The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1913-03-20
Bitter Cry Comes
from Underworld

Not the Cause of Girls Ruu1-
False IMeu Friends Drivc Them
Bad With attention.
Chicago, March 15.-Reform-
ers and the unreformed-the sena-
torial vice investigation commits
sion and the 1nomen for whose NOR
al downfall the commission is try
ing to determine the causes-differ
on the relation between low wages
and low morality. Letters received
by the commission from women of
the underworld Knocked at the
work which the members are do
ing.
One of these letters, signed X
K. L., reads:
"To the Commission: Girls,
don't so wrong because they are
hungry or because they need
clothes. They 60 wrong because
they are tempted by lies and over
powered by the evil in men.
They listen to the fair and
| pretty things that men tell them
and they fall because they think
they can trust themselves and
trust the tempters. 1t is not the
employer. | was good girl and
! worked in a store.
Il didn't get much money but
that didn't matter. l lived on So
a week and would be living like
that now-but I met men. They
seemed to consider me their prey
and all the time it was 6ght-dght.
They wanted to be nice to me, they
said, and to take me to the theatre
and to treat me fair-and give me
a chance to enjoy life.
II didn't know men were bad
all bad-where girl is concerned,
thought only women were bad
I thought all girl had to do to re-
main good was to be truthful with
herself. God pity women who
think that and who keep their trust
in men until it is too late. Every
day it was some one else-always
smiling at me, always trying to
give me fair chance" to be hap.
by. In the street they followed me
These I could avoid-but the
friends who hung around
"Tl,at is the big secret of the
thing that makes a good girl bad
If they had left me be-if they hat
only left me be-only let me live as
I wanted to, I wouldn't have hae
to stink into the room when your
commission was trying to solve
things and wouldn't have had to SIT
in a corner with my veil down
, afraid to look a good woman in tho
face"
Another cry from the under
) world echoed the words of the let
ter above. 1t was more bitter tho
and it read in part:
"You're looking for the thing:
that make such women as |. Low
wages! Dance halls! Hunger
Cold! They all helped a bit bu
they didn't turn the trick them
selves. You're all a bunch of hypo
critics, afraid to look the thing il
the face and afraid to learn thu
truth.
II don't know any girls who
sold themselves for money to buy
bread or clothes. But l do know
lots of US who hit the road to hel
| because of a lot of blackguard:
kept bounding them with their rot
ten attentions-God help the me,
and not us. We're all right wher
we start. All we need is to be lef
alone. There are hundreds ane
hundreds of kids and sports who
il1ang around State street and wal
like wolves for the tired girls tc
leave the store.
"Why don't you make the men BE-
good? All the wages in the world
won't help us. Make the men goot
and the girls will be good. Now
they haven't got chance and they
never will as long as the law
smiles at one and splits at another.
; This letter was signed with tho
initials l.. M.
l While these comments on the sit
uation continue to pour in, the
civic consciousness awakened by thu
commission bestirred itself in the
: launching of committees and pri
vate investigating forces.
In some stores. numbers Of girl:
approached their employers to de-
mand larger salaries.
All were assured that they would
; be taken care of as soon as some
thing definite has been agreed upon
Several RESERVATIONS were rendered