But prostitution is not an institution of nature that, as R. Schmoelder says: “Will remain a constant companion of humanity,”[86] it is a social institution without which we cannot conceive bourgeois society.
The police physician of Leipsic, Dr. J. Kuehn, says: “Prostitution is not only a bearable, but a necessary evil. It protects women from adultery (which only men have a right to commit—the author) and guards virtue (of course the virtue of women because men are not required to be virtuous—the author) against assault and destruction.”[87] These words grossly characterize the incarnate selfishness of men. Kuehn maintains the correct position of a police physician, whose duty it is to guard men against unpleasant diseases by the police surveillance of prostitution. Only the man is taken into consideration to whom celibacy is horrible and a torture, but the millions of women doomed to celibacy must content themselves. What is considered right in the man’s case, is considered wrong, immoral and criminal in the woman’s.
Another interesting gentleman is Dr. Fock, who regards prostitution as a “necessary correlation of our civilization.”[88] He fears an overproduction of human beings if all persons should marry after having attained maturity, and therefore considers it important that prostitution should be regulated by the state. He considers police surveillance of prostitution justifiable, and that the State should furnish men with prostitutes who are free from syphilis. He declares himself in favor of closest surveillance of all women who can be convicted of leading a disorderly life. But can this surveillance be carried out, if ladies leading a disorderly life belong to the upper classes? It is the old story. Dr. Fock also recommends that a tax should be levied upon prostitutes and that they should be confined to certain streets. In other words, the Christian state should make prostitution a source of income by state organization and protection of vice in the interest of men.
Dr. Henry Severus,[89] who also favors legal recognition of prostitution maintains an original point of view. He regards it as a useful institution, because it is a necessary correlation of marriage, and that without it the free choice in marriage would be impaired. According to him prostitution is a sort of safety-valve of bourgeois society. He claims: “Much of the poverty that leads to such deplorable social conditions may be traced to the fact, that marriages are recklessly contracted, without questioning how the necessary means of livelihood might be obtained. It is in the interest of the state, that such marriages should not be contracted, for the children that spring from them cannot be sufficiently provided for by their parents, nor do they belong in the foundling hospital, being legitimate children, and thus become a peril to society. Prostitution,” he goes on to say, “prevents that the force of natural instinct should lead to the contracting of marriages that result in an increase of those elements of the population who, owing to lack of education and an unfortunate childhood, developes sentiments that are hostile to the state and become enemies of society.” So according to this, state regulation of vice furnishes a protection and a remedy against socialism—a view that may at least lay claim to originality.
So we may reiterate our assertion, prostitution is a necessary social institution of bourgeois society, just as the police, the standing army, the church and the capitalist class.
[82] F. Huegel.—History, Statistics and Regulation of Prostitution in Vienna, 1865.
[83] Max Rubner—Text Book of Hygiene. Leipsic, 1907.
[84] Th. Bade. Procurers and public dance halls.
[85] Statistics gathered by the Berlin police in 1871–72 concerning the parentage of 2,224 enrolled prostitutes showed the following figures: 1,015 equal 47.9 per cent. came from the artisan class; 467 equal 22.0 per cent. were daughters of factory laborers; 305 equal 14.4 per cent. of minor officials; 222 equal 10.4 per cent. of merchants, etc.; 37 equal 4.1 per cent. of farmers, and 26 equal 1.2 per cent of military men. With 102 the father’s profession could not be determined.