The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1893-05-11

,,,;rn,.la that iiiuLnines AIe, tuas haaAes
-. ~ riches. and sorrow JOY, asid
t,,T.-;nc- a privilege. is this mystery 81
- Prostitution is the negation OF
- tam of humanity. IL II TO stab
- ,,,,, heart the faith Of tho race. 1t
,,,.,,s more. In doing this, Of necessity
r., who thus sin must drag down In
~. mia the name Of homo and of moth
,r and all that clusters round th's ho'y
nl.ar Here rests the very toundaiinn VI
amman civilization. The state Is buat
,,,,on the rnonoyamic group of society
80, and woman. The nation Is, built
no, nnon the individual. tut ON this so
r;al unity. All law rests, in its last
ANALYSIS, upon this foundation. All ma
tional and international law must DC
traced back in its origin to this primal
ordinance of God
The home is the fountain OF universal
blessing from whose center radiates the
divine influences that make national
life a possibility. 1t is "A refuge, "A haven,
in which man accumulates strength 10
hattie with tho elements, to fuihll IN
deed the dreams of his heart, TO be pa
trjot. to be true. to DO noble. 1t Is the
little kingdom of God on earth that Is
tbe urophccy of the kingdom that is TO
come and rule the earth supreme. The
house of prostitution is a threat against
the very foundation of home and home
life. II is the denial of the right OF
motherhood and fatherhood.
The house OF prostitution Is the home
OF the gambler. Thousands OF protes,
sional gamblers have fallen to the dis
graceful depths of being willing TO be
supported by these women. So intimate
is the connection between the brotnel
and the gambling hell that~it may be
said that they are inseparable. Every
house of prostitution is a saloon of the
lowest order, where the meanest drinks
are served at the highest possible price
The fool who drinks is willing 10 pay
There are constant and chronic viola
tons of every excise law ever put on the
statute book. Infanticide, murder, theft.
forgery and every crime on the cata
logue of criminality is laid daily 1T her
door. When such are the direct and ap-
proximate results of such an evil, how is
it possible for the Christian world, how
is it possible for the humanitarian, to re-
main silent? What are the remedies pro-
posed for this terrible evil? There are
two.
REMEDIES TROPoSED.
First-Regulation so called. Is this a
possibility? Is it a practical principle
worthy of moments serious thought?
Our superintendent of police has recent
ly informed us that it is the only solu-
ton of the evil, and police authorities
from time TO time have given us the
same instruction. Regulation. so called,
whether in the form of the European Ii
cense system or legalization, is an infamy
that will never be tolerated on Anglo
Saxon soil and Cor the very patent rea-
sons
(a) Such a system means the slavery
and degradation of womanhood. 1t
means the denial of her individuality, of
her right to life. 1t means a return to
barbarism. 1t means the negation of
her personality before the common law.
1t means the stamping out Of the last
hope by which her womanhood may be
reached and saved. And let it be OBJ
served that this proposition has never
the image of a woman. 1t has ever come
from two sources and only two-namely,
the iccntious scoundrels of the male sex
and officers of the law who desired to
profit by the experiment. The woman
hood that could submit to this infamy
of license and suspicion and regulation
falls simply to the level of the poor wife
of the Cossack of Russia who kneeIs to
be beGte, by her brutal husband for sus-
picion o. the act of which he is daily
guilty.
(b) Such a solution would only aggra-
vate the evil by emphasizing its cause
namely, dual standard of right. The
secret of the curse today is that there
are two codes of morals-one for women,
another for men. Any proposition to
regulate this vice is a proposition to
erect dual standard of right, of truth
1t proclaims the monstrous lie that in
diligence in vice is necessity for man.
Prostitution Is not weakness-it is a
crime.
(c) Therefore the state cannot legalize
crime without committing suicide. The
state has no more right to recognize
prostitution as necessary evil than it
has the right to recognize stealing as
necessary evil. Stealing will doubtless
never be totally suppressed. Is it sane,
therefore, to say that because we cannot
totally suppress 1t we must regulate it2
(O No system of regulation has ever
checked the evils Of prostitution, but has
only served to increase them and agra
vate them. This is the testimony incon-
trovertible from every experiment where
it has been tried. The result has been
not the decrease of disease, but the in
crease OF disease. 1t has not diminished
the evil, but increased it in the number
OF those who fall victims. The number
OF evil women has increased; the num-
Der OF young men debaucked has In.
creased. A wider harvest of death has
always been reaped. The city of Colmar,
Ga, has recently abolished the system
OF regulation, having pronounced it
dismal failure. The mayor of Colnar de.
clares that the morals Of the town have
steadily improved from that day. All
the laws on the subject of regulation
have been swept from the statute book
OF England as a disgrace to the
nation. In Russia the system has
Deen pronounced a failure. In Aus
trla it has been pronounced a
failure. None of its professions has
ever been carried out, and in every case
they have failed to do what was nre
tended could be done by their promoters
In Spain CASTILLO states that the means
for regulation are utterly imperfect; that
the visitation provided in law is inef-
hclent and the treatment in hospitals
equally SO. In Germany we have the
same story of failure in her great cities
In Italy the laws regulating prostitution
were repealed in 1883. In 1880 the laws
OF regulation were abolished in Rern
Switzerland. and in Christiania. NORWAY
Denmark swept the laws from her stat.
I,tIa lcol-. loon - D.e-o