The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1913-09-05
WARNS AGAINST
SEGREGATION OF
VICE DISTRICT
Member of Minneapolis Morals
y Board Points to Evils Where
Plan Has Been Tried
IMPOSSIBLE TO ENFORCE
RESTRICTIONS, HE SAYS
Declares Washington C0nspicu.
Gus Example Of Failure of
Police Regulation

Gus Example Of Failure of
Police Regulation
The Times Is In receipt OF lette
rom Allen ID. Albert. associate ed
or OF The Minneapolis Tribune. VIII
8 member of the morals commits
ion in bis city. He has had a wild
experience as student of social vic
nd warns Detroit against segrega
ion OF its underworld.
In postscript for the publisher q
The Times. Mr.. Albert says:
Il was party to = movement al
D. c.. which picked u
! segregated district and put IL dow
a another place. God forgive me
In Washington. however, we wer
greatly Influenced by the report Q
'uccessful segregation In Ponce an
Havana We did not know that tn
'ears which were 70 follow woui
cave their trails OF disease throus
,sarly every quarter OF those tw
titles
Mr. Albert's letter follows:
In many years Of diligent study
OF social vice. ! think l have new
er met business man who did
not believe In segregation on
general principles. Nor have
ever met such a business man
who did not change his mind on
practical and thorough study OF
the problem. And | have never
heard OF any agency, In the form
Of morals commission or other
wise, which undertook such
study, which did not report with
practical unanimity against seq.
regation.
Three consequences OF the pol
Icy Of segregation make that poi
Icy impossible:
I. That Il demands the saeri.
fiee every year Of 10000 young
girls in the United states alone.
2. That the women themselves,
save only the most sunksn and
diseased, flee from segregated die
triets.
3. That the telephone has
made effective segregation impos-
sible.
Vice has not been segregated
successfully In any city In the
world. Men with the price are
not content with the sQualid
quarters of the avowed red light
adjustment. They are easily
enough tipped on" to desirable
telephone numbers. My expert
ence az q student OF this problem
for l6 years and member OF
more than one investigating COM
mittee compels me to believe
that there is no city In America
In which the number Of half-pro-
fessional telephone houses does
i. not exceed the number Of red
light houses.
The police generally believe in
segregation. To my mind this Is
not at ali surprising and is very
far from conclusive. They have
no special knowledge OF the med
ical or sociological consequences
Of the policies they approve.
They approve that policy, as hu-
man beings might be expected to
do, which gives them supreme
charge. This supreme charge. 1t
should be remembered, almost
never exists without corruption
Of the patrolman and often OF his
superiors up to and including the
mayor. The police, with or with.
out graft, are interested parties.
No man active In social service
whom I have ever known has be-
lieved in the efficiency OF medt.
cal inspection for red light dis
tricts Some few physicians
have believed in IL. Most Siphti-
ologists condemn 1t unsparingiy.
eAs q matter of fact, medical In.
spectiou IL no protection what
ever. This particular form Of dis
ease may not react to medical
tests for q year after inocula-
ton. II frequently does not re-
act to such tests for several days
after incubation. In the mean
time inspection Is plainly inoper'
alive and the disease may be
spread broadcast. How would
medical inspection reach the tel.
ephone house? How would II
reach the woman who runs away
from 1t? Why has II been aban.
doned as a failure In San Fran
cisco? Why does a careful rec.
ord, like that compiled by Have
lock Ellis. disclose no single case
where medical inspection has been
a success?
Segregation Is impossible be-
cause It is impractical. II 1t
were desirable II could not be
achieved. But who Is there
; amongst us who will say, after
inquiry, that It 10 desirable to
continue an institution which
thrives on the bribing OF police
men, which visits ineradicabie
stains on the lives OF the young
men In our universities. which
takes IT'S tor; In the broken health
OF innocent wives and babies,
which stunts the moral sense OF
tile whole community, which
maintains al army OF pimps. and
which every year drags to the
very depth OF soul degradation
10000 of our sisters and daugh'
tiers?
Surely no man in Detroit who
will do himself the credit to In
vestigate this problem for him