Poverty acts indirectly in a much more intense and efficacious manner. First of all it compels the proletariat to live in the most disgusting promiscuity. Not only do the father, the mother and the children occupy the same room, but they sleep there, often in the same bed. The children are witnesses of their parents' coitus and become initiated in sexual intercourse, often in its most bestial form, under the influence of alcohol, for example. Neglected and herded together with other children, most of them as badly brought up as themselves, from their early youth they become acquainted not only with the most gross and filthy things, but also with the most pathological and deformed excrescences of the unhealthy life of towns. In the proletariat of certain towns there are few girls of fourteen years of age who are still virgins.
Again, poverty urges parents to exploit their children, for it is easy to deliver them into the hands of proxenetism. But this is not confined to the poorest classes; among small tradespeople, poverty is also an indirect agent of prostitution. Here again the effect of pitiless exploitation is seen; in certain occupations which leave the girls free evenings, and also in certain shops, the proprietor only pays his employés an absurdly small salary, because they can add to it by prostitution. For this reason, many saleswomen, dressmakers, etc., are obliged to content themselves with a minimum wage. When they complain, and especially when they are good looking, they are often given to understand that with their attractive appearance it is very easy for them to increase their income, for many a young man would be glad to "befriend them," to say nothing of other insinuations of the same kind. I have already pointed out how waitresses are utilized as bait in certain taverns, etc. Let us cite a few figures:
About 80 per cent. of the prostitutes in Paris have some occupation besides prostitution.
In factories, shops, etc., the average wage of men is 4 francs 20. per day; that of women 2 francs 20.; but in domestic service it is only 2 francs 10. for men and 1 franc 10., or even 90 centimes for women, even where the latter do the same work! Is it to be wondered that they have recourse to prostitution?
High-class Brothels.—In these establishments the life of the prostitute is much more agreeable: the goods of superior quality demanded by rich and fastidious clients requires better treatment and special care. I will cite a case published in the annual report of the Société de Pestalozzi (for cruelty to children) at Vienna:
"In October, 1904, the Tyrolean Society for Abandoned Infancy sent us the papers of a young Tyrolean girl of eighteen, who was found at Venice under police control. Our attention was drawn to the youth of this girl and the incapacity of the father to induce her to reform. We were requested to restore her, if possible, to an honest life.
We made the usual inquiries. Having many brothers and sisters, this girl, at the age of fourteen, obtained a situation at Innsbruck, where she was badly treated. She went away and gave herself gradually to prostitution, latterly at Vienna.
We had an interview with her at our office and ascertained that she had experienced ill-treatment at Innsbruck. She had a modest demeanor and made a good impression. She regarded her future with equanimity, admitting that she was excluded from society, but speaking of her trade as seriously as if it was licit and officially recognized.
She assured us that her parents, having great difficulty in gaining a livelihood, agreed with her in her choice of a "business." She was on very good terms with them and sent them money.
To obtain a certificate from the police, the consent of her parents was necessary. Her mother had told her that if she remained pious and honest no one could reproach her. She held "Madame" (the proprietress of the brothel) in high esteem, on account of her kind treatment of her "boarders." The house in which she was located was first-class, both as regards clients and treatment. There were about a dozen young girls there, most of them younger than herself, all with their parents' consent; and many of them sent home what they earned.