of Nashvle was daily and
amoss hourly besei by the commanders and surgeons
nsgmsnt orging him TO devise method in order
preserve the health and eciencvof troops rid
she city OF the wanton The first arrangement Mt
That suggested Itself was expulsion They collected
SDSetner ana Put on beard steamer "On the Sh OF
july wrote Surgeon Chambers sthe boat with her re-
mrkASe crew. showed Of from her moorngs On reach
tnS LOUISVILLE, Kentucky, whore they directed
discharge their freight the authorities refused 10 receive
any such commercial articles The manager the boat
awaitea mem. By an order from Washington the boat
was orected TO rcturn. She and discharged her
miserable cargo on August g. 1863,
Sickness among the soldiers Increased at once and
seao tne ocers renewed their complaints and demands
Lof % remedy The Provost Marshal. Colonel spauldng
lthen OF the Eighteenth Michigan) proposed with Cen
eral Grangers PERMISSION to institute plan for the
preservation Of tn. health Of the city this particular
The General sanctioned his scheme II was put into
operation at once He proposed that these persons
should Do compelled TO report to medical officer for ex-
animation and II found be free from contagious dis
Sases permitted to spiy their vocation on two cond
uons The drst WAS that they should pay fee for
stated periods to medical inspection whenever
sney were found to be diseased they sent to hos
pdta and allow to leave It until they were cured
yive dollars was charged for the License one dollar
TOR every certificate Of health They took out their
certificates with their license and were requested
70 the support OF the hospital to which the sick
On the Goth Of August .notlce was served on everv
Spuoiic woman to report for examination permission
70 continue her traffic Those who failed 70 respond
everybody, accepting eminentv practical mon were
opposed 70 this plan The pulpit and the brothc united
Vas great success visited the hospital in fall Of
tnepo1Od "
question that decidedly dsgusted nearly pre-
vented mo from prosecuting my researches After a
long ana hard walk over muddy roads aud through
vIushy hoows reached the female hospital outside of
Nashville. sentinel halted me. He was on guard
sness After asking my business, he told to wait
Suntil no sent for Dr. Chambers Meanwhile he opened
aa conversation by the friendly interrogatory:-
8 Do you-kccp bawdy house, .teoS''
Tue muscles Of my right hand contracted suddcnly
eeut then what are nsts against bayonstsS
me Doctor told ms that up 10 the LIST Of January,
restored TO health He said that II the institution had
mot been established there would hundreds Of
and hsr rcas % 10
iifa he then stated curious facts Eleven Of
these women, he said had been reformed and
leading vrtu0us unmarried lives thirty
bad forsaksn their old mode of existence
Red women This result had been attained without any
.nsn Of the world, and did not talk at these women
xhey ddn tell them what miserable sinners they WERE
o. Tnsy only quietly showed them the folly OF their
course from common sense point Of view. The girls
put In that light while they would have
,:nsd away from any sort sort of thsologicsl nstrac,
persona Dr. Chambers had taken biographical notes Of
ono hundred and twenty-sx Of these He found
thai only four q them were educated They said ha.
treatment they received from their friends husbands
me Doctor believed that the majority Of the women
induced 70 adopt this mode Of making living by
the cruelty Of their relatives or guardians Most Of them
orphans, and had been unkndIy dealt with bv their
wanton By choice Some Of these persons were really
enonomaniars; that Ia they were the victims Of the
srnaady known as nymphomania The Doctor thought
that sournfhs Of ali tho could restored 70
yruous life the proper efforts were made for rcscuing
Now FOR the direct results OF the system established by
Colonel Spauiding Iquotc In full som my diary account
he number OF paaepts In the hospital averages from
dve TO ton. II has been as high as twentyeght Every
arrival ooops from tue front the North invariably
lncrease6 the sick list Excepting az such times sick
ne9 very seldom contracted IN the city. II Is I'M
ported from Podsnappery regions The statistics sh ow
That o1oers arc more immoral than the enlisted men;
get hardly . month now, whereas formerly II
daily incident Is prescription made for them. The
plan has OF from the sick list and
thereby promoted the efficiency Of the army One
port concludes in these words
The method adopted in tho at this post has met
with the hearty approval Of all classes OF society,"
memo ing with the Lieutenant General commanding the
armies Of the United States, and Of all citizens who have
had the subject before together with the-unforu-
themselves and viii add that II similar plan
had been adopted at the various cities North where the
troops went passed through them, veternnizng
Shere would have been Of sickness where
now there twenty. The facts OF this hospital bear
mo out In this conclusion
The most noteworthy Of these facts, to resume my
diary, and must ont mysef with one illustration
patients at the sp-cal military hospitals only twenty
four OF them contracted their maades at Nashville.
Compains from oniccrs have entirely ceased. After
an experiences of one year Or Chambers wrote:-
From carefully kept statistics am moro than ever
Impressed with the opinion that the system attended
like plan will be adopted In all the cities where
troops stationed Already have been sent
here from Memphis and Louisville to examine into the
workings OF the plan In the city; and have doubt
those cities III have similar plan In short time.
There are between three hundred and four hundred
these persons Nashville The fees paid to the medical
officers by the for licenses and certificates en-
tirely support the hospital The adoption Of this plan
therefore, in other Cities would be attended with
EXPENSE ON the contrary, IL would save II universally
adopted millions Of dollars and hundreds OF lives ever,
gear
DE- Chambers is a Keptuckian, and II my memor.
serves me rightly, from Covngton. He Intended
perfect his statistics and publish the results He ha
not done yet II he should see this number OF tn
sfIsRALp 10 will remind him that he has IL in his powc
20 mako valuable contribution alike 10 the medics
rand social sciences
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