Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-04-23

| selves and dared to put others outside.
"0ne result OF this irFehgious attitude
toward prostitution with jts Inevitable corr
; so-called worldly minded Christian; thou
sands OF decent man. have developed .
peculiar distrust Of human nature, q
cynicism which assumes that q certain
proportion Of men in every community
| chastity rs to make the prostitute So
cial necessity, and the freemasonry
| among men In regard to her does much
| to lower the moral tone Of the whole COM
munity.
THE result Of this worldly cynicism has
| become so registered in our political at
fairs that any probe into the vice con-
ditions OF a city made by Z grand jury or
prostitution is the root source OF politi-
cal corruption. Nowhere 10 the hypocrisy
In regard to 1t 30 clearly revealed. AL
though laws declaring tt illegal have been
spect for public opinion which even the
hardest politician dares not repeal new
ertheless. backed by this universal cyni-
cism, the politicians openly consider the
laws too .impracticabls to be enforced.
enforce them. but actually define the con-
ditions under which this law-bfeaking
is permitted. To permit this license IN
one particular, ID. OF course. utterly to
demoralize the entire police service. This
police connivance at prostitution in GER
tain districts created . necessity for beth
graft and blacknnail: the graft IL easy
because the owner of an Illicit business
expects to hsye pay for It, and every
istration receives his share of this illicit
fund. In connection with this municipal
blackmaii Is also established which just
escapes legal recognition.
Confuses All Civic Reforms.
prostitution. protected by thick
hedge Of secrecy, imperceptibly renew
ing itself through changing admins
tration. is the one fixed point Of NAL
administration. the unbreakable bank
through which every corrupt politician
may repair when in need of, of funds Is:
brothel. the saloon and gambling hall
are the trio literally at the base OF the
real administration. OF our cities. Ger
tainly. the harlot has been avenged
upon the city which despises her: The
men who consider her q legitimate
source OF revenue In thousand ways
fleece the decent taxpayers who refuse
to acknowledge her existence, and she
abides. through one administration
after another, to the confusion and
Illustration Of all movements for civic
reform.
Thousands of court decisions every
day bear testimony to the irreligious at
tttude toward the harlot permitted by the
early church, which gradually embodied in
canon and civil law. still survive. The
laws OF Illinois do not differ markedly
from the laws Of other states. The charge
OF seduction made against man is de-
1ned as Observation-Disclosures Of man
ners. as 1t were; the punishment for
rape To the same as that inflicted for the
theft of So worth of property. and a
state to another for 50 light an offense:
the charge of bastardy against man
IL not even q crime, and is tried in q
civil court: when the paternity of a child
is proven beyond doubt or bubble the
father. under a maximum sentence. can
be made to pay an average Of 81 cents =
week for it's msintainance, until the child
is ten years old. but II the child dies be-
for that age the father Is exempt from
this fine. So sure are all men that wom-
IL abaurdly low: In some states little
girl Of ten is considered the aggressor, al
though her seducer may be a man of
well known immortality; If an iilegdtinnate
although totally innocent of its death,
may be arrested and committed to the
penitentiary.
Cites Case of Alien Girl.
Quite recently, in Chicago, a Bohemi-
an girl, working as maid in an Amer
lean family. was seduced by the head OF
the house. and later driven forth on the
usual ground that . Christian home
must not be polluted by such presence.
Her child was born one day. and she
was quite alone in her cousins house;
following her hrsts instinct to take 1t to
and carried it immediateiy TO his door
The child was found dead upon the door,
step, and the distraught mother was at
once arrested on the charge of murder,
although out Of the depths OF her IT,
norancs and insxperionce she could not
tell whether her child had been born
alive. The first rninistration TO her dire
need came from the matron in the po-
lice station.
But the effect of this impious con-
1t also became registered In the ethical
code Of contemporary society held by
good women as well as men. Women,
kindly toward all other human creatures.
who, in evil houses, are literally beaten
and starved by the dissolute men whom
"Kind-hearted- women could not brook
had they not been trained to believe that
virtue itself demanded from them first
ignorance and then harshness. Their in
herited fear of the harlot and terror lest
she contaminate their daughters may be
amenities and il the lack Of democracy
and Fellowship. which 90 fatally narrows
woman's interests. Yet the test comes to
them none the less, for as all women fell
In the estimate Of religious men because
they came to be looked upon as possible
hariots. 80 may we not predict that wom-
en- will never take q normal place in the
life Of organized religion until they recog-
nize a. one Of themselves the very harlot
who all unwittinGIy has become tha test
OF their spirituality. the touchstone OF
their purity. AZ women were lowered
In the moral scale because OF their iden-
tihcation with her at the very bottom Of
the pit, 80 they cannot rise themselves
save as they succeed In lifting her with
whose sins they are stained.
Exploited at Age Of Twelve.
Contemporary women, as we'll as men,
ought to find it much easier at the pres
ent moment to meet this supreme test
OF religion than it has ever been before
in the long history of civilization. A new
publicity in regard to the social evil is
the striking characteristic Of the last
decade. This publicity has disclosed that
thousands OF the s0-caiied fallen wom-
en- are piteously young ana that thou
sands of others lost their chastity when
they were helpless, unthtnktHg little Girls.
5 OF MARI