The American issue. [volume] (Westerville, Ohio) 1912-19??, 1917-01-05
SEGREGATION
FILTH OF PAST"
SAY MINISTERS
Its Advocates Ignorant-Absolute
Annihilation the Ideal


Iished in Chicago, not only shocke,
the laymen of the city, but calle
forth the following hot protest fron
the Baptist Ministers Conference:
Whereas certain hints have
been dropped that the city of
Chicago return to the discredited
and discarded theory of segrega-
ton in the fight on social evils
and the suggestion has been
openly made that "a modified
form of segregation of vice be
adopted"
Therefore, be it resolved by the
Baptist Minister'S Conference of
Chicago that we regard all such
suggestions as most unfortunate
and untimely. The monumental
work OF the justly famous "Chi-
cago Vice Commission" which
occupied ten months of most pa
tient and far-reaching investiga-
tons, spending $4,000 of the
public funds and making report
in a book of nearly 400 pages,
which book has had wide read
ing, and has stimulated many
other cities to do away with the
so-called segregated districts,
clearly shows the absolute inn
possibility of creating any other
method than that which this
commission prints in black faced
type as its first recommendation,
i. G., CONSTANT AND PER
SISTENT REPRESSION OF
PROSTITUTION THE M
MEDIATE METHOD: ABSO-
Lutte ANNIHILATION THE
ULTIMATE IDEAL. The find
ing of the City Councils commit
tee of nine, after open public
hearings lasting many days and
crowding the large council cham
Der of the city hall with most
representative and earnest peo-
pie, ( even more drastic md
pointed against any form of po-
lice recognition and attempted
federation of the social evil. No
great city has made a study of
this matter and continued the
policy of vice. In each and every
case the "red lights" have gone
out.
These reports show that the
federation of vice in segregated
districts brings many other evils
in its train. The white slave
traders find it an easy market for
their unspeakable traffic, the liq-
uor sellers reap rich harvests in
doubled and quadrupled prices.
The craze for Summing is in
creased, the boys and young men
are tempted to go sight seeing,
which seeing is more often sin
ming. The lowest criminals make
such a district their hiding places
and find such a neighborhood
wholly to their advantage. The
corruption of the police and the
bribery of public officials is an
inevitable part of such policy.
The theory that such districts
protect the residence portions of
a city is many times exploded.
The people who make the charge
that our residence districts are
more invaded after closing of the
"red light" districts never sub
NIT any figures or give any adj
dresses to prove their unfounded
and false assertions. The person
or persons who now, at this late
day in the light of all we have in
Investigations both in this coun-
try and in other nations of the
world, who advocate segregation
of vice in red light districts, are
either densely ignorant and dan
gerously careless in their talk, or
are wicked in purpose and un-
clean OF life. Therefore, this
Conference protests with all its
vigor against any thought of dis
grazing our great city with any
form of official federation of the
social evil. Let us not return to
the filth of the past, but go for
ward with faith in the Light.
The resolution was presented
DIR. M. P. Boynton, and was unan
mously adopted.