The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1914-05-20
NO federation; REGULATION
Trade in Human Bodies De-
c1ared To Be Enormous.
Fashion, Dances, Theaters and
the Press Held Responsible.

conyenes here tomorrow in the report
of the special committee on white
slave traffic.
The report estimates that there are
100000 prostitutes in the United
States, and that a far greater number
are unchaste. Contributing factors in
this condition are the fashions. dances,
the tl1eaters, literature and Ignorance.
The principal remedy suggested II the
The report was prepared by Paul.
r. Hickok, John Balloon Shaw. John
Kennedy, Winfield Scott Hall and j.
N. r. Ffnney. Excerpts follow:
your committee Is directed to con-
slider the enormous violation of the
Seventh Commandment involved in
. the traffic. This Is not matter
calling for statistics, with all the men
tai confusion that. must result from
long statements of appalling figures.
But that the extent of the traffic in
human bodies for purposes OF lust and
greed 10 enormous as described in the
assemb1y's resolution, is terribly evil
dent upon only slight investigations
The vice commission of Chicago. ILL.,,
appointed by the city council In 1910.
has made a most thorough survey of
these conditions in that one city.
Condition in Chicago.
'In Chicago alone, the commission
reported that there are not far from
5000 women who devote their time
wholly to the business Of prostitu-
tion. The conditions in that city are
not believed to be worse than in most
cities Of the country. This figure did
not include, OF course, the much vast
err army OF persons leading impure
lives, guilty Of occasional immoral re-
lations, being supported wholly or In
part by their occasional earnings, or
engaging in occasional immortality
not for profit, but from desire. There
IL no possible way Of estimating this
larger number, but the word 'enor-
nous seems scarcely adequate to de-
scribe the conditions known to be
present.
eff the ratio existing in Chicago
may be taken as anything like an ac-
curate index to that prevailing
throughout this country, 1t seems en-
tirely safe to assert that at least 100,-
900 persons are devoting their time
wholly to this unthinkable 'iniQuity in
the United States, and it is most prob
able that the number is very much
larger. Most students of the problem
would place the figure two or three
times as high"
On the much-discussed subject of
education in matters OF sex the report
has this to say:
Remedy Is Undiscovered.
1.-THE methods OF greatest wisdom
and largest efficiency are still to be
your committee that hitherto a large
majority OF those persons responsible
for the education. guidance and nur-
ture Of youth have followed an u1for-
sacred truths of life. This course has
been one of silence and mysticism as
a rule. This attitude on the part Of
parents and teachers of youth has the
psychological effect of stimulating
curiosity, with the almost universal
result that children acquire distorted
viewpoints and morbid misconceptions
of great truth that rightly understood
from the first. would engender feelings
of reverence for life and respect for all
life processes. There seems, ther efOre
but one rational course for earnest
minded. Christians to follow. That
course is to answer the natural ques-
lions Of their children freely, frankly
fully, sincerely and sympathetically."
Speaking Of factors in the increase of
the social evil which are now assum-
Ing alarming proportions the report
says:
''One Of these appears in the vulgar
tendency Of modern fashion. Our
Standards we remember. expressly
forbid all immodest apparel Today
many OF our women are going to such
extremes of dress as to shock even the
least prudish. and open American wom-
anhood to the charge Of complete for
fefture of modesty. The unfortunate
side Of it all is, that the women of the
! church, whose most conspicuous adorn-
ment is supposed to be meekness, are
quite as guilty Of this offense as are
women who make no religious profess
sions. Until our Christian women can
De made to see what mischief is being
done by such a reckless abandon to
the foibles of fashion, there can be lit
tie hope of stemming this evil tide.
Unchaste Amusements.
Another contributory factor is the
increasing craze for excitable and I'M
chaste amusements. The dance, never
come the subject Of indescribably vul-
gar joke. and is calling out the con-
domination of many holding high places
OF ecclesiastic authority. The NOV
Ing picture shows, although under what
In claimed to be strict censorship are
calculated to infiame the thoughts and
emotions of the young. The theater.
with it's outrageously fippant handling
or sex problems and situations, as well
as the notorious disregard of so MANY
OF its leaders for high standards of
marital and even ordinary moral rela-
tons. IL laying a net that must Sc
duce and capture considerable part
OF our rising generation.
'The literature of the day presents
another very serious factor in this
great problem. Perhaps we are not
mistaken when we speak of 1t as one
Of the most alarming symptoms of a
general COn01tlOn tnat seems pad IN
deed. Nearly every work OF fiction that
is printed today has woven somewhere
in its plot the intricacies of a sex ques-
ton. The book reviews are a long
series of descriptions Of such stories.
One would imagine there was no other
problem in peoples minds today. And
the most grave feature of it seems to
be that this Is what they appear to
want" ~.
The report concludes with a set of
A.
guard children against all factors of
life which conduce to immortality;
commanding those pastors who have
taken up the subject frankly with ia