Semi-weekly herald., 1913-04-28
SEC. REDFIELD ON REMEDY
FOR WHITE SLAVE TRAFFIC

WASHINGTON, b. c., April 25.-|
Secretary Redfeld today made public
for the first time his views on the
white slave traffic problem which
comes directly under his supervision
as head of the department of com
merce. His statement follows:
have been intensely interested in
statements that have appeared in the
public press in the course of the
discussion of the causes of immoral
ity, alleging that low wages them
selves are an incentive to vice and
others at the opposite extreme, saying
that low wages have nothing to do
with the vice question.
There seems to be truth lying
tremes OF course, lack of virtue is
not mathematical equation. The dec
laration that an insufficient wage is
of itself tempetation to wrong do
ing is in itself untrue. 1t is not a
case of so few dollars and so much
vice or of so many more dollars and
so much less vice. 1t is absurd to
say any mere differences in wages
of itself alone-is the cause of mis-
doing.
The vast majority, aye many more
than the mere majority Of women
! and men, however humble their means
and however hard their privations, are
wholesome and pure in life. The
strength of character which most
working girls show under difficult
circumstances puts them among those
who do the nation honor.
On the other hand. suppose girl
who has to work for self-support is
so obliged to pinch to keep her body
and soul together as to be deprived
of all wholesome amusement or recre-
alton. All work and no play-and
very i'll paid work to boots as bad
| for Jill as it is for Jack and it makes
life dull and dreary. Every normal
instinct for society and pleasure is
shut out by labor and poverty. Some
times food insufficient in quantity and
of poor quality is all that can be
gotten, and some times, too, the poi
son of fatigue affects the health. Let
| this go on for months or years-is
it not natural that girl should be
discouraged? When encouragement
is kept up too long and the normal
INSTINCTS of youth are crushed contin-
ually is there not danger that the dis
couragement shall become despair and
once in the state of despair is gilt
tering temptation, perhaps a devil dis
guised or harder to meet?
Leave the actual figures out of con-
sideration for moment; is there not
danger in anything which weeks a
working people-men or women
constantly distressed? Take the case
of girl who can find no normal out
let for that within her which cries
out for expression. who wants all of
the normal things a young girl ought
to want, and yet cannot get them is
that not a fact that an abnormal
means of expression, at first regard
ed with shrinking, may in time be-
come less repulsive and in the end,
through mere external pressure, be
accepted?
| One must distinguish between direct
and indirect causes, or between causes
which are real and conditions which
make it possible for i'll causes to sue
coed. Low wages is not the cause in
this instance. Yet sometimes they
are co-incident with conditions. which
| give bad causes chance to do evil
work.
Every man and woman knows that,
| so to speak, there are impulses in
him or her, some of which tend to
lift up, some to drag down. Now, the
| difference between s. weekly and $50
weekly does not make these impulses,
but certain of them get chance on
the $50 weekly basis and certain 9th
ers get chance, too, on the s5 basis.
What we want to do is to create con-
ditions, partly by wages and partly
by other things, to strengthen the en-
vironments which let the forces which
lift up have play and to destroy the
conditions under which the forces
which drag down have play.
1t does not alter the facts to say
that many girls under hard conditions
resist the downward drag. That does
the girl honor because it shows her
character is stronger than the drag
But the dra gis there just the same
and it may injure or destroy weaker
sister by providing the conditions for
her fall. What we want to do is ts