(Copy.)
“Office of the Mayor of the City of Philadelphia, Sept. 8, 1856.
“Dear Sir,—As near as we can arrive at the facts (of course no great reliance can be placed on this general answer) the following are the figures:
| 1. Houses of prostitution | 130 | |
| 2. Houses of assignation | 50 | |
| 3. Public Prostitutes | 475 | |
| 4. Private" | 105 | |
| 6. (Say) six hundred thousand population. |
“Our city has one hundred and twenty-nine (129) square miles of police jurisdiction, and six hundred and fifty (650) policemen besides officers. You will therefore make some allowances for the want of time to enable me more fully to state answers to your questions.
“The answers given are from estimates made by the lieutenants of police of their own districts.
“Respectfully,
“Richard Vaux, Mayor of Philadelphia.
“To Wm. W. Sanger, M.D., Resident Physician, Blackwell’s Island.”
Pittsburgh, Pa.
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