The Cook County news-herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Cook County, Minn.) 1909-current, 1918-12-11
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J. TIE GO R \ E ! Il
III An n AZ a a - ~
Adopts ! Means to i. Fight Vice and
u. u s 81 Diseas :st s' st

"a 3 81 {: 4 Disc Use. \ . y. ,s}'81
Whenssthe Governme first sbegan#
10 g study the cost OF sYenereal diseases
to the army and navy, in money, u in
lighting days, and in general morale,
almost 10 every one thought that q higher
percentage OF these diseases. would Sc
found among the regulars than among
our boys who had come from cur
home towns. The draft, however.
showed that we were wrong in our
superstition. In other words, these
infections were not a product Of army;
lie, but the boys brought4these with
them from all over the country Plain
" then; if the War Department at.
tack on venereal diseases was to meet
with any, real success, the civil com.
mun1ttes must come to the rescue.
The second step therefore. was the
gaining of the cooperation of all the
states in a nationwide campaign. TO.
day practically every one is engaged
In some form of warfare against these
diseases. -:
Minnesota was among the first to
enter the list. A Bureau Of Venereal
Diseases was established under the
State Board of Health with a plan OF
! attack which was based on four clear
lily defined approaches, each of which
will be considered in these articles.
In the first place, we recognized,
as did Washington, that as long as
public prostitution is allowed to per-
sist unchecked, little can be done to
control the spread of these diseases.
Therefore, drastic repressive action
against the trade is proposed. There
are In this state adequate laws for
such repression. Why are they not
| enforced? Chiefly because public
opinion has not yet awakened to the
need of such repression. 1t matters
not at all how we'll drawn a law may
be so long as the public is Indifferent
to its enforcement. Moreover, every
law which interferes with business,
has Immediately arrayed against it
| all the power of the interests inter
fered with. Commercial prostitution is
l
most profitable of businesses. Again,
many sincere public-spirited individ-
uals honestly believe that it is not
possible to control this ancient evil.
These persons have never truly studied
the question with unprecedented minds.
| Careful investigation has shown re-
peatedly that practically all prosti-
tutes are infected with diseases which
are infinitely more serious to the in
dividual, to the race, to the army. than
tuberculosis, than smallpox, than any
OF the recognized scourges. There
fore, it is idle to urge the freedom of
! the individual in this matter.
1t is fully admitted that innate de-
pravity is by no means the sole fac
tor. or even the largest factor, in the
problem. Eventually we hope to go
after the contributory cause.-the
problems of unemployment, of ignor-
ance, of bad housing, of broken homes,
Of feeble-mindedness, and of many
others. We know that they too are
tied up in all this. But now we are
at war. Our primary concern is for
our army. We cannot wait to elm
mate these mistakes of our civiliza-
ton. No one hopes to change the
| natures of men and women by legis-
lation, but experience has shown that
we can, through sanely enforced laws,
prevent thousands of our fighters from
being incapacitated by disease. There
fore we have no choice For the
present at least, it is disease, not sin
nor social disharmony, which we are
combating.
Within the last decade many care
full scientific efforts have been made
both in Europe and in this country to
study the problem from every angle
AS result, experts today are unani-
mously of the opinion that it is en-
tirely practical for every community
to do away with commercianzed vice.
If those in authority are willing to
undertake a strict law enforcement
policy backed by an intelligent public
In our own state no segregated red
light" districts are tolerated. There
fore much of the legal end of the
state work is concerned with the trac-
ing and following up of individual
prostitutes, and the making of their
profession a most Improbable and
precarious business. Only when the
number of infections; traceable to
single diseased woman is. considered
does the Importance of every case
eliminated become obvious.
In the past when a; prostitute was
arrested the common procedure was
release her on bail which she fire.
quently jumped. H. brought into court
she was either fined, given a suspend
ed sentence, or ordered out of town,
where she spread her disease to other
communities: In. the larger cities all
cases. are now held until an: examine
ton by the Board of Health deter
mines whether. or not they are dis
eased. Those found to be=diseased are
|fquarantined' and treated until non-in-
fectious. The period aof, quarantine ID
not coincident. with their workhouse
sentence. For, this work hospital ia:
tcflities have been arranged at the
workhouses. and special physicians en-