The double standard of morals.—The second great error which has fostered the evil is that known as the “double standard of morals,” making the world act as though it believed that what was very wrong and unforgivable in a woman, was not only permissible but a necessity in a man. Undoubtedly the originator of this very logical line of reasoning was a man. Woman, if one false step is taken, one breath of scandal uttered against her, must forever wear the scarlet letter, or else she must be sacrificed to perpetuate the very evil that has overtaken her; while man may live in lust and if this alone be his sin, retain his highest social privileges and standing. Without question this double standard of morals has been the most stupendous outrage ever foisted upon any part of the human race. It was accomplished at a time when “man was king” and so slowly, and carefully and cunningly did he plan it, that it has not only withstood the test of time and continued to thrive, but it has not too infrequently gained woman as its advocate, until we often hear, and sometimes not without cause, that “woman is the worst enemy of ‘fallen’ girls.” With these two weapons, the conspiracy of silence and the double standard of morals, licentiousness has marched steadily onward until it has conquered the civilized world so far as asserting its right to life is concerned.
The commercialization of the social evil.—But to these two errors which have formed so strong a fortress to the Social Evil, must be added in more recent times a third support, one which many students of the question believe is the leading factor at present in the whole accursed business,—commercialization. The Social Evil to-day is raised to the standard of a business. It is conducted in all of its ramifications for gain. It has simply taken on the spirit of this money-getting age. Its real motive is gain, greed, gold. It is very largely a man’s business, too, run by men for the profit there is in it, and in our country those who are directly connected with the traffic are in the main foreigners. The White Slave Traffic, about which we hear so much these days, is a direct result of this commercialization. Girls are actually sold into dens of vice. Only recently have these terrible facts been substantiated and the methods of the traffickers known, and until the past few years the charges that there was a traffic in women and girls for immoral purposes, have not been credited or believed by the great majority of people. During the past few weeks under the direction of the United States Department for the Suppression of the White Slave Traffic, more than fifty men and women have been convicted and imprisoned for this very crime, and scores of indictments have been found against others. This scatters all doubt about there being such a trade. During the past few years evidence of the traffic has been so complete through the investigations of individuals, grand juries, vice commissions, and congressional investigating
committees, that there is no longer any question as to the traffic or its extent. The problem now is, how to suppress it the most effectively and speedily. It is asserted by a United States official that fully 50,000 men in the United States are living off the earnings of women of shame and in selling girls into vice.
Others who profit from the traffic in virtue.—But the buying and selling of women for immoral purposes is not the only way that financial profit is made from it. It was discovered in a certain city recently that an old house that would rent for ordinary purposes for $12.00 per month, was bringing $165.00 as a house of ill-fame. Landlords profit from the traffic. Liquor dealers profit from the traffic. In the same way but possibly to a lesser degree certain merchants, druggists, lawyers, doctors, professional bondsmen, gamblers and divers criminals profit financially from the nefarious traffic in virtue.
The extent of the evil.—The extent of the Social Evil in the United States is not definitely known. Surveys of cities have been very carefully made at times, and at the present time our Federal Department for the suppression of the traffic is conducting a very careful census of the women in houses of shame throughout the United States. When this is completed we may know more certainly as to statistics. The writer after a most careful and thorough investigation in 1898, estimated the number of girls and women in houses of shame in our country at 300,000. This figure has been very generally accepted and used, and from recent investigations it is evident that the number has not decreased. The lives of women in houses of shame averages five years. They do not all die within this time, though many of them do succumb to the horrors of the life and accompanying disease, drugs and drink in much less time. Some leave the life for honorable work or return home, a few are married, some are rescued, but whatever the cause of their departure from the miserable life, this one thing is sure,—for every one that gets out a fresh victim is required to take her place. Accepting these estimates as correct, we see 60,000 girls and women are required each year to provide for the constant demand of the public houses of shame. More than 2,000,000 men and boys are the patrons and consorts of these women, ruining morals, health and happiness, and this is one of the most deplorable phases of the whole system. The profits from vice in the United States are beyond estimate, but are known to run up into the billions of dollars annually. The Chicago Vice Commission estimated the profits from vice in Chicago alone as $15,000,000 yearly.