New-York tribune., 1908-07-25
NJ InfereSf ~
10 6O0mer1.
SEGREGATION OF VICE
Miss .Maude Miner, of Night Court,
FaU0rs This System.

..raaerx live the earnings OF prostitutes; al
-ost every woman of the street is supporting some
=, sna the worst tsunt of them give
--ns- .s that her cadet has other II IS
. .sr+ that many cadets have five or six women
o-s4-x for them The cadet follows his woman
:. .bs streets sees how much she takes in. takes
:. szsv from her. beats her and threatens to Kill
- II she tells Of him in the courts
-As School Of Philanthropy reserved its most
s.ssf,l problem the last. snd prostitution, con-
ss.-ss at its closing session yesterday, formed a
,rov-ful climax 10 the long array of scenes from
-. underworld which have been unrolled on the
-. eoo- of No 1a East I'd street this summer.
z,,sx Msude Miner probation officer at the night
court. was the speaker
90, &c exceedingly difficult" she continued, ''to
. sav girl 10 testify against the cadet who has
sas her n bondage. She is afraid OF him. It is
x.-r very hard 70 get any man sentenced who has
-, living on the earnings Of such woman, and
bsu he is It IS only 70 six months on the island
> hsve known girl to be driven 10 the street by
,s- cadet within three weeks after the birth OF
- babv by threats OF exposure 70 her parents,
s-o-, whom she was carefully hiding the sort OF
Ise she wss leading had turned over TO my
80 last night q girl who was soon 10 become q
-,o-he- She 81 and miserable and needed
,.-s vet she soliciting on the street in
5sces her 70 AXE 10 her home and found that
che was supporting 6 man who had driven her
o,,. n work. Some white women supporting
nero men: some Italian are living on the
,st7tes earnings OF Jewish girls, and some Jewish
-,s, OF those Of Christian girls. The number Of
so-eEn r1en who taking Up this kind OF life is
astonishing and II Is extraoronerlIy olLlcuit 10
convict them.
Miss Miner unqusliiedly condemned the proba-
,on system for these women excepting in one in
f-aaoe-that OF the young girl arrested absolutely
sn- the first time. who be sent hack TO home,
-srents OF friends by the probation officer.
There are girls who have been arrested twenty
..es and never sent away said she: instead Of
teneating them. that is harn1ing them The only
thing they really fear OF for is Imprisonment
a, -efornatory or elsewhere. ! don't know that
tbs. would reform them but It would prevent great
numbers Of young girls entering the life. AS it is
-nE the girl OF the street tells the working girls
ttst there IS no danger; she won't be sent away
rs-fair Imprisonment for every arrest would deter
great numbers Of girls from entering the life 1t is
slzo almost impossible to get e bond forfeited
so-,e man puts I'D E bond for the girls good be-
hsvtor Il she goes back TO the street he should
pe made 70 forfeit that bond. but that rarely hap
pens L al tends 10 make the girl despise the
whole court system
Young girls Will continue 10 enter this life as
lsug as SO many men going about the smaller
towns 70 get girls into the life This is plain fact
With which are confronted every day. The girls
are INDUCED 10 to New oTk sometimes 10 get
work OF better wages. sometimes for good time
ons grl Of seventeen was put under my who
al fourteen had been invited 10 roadhouse near
s small town. She was kept prisoner for q few
esys ard when she came out ruined IT was only
70 come 70 New York and go into the life"
Miss Miner declared strongly in favor OF segTe-
cation Of vice.
II the last three years prostitution has spread
sls-ningly II the tenements." she said. 1T is be
cause Of The activity of the police in raiding the
houses OF the Tenderloin- had girl who rented
IN tenement fat occupied by z man, wife
and four children. and the children understood the
whole matter The scattering OF these women
through the tenemants horribly increases tempta-
ton 70 yo1ag girls
Miss Miner. a kelp at all in this work.
asked ore OF the men students.
WHY. certainly she replied. In the whole
cadet side Of the question be infinitely
ucre useful than a woman How can the woman
probation officer secure evidence TO convict those
men, And what can I DO with girl when I know
thst the instant I let her out Of my sight two or
three men are just waiting TO get hold Of her. in
o-de- that she may he forced 10 support the one
that gets her? The duty Of men who want 20 help
Is 70 root ont the cadet system
More even than cadets however. Miss Miner found
low wages and lack OF earning capacity at the bot
TN o. tbe evil
II could offer the girls anything more at
trsctive said she. 'ft would be an easier matter
Il get them out o1 the life. But their standards Of
life have been raised They have become used 10
better clothes. foo dand rooms. They hate 70 60
hack u tre little dark rooms they lived in when
they worked. They can hardly earn more than
~ % 81 month At homework. They are not
Skilled workers AZ anything They have never had
any mental moral OF industrial training They
cannot make living 4 few Of them are mentally
aehcient Most of them while not deficient. are
Eupld. Their iCnoronce Of everything is anaz-
NJ Many of them are girls who earned only 81
week in The sewing trades and. having friends
Or families 70 live with. of could not live
OF that sum. Most IF them are not dangerous
rs' Is not actively Intentionally So They are
poor, stupid, ignorant victims The bright
elrl is dangerous She Is the who robs men.
and the cadets all thieves and teach the girls
hoT 70 steal IN Safety
Mrs Fslconer. OF Philadelphia closed the discus
slon New York IS 10 be congratulated that It
mas woman Of Miss Miners ability who Will
give her life az this fororn outpost OF the social
oatte, said she. 4 don't know any other city
L the United States that has such a woman. She
-snt going 10 do much 70 prevent the social evil,
oat she is going TO earn facts about il and
III the rest Of In her story we see the sum
hlng " of al the bad conditions we have men
uoned this summer, the mentally deficient left at
's-ge- The girl left without any training make
living. wages too low to live on a condition of
society II which honest work girl can do
VII give her the good food, clothes and housing
mat she can have this way. Here the
le1entless result Of Il all And when know how
oseass ana vice spread through society and in
--ooed On unborn children. see the frightful
menace o. the girl who is developed physically and
4'oePeloped mentally, morally and tndustrlslly."