Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1888-02-11

N''"n va" So w GA Wv ~ Sia'N' ~
few may be induced to lead the lives
Of prostitutes by the love of tinery,
and by the luxurious idleness that is
enjoyed by many Of the more forum
ate, forgetting that its charms are
but brief, and are followed by the
most iEtense misery and suffering.
And can anything else be expected
when we survey our present system
Of society, and see some Of the more
ylrtuous of the women of the pole
tarlat sleeping in the squares and
on the Thames Embankment in the
coolest and bltterest of winter nights,
whilst within a few yards prostitutes
dine luXurlously in the saloons of
the wealthy and the cafes of the
East End, with the "medicals" and
other young professionals who prowl
the streets of PIccadilly and the
neighborhood of the Aquarium and
Leicester Square? Can it be Won
dered at that some are tempted to
compete with their sisters for the
luxurious and extravaganza lives many
lead, if only for a short time? Is it
surprising that some fall victims to
the temptations they are surrounded
with, when they see vice petted in
the lap Of luxury, and virtue and
hard work rewarded with u life of
semi-staryatlon, to be ended in the
modern bastllles of Britain?
1t may also be said that sexual de-
prayity exists also among the poor;
but is not the cause of it generally due
to the overcrowding Of it the slums,
that landlords may tatten and work
ers decay? Habltatlons where men,
women and children are herded to-
gether, where the conditions forbid
all decency, and the sexes co-mingle
with impuulty, and where the only
ray of pleasure that is seen is that of
the gin palace, where they become
debased with drink in order to drown
the thoughts of their misery and
degradation, and to forget the dens
in which they dwell,
The poorer of the harlots having
only the streets in which to ply their
trade, howl goes up every now and
then from the press, the shopocracy,
the parsons and the class that has
produced them, that they should be
driven from off the streets into the
prisons. All these professed
Christians are stone deaf to the words
of Christ, "Let him that is without
sin cast the first stone" and the par
sons conveniently fail to remember
that the Master they profess to follow
associated with and pitied the very
women they seek to punish. The
exploiting class having produced the
social evil, and having created the
degradation aud misery Of the work
crs, now breads and fears the Frank
enstein that rises before it, houting
its rags and showing its haggard form,
and assalllng it with foul language
and cursings.
While there exist two classes in
society, one extremely rich, with
leisure, and another intensely over
worked and excessively poor, prostl-
tuition of necessity must exist, and it
consequently does 50 in its worst and
most debased form in the richest
cities of the so-called civilized world,
in "a society that recognizes no duty
save that of getting the most wealth
it can into its grasp, and to obtain
which it does not hesitate to cast
morality to the winds and trample
upon everything that is sacred to
humanity. Remember also that
child-prostitution, which is increas-
ing every year, is but the product OF
our civilization. and the victims OF
the children of the prolotarlat, that
are bartered for gold, the agents alone
being punished, when the police
choose to discover them, whilst the
purchasers are suppressed. The
"Maiden Tribute to Modern Baby
lon" may be forgotten by the sensa-
tion-loving public, but it will
always be remembered by Socialists.
We know that this accursed trade in
human flesh flourishes as briskly as
ever, and will do so until the work
ing class show the strength that they
possess by going to the root of this
and other evils by bringing about a
more equitable distribution of wealth,