Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-09-29
WHY GIRLS TAKE WAY Of THE OPENDOOR"
[Continued From First Pagel

vice intensified: that license is a fiat
annihilate but favors clandestine vice.
1t is liquor which of all the causes
of prostitution which Mr.. Funk most
bitterly arraigns. He declares it to be
the veritable handmaiden of vice and
that the only way of dealing CONNER
cialized vice is by drifting out of busi-
ness the liquor dealer.
Mr.. Funk also takes the position
that the matter of preventing vice is
up to the police. He says in full:
THE OPEN DOOR"
BY j. Clarence Funk
I'm these days of intense publicity
directed towards a subject which ten,
even five, years ago was looked upon
as fit only to discuss in professional
gatherings, one should stop a moment
to discover whether or not that which
! is now so boldly Haunted in the news
papers, magazines and from the lee
ture platform is really as bad as is
suggested, and whether the remedies
mentioned, or those which have been
adopted are after all. of real value.
public print with articles that offend
modesty, and which tend to engage the
attention not only of the mature but
also the youth of our land, it lies In
| the hope that the knowledge of con-
ditions will protect innocence and
bring forth an effective remedy. II
these objects are not to be attained,
the subject would better be left bur
led deep in the grave of false mod
esty and criminal indifference"
"WhIte Slavery"
To-day the term white slavery is
common, so common indeed that
school girls and boys fully appreciate
| its significance, which is saying much
But, though the term is generally used
1t is as generally misapplied. In
stances there are, undoubtedly. where
virtue has been betrayed by means OF
the paddock, but such cases even In
the large cities are much fewer than
popular opinion imagines them to be-
There are reasons for this. In the
first place the market is already
stocked with willing victims, making
the adoption of desperate measures
unnecessary. From the public dance
hall to a serious wickedness is but a
step, and this path is travelled by thou
sands each year. Stores and factories
with their stunung influences, throw
|
Will seize upon the slightest thing
that promises diversion; which only
too frequently leads to resorts of ques-
| tionable character in company with
disreputable male companions. Again
there are many young women who by
reason of their tendencies seem natu-
rally to fall into the life" Prostitu-
tion is recognized as the feminine
equivalent of criminality in the male
satisfying the characteristics of the
criminal
The Common Thing
| Literature which would have shock
ed French realsts in days gone by;
moving pictures ineXcusably salacious
the motorcycle with its rear seat, in
viting the young girls into lonely and
unfrequented spots; and the common
and notorious agency of the 'joy-ride,
are to-day doing much of the work
accredited to white slavers. We must
therefore, distinguish between white
slavery and prostitution; the former
is the exception, the latter common
! Admirable as its purpose is, and
! effective as 1t has proved to be under
the efficient direction of the United
States Special Commissioner for the
I suppression of the White Slave Traf-
/ fic. the so-called Mann Act which
Furnishes interstate commerce in wo-
men ana girls, with or without theiI
consent, plays but part in the at
] tempt to remedy the evil in general
! The great disease is a matter entire
| ly within the jurisdiction of the States
and presents itself in the form OF
public prostitution.
Much has been heard of vice COM
missions, investigations into police
graft and control, the low-wage scale
reclamation, segregation, license
quarantine and annihilation.
Results of Different Methods
Quarantine, which is policing a
house so closely that none can enter
| has been effective merely in driving
the evil to different parts of the city;
thus plaguing not one or more large
spots, but many small ones. Segrega-
! tion, which marks off an area in
which all Of the unfortunate women
must live subject to police restriction
| has served to turn prostitution into
| It's worst state-vice centralized means
vice intensified. Annihilation, which
as the term implies, is the complete
removal of resorts. does not annihi-
late; On the contrary it increases
clandestine prostitution. License,
calling for medical certificates and