The Leavenworth weekly times. [volume] (Leavenworth, Kan.) 1870-1880, 1870-08-04

THE SOCIAL Evll.


.. PanishinE Women Oaly.
frofA the Boston WOman's Journal
The city Of st. Louis has made the first at
tempt in this country, to regulate what is
called the social evil by statutory en-
actment. 1t has just passed an ordinance for
what ii is pleased to call ''thc regulation of
houses Of ill-fame." Assuming that the vice
oflicentiousness cannot he suppressed that i, is
inevitably eradicable, an absolute concOmi-
tant Of human society, the Common Council
Of that city have decided to tolerate it, to
recognize il as business, IA they do the
liquor tafic, and to hedge 1t abOut and throw
around it the restraints and sanction Of Law.
The ordinance requires that ''all brothels
shall be reported To the Police Commission
ers, and the residents and inmates regis
tered: (why not the male visitors, also,
without whose patronage these houses could
not be suppor,ed?1 that women living as
mistreses must pay license for their voca-
ton; that no children of either sex, over ten
wears of age, shall be kept in brOtheh<; that
children, even Of inmates, shall be kept and
brought up elsewhere; that street-walking
shall be absolutely prohibited; that no per-
allowed 10 visit a brothel; tit cannot be pre-
vented, and no attempt will be made Ia en-
force this requirement.; that no music, gam
bling or liquors shall be allowed in such
houses (nor this either; that if parents or
relatives will undertake the reclamation of
an erring woman, the police shall compel
the restitution Of her person, irrespective Of
the won,an's refusal; that prostitutes shall
be subject every week to the visitation Of a
tmale) physician appointed for that purpose,
who shall prescribe the rules of their conduct,
he responsible for their sanitary condition,
and report the same To the police station;
that keepers Of brOthels shall be put under
bonds, and be responsible for damages s,is-
tanned BY visitors; and that every keeper
shall pay monthly personal and house tax.
4 Magdalen Hospital is to be established in
connection with this system, to be supported
BY keepers and inmates Of houses Of ili-fame;
in other words, the prosperous and healthy
will be compelled to maintain their sisters in
sin who are stricken by disease"
1t will be seen that this ordinance, drawn
up and enacted by men entirely, is framed
very cunningly, so as to reach women alone,
and so that men whose vices support these
houses Of sin and death, may suffer no in
convenience from disease, mOlestatiOn, tax
alton, or disclosure of their names to the
authorities, who may be, and indeed often
are, among the patrons of these houses.
The utmost secresy is provided for them, ~
we'll as economy, and immunity from the
natural and just penalties Of icentious Life.
The ordinance might with great propriety
be called, IAN ordinance to render licenti-
business safe, cheap, secret and easy to men,.
They are not even required to aid in the
support of the hospital which receives the
victims of their lusts-but the onus of the
whole nefarious traffic is laid upon women.
The sin of the women thus placed under
rigid surveillance, and burdened with heavy
taxation, springs almost entirely from their
sympathy and compliance with the depraved
desires of men, and the impossibility Of
women obtaining remunerative employment,
in the present status of the business and the
working world. ''Fivc-sixths of the vice
and crime of women can be directly traced
to their affection for men, and the submits
sion with which they yield to the stronger
and coarser SEX" says late writer on this
subject. And yet with what memorable &c
verify is punishment melted out to them;
what hindrances are in the way Of their re-
formation! The laws Of custom and society,
and the legal requirements of The land, Tor
them, are 50 stringent that angels could
hardly live up to them. Those for men are
broad, elastic, framed for the escape Of the
guilty, and accommodated to the loose notions
Of morality that prevail among them.
Sad and outrageous is Is this state Of things
and while our pulse leaps with Indignation
ut the thought Of it, We find some consolation
in the proof of the moral superiority Of
women Is shown by the statistics Of the rela-
i've criminality of the two sexes, under such
,bomimlble legislation. Take Massachu-
'etts alone. In this State, as every one knows,
here are ~, 900 or 10000 more women than
men. But Of those punished by imprison-
nent last year, the men, in minority As to
he numbers, greatly cut-numbered the wo-
men. There were ] l 500, commitments Of
men for various offences in the State, and
J, 500 commitments Of women More Than
lO,OOO nen We're imprisoned, and only about
100 WOMEN, This proportion prevails
u other States and countries, and the crimes |
Il men everywhere are from three to live |
lines as numerous a. those Of women"
Cannot the most stolid see in these facts an
argument for the admission OF women u yar-
icipatiOn in the framing vi the laws by which |
hey are governed, and are compelled To
,lsy? Should the legislation for women he |
eff in the hands OF those who graduate |
rom their ranks, from three To five times |
Is many criminals Us are recruited among /
women? Is it wise for wosnen to continue |
ll.,iIletic To the evil Of exclusive male gov
when provision is made for the
punishment Of one sex and the complete
r. md
qliliy Of the same sin at the same time and
lace? Never will the social evil he met
ri-ely, and with Successful attempt at its
and cure, until women have the
aliot, and stand on the same plat form Of
Official equality with men. With the
OEimon Council OF ST Louis made mp of
'omen, no such ordinance a. the above
Duld have been passed. And until women
Ote, such unjust and one-sidcd legislation as
MS Of Il. Louis is all that can be looked
Or.
One thing more. We have little Curl
sity to know what disposition will be made
Y St. Louis Of the large amounts that will
rIue to it from the large amount of
Monthly personal and house tax" % he
.vied on houses Ofill-fmc and their inmates.
1in 1t spend this price Of ruined souls in
eiraying the expense Of exairiOns Of the
~ Board Of Government To neighboring
ties, 10 the Rocky Mountains, to san
rancisco, or possibly to its larger and more
licked rival, New York? Or in lunches at
me of the handsome hotels, or in giving
to guests of the city from
road? Or will these wages Of SIM be
'ent in its extensive waterwOrks now in pro.
- of construction; in laying out public
lrks, or erecting magnificent halls Of jus
o.?
We remember thai Chicago raised one
ar, recently, between $50, OOO and $780,
10 from the license fee of its whi.key shop.
ID lager beer saloons, one-tenth Of which is !
,prolriated 10 the maintenance OF ala
kashinptonian HOme.' for the reforma-