The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1871-08-21

Mrs. X. suppose you would like to have
your house licensed, would you not?
Mary. Certainly, / should. 1t ought to
be licensed. The restaurants are all Ii
censed; and if the fathers and mothers of
Washington only knew what happened to
their young daughters in those places, they
would call our houses respectable.
Mrs. x. If you helped to make the
laws, / suppose you would have things
more evenly balanced?
Mary. f'll tell you what Iwould do. |
would help to make law that every man
who seduced young girl should be inn
prisoned for life, (her face white and rigid
as she spoke,) and that every gentleman
who invited lady into restaurant should
be fined for insulting her, unless it could be
proven that she understood all about it, and
was willing to go.
Mrs. X. You would make very safe
law-malSer, Notwithstanding your business.
Do you agree with Nina in believing that If
such houses as this were closed, all women
would be seduced?
Mary. No; II know they Wouldn't
There would not be time for that. They
would be knocked down on the street. If
you only knew what we do, you would
agree with us.
Mrs. Y. You believe the social evil is a
physical necessity then on the part of men?
Mary. | know it.
Mrs. X. But physical necessity cannot
be moral wrong. Do you not think then
that you are right in keeping such houses,
and men in visiting them?
Mary. Well, yes; | think it is better to
keep anice, respectable house like this than
to have all women ruined.
Mrs. X. Do you not think the fact that
this is physical necessity on the part of
men should be explained to women gener-
ally, so that they could not blame their
sons and husbands for visiting you, and so
that society might do you justice?
Mary. Women never would believe it,
until they had suffered as VIC have. Call
us what they will, nothing could make us
such brutes as the men who visit us.
Mrs. X. But why should you be given
over to eternal infamy that men may be
supplied with merely physical want? OF
course the finer part of a mans soul don't
come into this discussion at all.
| Mary. But it protects good women, yon
| see, and it earns us our living.
| Mrs. Y. Let F'good women take their
chances. The Lord never made one-hal of
the human race with necessities that de-
manded the destruction, soul and body, of
| a portion of the other half, that the major
| ty of women might be protected. We
say let that old tradition be put to the test,
and let women see whether men are men,
or monsters.
Mrs. X. And we would also like the
other tradition put to the test, and let the
whole race see whether the virtue of women
| c1,l, of nj,
upon their discretion in visiting you, instead
of running their neighbors' wives and daugll-
ters. Would you not like to see whether
these praying, untempted women could
manage to take care of themselves if men
were going to and fro in the earth, and up
and down in it, seeking whom they might
devour? Besides, there isn't any such
danger to apprehend. Don't you know
that it is the opportunity at hand, the per-
verted training that men give themselves,
and the thoughts and conversation that they
indulge in, that makes this seem neccssi-
ty? If the law made other crimes SO easy
as this would not every crime in the calen-
dar become physical necessity?
! Mary. But suppose the houses are all
shut up, and the little we have taken from
us, don't you see we should have to take
to the streets ? How much better woulC
that be?
u Mrs. X. That is the very point. Has
any opportunity ever been. offered you tt
leave this mode Of life?
Mary. Yes, we could leave it in thi
way. We could become penitents, live OF
bread and water, sleep on hard beds unit
we get very thin, have our hair cut off
have some good Christian set to watcl
over us, and if we stand it several months
we could get place insome lady's kitchen
but we couldn't keep it long, for many 0
us have been brought up ladies, and th'
lady of the house would always suspect us
and upon the slightest provocation woult
turn us out in the streets, to come back tt
our old life, while the men who made III
what we are can rise to any position the.
| choose. ts nt tite
Mrs. x. Well, we have just made
proposition to Nina, which she prompt,
accepts. CA description of the plan.) Wha
do you say?
Mary. Do you really mean it ?
Mrs. X. We really mean it. There ha
been enough said on this subject for tn
, last eighteen hundred years. 1t is, tim
i there was something done. What do yo1
) say?
. Mary. Twill help you in every way can
: depend upon it.
The appearance of these women, know
, in Washington by name we will not use
!. greatly surprised their lady visitors.
. the presence of these ladies they were gen
i tie, tender-hearted, sensitive, as fully aliv
q to the charm of innocence in women, a
I women who possess it. If, as rulnor says
!, they are all that is vile in the presence {
bad men, then surely they need the pre-
o sencc of wives and mothcrs-not their cor
q tempt or arrogance or lofty ''charltyp r
| but their friendly presence and sympath
- to recall them TO their better, days, and
! give them hope for the future. Of cours
e this is not all they need, but more of thu
| hereafter.
d The ladies then visited house of IL
" same kind further east. They found grei
" difficulty in gaining admission, owing, as
was stated, to the fact that "these are cilt
N cal times" and they ''must be caref
about seeing strangers"
= After third urgent friendly request, u
'. lady of the house came down--a beautit
D. woman, so refined and lady-like that q
10 ladies thought there surely must be mi
to take. No wonder such woman wou
IN rather pay $500 fine than appear in cou
on such charge as was recently broug
Is against her.
The earlier part of the conversation co
IN 6,.,,, ~ x,haf tho fuo othar women had sal