The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1879-03-27
Memorial
To THE LEGtsLATURE OF THE STATE or NEw
YORK, AGAINST LICENSING THE SOCIAL
EVIL.

To THE LEGfsLATuEE OF TIE STATE or NEw
YORK, AGAINST LICENSING THE SOCIAL
EVIL.
To the Senate and House Of Assenlbly of
tie State Of NelO York, IN Legislature
assembled =
WHEREAS, Statesmen, philanthro-
pists, ana large numbers Of the intelli-
gent men and women citizens of this
country are justly alarmed at the rapid
progress Of the evil called SOCIAL -
which is demoralizing the youth Of our
country, pOlluting the minds Of chill
dren, weakening the UNDERSTANDING
wrecking valuable lives, aud DESTROYING
the happiness OF American homes: and
WHEREAS, All legislation for the al
legged suppression Of this evil has been
enacted by men only, and has named
regarded, and treated woman ouly a.
the criminal, the outlaw, the outcast;
aud
WHEREAS, Your honorable body i
called upon by surgeons, physicians.
politicians, and others financially inter
esied in IA lucrative trade in human
bodies to legislate for the licensing of
prostitution in the cities Of this State iu
such manner that the sale Of women
and girls To the husbands aud SONS of
other women for immoral purposes NAV
he guaranteed as healthful and safe.
therefore, we respectfully submit 10
your honorable body for consideration
the following propositions:
/. That legaliZing and licensing pros
titution secures a large revenue to the
state from the degradation Of its yom
en- and the decentralization Of its men.
creates lucrative offices for men, and Sc
cures the money therefor by taking
from women even the price Of their
shame.
?. That it puts a price upon the head
Of eUCry girl, provides facilities for Sc
ductiOn, and gives the sanction Of law
to what each man regards as the high
est possible crime against his own
daugbter-the COZ ruption of her mind,
the ruin of her body, aud the publicly
branding her by the fOulest name known
among men.
3. That il destroys love, dinIinishes
marriages, and promotes the dissolution
Of the marriage relation by offering easy
opportunity and apparent Immunity TO
all men who are tempted to sensual in
dulgeuce, or TO the violation Of their
marriage covenant.
t. That examinations, restrictions,
%AA ENh-ANAN1 III EC7NA uF AuEu HDOu
Outcast women only, while immoral
men are left in unrestricted license to
pursue vicious lives, are not merely
cOwardly, arbitrary, and cruel to Outcast
women, but are and must be failures,
even as sanitary measures in protecting
innocent wives and children, since
poison and disease are communicated to
the Innocent not by abandoned women,
but by vicious men, who are mainly re-
spousible for the origin, propagation aud
consequences OF syphiiitic poison.
D. That these measures also fail in
their application to the most adrDit, SUBJ
tie, and depraved, and therefore most
dangerous class Of abandoned women,
whose certificates of health are easily
obtained 10y wiles and large bribes Of
fered to the not iucOrruptible and un-
defiled surgeons, who would rather be
paid large price for dUOidiHg, than a
small fee for trdHsdctHg an odIOus busi-
ness.
6 That the most skillful surgeons and
the most thoroughly trained aud efli-
cient police in the world, having given
the license system long, full aud fair
trial, declare their inability to bring the
I largest and most dangerous class OF
women under its humiliating regu-
I latiOns; while the cities and countries
Of the Old World generally, where this
system prevails, fail to show pure
moral tone among men and women, an
/ improvement in health or quality Of
children, or any of the moral or sanitary
results which are claimed for the system,
or which should tempt this young re-
public to emulation.
:. That sensual Indulgence is slim
ulated by, and in turn reproduces and
. fosters every known vice.
S. Thst II the amount Of labor and
brain power now expended i'm fostering
the social evil were devoted by the State
with parental care, to the rescue aud re-
demptiOn Of vagrant children and out
cast girls, to teaching them lucrative
trades, instructing them i'm the laws Of
life, and securing for them opportunities
to earn al honest livelihood, an army Of
lepers might be Transformed into val
liable producers OF wealth and good citi-
Zens.
9. That the vital force aud intellect
ual vigor Of men now consumed in licen-
tiousness and its kindred vices and
crimes, is needed for the giant mental
moral, and material work Of the age.
10. That it is the duty Of Legislators
to see that a moral tCTOBg is never made
a tcgdt right, though all of the wealth,
power and pleasure Of the earth be az
rayed in its behalf, or offered as its re-
ward and your memorialists will ever
pray.
SARA ANDREWS SPENCER,
CLEMENCE ;. LOzIER, NJ. d..
MRS. h. Z. MILLER, AND OTHERS.