| Under | 1 year of age | 8499 | ||
| From | 1"to 2 years | 3259 | ||
| " | 2"to 5" | 2578 | ||
| Total | 14,336 | [383] | ||
The population between those ages in 1855 was 77,568.[384] This would give a mortality of 18½ per cent., or about 1¾ to every ten children under five years of age. It is not exceeding the bounds of probability to assume that the greater part of the children of prostitutes die before they reach the age of five years, which will give a pro rata mortality among that class of nearly four times the average ratio of New York City. This calculation must be taken in connection with the cases of abortion produced by extraneous means, not admitted in the replies to the interrogatories, and which will probably never be known. It is impossible to doubt that these are far more frequent than recorded in the tables.
Under the heads of “Premature Births” and “Still-born” the following numbers are reported.[385]
| Years. | Premature Births. | Still-born. | Total. | |||
| 1854 | 435 | 1615 | 2050 | |||
| 1855 | 374 | 1564 | 1938 | |||
| 1856 | 387 | 1556 | 1943 | |||
| 1196 | 4735 | 5931 | ||||
The births during the same period were:
| 1854 | 17,979 | |
| 1855 | 14,145 | |
| 1856 | 16,199 | |
| Total | 48,323 |
This would show a proportion of 12½ per cent., or one to every eight of all the children born in New York City. It is not to be taken for granted that all these are the result of improper conduct, although unquestionably many are so. Applying the same ratio to the children of prostitutes, and calculating the 1917 births in these tables as extending over a period of five years, would give forty-eight cases each year; but multiplying the average by four (the proportion of deaths from natural causes), we shall find the appalling number of one hundred and ninety-two cases each year—an array of infantile mortality presenting features which place it almost on a level with the infanticide of some Eastern nations. Were it possible to form any definite idea of the abortions actually procured, and which are suspected, on reasonable grounds, to amount to a very considerable number, the amount would be startling. The sacrifice of infant life, attribute it to what cause you may, is one of the most deplorable results of prostitution, and urgently demands active interference.
The attention of the American Medical Association has been drawn to this subject, and from a “Report on Infant Mortality in large Cities, by D. Meredith Reese, M.D., LL.D., etc.,” published in their Transactions, we extract: “The causes of mortality among children of tender age are, in a multitude of cases, to be found only by extending our inquiries to their intra-uterine life, and the physiological state of the parents, but especially the sanitary condition of the mothers, their hygienic and moral habits and circumstances.[386] * * * Celibacy should be required of all syphilitic persons of either sex.”[387] It will at once occur to the mind of the reader that enforced celibacy would not affect the maternity of prostitutes. They are liable to give birth to children, and, as their physiological condition is such as to preclude the possibility of their children being healthy, the only way to check infant mortality in this class is to deal with the mothers, and adopt means, if not to prevent their infection, at least to limit the ravages of disease as much as possible. This point is discussed more fully in the chapter on Remedial Measures. To men tainted with syphilis the same course of reasoning would apply. If debarred from marriage, the sexual appetite would drive them to commerce with prostitutes, and their illegitimate children swell the total of mortality. The health of parents must be protected before we can hope for healthy children.
Dr. Reese’s very able pamphlet contains some remarks upon abortionism, and its extent, thus: “The ghastly crime of abortionism has become a murderous trade in many of our large cities, tolerated, connived at, and even protected by corrupt civil authorities. These murderers—for such they are—are well known to the police authorities: their names, residence, and even their guilty customers are no secret. Would that it were only the profligate, or even the unfortunate of their sex, whose guilty fear or shame thus seeks to hide the evidence of illicit amours.”[388] That prostitution largely contributes to this crime can not be doubted, but to what extent must remain unknown, from the secrecy which surrounds it. The revolting cases which appear at intervals in the daily papers are but a mere fraction of the total.