Again: The supposition that a prostitute submits to but one act of prostitution every day is “ridiculously small.” No woman could pay her board, dress, and live in the expensive manner common among the class upon the money she would receive from one visitor daily; even two visitors is a very low estimate, and four is very far from an unreasonably large one.
But suppositions might be multiplied, and the argument extended almost ad infinitum. One more calculation shall be submitted, and then the reader can form his own conclusion upon the question whether the theory of seventy-four thousand cases of venereal disease in New York every year has not been supported by a mass of evidence far more weighty than can ordinarily be adduced to establish a controverted point.
It shall be assumed that the thirty-eight women infected every day continue their calling for six days after the appearance of venereal disease, and during such six days one half of them shall submit to one, and the other half to two sexual acts daily. Then, in the course of a year, one hundred and twenty-five thousand men would be exposed to contamination. To this add the number of women infected, which, at thirty-eight daily, would amount to nearly thirteen thousand in the year, and a total of one hundred and thirty-eight thousand will be presented, or nearly double the number assumed as a basis for remark. It is needless to advance farther reasons in support of the soundness of that opinion.
Next in order will be the consideration of the amount of money prostitution costs the public. The amount of capital invested in houses of ill fame, and the outlay consequent thereupon presents a total which can not but surprise all who have not deeply reflected upon the ramifications of the evil. The police investigation of May, 1858, quoted a few pages back, gives the total number of houses of prostitution as 378, and the worth of property thus employed can be ascertained with a tolerable degree of accuracy from information obtained, in many cases, by actual inquiry. The value of real estate where it was owned by the keepers of these houses has been already given in some instances, and in others the rent may be assumed equivalent to ten per cent. per annum upon the cost of the property, which is certainly not an undue valuation. Dividing the total number of houses into four classes the estimate stands as follows:
| 80 | houses of the first class are estimated, from actual inquiry, to be worth, including real estate and furniture, $13,800 each, or a total of | $1,104,000 | |
| 100 | houses of the second class are estimated at twenty-five per cent. less than those of the first class, namely, $10,350 for each, or a total of | 1,035,000 | |
| 120 | houses of the third class at $5000 each | 600,000 | |
| 78 | houses of the fourth class at $1000 each | 78,000 | |
| 378 | houses of prostitution are estimated worth | $2,817,000 | |
| Add for houses of assignation: | |||
| 25 | houses of the first class at $12,000 each | 300,000 | |
| 25 | "second"9,000" | 225,000 | |
| 35 | "third"5,000" | 175,000 | |
| 15 | "fourth"3,000" | 45,000 | |
| 100 | Total for houses of prostitution and assignation | $3,562,000 | |
| In addition to this are 151 dancing-saloons, liquor and lager-beer stores, mainly dependent upon the custom of prostitutes and their companions. Any place in which it is possible to carry on either of these businesses must be worth $200 a year rent, which would give a value of $2000 each, or a total of | 302,000 | ||
| The necessary stock, fixtures, and implements can not be worth less, on an average, than $100 in each place: this gives a total of | 15,100 | ||
| and an aggregate capital of | $3,879,100 |
invested in the business of prostitution. That this is not an extravagant estimate will be admitted by any real estate owner or person acquainted with the value of property in the city; especially if he takes into consideration the location of many of the houses, and calculates how much more the adjacent lands and buildings would be worth if these resorts of vice and infamy were removed.
On a scale correspondingly large is the amount of money actually spent upon prostitutes. The weekly income of each woman can not be less than ten dollars. Many pay much more than that sum for their board alone, and in first-class houses it is not uncommon for a prostitute to realize as much as thirty or fifty dollars, or upward, in a week. But if the income is taken at the lowest point, the aggregate receipts of six thousand courtesans amount to $60,000 per week, or $3,120,000 per year.
Every visitor to a house of prostitution expends more or less money for wines and liquors therein. In some cases this outlay will be larger than the cash remuneration given to the women, but other men are not so lavish in their hospitality; and it is fair to assume that such expenditures amount to two thirds of the previous item—a weekly total of $40,000, or $2,080,000 spent for intoxicating drinks in houses of prostitution every year.
In describing the customers of houses of assignation, it has already been remarked that in the first class many of the female visitors take that step, not for gain, but impelled by affection or sexual desire. They would spurn the idea of being paid for their company; but the houses at which their intrigues are consummated being luxuriously furnished, and conducted by women of known discretion and secrecy, have a high tariff of prices as one of their features. Visitors must pay as much there for accommodation as the rent of a room and compensation to a female would amount to in places of less pretension. It is assumed that 4200 visits are paid to houses of assignation every week, and for the foregoing reason estimating them to cost the men the same in every instance, and fixing that cost at three dollars for each visit, this item will amount to $12,600 per week, or $655,200 per year.
The consumption of wine and liquor is small in houses of assignation, as compared with houses of prostitution. It may probably amount to $5000 per week, or $260,000 per year.