Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1908-10-24

fenced who has been living on the
earnings Of such a woman, and when
he is It is only to six months on the
island, have known girl to be
driven to the street by her cadet
within three weeks after the birth
OF her baby by threats of exposure to
her parents, from whom she was
carefully hiding the sort of life she
was leading. l had turned over to
my care last night a girl who was
soon to become a mother. She was
Ill and miserable and needed care,
yet she was soliciting on the street.
| induced her to take me to her
home, and found that she was sup
porting a man who had driven her
out to work. Some white women are
supporting negro men; some italian
men are living on the tainted earn
ings of Jewish girls, and some Jewish
men on those of Christian girls. The
number of foreign men who are taxi
ing up this kind of life is astonish-
ing, and 1t is extraordinarily difficult
to convict them"
Miss Miner unqualifiedly con-
demned the probation system for
these women, excepting in one in
stance-that of the young girl ar
rested absolutely for the first time,
who can be sent back to home, par
ents or friends by the probation Off
Ger.
"There are girls who have been ar
rested twenty times and never sent
away" said she; instead of benefit
ing them, that is harming them. The
only thing they really fear or care for
Is Imprisonment in a reformatory or
elsewhere. l don't know that that
would reform them, but 1t would pre-
vent great numbers of young girls
entering the life. AS it is now, the
girl of the street tells the working
girls that there is no danger; she
won't be sent away Certain impri-
sonment for every arrest would deter
great numbers of girls from entering
the life. 1t is also almost impossible
to get a bond forfeited Some man
puts up bond for the girls good be-
haVlor. If she goes back to the
| street he should be made to forfeit
that bond, but that rarely happens
II all tends to make the girl despise
the whole court system
Young girls will continue to en-
ter this life as long as so many men
are going about the smaller towns ia
get girls into the life. This is plain
fact with which we are confronted
every day. The girls are induced to
come to New York, sometimes to gel
work or better wages, sometimes for
good time. One girl of seventeen
was put under my care who at four.
teen had been invited to a roadhouse
near a small town. She was kept q
| prisoner for a few days, and when
she came out ruined it was only tc
come to New York and go into the
life"
Miss Miner declared strongly in
favor of segregation~of vice.
I'm the last three years prostitu.
ton has spread alarmingly in the ten.
ements," she said. 1T is because Of
the activity of the police in raidlnl
the houses of the Tenderloin. had
one girl who rented a room in tene
ment fiat occupied by man, wife anG
four children, and the children un
derstood the whole matter. The scat
tering of these women through the
tenements horribly increases tempta
ton to young girls.
Miss Miner, can a man help at al
In this work." asked one of the mer
students.
why, certainly" she replied. I'll
the whole cadet side of the question
o man can be Infinitely more usefu
than woman. How can the woman
probation officer secure evidence t.
convict those men? And what can
do with girl when / know that tn,
Instant l let her out of my sight two
or three men are just waiting to ge
hold Of her, in order that she MAJ
be forced to support the one tha
gets her? The duty of men whit
want to help is to root out the cade
system"
More even than cadets, however
Miss Miner found low wages and lacl
of earning capacity at the bottom o
the evil.
IF could offer the girls anythinJ
more attractive" said she, 1T would
be an easier matter to get them GU
OF the life. But their standards o
life have been raised. They have be
come used to better clothes, food AM
rooms. They hate to go back to thu
little dark rooms they lived in whei
they worked. They can hardly earl
more than $12 or STA a month a
housework. They are not skilled
workers at anything. They hav
never had any mental, moral or in
dustrial training. They cannot max
a living. A few Of them are mental
ly deficient. Most of them, while no
deficient, are stupid. Their ignor
ance Of everything is amazing. Man,
OF them are girls who earned only s
q week in the sewing trades, and
having no friends to live with, O
course could not live on that sum
Most OF them are not dangerous
that is, not actively or Intentionally
30. They are poor, stupid, ignoran
victims. The bright street girl /
dangerous. She is the one who rob
men, and the cadets are all thleve
and teach the girls how to steal il
safety"
Mrs. Falconer, of Philadelphia
closed the discussion. New York 1
TO be congratulated that 1t has
woman of Miss Miners ability VIII
will give her life at this forlorn out
post of the social battle" said she
II don't know any other city In tn
United States that has such woman
She isn't going to do much to pre