One of the most difficult questions before municipal governments for the past half a century has been the controlling and the successful handling of prostitution, and during the last ten years this problem has become more and more perplexing.
Men of knowledge and familiar with this subject have given this problem much thought and consideration trying to devise some logical plan that would lead to a satisfactory solution. Segregation has been argued pro and con; licensing and physical examination have been suggested and put into practice, but not until recently has it been actually demonstrated that this great question can be solved.
All great cities have been wrestling with this question and have tried various methods, and have yet to find a satisfactory method by which these classes can be controlled. Prostitutes and their followers are no small factor that go to make up a city's population, and they will follow their vocation to some extent under any circumstances or conditions.
This being true, it has on the other hand been proven beyond a reasonable doubt that this class of traffic can be almost entirely abolished. Prior to September 15th, 1908, this city had what is commonly known as a "red-light district" covering an area of about three square blocks. In this district the rowdy and tough element naturally congregated, and it was an every day occurrence to see drunken brawls, cutting and shooting scraps, and suicides; everything, in fact, that would be disgusting and annoying to the sober-minded citizen. It was an every night occurrence for ambulance calls to come from this district, where some unfortunate had been stabbed or shot down, or an inmate of one of the disorderly houses had committed or made the attempt at suicide.
On the fifteenth day of September, 1908, the superintendent of the Department of Public Safety issued an order to the effect that the "red-light district" would no longer be tolerated, and that the common prostitute and street-walker would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. From that date on a gradual decline was noticeable in the emergency work, and the calls for shooting and cutting affrays were few. At this time I can safely say that emergency work coming from this source has decreased ninety per cent.
Whenever you have a consolidation of elements which appeals to the rough class, viz., houses of ill-fame, saloons of the low type, and gambling dens, you are sure to have more crime committed and vice protected. Do away entirely, or scatter these factors in crime and you will notice a decided slump in your police service calls relative to this line of work.
In my judgment the abolishment of the "red-light district," coupled with the prosecution of prostitute and street-walker, has proven the most satisfactory solution of the perplexing problem, and offers more protection to the home, and a greater inducement to the prospective citizen, and keeps the criminal class away from the city's gates. In conclusion, will state that I was originally opposed to the suppression of the red-light districts and believed it would result in making matters worse. I base all the foregoing statements on my four years' experience.
Respectfully,
CLIFFORD W. LOSH,
City Physician.
E. A. B.