The Rock Island daily Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1872-1873, 1873-01-17
The 9aiIg Arens.
Friday, January II, 1873.
The 81. Louis System. ;,

From the Chicago Trbunc.
Some discussion has arisen lates roga.I-
inc the St Louis method Of fearmg with
the social evil, by licensing houses Oh pros
titution. and recurring the inmates 10 un-
dergo rec,,Iar medical examination and
trcStment FAR which tax of $3.50 to
az 5o ner week + imposed upon each The
n 6nis chief of police thinks the sys-
Tom work. well, by which is meant that,
under n the maximum Of vice may be
attained with the minimum Of punishment
The Louisville chief of police, however, in
recent report, maintains that, while meas
ures Of torcible repression are failure,
the licensing system is a nuisance, and
That the most efficient policy Is "a strictly
tacit liberation of the orderly prostitutes, a
private classified registry, free hospital
assistance for the diseased, and fines and
imprisonment for the disorderly.' He
recommends the erection and maintenance
of an industrial home for the reformation
of those among the fallen who may desire
10 reform His report considers the ques-
ton more in its moral than in its medical
and sanitary aspects Measures of forcible
repression. he thinks, dispense the evil,
and cause abandoned women TO seek EN-
ployment as servants in families, and clerks
In places Of business, where they become
new sources of temptation and centres Of
mischief. Such was their effect during
their most thorough trial in Philadelphia
several years ago, aud minor efforts 20
other cities have ended in the same result,
The licensing system is evaded IN the TACT
that large portion Of the women avoid
Registering. while the promise of exemp-
ton from exposure to disease which it
holds out % the depraved increases the
vice without the possibility of real security
against contagion.
Statistics of the social evil seem 10 show
that ii diminishes in proportion as the
means of employment are open 10 women,
in n manner 10 render them capable OF
supporting themselves by work. In man.
ulacturinr and industrial cities. wherein d
diversified range of labor offers opportuni
ties 10 women almost equal TO those ex
tended IN men, and where women
both before and after marriage
work for the common support o
the household, the ratio of marriag,
rises and the proportion of prostitution
falls. In cities of fashion aud luxury, o.
which are almost exclusively devoted I,
kinds Of business such ~ importing ex
porting and transportation, in which mel
alone take part, women are largely sup
ported without labor of their own, mar
riage becomes an expensive luxury instea
of an economical partnership, and celibac
and prostitution prevail As illustration
of this rule, we may cite that, in Brming
ham and Sheffield, the two cities of tn
world in which employments are most ope
20 women, but woman in 200 is prosti
tute, the lowest proportion anywhere toun
except ut The Hague. In Leeds tn
ratio is only in every 6j4 in Manches
ter, in jjI, in London in 5l4 and i
New York / in SIS In la Hague wher
the equal and proverbial industry of a
classes has been the remark of every tour
ist for a century, the ratio is only 10 $50
in Copenhagen. ! 10 jS4, in Brussels, / 4
43j Ia Lyons, ] % 434
Comparing these with the capitals O
fashion and seaports generally, We fin
that in Paris the ratio is ! to every 2Sl
in Brest 70 l59; in Marseilles, 10 2S6
in Algiers, / 70 lO2; in Rotterdam, I
POI. in Amsterdam, | 20 2S6 in Live
pool, Bristol and Plymouth, 10 1913
Brighton and Bath ! 10 IA in Madrit
% go; in Louisville, ! a. $50 and
Chicago, | 70 go, The fuctuating cha
acter Of trade and the relative instabilit
Of population in the newer countries hay
also much 10 do with the sundering Of fam
lies and the consequent increase of II
social evil
We doubt, however, if any other agenC
Is so effective in checking it as the inculcj
ton and practice of those habits Of bus
ness industry ON the part of girls and WI
men which prevail more extensively in II
manufacturing cities of France, German
England and America, than in the cities
gayety fashion and commerce. OF OF
thing we feel tolerably well assured, al
that IS, that the licensing system does NJ
on the whole diminish the diseases viii,
have been affixed by nature 10 the soci
evil while, on the other hand, it does no
out u false hope to the vicious and u
wary that they may sin without punis
mCut