own fashion, and that of their long line of bewhiskered ancestors-now saints in Heaven, if their latter-day imitators are to be believed when the outside world raised a protest. The raucous howl that went up from the East, where the wise man did not list-much less attempt to legalize his concubines, nor the worldly woman concentrate her "protectors," penetrated even to the erstwhile wilderness where worshipped the Mormons. By and by the "unbelievers" began to invade the paradise of the "Latter-Day Saints," who, still following biblical precedent, with Joshua as their guiding star, did smite and slay the invaders here and there. And then there was more trouble! Finally the politicians, wily gentiles who had discovered that Utah was fair to gaze upon, and who knew that scriptural backing was rather a flimsy excuse for open polygamy, legislated the marrow of Mormonism off the face of the earth, and so far erased a blot from our 'scutcheon. And now the Mormon must needs be up to date and keep his con been held up to youth as a model of all the virtues. His modern disciples, however, are chiefly of medical interest rather than moral examples. By some strange inconsistency of the ancient chronicle, the "Captain of the Host" and other dignitaries of Bible times, visiting strange cities, usually first landed in some brothel, a custom which, it must be acknowledged, differed from that of some of our up-to-date dignitaries only in the publicity and promotion given it by the historian. The story of Lot and his two charming daughters suggests a laxity of morals in DR. G. FRANK LYDSTON cubines hidden from the public eye, whilst the female free-lance of Mormondom must syndicate her protection-quite like her prototype elsewhere. Polygamy is downed forever, as a recognized institution in America-another external victory of social expediency over the primitive nature of man. And still, as the Spanish proverb has it: "Man being fire and woman tow The devil blows and away they go." Joseph, the founder of the impracticable doctrine of love, afterwards plagiarized by Plato, was a scriptural paragon who has the day of him who wrote their history that would hardly do for this generation. Incest, one of the worst of crimes in these modern days, seems to have been, in the mind of the author of the story, the only salvation of a race that was but a few removes from the mud pies of the Mosaic cosmogony. Whether the reporter of the incident believed that the supply of the right kind of mud had run out, or that the knack of making human beings out of mud was a lost art, we shall never know. It should have occurred to the historian that a rib from each of Lot's daughters might have been made into a man-but we will let the chronicle stand as it is, along with some other queer "inspirational" literature, which in this instance is so grossly human and so vile that it is a wonder that people can still be found who concede its "divinity" of origin, thus throwing the salacity of those charming nymphomaniacs, the Misses Lot, and the debauching of their complaisant and estimable papa and his innocent jag onto the long-suffering shoulders of the Almighty. But votive offerings to Priapus and the goddess Lubricity have ever een religious prerogatives. And the fire of the altars has been perpetuated by not a few modern high priests of the cult of sanctified sin. Society's Long-Time Tolerance of To erance of concubinage and prostitution the legitimate successors of patriarchal polygamy is not so open in high life at the present day as in the none-tooremote past, but polite society even now tacitly approves, or, at least, endorses "under the rose" while condemning in the open what was publicly tolerated in the aristocratic circles of Europe not long since. A hundred years ago virtue was the prerogative of the proletariat-for royal courts knew naught of it-and the only privilege that the commoner might enjoy without exciting the jealousy of the noblesse. There is little regarding the relations of the sexes in history, sacred or profane, or in the present-day customs of some countries, that is likely to inspire one with pure thoughts and noble aspirations. Between the robbery and murder and lechery of history, the youth in quest of a moral standard stands, like Odysseus of old, between Scylla and Charybdis. The story of Cleopatra is not an inhibitor of pubescent eroticism. The great Catherine of Russia has ever had her fame tinctured with immorality at the hands of the historian. "Good Queen Bess" was long held up to the mind's eye of youth as Catherine's direct antithesis-a paragon of all the virtues. Strange to say, however, as history grows less sentimental, the character of "Ye Virgin Queen" no longer seems a model for youthful ideals. It is significant that social systems that have been free from prostitution have been barbarous or semibarbarous. The ancient Germans did not tolerate it, and certain Siberian and African tribes are today free from it. The rise and fall of prostitution seems in general to correspond to the degree of progress in civilization. That it is an ancient institution the Scriptures prove. Its seeds were primarily sown in the shade of a vitiated religion in Asia, where prostitution is today a recognized social and often religious institution. As their varying fortunes drove men to seek new fields in the West and Europe began to be settled, prostitution followed them in their migrations. In the medieval cities of Europe the brothel became a recognized factor in civilization—and it has never since lost its position. The vigor with which prostitution has flourished has varied; sexual vice has not been a constant and invariable social quantity. Conditions have varied from time to time, from the grossest immorality to comparative decency. This, doubtless, is due to the fact that the causes of prostitution are not uniform, either in quality or quantity, although always in operation. This fact is optimistic in its bearing, and suggests that some of the causal factors are partially controllable, even though they cannot, as a whole, be removed. The Social Problem: Some Methods of Dealing With It Prostitution has been discussed from many standpoints. Moralist and sociologist have alike striven for the betterment of the conditions underlying it. Neither alone nor in combination have they succeeded in suppressing or in any great measure repressing the evil. The moralist has accomplished something, it is true. Strict adherence to the tenets of religion has saved many a man and woman from sexual vice. these brands plucked from the burning have been individual, and the resulting impression upon the evil at large has been inappreciable. But In some instances the moralist has entertained such peculiar views of the social evil that it is inconceivable that such men and women could ever exert a beneficial influence upon conduct in any direction. Thus I once heard a well-known clergyman, distinguished for his heterodoxy and alleged liberality, say that his remedy for the social evil would be to "apply the torch to every bagnio in Chicago and reduce it to ashes, inmates and all." Whether this was an emotional "play to the gallery," or not, I cannot say, but it is noteworthy that the reverend gentleman appropriated certain sociologic and physiologic views expressed in the discussion of his remarks, and promulgated them, verbatim et literatim, as his own from the pulpit the following Sunday. The newly awakened thought had grown until the bigot was lost for the nonce in the plagiarism of a new idea. Such causes of prostitution as love of excitement, dress and jewelry, temptations by unprincipled men, necessitous circumstances, and alcohol are thoroughly ventilated in most discussions of the subject. Moralist and sociologist alike forget the physiologic side of the question. The depraved love of man for woman is, with some alleged philosophers, the chief cause of the social evil, even economic causes occupying a subsidiary position. The normal physiologic love of man for woman, the normal love, on the one hand, and the depraved love on the other, of woman for man are left out of consideration entirely, and yet, the "drugged wine" of the modern Lothario usually owes its potency to the poison instilled into the ear of Eve by the ancient serpent. At any rate, there has been more hell's brew distilled in Venus' work-shop than ever came out of the chemist's laboratory. This with due regard to the feelings of the Martyred Evelyn. Some Fundamental Propositions to be Considered Whatever arguments may be brought to bear upon the social evil, nothing can controvert several fundamental propositions, viz.: (1) Prostitution has always existed in society in one form or another. (2) Its frequency and forms have adapted themselves to the conditions imposed by the customs of each social system. (3) Latterday social and economic conditions are favorable to prostitution. (4) Prostitution keeps pace with civilization. As this advances, prostitution increases. The proportion of prostitutes is greater today than formerly. (5) Modern industrial enterprises are peculiarly productive of conditions favoring prostitution. (6) Prostitution is responsible for a large proportion of the diseases that afflict humanity. (7) No universally effective methods of repression. or regulation have ever been devised. (8) Suppression is an absolute impossibility, under present conditions. Prostitution will continue as long as human passions, uncontrolled by higher ideals and ambitions, dominate the human will. It will also continue as long as social and economic conditions put matrimony beyond the reach of a large portion of the male population and make honorable self-support impossible to the great majority of females. He who raises the cost of subsistence is the brothel's friend. Important Points in the Etiology of The most important points bearing upon the causation of the social evil are briefly as follows: Man is instinctively polygamous and lustful. It would appear that nature designed him primarily as a polygamous animal. The exigencies of society and instinctive social self-defense, in response to the ethics of altruism, have made him in most countries a monogamist. In other words, he is a monogamist from social policy and not by inclination. Atavism holds here as elsewhere, and man's struggle onward and upward is not always a brilliant success: Virtue in the normal male, as Mantegazzi said of the coquette, is generally "purely physical" and politic. Where it is psychic in the male, it is more often the reflex of policy, satiety or of bodily ills than innate purity. As to whether any physiologic impulse is essentially impure is a question for the moralist to answer --if he can; and to paraphrase good Master Shakespeare, "Give every man his just deserts and who shall 'scape the gonococcus ?" And all because man's discipline of himself has been based on false premises. Theory aside, prostitution results from a complex of causes, chief among which are man's desire to buy and woman's conformation to his desires, for reasons that reach far back into social economics. Man fights the battle of life with such weapons as nature has given him-so does woman, and her chief weapon is her charms. Her charms were designed by nature as the price of existence, under normal conditions of life. She makes the best bargain she can with fate. Honestly, virtuously, legitimately, if she can-dishonestly, impurely, illegitimately, if she must-she is bound to live unless she chooses suicide rather than social dishonor-and all the moralists, philosophers and law-makers in the world. cannot stop her. Have they the right to stop her, without giving her the wherewithal to live? Opinions may differ upon this. Woman's own physiology must not be forgotten. The maternal instinct, crying out in the Wilderness of the Unattainable, is an advance agent for the brothel. Woman feels that she is entitled to love and protection. Here, again, she often makes the best bargain she can with Fate. If she gets a marriage license by way of boot, all is serene-unless she falls into the remorseless jaws of the divorce mill. If there is no marriage license-if she has made a bad bargain!-well, man may bewail the bad bargain he himself has made with fate, but neither misfortune nor debauchery makes him a social pariah! Oh, the unavoidable fairness of it!-we must have our ideals. The Importance of a Living Wage Speaking of economic problems, the question of a living wage is all-important. Chicago's greatest merchant prince accumulated $100,000,000. He may figure out for himself how many heartaches and how many prostitutes the sum represents. And I care not whether his figuring is done on tablets of glowing-hot brass with an asbestoscovered pencil, in the middle of Hell, or with a golden stylus on a gold brick in the grand plaza of Heaven, his figures will not lie-if he doesn't hurry. When he gets through with this little mathematical prob lem, there is an arithmetical tid-bit for him: How many prostitutes have his great show windows made by exciting the desire for finery in bosoms of the fair sex? Woman is sorely tempted by finery. One day when the electric lights went out in Chicago, 'tis said that the large stores lost $15,000 worth of stuff by women thieves. These women did not put the lights out with malice pretense and aforethought, and they "just happened to be there," and-well, they were not all female social pariahs. Oh, how the specific gravity of morals does pull on one! I hope that Saint Marshall, whose life was the apotheosis of greed-and also of "social" appreciation-will find consolation in the Museum and over the benefactions by which he brazenly "beat the drum in the market place." And I hope he'll not drop the hot brass or the gold brick on his saintly toes. But social parasites and messmates, dry goods and millinery shops, working girls, human birds of paradise and human birds of prey are necessary social factors—and so, perhaps, are billionaires, and bawds, and debauchees, syphilitic paretics and innocent gonorrheal wives. In citing the late distinguished merchant prince of Chicago as an illustration of the living-wage question and its relation to enormous fortunes and incidentally to the social evil, I disclaim any prejudice against that estimable gentleman. While I am not imbued with the hysterical appreciation of his millions and methods that has characterized Chicago in a general way, I am perfectly willing to admit that he was the biggest thing of his kind, and as will be seen from my remarks, I am also perfectly willing to concede that he is now wearing in the hereafter the same halo with which the press of Chicago decorated him at the time of his demise, and is sitting at the right hand of the throne. He is but a type and I used him merely because he came handy. Not only is female virtue the price of subsistence in our great arteries of trade, but it is the price of diversion, of relief from the monotony of drudgery! What is the exact price? A good dinner-oh, the rarity of it in her life!- -a bottle of wine and a matinee ticket! "Ask the man." Dress well, work hard, pay street-cartransportation, laundry, board and noon lunches on seven dollars a week!-so commandeth the millionaire tradesman, the while his wealth rolls up, and by judicious "benefactions" he advertises his wares with money wrung from the under-dog and "doggess" and acquires a reputation as a philanthropist and "public-spirited" citizen. If there is a hereafter, and I should chance to go below and I'm not so sure of my religious politics as is the pulpiteer-I shall much enjoy the sight of the Devil whipping the public-spirited and philanthropic millionaires around the smoking stump for the benefit of us poor agnostics in Hell, and for the edification of the social outcasts up in Heaven who are enjoying in the cool shadows of the Great White Throne the peace and plenty the "good-will" of man denied them here on earth! Poor souls! We shall all want relief of monotony. A diet of coals and even the twanging of celestial harps may pall on one. In yielding to "social stress," a woman in no wise differs from man-her dearest foe-man. He may not become a prostitute he has no charms to sell-so he becomes a hobo, a thief or a pauper inebriate. Social stress leads man and woman alike to the social garbage heap-to the jail, the brothel or the almshouse! Just remember the phrase "Social Stress." It saves time in formulating the causes of social diseases. The Question of Personal Rights One of the chief causes of prostitution is woman's natural assumption of the right to do as she will with her own. This, mingled with that subtle poison to which Eve succumbed, is a quality in psychology that will not down. What wonder that it crops out in woman and that she sometimes rebels against social "checks!" This is not only a factor to be conceded but to be reckoned with. Society can never abrogate woman's personal rights, any more than it can man's. It can, however, so arrange matters that no woman can justly feel that she has no choice in the matter-that she must choose between virtue and death by starvation or a life devoid of the barest comforts and luxuries. No social system can ever abrogate woman's inherent biologic right to make he best bargain she can with the conditions of existence-providing she harms no one but herself-which is another story that leads us far afield in the domain of morals and of venereal infection. The time may come, however, when the fall of a single woman because of grim necessity will be a by-word and reproach to the social system that permits it! Man's place in nature is definite enough; his position as a social force is not so well understood. Womanhood is the fountainhead of human life and the foundation stone of society. Man's duty is to regard it, protect it and keep it pure and healthy to defend woman from social stressand if she be of the "better dead," to eliminate her as an operating social factor so far as procreation or infection of others is concerned, and to limit in every way her power of mischief as far as possible, once she has fallen under the wheels of the social Juggernaut. Has he done his duty? "Ask the man." And while we are moralizing on prostitution and its train of attendant evils, let us not forget "the man" and his rôle in the saddest of human dramas. (To be Continued) ஸ்ெஸ்ஸ் |