Evening journal., 1915-12-21
FIND BALTIMORE
HONEYCONB Of VICE
Names of Trapped lmmoralS
Suppressed, or Social Fab
ric Would be Rent
5000 BABIES BURIED
IN ONE HEAP

BALTIMORE, Dec. 21.-The exis-
tence of startling conditions in Balti-
more City is revealed in the report Of
the vice Commission, appointed by
Governor Goldsborough, just made
public.
Undoubted evidence. covering hun
dreds of individual cases, with names.
dates and most minute facts. are i'm
possession of the commission, to show
spread of the social cancer OF amaz-
ing extent, even to those who had
thought themselves well posted on the
ramitications OF vice. Trusted male
and female workers of the commission
have for months worked in the shops.
stores and factories of the city: have
labOred as employees In Office buildings
in capacities ranging from scrub
women and janitors to stenographers
and clerks; have haunted the now
extinct recognized houses of vice and
the hundreds of questionable fur
nished room houses; have rented
apartments for announced question
able purposes in many small and
number of large apartment houses of
the city; have tested in the integrity
of the police and other authorities Of
the city and counties; have tempted
with criminal and moral offense offers
leading ministers. social workers.
doctors, midwives and other persons
in the city who have public or semi
public duties and have in a hundred
ways found their way and reported
on facts that are of vital interest to
the community.
For the purposes of the investiga-
tion the legislature appropriated $4,000
which amount has been supplemented
by collections of $4,000 made by Dr.
George Walker. chairman, and others
of the commission, making a total of
S11 500 spent in making the investiga-
tion. Even this amount would have
been totally insufficient for the work
if it had not been for the assistance
of the Rockefeller Foundation, of var
ious social and charitable agencies OF
the city and a large number of physi
clans, including those in charge Of in
mates at State institutions. The report
comprising 1900 typewriter pages
covers the work of three years .nves-
tigation.
The investigation was made, in part
by George l.. Kneeland. OF the Rookie
feller Foundation. and in part by in
vestigatOrs working directly under the
supervision of the commission.
The report comprises sections OF
cOmmercialized vice, immortality In
Baltimore county. Anne Arundel cOun
ty and the cities of Hagerstown, Fred
erick and Cumberland and the traffic
in babies.
Probably the most sensational o
the features dealt with in the volum
inous report is the traffic in babies. 1
is ascertained that investigator
found there are institutions to whicl
the mother Of an illegitimate chil'
may consign her offspring upon tn
payment of an agreed sum and for
ever rid herself of legal responsible
fly for it. OF the hundreds of chill
dren so taken in charge by the in
stitutions, the commission AYERS tha
n remarkably large percentage di'
and are buried in heaps in small plot
of ground, one such plot approximate
ly 55 feet square having been the toni
of 5000 babies since 1886.
I'VE have not attempted to make &
scientific study of prostitution in gen
eral,", says the Commission, 1--WE have
aimed only to present certain condi
tions which were found to exist in the
city of Baltimore, in Baltimore coun
ty. in Anne Arundel county and in thu
cities Of Frederick, Cumberland anC
Hagerstown and their respective sur
rounding districts.
I'VE arc aware that our investiga
tions are. in many instances, incom
plete, and, therefore we deem it wis'
not to make any special recommenda
tions. but rather TO present the re
port as a contribution to the subiec
in the hope that it may stimulate
further inquiry"
Members of the Commission are DR.
George Walker, chairman; Rober
Biggs. Jesse n. Bowen. Walter L. Den
ny, George Dimling. Dr. John NJ. I
Finney. the famous radium expert
Anna Herkner, Fred II. Gittlieb. DI
william H. Howell. Louis II. Levin
DR.. J. w. Magruder, Howard Schwarz
DR.. Lillian Welsh and Simon Stein
since deceased
On the strength OF the report. will
which the Police Department KEEP
apace. the lid in the red light distric
was closed. A question raised by tn
report. which shows a scattering o
commercial vice all over the city, i
whether the red light district shal
be Kept closed or whether there shal