DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from Duke University Libraries https://archive.org/details/reportrecommenda01wisc W - - . ‘ r . -\r -i . - • . ^ D . r. ^ . A Vlv^'te Sl<2:Je. I -. • :' 'Vi "'.<_ a.. a. ■_.. ViUA.o'\ REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS M OP THE WISCONSIN LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE THE WHITE SLAVE TRAFFIC AND KINDRED SUBJECTS (Created by Chapter 339, Laws of 1913.) COMMITTEE. Senate Members. Assembly Mejibers. Howard Teasdale, Sparta, Wis., Geo. AV. Bingham, Friendship, Wis., Chairman. Secretary. Victor Linley, Superior, Wis. James Dolan, Platteville, Wis. Robert W. Monk, Neillsville, Wis. Carl Minkley, 1269 19th St., Milwaukee. R. H. Hillyer, Madison, Wis., Reporter. 1914 'sW- s Jfc.. - ■ '•i">? ; STATE OF WISCONSIN : / ^P. Madison, Wisconsin, Nov. 2nd, 1914. To the Honorable Senate and Assembly of the State of Wi's- consin : Pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 339, laws of 1913, the joint committee appointed to investigate and report on the sub- ject of white slave traffic and kindred subjects, begs leave here- with to submit its report of investigations, with recommenda- tions and bills. Howard Teasdale, Ghadrmam Victor Linley, R. W. Monk, Geo. W. Bingham, James Dolan, Carl Minkley, Committee. STATE OP WISCONSIN REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE WISCONSIN LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE THE WHITE SLAVE TRAEFIC AND KINDRED SUBJECTS Introduction. Senate Bill No. 257, S., published May 29tli, 1913, was intro- duced by Senator Victor Linley. It passed the senate without a dissenting vote, and passed the assembly by a vote of sixty- seven to thirteen, was signed by the Governor, aiul became Chap- ter 339 of the Laws of 1913. The bill reads as follows : An Act To provide for the appointment of a committee to investigate and report on the subject of white slave traffic, and kin- dred subjects, and making an apiiropriation therefor. The people of the State of Wisconsin, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: Section 1. A special joint committee consisting of three members of the senate and three members of the assemblj' shall be appointed in the manner that standing joint commit- tees are appointed. Such committee shall fully investigate the causes and conditions of and remedies for the white slave traffic, prostitution, the owum'ship of properties ivherein and whereon prostitution is carried on, the causes of the nonen- forcement of law in such cases, in the various communities of G Keport op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. Wiseoiisiu, and shall make full report thereof to the next ses- sion of the legislature, to be held in 1915, and shall submit such bill or bills as may be expedient. Section 2. Such committee by a majority vote of the mem- bers thereof, is vested with jiienary power to perform and dis- charge the duties by this act enjoined. Any member of said committee shall have power to administer oaths to persons appearing before such committee. Section 3. Such committee shall have the power to employ such stenographers, clerks, assistants and experts as it may deem necessary and expedient tor the proper discharge of the duties assigned to it, and to fix the compensation of such per- sons as it may employ. Section 4. Said, committee is authorized to hold such meet- ings at such places and at such dates as it shall deem most expedient. Section 5. Said committee may by subpoena, issued over the signature of the chairman or acting chairman of said com- mittee and served in the manner in which circuit court sub- poenas are served, summon and compel the attendance of wit- nesses and the production of all books, papers, documents, and records necessary or convenient to be examined or used by them m the course of the discharge of their duties. Section 6 . If any witnesses subpoenaed to appear before said committee shall refuse to appear or to answer inquiries propounded, or shall fail or refuse to produce books, docu- ments, papers and records, within his possession or controi when the same are demanded by said committee, such com- mittee shall report the facts to the circuit court of the county in which such examination is being conducted, and it shall be the duty of such court to compel obedience to such subpoena by attachment proceedings for contempt, as in case of dis- obedience of the requirements of a subpoena issued from such court, or a refusal to testify therein. Section 7. Said committee is authorized to print ten thou- sand copies of its findings for public distribution and send to each member of the legislature at least sixty days before the convening of the next session of the legislature, a copy of the proposed bill or bills framed, together with a copy of the findings and recommendations of such committee. Section 8. Each member of said committee shall be reim bursed by the state for his actual necessary expenses, but shall receive no compensation for the time devoted to the work of such committee. Section 9. There is appropriated ten thoiisand dollars, pay- able from any moneys in the general fund, not otherwise ap- propriated, for the legislatiA'o committee for the iiiA'estigation BliPOR'r OP THE Wisconsin Vice Committee. 7 of the white slave traffic and kindred subjects, for carrying out the provisions of this act. Section 10. This act shall take effect upon passage and publication. Preface. The following report presents to a limited extent the condi- tions found to exist in this state. In many instances the facts disclosed to this committee are of such an astounding and sen- sational nature that their publication herein would be unwise. In order to make this report as free from suggestiveness as pos- sible, and still present to adult readers the deplorable condi- tions found to exist, the language used by investigators and witnesses has been carefully censored. Organization op Committee. Pursuant to the commands of the above act, the Senate, on July 25th, 1913, selected Senators Howard Teasdale of Sparta, Victor Linley of Superior, and Robert W. Monk of Neillsville as Senate members of the committee, and on August 29th, 1913, the Assembly selected Hon. George W. Bingham of Friendship, Hon. James Dolan of Platteville, and Hon. Carl Minkley of Milwaukee as Assembly members of the committee. The members of this committee were recpiired to serve without compensation, having only their actual expenses paid by the state. The committee met for organization on the 20th day of Au- gust, at which meeting Senator Howard Teasdale was selected to be chairman and Hon. George W. Bingham to be secretary. The committee was not appointed as a graft investigating body nor as a prosecuting body, but, by the terms of the law, was re- quired to fully investigate causes and conditions of, and remedies for, the ‘ ‘ white slave traffic ’ ’ and prostitution, and to inquire into the ownership and conduct of properties wherein and where- on prostitution is carried on, and to aseerfain the reasons for the nonenforcement of existing laws in various localities of the state, and to make a full report upon the above mentioned sub- jects to the next session of the legislature, and to submit such a bill or bills as may be considered expedient by the committee. Early in its operations, the committee found that the problem of commercialized vice is one involving very many subordinate 8 Report op the Wisconsin Vice CoMiiiTTEE. social aud economic problems. It found that there is no more demoralizing influence in the state of Wisconsin than prostitu- tion with its attendant evils; none causing a greater economic loss to the state ; and none more difficult to eradicate aud deprive of its inducements and its control of political power. Immediately upon its organization, the chairman and secre- tary of the committee went to Chicago to ascertain how other like commissions had pursued their tasks. Interviews were had with Mr. Clifford Eoe, then counsel of the American Vigilance Association, Mr. James B. Reynolds, then general counsel of the Rockefeller Foundation Investigation, United States District At- torney Edwin Sims, and many other of th* leading social work- ers of the United States. The committee was advised bj’ these leaders that the funds at its disposal were insufficient to even approach a full investigation of the underlying factors of com- mercialized vice. It is a pleasure to state that every means at the disposal of the American Vigilance Association, now known as the American Social Hygiene Association, was placed at the disposal of this committee, and valuable assistance was ren- dered by Mr. James Bronson Reynolds, the j^resent executive head of the American Social Hygiene Association, in initiating the work of investigation. The committee soon discovered that an investigation on a large scale, such as was to be undertaken by the Wisconsin committee was a much more difficult and intricate matter than an investi gation in a given community, such as Chicago, Now ’^"ork, Phila- delphia or Syracuse. The wide variance of the problem of the social evil, extending its influence even into small towns aud vil- lages, had to be kept in the attention of the committee, as well as the better understood conditions existing in the larger cities such as Milwaukee and Superior. In order to get all the light avail- able upon the problems confronting the committee, all of the mem- bers of the committee went to Minneapolis and devoted about a iveek to conferences regarding the various phases of the problem of commercialized vice with some of the prominent authorities who were in attendance at the World's Purity Congress in that city. The committee secured the reports from every like commission that had investigated the conditions in otlier cities and states of the United States, made a study of the best pub- lished works along tliese lines, such as PI exncr’s “Prostitution in Report op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 9 Euroi)e. ” Thu AViscoiisiu Report will quote quite liberally from these reports and books iu order to show that the evil not only exists in other states and cities, but also that in its general as- pects and mode of operation it is the same in Wisconsin as else- where. Certain paragraphs from other reports fittingly jiresent the general conditions existing in Wisconsin, as, for example, the following : (Pittsburg Report, 1913, page 36.) “The evil is so stupen- dous, so intertwined with human nature, so fortified by the hopeless pessimism of the past, so densely beclouded by a perilous reticence, that many a weary march and many a bit- ter battle must come before the final victory, ere the world will realize that there is no necessary evil — that ivhat is nec- essary is not evil, and what is evil is not necessary. “Our investigations and conclusions are not intended to cover all the problems of private sexual immorality. We have dealt primarily with that -vice carried on for profit.” (Philadelphia Report, 1913, page 4.) “Our conclusions do not attempt to solve all the problems of private sexual immor- ality. Our investigation and this report deal chiefly with commercialized vice, and these two must not be confused. The one is individual, largely beyond police control, to be lessened only by education, moral training’, and general social uplift. The other is a public evil, a menace to the community, and as such essentially a police jiroblem,” (Quoted from Dr. Charles W. Eliot.) “If the civilization of the Avhite race is to survive, it must lie saved through the diffusion and adoption of sound policies in regard to social hygiene, carried (mthusiastieally and persistently into action. “To cure the terribly destructive evils Avhich threaten the life of modern ciyilization will be essentially an achievement of education. Prostitution, whether open or clandestine, and alcoholism can be cured only by improving the health and morals of individual men and women. Legislation can restrict or diminish these evils, but cannot control, much less eradicate the passions and appetites from Avhieh they proceed. The education of the public reciuires open discussion of the evils in order to secure the adoption of measures adapted to restrict or diminish vice, to cure disease, and to preA^ent widespread contagion. The education of the indiAudual should include knoAvledge of the erraA^e risks for himself and those dear to him Avhich the thoughtless pleasure-seeker may run, of the feasibil- ity and advantageous results of self-control and personal pur- 10 Eeport of the Wisconsin yicE Committee. ity, and of the wisdom of not endangering the liigliest satis- faction of life for the sake of momentary gratification of ph\'- sical desires; and with this knowledge slioiild be implanted and cultivated the ruling motives of self-respect, chivalrous honor and Avholesome love.” In order to obtain the opinion of the leading social and civic workers of Wisconsin, the committee sent a letter to every mayor in the state requesting the names of six or more per.sons in each community who were interested in the moral betterment of the community. By this means, the names of many of the leading social workers of Wisconsin were secured. Requests ivere made of these persons for any information Avhich they might possess regarding local conditions. Some fourteen hundred question- aires, covering various topics under the general head of the so- cial evil, Avere sent out to these social Avorkers, and by this means some idea Avas secured in regard to a method of proceeding in the individual communities. The replies to questions were A’alu- able in shoAving local conditions but many were so incomplete as to be of little statistical valiie. In addition to the questionaire. the committee sent secret investigators into the communities re- puted to have houses of prostitution and other forms of commer- cialized vice. The investigators were persons recommended by the Burns DetectiA^e Agency, the American Social Hygiene As- sociation and other organizations of unquestionable standing in the United States. In addition to the work done by these inves- tigators, who sought to mingle as much as possible Avith prosti- tutes and procurers and madams and so obtain first-hand infor- mation, the chairman of the committee also Avent to each of those communities and intervieAAmd the leading social workers and of- ficials and other responsible citizens Avith regard to the existence of commercialized vice in their particular communities. Public hearings were conducted in thirteen of the larger cen- ters of population of the state in order to call the attention of the public to the evils existing in such communities. These hearings Avere, in the main, public, but there were also executiA’e sessions Avhen it was thought best to gather testimony behind closed doors from individuals who might otherAvise be embarrassed by a public hearing. The committee attempted in every way possible to secure as Avide and general a point of Auew as possible, and to this end called physicians, ministers, educators, laAAwers, employers, lead- ing social workers, saloon keepers, hotel proprietors, factory ent- Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 11 plo^'ces and many others. It was tlie aim of the committee to get tlie attitude of not only those who are opiiosed to commer- cialized prostitution in every form, but also to hear the testimony of persons actually engaged in the business of prostitution. To this end many keepers and inmates of houses of prostitution were examined and their statements make up a portion of the report of tliis committee. Municipal officers were called and examined as to the enforcement of the law in their particular communities. They were requested to give their experiences in connection with enforcing the law, and in case such laws were not being actively put into operation, to explain their reasons for such apparent neglect. It was found that in many cities the laws relating to prostitution and allied subjects are very well enforced. Much recognition must be given to such organizations as the Milwaukee Society For The Suppression of Commercialized Vice, which at considerable expense to certain citizens of that community has done a great work in securing the enforcement of the Injunction and Abatement law. It is the belief of this committee that such organizations should be propagated in other communities to assist in securing law enforcement and should receive the moral and financial support of intelligent citizens, especially in view of the fact that there is no permanent vice commission yet organized in Wisconsin. Finally a conference Avas called to consider the proposed recommendations of the committee. A special note of appreciation must be inserted in this report in thanks to the cooperation and seiwices of a large number of persons and organizations, not only in Wisconsin, but in other parts of the United States. The' committee desires especially to publicly thank the following individuals for their assistance in initiating the work of organization and advising the committee as to methods of procedure, policies and remedies : James Bronson Reynolds, counsel, and Walter Clarke, field secretary, of the American Social Hygiene Association. Clifford Roe, formerly counsel of the American Vigilance As- sociation. Samuel P. Thrasher, Superintendent of the Chicago Committee of Fifteen. Dr. T. L. Harrington of Milwaukee. A. H. Bartelt, Assistant City Attorney, Milwaukee. The committee from the Merchants and Manufacturers Asso- ciation of Mihvaukee, 12 Ri:i’()kt of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. Duties op Society. Society’s object should be on one hand to throw greater pro- tection around women and girls, especially those alone in great cities, shielding them from the sordid immorality of the street and making it easier for them to live natural and wholesome lives ; and on the other hand making the punishment of men, who are directly or indirectly harassing and threatening the morality of women, much more certain and severe. AVith the possible exception of mental defectives, who are comparatively few in number, society may safely assume that women wish and strive to avoid immorality and unnatural se.\- ual lives. The great majority of prostitutes, now outcasts from the society of respectable women, have come to their present status through the deception of men, through the use of in- toxicating liquor, through economic i)ressure, through loneli- less and isolation leading to bad company, or through as- sault and the use of force. It must be the great task of in- telligent men and Avomen eA^eryAA’here to supply the natural economic and social needs of girls and women, especially in cities, and to make it much more easj’ for them to live AA'holesome and happy lives. The natural instinct of Avomen to maintain moral rectitude must be reinforced on every hand. AVhere there has been a moral breakdoAim, there must be immediate help available, and the Avay, back to moral strength must be made easy and straight ; but the emphasis should be laid upon the prevention of any Avoman or girl falling a A'ictim to the complexities and dis- orders of the social organization. In every state there should be an institution for the education and training of these unfor- tunate Avomen, thus furnishing some of the long neglected op- portunities to learn a trade by AAdiieh to earn a decent liv- ing ; a place Avhere those suffering from venereal disease may be treated and released only upon cure ; a place Avhere society may in a small measure rectify its thefts and neglects of Avomauhood. The man’s part in the social evil is despicable and mean enough to merit the harshest terms of reproach and disgust. The ex- ploiter of the body and soul of Avoman for gain is Avorthy of being the loAvest outcast in society, rather than the Aveak or ignor- ant or unfortunate person exploited. The penalties for such ex- ploitations must be made most seAmre ancl must come AA'ith abso^ 13 IIkpokt of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. lute certainty upon coiivictiou. The hue system, which is unjust and worthless for both men and women, should be abolished ; male offenders should be punished for contempt of court when they follow the common custom of giving a fictitious name before the court and should be given a time sentence to a penal institution, not escapable by the payment of fines, thus sharing their guilt with the state. Man, the aggressive, must be made to partake in the shame and disgrace of woman, the passive. It must be made dangerous and discraceful for man to overstep the boundaries of decency and morality ; and easy, direct and pleasant for woman to main- tain moral rectitude, or return to moral rectitude after a relapse. Agents op Prostitution. The business of prostitution is carried on by “madams,” “pro- tectors,” “procurers,” “pimps” and “ owners,” utilizing as their commodity of sale the services of prostitutes. The “madam” is a woman who is proprietor of a house of ill- fame, whether it be a call-house or a iiarlor house. She keeps the house and is the direct manager and sales agent for the inmates. She handles the money paid for services, and issues the checks to the customers, who in turn give the checks to the prostitute tor services rendered. She is frecpiently the person standing between the owner of the house of ill-fame and the inmates, although it is often the case that the “madam” owns the business herself. She supplies the customers and inmates witli liquor, cigars and cigarettes, furnishes the table board for the inmates, and at times even buys the clothes and personal effects for the women under her charge. In general, the ‘ ‘ madam ’ ’ is the employer of women for the business of prostitution and it is her object to make the enterprise pay as liberal a dividend to the owner and herself as possible. i . i ^ ! It is frequently the case that a man or a group of men of means stand sponsors for the “madam,” and procure police pro- tection for the business. “Procurers” are men or women who solicit for the business of prostitution. They procure the customers and take oi’ direct them to the houses of iirostitution and share in the money se- cured for services. Such persons are frequently men engaged in 14 Ejeport of the AVisconsin A^ice Committee. other businesses, such as bartenders, hotel boys, cab drivers, etc. A “pimp” is a procurer who solicits for a certain woman or for a certain group of women. He is often the “lover” of the woman, and acts as her master and protector, living upon her earnings as a prostitute. AVith this explanatory statement, it will be more easy to under- stand the life and activities of professional prostitutes, and the customs in houses of ill-fame. Pimps— Report op Investigator. GX. 97. — Investigator met this cadet in restau- rant. He said he has a girl in and she has not made less than $68.00 a Aveek for the last four mouths. Also has a girl in a house in another street, he says. GX. 99. — This man has had this house for a year and one- half. His expenses are $16.00 a day. Pays $165.00 a month rent. Takes in $82.50 a day on the average. Pays $52.10 per month protection money. Sells eighty to ninety cases of beer in a month at $1.00 a bottle. Has six year lease. Says that five years ago he landed with a girl and Avith $1.35 in his pocket, and that he finally Avent to the hotel and got a job as a piano player. Finally took his girl to Fargo and he played the piano and she hustled in the same house. States that he has saved betAveen $3500 and $3600 in one year, and came here and bought this house. GX. — SaAV a pimp from one of the houses beat a man up. He said the felloAV broke a AviudoAv in the house on Avenue. This happened in front of Cafe on Street. Alan Avas laying on the sideAvalk bleed- ing Avhere this man had hit him, and a policeman Avalked by and did not say a Avord. He saw the man lying there, and i think he saAv the pimp beat him up. This sIioavs the police are giving the madams of these houses protection. GX. 74.— , Avho runs a restaurant and this place is an ex-pimp from the line. His Avife helps him and told me that she used to be an inmate of the line for a number of years, but Avanted her to quit, so they opened this place and all their business is on tlie lino. GX. 75. — This man runs a house at and ap- proached me last night in a pool room on Street, and said: “A"ou liaAm a girl there Avith you, haA'en’t you.” I Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 15 said, “Yes.” “Well,” he said, “send her down to my woman tomorrow. She can make from $40.00 to $50.00 without any trouble, and as 1 am paying a fine every month, you and she will be protected. Tlie old woman will tell your girl what to say Avhen the cops come to book her, and that will be all you will have to woi'ry about. You can come down and see her every day for an hour or so.” Police orders are that a woman has to be in the house by 8 :00 P. M., and she cannot leave the house until 8 :00 A. M. the next morning. White Slavery. The white slave traffic, as :Conimonly understood, is the practice whereby girls are kept in confinement for barter and sale, or whereby they are kept behind bolts and bars contrary to their will, or whereby a man has compelled an innocent girl to sell her- self to another man for money for immoral purjioses. The com- mittee has not found direct evidence of the existence of much of these forms of white slavery, unless it may be the latter, though we have found many cases where it is alleged girls are compelled to enter a life of prostitution through the coercion of parents, hus- bands or so-called “lovers.” The more liberal interpretation of the term “white slavery” covers every instance where restraint is placed upon the free ac- tion of women and girls, through intimidation, debt, or pure lack of personal responsibility, thus keeping them under the infiueucu? and control of men and women who exploit their bodies for money. Of such cases many have been found. In fact, in nearly all cases where there are officially recognized houses, where inmates of immoral or disorderly houses must submit to an official medi- cal inspection, where proprietors are required to pay a monthly license fee or fine to the city at stated times or at such other times as officials may determine upon, real slavery of the most insidious type exists. Thus, it often happens that inmates must remain within their houses from eight o’clock in the evening until eight o’clock in tlie morning. They may not go upon the streets; or, if they go, it must be in closed carriages. They must dress in a particular manner, and must be subjected to the surveillance of a special i)oliceman. They may not attend public gathering-!. Their earnings are taken from them or must be turned over to their “lovers” or “pimps” or “madams,” so tliey have lit- tle or no money. In many eases girls are never paid in money at 16 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. all, but a check is giveu to the customer by the “madam,” or woman proprietor, and this is giveu by the customer to the girl for services. From the aggregate amount of these checks, each of which may represent fifty cents, one dollar or other sums, are deducted her board, laundry, drugs, medical attention, drinks, dresses, jewelry, finery, etc., which are charged for at an exorbi- tant rate. In this manner the inmate is coutinuallj’ kept in debt to the “madam” and to the house. The “madam” impresses upon the prostitute the fact that she cannot quit the house while she remains in debt. In one case the testimony is that the police came to the house and threatened the girl with arrest if she left before the “debt” to the house was paid. In many cases the “madam” is a favorite prostitute who has been advanced by her male protectors and who takes tlie money from the customers and has general charge of the inmates. The unfortunate women under her charge are made to feel absolutely dependent upon the “madam” and “pimiis” for everything which they need, and are sometimes threatened with more or less severe violence in case of any mutiny. In this way they soon lose all ambition in life, and following the path of least re- sistance, resort to drink and drugs to palliate their unfortunate position, subordinating themselves to ain' man or woman who will relieve them of responsibility and care of themselves until they are finally east off. This is the now generally accepted definition of the term ‘ ‘ white slavery, ’ ’ and is as real a form of moral slav- ery and results in as real a form of phj'sical subservience, as if the prostitute were, indeed, controlled by the bolts and bars and brute force of her ‘ ‘ owner. ’ ’ This is the ordinary condition of most of the inmates of houses of prostitution. The reason why this condition of moral slavery exists is that a girl having once fallen into, perhaps, a temporary relapse, is made to feel that her cliances for virtue and morality have been absolutely abandoned, and that the only course now open is that of a professional prostitute. It often happens that a woman who has been a private prostitute and has ceased to please her so-called “lover” is thrown aside and, being mentally and physically unfit to compete in the ordinary Avalks of industry, finds herself prac- tically forced to enter the life of a common prostitute, and having entered it, she has no other place of shelter and must continue the life regardless of the fortunes that await her. A woman be- Repokt op the WiscoNaiN Vice Committee. 17 giuuing her iminoral life as a private prostitute goes next to a so- called high-class parlor house where her services may bring from ten to fifteen dollars, and thence down the scale until she finally ends a miserable existence in a fifty cent “crib.” Numerous instances have come to the attention of this commit- tee of girls being taken from their homes to other states for im- moral purposes. Frequently their captors under the vigilant enforcement of the Jilann Act have been punished by the Fed- eral authorities, as the law provides. This has occurred in Wis- consin, but the more common practice, both in Wisconsin and elsewhere, is moral slavery as the following extract from the Philadelphia report indicates: “We have given consideration to the subject of so-called ‘white slavery ! We have seen but little evidence, from the information presented to us, of the existence of white slavery in the bald and original meaning of that term; namely, girls held in actual physical subjection, forced by locks and bolts, by cuffs and blows, to lead a life of prostitution. We are not convinced that instances of this kind, especially among im- migrant girls, do not exist ; indeed, we have evidence of phy- sical cruelty to girls by their pimps and lovers; but no in- stances of actual physical slavery have been specifically brought to our attention.” Prostitution. The report of the Massachusetts Commission on White Slavery, on page 43, defines prostitution as follows : “Prostitution may be defined as promiscuous intercourse for hire.” “The reports in different cities show large numbers of girls who habitually have immoral relations with boys and men without exiiecting or accepting financial reward or gain. Ex- cept for the absence of the element of hire, these relations of young girls with boys and men are not to be distinguished from those of professional prostitutes. The reports show an amazing state of affairs among the type of girls found in cities of all sizes who are permitted to loiter about the streets at night and visit places of amusement unaccompanied.” “Information as to who these girls are may be easily ob- tained in any town, and may be verified by those wlio know them, the immoral youths of the town freely talking of the easy virtue of such girls and women. It is certainly surpris- ing how well posted both boys and girls are as to the morals 2— V. C. 18 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Comaiittee. of tile others, and the male solicitors, as a rule cabmen, bar- tenders ana orners wno get tips tor sucii solicitation, otter to obtain tlie immoral services or these girls for total strangers lor pay."' ■‘rn all cities and many villages, girls from thirteen to eigh- teen years of age may be seen aioiie or in pairs on the streets, at railroad staiions, public parks and other public places, un- til late hours night alter iiignt. Their parents apparently have no idea or care where their children go or with whom they associate, 'they talk freely with both men and boys, even strangers, and urge these men to take them to a theatre, mov- ing picture show, the park, automobile riding, or anywhere for a good time. As they get bolder, they are observed Avith men entering immoral cates, hotels, lodging houses and other ques- tionable places. They thus form the beginning of their life from Avhieh they graduate as prostitutes.'’ (Mass. Report.) The Occasional Prostitute. Some description has been given in the preceding section on “ivliite slavery” of the life and customs of the ordinary prosti- tutes. There is, however, a type of immoral woman which may be called the “occasional” prostitute, Avho alternates between a life of decency and industry as a domestic sei’A'ant, factory girl or other form of legitimate Avage earner, and the practice of selling herself for immoral purposes. Any person who is a close observer of the streets of any large city Avill notice that a group of immoral Avomen seen soliciting upon the streets at one time, may be totally absent Avithin a feiv Aveeks or a month. The (lues- tion has been raised as to Avhat becomes of the thousands of Avomen who every year enter a life of immorality in Ncav York City. It is said that some six thousand new recruits enter the life of pros- titutes in New York City eA'eiy year. Some people luiA-e feared that this large supply of unfortunate Avomen has been consumed and shunted into submergence- or death by horrible and unnatural processes. This, hoAA'ever, is not supported by facts. In every large center of population there are Aveak and ignorant Avomen Avho, upon losing their positions as sales clerks, domestic servants or other iioorly paid positions, resort temporarily to x>ros- tilutioii in order to live. There is ample testimony in CA'cry in- vestigation to shoAv that many thousands of this type of AA'omeii jrass into the ranks of x>TOstitutes and out again eA’eiy year and often several times a year. INIany of them finally secure a stable Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 19 position, marry or return to their homes and so escape the lot of the professional prostitute. However, a larger number finally succumb to the temptation of what is upon first consideration an easy mode of earning a living, and take up their positions in regu- lar parlor houses, call-houses, etc. History op Inmates. At tlie direction of the Committee the investigators secured certain information regarding the inmates of the houses of prosti- tution which they visited. Much of this information has been given under evidence of investigators following various sections of the report. Sixty cases were found in which the information was complete enough to warrant a tabular presentation. In tlie following tables this information is given regarding nationality, religion, former occupation, average earnings per week be tore en- tering prostitution, length of time which prcstitution has been practiced and the average daily earnings as prostitutes. Tlie to- tal number being so small, it was not considered necessary to give fiercentages. The first table is a somewhat detailed presentation of sixty cases. The second table is a recapitulation of the first, giving the totals. The tables follow. 20 Report of tpie Wisconsin Vice Committee. .2 cd Pi o O c/2 O' o 5 F t/i S H .2 E> ce g fa C O c CO o cd O fa fa CO s (fa fa ■SUOOI'BS Ul ^JlOtlOS ■sjaajjs uo^ioiios I oocoo oooo ZZZZ ooooo ootoo ococo ZZZZZ ZZ^ZZ ZZZZi: SmSdd S£®'®d £dSdo' SdSdd ><>->-zz >-z>-z>- ;-z>-zz •ua.ipnuo zzz >-z ;zz zz>-z>- >-zzz>- ooooo ssddd 'odd® o -odd dssso zzzzz >'>' >■ :>-zz z>->>z ® rf s a >■0 s-'- <1 isMl ii Ig&si ■S.2 o a p^a:o SSSdS SSSdS SSSdS dSSS'S >-^>-'ZE^ i>'>'E^Z^ Z^E^^^ §g g§ gg ■.^Cigg gggg U^gog -o'go S£| a a cc ;c cs C 5 i-'l r- ^ r^i -r 'Iiaoaa .loupri •aouTiQ ss & s S’^ I o'ssdd ddd-d d®®od dcsds ZE-gZZ ZZZ :Z ZE^ggZ Z>>Z'^ ® ® d d o ^ ZZ Z 0-00 z :zz ■ 93 v •OM ii O O §a s s d d ® s >>.Z Z>->' 6 '&'& gg 5 -^3 : - & sp X — i. o o Z Z CNl l.'t' ■ 2 s — O — & ^ I . 2 o ZE-Z 6 6 6 6 s z zzzzg dffldod ddo®d Z>-Z>Z ZZZ>-Z o s":- i: i: o s S S 5 iilii lb 2 £p ^ ^ ass ggia III! III! II Is £2 - -=§§; T — — O s'S'S'Si g---- = 2225 OD X /- X — C 3 jj ■ *r 1 111 il £ ||}|,;| I- .gaa. 41 |I 1 -f. °E°o| g = °a -2 -iZiia-i £p£ o F o o alias sia r Ci O — :vi I T\ki>i)rt of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 21 SSISSIS SiSSSSIS IJSSS-S I3SSSR SSSSS?^ !;:;!5 SSSSIS SKS?Si 22 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. REPORT OF INVESTIGATORS. Taken Ehoji Statements of Prostitutes and Not Verified by Investigators. Rccapitulatiun . Nationality. Religion. Occupation and wage. Time and Wages as Prostitutes. Former occupation . Average earnings per week Length of time practiced prostitution. Average daily earnings. Irish 14 German . . .11 Colored 10 American . 4 Polish 4 French 3 Protestant. . .22 Catholic 20 Jewish 4 Not stated. . .14 Total 60 *Housework. . .11 Stores and offices 8 $4.25 5.20 Time. No. 1 year or less. 4 2 years 2 3 - 5 4 “ 7 Earnings. No. S3 to $5 3 $5 to $10 17 $10 to $15 11 $15 to $20 0 ■1 Entertainer . . 5 Hotels 5 14.60 5.38 4.58 4.00 6.00 5 6 6 7 7 “ 4 Over $20 4 Not stated 25 Total 60 Italian 2 English 1 Dressmaker ... 1 Telephone operator — 1 Student 1 8 “ 5 9 4 10 7 Not stated. 7 Total . .60 11 '■ 0 Not stated 19 12 " 2 Total 60 13 '■ 1 14 0 15 •• 3 18 ■' 1 20 •• 1 35 “ 1 Total 60 ^Includes housemaids, demestics, etc. ITncludes dancers, siiig'ers, etc. CIVIL STATUS. Married 30 Unmarried 12 Not stated IS CHILDREN OP PROSTITUTES. Children 11 No children 27 Not stated 22 PLACE OP SOLICITATION. Number soliciting on streets Number not soliciting on streets Not stated Number soliciting in saloons Number not soliciting in saloons . . Not stated ; 13 41 6 23 33 4 ATTITUDE TO PRACTICE OP PROSTITUTION. Number desiring to leave this life 10 Number not desiring to leave this life 39 Not stated 11 CAUSES OP ENTERING LIFE. Downfall in part due to : Deceit 26 Dance I'i Liquor IS Drugs 2 Not stated Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 23 It slioiild be noted in the recapitulation table, first, that nation- alities of the prostitutes considered are distributed tlirougli sev- eral nationalities without regulation or proportion. The total number considered being only sixty, the facts of nationalities cannot be considei’ed significantly and no conclusions can be drawn. In religion, the inmates according to their statements, were about equally Protestant and Catholic, the former having two more than the latter. As shown in a following section on illegitimacy, domestics contribute more largely to the ranks of immoral women in Wisconsin than any other single group of workers. The same criticisms which apply to figures on illegiti- macy apply also to the figures under former occupations. Atten- tion is called to the small w’ages received by these women in their former occupations as compared with their earnings as prosti- tutes. The prostitutes considered in the above table had prac- ticed prostitution from less than one year to as long as thirty- five years. More had practiced prostitution for from four to seven years than for any other three year period. Reports op Investigators. GX 65. — Is 23 years of age. English. Can read and wwite. Was formerly a domestic receiving wages of $3.50 a week. First led astray through deceit. Took up this life be- cause she could not make money enough in any other way. Does no other Avork. Has practiced prostitution for two years, but has been in a resort only three months. Average earnings $6.00 per day. First practiced prostitution in city. Does not solicit on the street. Is kept in debt. Showed investigator her book in AAdiich she kept account Avith the dry goods store. GX 70A. — Asre 29. French Canadian. Home influence Avas good. Can read and AAuite. Is subnormal. Formerly a fac- tory employee receiving Avqges of $3.75 per Aveek. Dance.s contributed to her doAvufall. Hives reason for first immoral act — Avanted fine clothes. Was deceived by a man. Has Prac- ticed prostitution in citv. Does not solicit on the streets. Desires to live this life. States that she could not make a decent living bA- Avorking. Does not like this life, but remains in it because of the money there is in it. GX 82A. — Is 23 years of age. French Canadian. Can read find ywite. Is subnoriual, Was formerly a Avaitress pnd re- 24 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. ceived wages of .'|^6.00 ])er week. Dances and ‘'hop” eontrib- iited to her downfall. tStates that she got in had company and gives drinking as reason for her downfall. First began four and one-half years ago. First yielded through fraud. Does no other Avork. Has practiced prostitution for three and one- half years. Divides her money Avith a pimp giving him one- half. Has practiced prostitution in and cities. Does not solicit on the streets or in saloons. Has been arrested. Does not desire to quit this life. Is kept in debt by the madam. Came from Chicago Avith another girl October 27, 1913. Formerly solicited on the streets of Was in a resort at the corner of Armour and Street before coming to this city. States that madani paid her railroad fare from Chicago as soon as she got her trunk into the house. Says that things are tough in Chicago and that as soon as she gets enough she is going to her loAmr and he is going to meet her at Hot Springs, Arkansas. Said that last night she hustled from 12 o’clock until 4:00 A. M. and that she made $14.00. One-half, or $7.00 Avas for herself. GX 88. — Is 26 years of age. Italian. Can read and Avrite. Is Amin. Formerly entertainer at Chicago earning $12.00 n Aveek. Liquor contributed to her doAvnfall. First entered life for money she could make at it. Does no other work. Has practiced prostitution for four years. AA'erage daily earnings $8.00. One-half goes to agent. Does not solicit on the streets or in saloons. Has been arrested. Does not buy clothing of madam. She is bright. GX 89. — French. Age 33. Home influence good. Neither nareni drank. Can read and Avrite. Is A'ain and subnormal. Was formerly a domestic receiA'ing $7.00 a Aveek. Liquor Avas cause of doAvnfall. First began nine years ago. Yielded through deceit. Does no other AA’ork. AA'erage daih- earning $7.00. One-half of this is giA'cu to the madam. Formerly practiced prostitution in CicA-eland. Has been married. Has children. Dope; not solicit on the streets or in saloons. Desires to quit this life. GX 103. — Age 25. Italian. Father drank. Can read and ■'rrite. Gave reason for her first act that a man got her drunk. First began six years ago. Yielded through deceit. Does no other Avork uoav. Practiced prostitution four A-ears and six months before entering a resort. AA'erage daily earnings Si'S. 00. DiA'ided Avith “Charlie” keeper of the house. Has also practiced prostitution in city. Does not solicit on the streets or in saloons. Does not desire to quit this life. Does not purchase clothing from the resort Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 25 keeper and is not kept in debt. Been here only one week. Came here from St. Paul. She is above the average girl in this house. GX 104.— Age 23 or under. German. Home influence good. Cannot read nor write. Father drank. Liquor contributed to downfall. Yielded through deceit. Has practiced prostitution for about three years. Two years before entering a resort. Di- vides earnings with the madam. Average daily earnings, $10.00. Has not been married. Does not desire to quit this life. Gives reason for being here that she wants money, jewelry and fine clothes. Was formerly an inmate of this house. When GX 105 woman died, he took this woman as his madam. She is living with him and running this house. He is here every night and plays the piano as a stall so he can look after the business. WX 27. — Age about 30. German. Home influence was good. Father drank moderately. Can read and write. Was formerly a housewife. Liquor contributed to her downfall. Gives her reason for her first act : mistake in marriage. Be- gan first in the old country. Occasionally does work by the day for which she receives $1.50. Has practiced prostitution for ten years. Most of the time in her own flat. Keeps from earnings all that she doesn’t drink up. Has practiced pros- titution in Hamburg. Has been married and has no children. Does not solicit on streets, but occasionally in saloons. Has been arrested. Does not desire to quit this life. WX 118. — Age 32. Irish. Home influences were not the best. Both parents drank moderately. Can read and write. Formerly worked in factory and received wages of from $4.00 to $6.00 a week. Dances and liquor both contrib- uted to dowfall. Gives as reason for first act : Loved a good time and fellow. First began when sixteen years of age. Yielded through deceit. Does no other work now. Has prac- ticed prostitution for ten years off and on. Three years be- fore entering a resort. Divides earnings with WX 117. The man Avho placed her in resort was not punished. Has prac- ticed prostitution in another city in Wisconsin. Has been married and has no children. Solicits on streets occasionally and in saloons. Has been arrested. Does not desire to quit this life. Has. been in this life so long that she claims she could or 'woid-d not do anything else. She is a hard drinker. WX 119. — Age about 25. Irish. Home influence good. Neither parent drank. Can read and write. Is subnormal. Liquor contributed to downfall. First began at 14 years of age. Began just for tlu' ex])erienee as she was naturally bad. Prac- 2G liEPORT OP THE ’WISCONSIN ViCE COMilITTEi;. ticed prostitution for ten years, four years before eutering a resort. Gives inaclaiu one-lialf of tne earnings. Has noc praeticed prostitution in any otiier city. Tsever nas been mar- ried. Hoes not solicit on streets or in saloons. Has been ar- rested. Has no desire to quit tliis life. Will not give up tne lite as slie Knows tnat any ame sue aesires slie can return to her home on the south siOe. GX 118B. — Age 27 years. Irish. Home inllueuces were not good, h'ather urank. Gan read and Avrite. Hownfall attrib- uted to liquor, fieason for first act ; Man took her out in auto one night and threatened to make her walk home unless she submitted. Hoes no other work now. Practiced prostitution for three years and six months before entering a resort. Hi- vides earnings ivith madam, each receiving one-half. Has not been married. Has never been arrested. Hesires to quit this life. Investigator says: “This girl appears to have a good bringing up and from what she told me she wanted to have good clothes and in looking for a good time she went out auto- mobile riding and had drinks Avith a man. He got her intox- icated and he refused to take her back to the city unless she submitted. Her parents found out she Avas running around, and her father raised so much hell that she left home.” an inmate of WX 1 of Citj' No. 47, says she is 22 years old. Her home is in She states that, her home Avas fairly good, but had to Avork hard. Came to this city and Avent to Avork as Avaitress in restau- rant, but did not get along. Avell. Began sporting Avhile at Avork. Then Avent back to her home and then Avas in a resort there. Hid not AA’ant her people to knoAv it, so came back here. States that she is making good money and likes the life. Lays her doAvnfall to associating Avitli bad girls of this city. The other inmate of this place claims Wisconsin is her home. Segregated Histricts. Investigation shoAvs that in some cities of the state, many open and recognized houses of prostitution exist. In some of the larger places these houses are grouped in certain streets oi' blocks, usu- ally in the poorer section of the community. A “segregated dis- trict” is such a group of immoral institutions recognized by po- lice authorities and made to remain within a given area. At pres- ent there are A>’ery fcAv real segregated districts in the state of Wis- consin, due to public opinion and the activity of some hiAv enforc- ing officers. Undoubtedly the Linlej’ Lrav, commonly kuOAvn in Keport op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 21 the United States as the Injunction and Abatement Law, has done much to break up distinct segregated districts. In some cities houses of prostitution are condoned or recognized by the police, but are scattered in different portions of the city. We find some men contending that the segregated district is the best method of controlling prostitution. They claim that prostitution is a necessary evil, and that if these houses did not exist, respectable women would not be free from molestation on the streets at night. This argument is especially urged by cer- tain residents of the cities on the lakes, on account of the numer- ous sailors, miners and lumbermen who frequent these cities. Testimony before this committee secured from some of the lead- ing citizens and business men of such cities supports this conten- tion, while other business men most strenuously maintain that such a policy is untenable and dangerous. The great mass of opinion, however, is absolutely opposed to any such policy of seg- regation. Many intelligent and socially minded men and women all over the United States have changed their point of view in regard to the segregation of vice. Ten years ago there were few supporters of the fight against such districts. Even the greatest leaders in social reform believed that the segregated district was the best way to control a so-called necessary evil. This was before any of the great investigations had been made. After the work of the Chicago Vice Commission was published, a notable change took place in the attitude of intelligent men and women toward this question. It is now the accepted opinion of most officials and all social workers, educators, clergymen, and in general, all those most strenuously opposed to vice, that the segregated district must go and that a policy of absolute repression and continuous campaign against vice must be adopted by every city and state. In order to present the point of view of citizens of Wisconsin, the follow- ing extracts of testimony presenting both sides of this question are given. Favoring Segregation. City No. 87. (Mayor) page 314. “If I did not think seg- regation was for the best interests of the city, I would cer- tainly close tlie district. When the people complained, I lis- tened to them, but I didn’t do anything. I didn’t close the district. ” 28 liEl'OKT UJb' THE WISCONSIN VlOE COMMITTEE. (^Theater Man) page l‘J7. “Under certain conditions, a segregated district is almost a necessitj", considering tiie con- airion ot men ol to-day. A segregated custnct without music, booths or liquor, possibly is a good thing. 1 think the city should have as much money out of it as possible. ' (Banker) page 204. “i believe in a segregated district in a city of this kind where we are a seaport town and a lum- bering town. They cleaned up the district once and forced the women all over town. They should coutiue it to some place and there should be external decency.” (Manager of Brewery) page 226. “I believe in the exist- ence of a segregated district in this city. I think sale of liq- uor .should be discontinued in the houses. I think it is a pro- tection to decent girls and women.” City No. 30. (Merchant) page !). “I couldn't tell you which is best. I think it is a necessary evil, but see no change in street conditions when we did not have it.” Opposed to Segregatiox. City No. 87. (Supt. of .Schools) page 211. “1 think the presence of such a district acknowledged by the city is a bad influence. General talk shows it is unreasonably bad.” (Painter) page 200. “Mj’ own iiersonal opinion is that a segregated district is a curse to the communit}'. There is now more or less of it scattered outside of the segregated dis- trict, and. I think the amount of it is greater outside of the segregated district. I supposed I kncAV the city, having lived here for over twenty years, but a short time ago I made a trip down Ave. to Street, with an- other man, and frankly admit I didn't know anything about the city at all. You could get girls from ten cents up alm'ost anywhere, and this was outside the segregated district.” (Laborer) page 192. “Have seen houses of prostitution in this city outside of the segregated district openly soliciting for customers. The segregated district looked to me as though it was a dumping ground for those who are no longer able to make a living below the line.” (Mission AYorker) page 202. “They can secure girls when wanted outsiile of the district as easily as inside and there now much street soliciting.” (Expressman) iiage 199. “T do not think it is desirable to have a segregated district.” (Baiikei-) page 208. “The morals of this city are very bad. I should like to see the segregated district abolished, though T do much business with them. I think it is injuiion.s to the morals of the young and a disgrace to the morals of our cit- izenship. ’ ’ Kepokt op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 29 (Uaukor) page 209. “Tlie nioi-als of tliis city are decidedly below i)ar. The toleration of an open segregated district is absolutely inexcusable from any standpoint, and has no justi- fication. 1 have talked with many men and have never found a man who said it was a necessary evil for him. It always seemed to be for the other fellow.” (J\Ianufacturer) page 210. “After the city houses Avere closed, many more people Avere seen in this segre- gated district. The segregated district keeps legitimate busi- ness out of this district. It is not necessary to haAm a segre- gated district. It is demoralizing to the city. It is a menace, not only to the peoi)le Avho live near it, but as much so to the Avhole city.” City No. 30. (iMerchant) iiage 5. “My opinion is a segia'- gated district should never he alloAved to exist under any cir- cumstances. ]\ly observation is there is less tendency to accost girls on the streets in toAvns Avhere they do not exist than Avhere they do. One of the first things to do to improve moral conditions Avould he to eliminate houses of prostitution and the prosecution of the persons continuing in the practice.” (iMerchant) jiage 7. “The sentiment is against houses of prostitutiou. I Avoidd rather do Avithout their trade, though you Avould he surprised hoAv many thousands of dollars Avorth of goods I sell to them a year. There Avas less interference Avith girls on the streets Avhen Ave did not have them.” (Manufacturer) page 8. “I helieAm our city Avas better Avithout the segregated district.” (Manufacturer) page 16. “I do not think houses of prosti- tutio}! should be permitted to exist. I think the poAvers for oAul are organized and the uoAvers desiring the betterment of*^ things are not organized. If it came to the test the big ina- joritA" Avould he for doing aAvaA" Avith them.” (President of School PmardV page 18. “Our board adopted resolutions to the couimil to close them as a menace to society and to the schools. (Later tin's resolution Avas turned doAAUi by the common council of this ci'^y, by a Amte of 14 to 2.) In every city Avhere they have tried both methods of handling prostitution, the question has been asked every citizen familiar AA’ith the subject and every officer and policeman that came before the committee Aidiether or not there Avas more street soliciting and immorality to be found on the streets Avith the district closed than there Avas Avhen it Avas open, and practically every person and offi- cer admitted that there Avas not as much eAudence of street immo- rality under the closed policy of the city as there Avas under the open policy, and this is particularly true from the eAudenee in the 30 Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. city of Superior and tlie c-ity of La Crosse. Possibly tlie best test is shown in La Crosse, as the policy was there fre(iueutly changed under incoming mayors and in some cases under the same mayor, and the universal testimony was that the street conditions were better in the city when the houses were closed. The opinion of these witnesses is full}' corroborated by the re- ports of other cities. Report of Hartford Commission, 1913 , page 10 . “Complete segregation Avas never possible. Those not in houses Avere by far the greater number. This is the situation iiwariably found Avhere segregation or regulation is attempted. The morals po- lice of Paris admit that but a small portion of the prostitutes of that city are under any police surveillance AA'hateA^er. Sim- ilar testimony comes from other cities and the evidence before this commission points to the same failure to control the larger part of prostitution in this city. The policy of segre- gation obviously does not limit the eA'il to one locality. But, does the opposed poli.cy, that of closing the regulated houses, result in an increase of Auce in other parts of the citj^? The regular houses in Hartford haAm been closed since December 29th, 1911. There is no evidence of a general increase of pros- titution at other points. Only three or four of the thirty-five Avornen Avho had been in tolerated houses haA^e since been so- liciting on the streets.” Reiport of Pittsburg, 1913 , page 15 . “The maintenance of a section for uses of commercialized vice is a menace to the morals of all classes, but is particularly injurious to the young of both sexes. Regulation or reglementation of any kind is not only in direct opposition to the moral ideals of an American community, but offers insurmountable practical difficulties of administration. Houses of prostitution and other institutions of commercialized Auce being forbidden by laAv, their toleration is a •dangerous source of graft and corruption. “If there Avere no more than one thousand Avomen in the red light district of Pittsburg, and if their aA’erage career be fiA’e years, it is clear that tAvo hundred young girls must fall every year to keep up the supply of human flesh. A segregated dis- trict cannot exist AAdthout panderers, procurers and white slaAmrs to secure recruits. No justification, either physical or moral, can be found for the tolerance of the cahI, as continence is entirely compatible with health. While A'irtue cannot be enforced by legal enactment, the laAVS can and should preAmnt the existence and promotion of commercialized Auce.” Report of tpie Wisconsin Vice Committee. 31 Minneapolis Report, 1811, page 26. “At that time there mere tmeiity-tlii-ee recognized resorts in tliat district. It is noteworthy that ting movement was rather in the nature of an abatement of a local nnisanee than a crnsade against vice on universal moral grounds. The residents of the Sixth Ward insisted upon the right to clean np tlieir own backyard. They found the presence of those resorts a detriment to business and a standing rhenaee to the morals of the community. It was difficult for the most respectable women to appear even in street cars near this district at night without being subjected to insults by rowdies and half intoxicated men. As a result of this action in the Sixth Ward, a demand for the closing the entire red light district was made, and th“re was not a dissenting voice. Grand Rapids, Mich. Report, page 10. “The immensity of the social evil is no excuse for us to stand idly by and do nothing in an attempt to solve it. Prostitution as a commer- cialized business or anything akin to it cannot be considered necessary. Earnest, wise, united and persistent effort on the part of individuals or organized groups in society can elim- inate it. Segregation as a method of dealing with the vice problem has utterly failed. It is the old remedy, and under it. protected vice has flourished to such an appalling extent that thinking men are coming to realize that it is eating the very heart out of the nation. The people are interested, as never before in human rights. The sociological side of life is being studied, and the first great barrier found blocking the wav of human proeress was commercialized vice. All cities having investigated the subject are opposed to segregation. As long as Ave have segregation, Ave have commercialized vice. Segregation means licensed vice Avithout income. Segregation means corruption of morals, mind and body. Segregation means constant degredation and political and police corruption. Segregation means open invitation to the youth of our city. Segregation offiers an open attraction to the loAV-minded, Aveak-minded and vicious. Segregation is one of the principal causes of crime. Segregation centralizes the traffic in vice and its victims are draAAm from the homes of the people. Children are not born in vice resorts, but in the homes, and it is from these that vice finds its new victims. Segregation is unfair to innocent and conscientious owners of property, in the segregated district, for while it enormously mcreascs the value of uroneriv used for immoral purposes, it depreciates the value of nearby property. 32 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. Segregation is outrageously unfair to tliose i)Oor lielpless people M'ho uiust live iii the iuimediate presence of the congre- gated vice element. One is led to believe that it is because they are lieliiless and cannot defend themselves that the better element of the community allows conditions to be forced up- on them which it would not tolerate in its OAvn neighborhood.” Flexner, Prostitution in Europe, 1914. Page 175. The table above given disposes once for all of segregation. Segregation in the sense of an attempt to confine the prostitutes of the city, or even the majority of them, to a single locality, or CA'en to a fcAV definite localities, is not undertaken in any European city from Budapest to GlasgoAv.” (Quotation from ‘‘The Fight Against Vice.” Page 850, ‘‘Clinical Medicine” for Oct. 1914) ‘‘One of these spectres was the traditional fear, industriously circulated by those vrhose interest it served, that the breaking up of vice segrega- tion Avould drhm prostitutes into respectable neighborhoods. As the committee clearly points out, this is not true to any- thing like the extent that is generally belieA'ed, and even though true that some professional prostitutes haA'e taken up their abode in residence districts, the respectable and the Avell to do neighborhoods are far better equipped to resi.st and prevent the inroads of Auce than are the poor and sub- merged quarters that liaAm long been A'ictimized by entrenched systems of vice, police protected and officially maintained. “Another persistent rumor set afloat by the A'ice interests is that the assaults upon decent Avomen Avould increase, and have increased, upon the dissolution of the so-called red light district of Chicago. This rumor the committee of fifteen is in a position absolutely to deny and disproA'e by indisputable statistics; for the records of the citv of Chicago show that in the year 1913, the year folloAving the attack bA’ States Attor- ney Wayman, upon the segregated district, the actual num- ber of such assaults fell off nearly thirteen per cent, while there Avas an increase in the citA^’s population of nearh.’ 70,000.” Places of Prostitution. There are A'arious forms Avhich commercialized A’ice takes in every large city. A brief description Avith illustratiA’e eA’idence is given for several of these forms. Parlor Houses. A “parlor house,” or “house of ill-fame,” is a dAvelling used primarily for the business of prostitution. It sometimes happens Eeport op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 38 that the lower floor of such a building is occupied by another busi- ness, s uch as a saloon, pool ropm;Ldiieater on otherwise, while the — upper floors are given over to rooms and parlors for the inmates, j Some of these bouses are very luxurious and expensive, having I costly decorations and furniture, wliile others are dirty, poorly ' kept and cheap throughout. Where a large building is given over entirely to such a business I and the rooms are small and very numerous, the term “crib” is ; frequently applied. Such places sometimes have no reception ' parlor, no music, and liquor is served in the rooms from the saloon 1 in connection. This type of bouse is usually cheap and one of the most hideous places of commercialized prostitution. Services are offered by the inmates for fifty cents and one dollar. Eoad Houses. The bommittee finds that, adjacent to most of the cities of the state in which houses of ill-fame exist, there are numerous road houses with the usual equipment of bars and bedrooms. They are usually provided with various gambliiig .deviees, music and a room for dancing. These places are mostly supported by the patron- age of immoral men of nearby cities, who take girls from the cities to these resorts, in automobiles and carriages. These houses, because of the fact that they lie outside of the jurisdiction of the municipal police, are di fficult to supe rvise and control. Many of the parties that frequent these resorts first get together in the palm gardens of the city, and from there automobiles or cabs take them to the road houses to comi^lete the entertainment. Road houses are popular because little restraint is placed upon the patrons, and liquor is sold freely without regard to the age of the customer. The evidence and testimony before the committee shows that many women have been taken to these places, made intoxicated, and debauched. The road house furnishes one of the most difficult and illusive problems of public morals, and the state should take immediate ac- tion to assist cities in the control of these resorts. The testimony and evidence which follows will give an idea of typical cases. 9-v. 0. 34 Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. Report of Investigators. City 39, Page 22. Road house saloon called Place is a two story frame building. First floor has a bar and wine rooms in which is piano. No regular inmates. In- stead the sporting women Avho Avork here, Mrs says, come and go. They are usually here Saturday and Sun- day nights. The proprietor says that if the tOAvn of Avould alloAV him four regular inmates on the place, he Avould gladly pay $1,000 for that privilege, because he knoAvs that AA’ith four good hustlers it Avould repay him for the priA’ilege. Ten bedrooms AA diich are let to couples. Claims that most of the eouplesare~business men out for a good time. Some bring girls along — others are out looking for them. He says his heaviest trade just uoav is from and names the chief of police among them. Also the people of are a little afraid j^et, not having gotten oA'er the latest upheaAml due, he says, to cranks and old hens and Avould-he reformers, though, he claims, their crusades can’t touch him. as he is outside their jurisdiction, the place being outside of the city limts. The place is reached by an interurhan line, though the faA'orito mode of travel used by sporting people and especially with Avomen has been by auto or carriage. place; tAvo story frame building on first floor of Avhieh is a bar and Avine rooms in AAdiicli there is a piano, also a lunch room. , There are no regular inmates, though the Avomen employees of the place are allowed to solicit men pa- trons of the place, and Avere heard doing so AAdiile being seiwed at the lunch counter. There are tAvo waitresses. Upstairs are neatly furnished rooms that are let to couples Avho come out here from either or for a good time. Price is $1.00 each. This is also a road house resort. Parties come by auto out here Avhere they need haA'e no fear of the ]iolice. Though the trade is not large as , yet they are open every night. Until just recently, Mrs claims to liaAm kept girls. Expects to have them there soon again. City No. 47. Road house WXF. _I^ur miles from tOAAm on the road. Occ upies a large frameMouiIdmg“ On the first floor is the bafrobm jht Avhich are seA'eral slot ma- chines, and to the one side is the Avine room. At the rear are the living rooms. The Avife of the proprietor, Polish girl, and (a German girl), natVes of this state, are inmates. All are dressed in apron dresses and hustle drinks from the men. The girls solicit men to take them to the rooms, The price is $2.00. The landlady goes from one man Keport op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 35 to another and urges liiin to go with the girls. She collects the money and gives the girls a check a taxi driver, also brings Avhat he calls “live hunches” out for a good time, and in turn is given any trade the house may have in preference to any other cabbies. Investigator saw two girls apparently 16 years of age with middle aged man, and a younger man arrive by auto. They were served Avith beer and ginger ale highballs. One of the inmates says the house does a big business, especially Saturday and Sunday nights. She saA's that she and the other girl aA^erage $40 to $50 a Aveek for themselves, after uaA'ing $5.00 a Aveek board. They give the landlady the first $5.00 and half they make. WXG. Road house. Tavo miles from Proprietor is an Americmn Two storAT)riek building, large dance hall in the rear. Front part of the_ place has a very "ileatl.y furnished bar room in AA’hich there are three slot ma- chines and raflling machine, also an upright piano, also seats ■'lind a table Avhere drinks are serA'ed. Upstairs are living rooms and also a drinking room. Parties come out here from '-UmAUi'' during the afternoon and night and are seiwed Avith AvhateA-er thev Avant to drink. Thev are accommodated Avith rooms for Avhich they pa}’ $1.00 to $1.50. The proprietor has , • had this place nine years. Proprietor states that she cat ers only to the quieter class of people Avho come out here for a good time, not caring to be seen around resorts in the city. Also states that she doesn’t alloAv knoAvn prostitutes to fre- quent her place, and that she knoAvs her guests to be either shop or office girls or those Ihung at home Avho go out occa- sionally Avith their beaus. . WXH. Road house. Four miles from toAvn. Large frame building. Front is a large bar containing piano, sevenaTVloF Tnachiires. a table Avith stalls on tAvo sides Avhere Avomen can ^ and drink. At the rear and upstairs are liA’ing rooms. Three Avomen inmates. Mrs. WXH hustles drinks as much as the girls and have heard her asking a man if he did not Avant to go up to a room Avith one of the girls. The girls are dressed in ordinary clothing and solicit from one man to another in the barrooms and Avhenever a man consents to go to her room Avith her the girl collects $2.00 and hands it to I Mrs. WXH and Avalks boldly out. After a short time the girl 1 returns to the saloon and leaA’es him for someone else. Par- ! ties from toAvn come here for a good time. Mrs. W XH states . that at the most Saturday nights one can hardly get standing i room. She also states that many times a party of men will hire tAVO automobiles of and get him to round up some ^irls in the toAvn and all liaA’e a good time until morn- i 36 Eeport op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. ing. Mrs. WXII also states that men Avho like to have a game occasionally come out here every Aveek and have a big poker game. Names several girls that have recently been driven from the town by the police that are frequenters of this place Avith men. City 47. WXN. Road house. Located on is- land. Has plainly furnished bar in AA’hich are s^'eral sloLir^^ chines. At the rear of the bar is a dance hall and an electric piano furnishes music for dancing. Private rooms and li A'ing rooms are on the second floor , aged 27, and aged 2.5. live on the island but come here to solicit men Avhom tliey take to rooms above, price $2.00. The girlsy and the wife of the proprietor hustle drinks in the bar. There is a talfle in tbo dance hall at which di’inks are seiwed, but feAv use it. All stand round the bar. As soon as a man enter.? these Avoiuen take him by the arm and lead him to the bar and keep him there as long as he Avill treat them. The worst sort of dancing — rag and tangoing, is alloAved. The son and tAvo other boys, all minors. Avere sei’A^ed Avith beer until pretty well intoxicated. Eight or ten men Avere there during the stay of the investigator. ' I WXO. On an island. This is the largest and toughest place on the island. Has neatly furnished bar in which are slot machines and turkeA" raffling machine. At the left o?-4he bar is the dining room AAdiich is also nsed as a AA’ine room. This place is said to be the hangout of crooks and gamblers from , toAA'u. It is also said that has a penitentiarA^ record. Men come froTu the city to liaA'e a game away from the police interference. Until recentlA^ thev had tAvo inmates. The wife of the proprietor states that theA' are trying to get others and asked the iiiA^esti gator to get her some if she came across any good looking girls doAvn toAvn aa'Iio really wanted to make money. proprietor of billiard hall, states that these people short-change as Avell as in many instances keep the change of men Avho are drinkinsr came to this ’place AA’ell under the influence of liquor Avith another boy not over eighteen years of age. TheA' Avere seiwed Avith drinks until theA'- refused to drink Avith the others has been in business here for 3wars brcAvery holds a mortgage on the place and controls it. City No. 30. Page 195. Is a regular road house saloon re- sort. Occupies a tAvo story frame building on tlie’flrst floor of Avhich there is, a bar and three Aviue rooms. A nickel in the slot music box proA'ides entertainment desired. Upstairs Report op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 37 is wliat is sui)posed by the unknowing ones to be a dance hall. There are also bedrooms. There are no resident in- mates, but according to the statements of Mr , the place is being run wide open and couples from town in carriages come here and go as far as they like in having a goot! time. Further says that lots of men, good spenders out on a lark, came here alone so the girls make good off those live ones. A man by the name of came today with another fellow in a buggy. The proprietor is now trying to get in with a prostitute of street. He has been off on a spree several days, leaving his partner in charge of the place, so he says. City No. 68. Road house resort 2^2 miles from town on the shore drive proprietor. Place is a large Hvo story and attic building. On the first floor is a bar- room in which there is an electric piano to furnish entertain- ment, it desired. At the rear is an “L” shaped hall that sep- arates tw,o wine rooms from which there are stairs leading to nyaiiy lunnsned rooms above. At one end of this hall is the side entrance to the building. Has his own electric and gas plants. Also steam heating j^lant. There are no regular in- mates, but couples come out here afternoons and evenings and have a good tune. Men who, he says, can’t afford to be seen in similar places around toAvn, with others, come out here for a good time, by auto. Usually does a good business. Claims the town in which place is located went dry so now their sale of liquor has to be on the quiet as there is no liquor license. Investigator treated party of three. Two whiskeys and a glass of beer Avere served, the beer to the investigator, and he was sure Avhat it was. Thirty-five cents was paid for the drinks. City No. 60. Road house 2^^ m iles from the city. Place oc- cupi es two buildings. Small barrobmpiv^iue room and kitchen ■nUtlie front or corner building. Here also the proprietor sleeps many nights on a folding bed in the wine room. In this building are rooms that are let for assignation purposes to couples AAdio come out here from , .~y and cities for a good time, to be out here without being seen. Mrs says they are running wide open, also they are making money — that is why she is satisfied to stay here, although a good way from town. Further says some friends of hers — young girls who are willing to take a drink — come out. They make men spend their money for drinks and after a little Avhile they get the men to go to their rooms with them. Out of that she gets 50 cents and. the girl the balance of Avhat she gets out of the men. Proprietor says 38 Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. everything in is on the hum. That they had been a little careful since they heard that a member of the committee was in town, also that they expect some of the de- tectives to folloAV soon, hut since no one has shown up, thinks it is blown over. Proprietor also was refused a saloon license in the city last July because of the bad character of the place. Parlor houses and road houses recognized by the city offi- cials were found by investigators in connection with the following cities in Wisconsin, such recognized places being in addition to a very large number of places where immoral practices are more or less openly engaged in, found to exist in practically all of such cities. No. houses No. inmates Road houses adjoining No. inmates Green Bay* 1 10 3 15 Ashland 1 12 2 1 9 Marinette* 1 3 9 Bayfield 1 5 30 2 Chelsea 1 5 Menasha* 2 3 Fond du Lae* 7 20 2 Plymouth 1 8 Sheboygan 3 18 Merrill* 1 Stevens Point* 1 9 2 8 Hub Oitv 1 9 Superior’’' 21 160 * These places are reported to have been closed since the committee began its wort, the last being Superior, closed November 16, 1914, by order of District Attorney McKay. Such an official deserves public commendation lor this act in the face of such strenuous opposition on the part of financial and other interests. Immor.vl Places Existing with Little if any Official Interference. In addition to the above the committee's investigators foimd lit- tle difficulty in securing positive evidence of the existence of many other places where immoral practices were openly solicited and carried on, such as parlor houses, assignation houses, road houses, immoral hotels, rooming and lodging houses, cafes, chop suey res- taurants, saloons with bedroom connections, and dance halls. Much evidence was also secured in regard to open street solicita- tion, and of the practice of abortion. Report op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 39 The following is a partial list of places of the above nature, re- ported by the investigators : Milwaukee, with several hundred inmates La Crosse Madison Watertown Janesville Manitowoc > Kenosha Appleton Beloit Wausau Rhinelander 269 51 21 19 14 12 9 7 7 9 5 New London Mayville . . . Neenah . . . . Hartford Waupaca . . Shawano . . . 4 4 3 2 2 2 (Statements of Investigators.) GX. City No. 87. (p. 109.) There are Jwenty-one houses us ed for prostitution. There are from ten to fifteen rooms in each of these houses. The average rent per month for these houses is $150.00. They are worth about $20.00 per month. They are surrounded by a swamp. Only a few negro families living around these places. There are, on the average, eight girls in a house. All of the houses on Ave. are $1.00 houses. All of the houses on Ave. are $2.00 houses, except the House. The ’s do not sell liquor. All houses have automatic pianos, operated by drop- ping a nickel in the slot. All of the houses, with the excep- tion of the House, have dancQ rooms. Nearly all of the houses have one or two musicians, who sing and play for the dancers. This means about forty men who make a liv- ing by entertaining, on the line. All inmates of the houses are required to live in the houses and are not allowed to leave or come between the hours of 8 :00 P. M. and 8 :00 A. M. In- mates pay from $6.00 to $15.00 a week for board, and get one- half of what they take in. Also receive 10 cents a round on all beer sold in rooms. Prostitutes average $35.00 a week for themselves. Some of the girls make as high as $100 a week. Two policemen patrol the district at night, and one in the 40 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. daytime. When there is any trouble with customers, a police- man is called in (by the madam). These houses are ail lo- cated in one block. GX67. City No. 87. (p. 115). Two story frame building^.- Investigator solicited from window. CX67 is the madam. Has a receiving parlor. Seven inmates counted. Estimated num- ber, twelve. Six men in parlor. Price of prostitution, $1.00. Drinks, $1.00, Avith rebate of 10 cents to Avoman. Inmates dressed in kimonas. Daily receijits of girls, $25. Rent paid, $125.00. Actual rental value $25.00. One girl called Blanche. Her home is in Minnesota. She has carried on prostituton for eight years, in , Wash., , Mont., and , Colorado. Has been here six months. Says business is very poor since the miners haAm been on strike. ^ City No. 88. page 230. Pearl ’s Aa'c. Occupies a very nicely furnished tAvo story and baseiBent_ frame house ; has three parlors and fiA'e sleeping rooms for the inmates; place is a regular parlor house sporting resort and is being run Avide open, right in the heart of the city. There are four inmates, tAvo bf^fhem bj^ name Elenora and Alice ; dressed in loose kimonas, as Avas also the landlady Avhen she admitted me to the house. This is a $2.00 house. The landlady receHes half the girls make and $2.50 per week board. Sells local beer, price $.50 a bottle. Keeps two ser- vants, a AAdiite housemaid and a colored woman cook, Susan D. by name, Avhom she recently brought here from Mihvaukee. Pearl said her house is doing a fine business; that she was here four years Avith Irene as housekeeper and inmate, so has made her OAvn friends; that she caters only to the best class of men ; does not admit foreigners or other rough men ; further said mean neighbors Avho Avere sore at Irene got out a iietition against her so she had to gh'e up the house. In telling me of other landladies in toAA'u, said that Pearl J. noAV running the Flats, Oshkosh, ran the House here for years; later had re- sorts in Green Bay and ManitoAvoe, but not in Racine, that she knew of, though she had knoAvn Pearl for years. Revisited Pearl ’s parlor house sporting re- sort, Aa'O. ; find she has five inmates, by name, Alice, Kitty, Elenora, Martha and Jeanette; also that she is selling Konrad Scheier’s Edelbrau beer at 50 cents a bottle. SeA^eral eases Avere brought in while 1 Avas there. Dr. here today inspecting the girls. City No. 30. Page 193. Jennie , Street, has a Avell furnished three story and basement frame Report of tite Wisconsin Vice Committee. 41 dwelling house on the first floor of which is a large ball room and parlors in which there are two electric pianos. It is a regular parlor house sporting resort. There are six inmates; price of resort $2.00. Landlady gets one-half the girls make for their privilege and their first $10.00 made in each week, for board. Has a housekeeper, Mrs , cook, house- maid and hired man. Is the oldest landlady here, and is about 70 years old and very deaf ; is the owner of this property. Jen- nie doesn’t allow her pimp, T. M. to do anything, though he is a plumber by trade; at times he does a little job here and there as a blind, but she has really supported him for years. She is generally said to be quite wealthy. Within the last few days two inmates came here from sporting resorts in a small Michigan town. City No. 59. Sporting House. Page 82. Occupies a plainly furnished frame shack; one of the old parlor Rouse resorts of 'The red light district on River St.; was closed more than a year ago. Has two inmates, WX50 and WX51, both old timers and former inmates of various River Street resorts. They solicit men passinsr, from the windows. Price of house, $1.00. The landlady. WX49, receives half the girls make. She col- lects a dollar from each man, giving the girl he selects a check to show for it and pays off once a Aveek. WX49 states, that she was alwavs naturally bad ; as a little girl was bad with boys; entered a snorting house in Detroit before she was fif- teen years old. Years ago she came here and at first worked in a snorting house, but money came too sloAvly. so she be.eame an inmate, finallv obtaining a resort of her own; also states that she has made a great deal of money and spent thousands on her consort, known as WX52. Among her gifts to him are an .‘^1.800 automobile and a luxuriously furnished apartment in the WX53 flats. She has never closed her resort entirelv; has been arrested and fined several times since the district closed, for keeping a disorderP^ house. She is an elderly avo- man; calls herself French. Those aaRo have knoAvn her for years state that she is a colored Avoman. Call Houses. In addition to the so-called “parlor houses,” “cribs” and “road houses,” there are houses of call, or “call houses.Ji, Such places are conducted by a madam who, maintains a more or less comfortable place of meeiinjv for men and women for immoral purposes. Customers are secured by runnei’s ov pimps, and fre- quently there is a regular clientele. When a customer comes to such a place, the madam permits him to select from a list of 42 Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. women, who are at her disposal, one with whom he is especially pleased or with wEom he is acquainted. The madam then calls one or more from a neighboring hotel or roondiig house, c.r even home, usually by means of the telephone. Hence, the name ‘ ‘ call house. ” In this type of prostitution, the women are fre(|uently engaged in other occupations, and supplemejit tlieir (irnirgs by means of immoral services. Liquor is sold at an exorbitant rate, and such houses are usually more expensive than the ordi- nary parlor house, catering to the so-called more “respectable men” of the city. The following evidence will give an idea of certain call houses in cities of Wisconsin. Reports of Investigators. City 59. Page 250 flat. Occupies a well furnished apartm ent on the third floor. It is a private sporting resort, “aiidThas no inmates. Trade all first class business men. Claims to have her regular friends. Price $2.00, $.3.00 and $5.00. She has been arrested recently for keeping a disorderly house. Says she usually has the same amount of business, but expected business would be better after the spring election. This is a good district and generally respectable apartment dbuildih^ so she says they run very quietly. Their friends call only by appointment, usually during the afternoon, or early even- ing, thus avoiding suspicion. occupies a neatlx_fnrnished four room flat on the first floor. Has a man friend, Henry, by name, whom she claims is keeping her. Also has a few other men friends who call by appointment, as she says Henry doesn’t care what she does so long as he doesn’t see anything. Also that it has got so a woman can’t make any money for herself but expects things to open up after the spring election. Pays $14.00 rent. Has no regular inmates, but has a young woman friend whom she says comes here on call to meet fellows. Also makes dates to meet her own friends here. City 59. Page 256. Well furnished flat, second floor, be- ing run quietly on account of a “nosey” neighbor, she says. Has a good private trade, but claims times are very tight and her business slack just now. Says her woman friends bring their men friends in here. Are office girls. Has a couple of mar- ried Avomen friends who meet men friends here because they need to make extra money. Claims those who frequent her ])lace are not sporting Avomen. Says she ueA'er liA'ed in the district. Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 43 Rooming Houses and Ijodging Houses. 'Tliere are also many rooming and lodging houses which are used for immoral purposes, in which men or woinmi eJigage their rooms for the occasion, and to which their customers are taken. Tlicre may also be regular roomers. This is one of the most unostenta- tious forms of commercialized vice, making it difficult to fasten th e respons ibility upon proprietors who claim ignorance of the exist ence of immorality in their houses. Under an efficient en- forcement of the Linley Law by city and state officials, this form of prostitution would receive a severe blow. In cities where large manufacturing establishments are lo- cated and _in some smaller cities there are many of these cheap lodging houses and rooming houses. In some eases the women engage rooms directly for immoral purposes and here take their customers secured in saloons, restaurants and other public places and picked up on the streets. That many rent by the visit ov per week and have an understanding with the landlord that they have the privilege of bringing their customers there for immoral pur- poses, and at such houses a higher rent is obtained, is a fact. These houses should be known to the police, as our investigator had apparently no difficulty in finding them. In these houses no register is kept ; any person may enter. No license or supervision of any kind is required. In these lodging houses there are no parlors or reception rooms for the lodgers. They must receive their callers in their bedrooms. The large ma- jority of these houses are run by people responsible in the begin- ning, but the desire to rent_as many rooms as possible results in landlords becoming less careful in knowing anything about the habits or morals of their occupants. The young man or young woman coming from the country to the city for the first time, seeking rooming accommodations is as likely to find lodging in such a disreputable house as in a safe and respectable house. The manner in which these houses are conducted not only suggests but encourages immorality to those who have heretofore led vir- tuous lives. This is especially so of the youths coming from the country or small village who are not familiar wdth the city cus- toms, and is especially dangerous when they are away from home for the first time and are lonesome and desirous of companionship. The modern industrial conditions that now take so many men 44 Eeport op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. and women from their homes to these places of temporary em- ployment make the use of some form of lodging house a neces- sity, and demand that the state enact some laws that will super- vise and safeguard their use and prevent the present immoral tendencies. In some cities we find the lodging house conditions especially bad, from a sanitary as well as from a moral standpoint; there are many places housing employees from southern Europe where a half dozen or more are sleeping in one room with nothing but a cloth curtain between portions occupied by the men and those occupied by the women ; in some cases a man and woman will take in boarders and the woman becomes practically the wife of all of them. Sometimes from ten to thirty live in a house, and the woman has immoral relations with practically all of them. This committee has the addresses of a large number of these rooming houses that are used for immoral purposes. City No. 30. “The place occupies a two story, rather dilap]^ dated frame building. Is a cheap boarding house. Labo ring men employed in the shop nearby stay here. All are a pretty rough class. Where there is no bar, men drink in nearby saloon and bring liquor home. The hilarity at times when they are very much intoxicated has given the place a tough name says she believes in allowing the men home freedom, as it is the only home they have, so allows those who have a woman friend to have her visit them in their rooms without restriction.” Assignation Hotels. One of the conditions leading to immorality is the immoral hotel that caters to local or transient trade, where rooms are rented for a short time and it is known to the clerk that they are to be used for immoral purposes. The parties in some cases are requested to register, though no question is asked whether they are man and wife or not. In almost every city visited, the investigators found little difficulty in getting into hotels in this manner, and the committee has definite reports of hundreds in the state. At the hearings information was sought from hotel men as to the advisability and practicability of requiring persons to register separately their true names before rooms are assigned and making it a penal offense for any person to register falsely their names upon the register. Nearly all of the first class hotels Report op the Wisconsin Vice Committee, 45 liave said that it would be a safe and proper thing to do, were the law to apply to all hotels. Massachusetts has such a law. In one city, in the course of two days, our investigators were able to secure rooms in twenty-one hotels without even being re- cpiired to register as man and wife. While it is true that most of the carefully conducted hotels cannot question their guests and thus determine their legal rela- tion, they certainly may and should be required to exclude all persons who are clearly and apparently seeking the use of the hotel for immoral purposes. Report op Investigator. City No. 30. Page 18, Corner of Street. Three story brj.ck..and frame building. In it there is a bar, wine room ~an3^dlning room, besides the hotel and other rooms. It is an assignation resort. Anything goes there. One of the tough- est joints in town. There are no regular inmates, but two waitresses, and other female employes are allowed to take a room with a man at Avill. Others come there with men, and according to the story of , one of the waitresses, are not required to register. Miss says that while their register may not show up as well as some places, her father is doing as good a business as any, because he doesn’t always have his friends sign. Near both depots. City No, 30. Page 19. Hotel on Street. Two story frame building, — disorderly apartments on second floor. Saloon "in' connection. Is principally an assignation house. Couples Niome here for rooms and are accommodated and no questions asked. It is near the depot, and traveling men stop here quite frequently. A young Avoman from near is here for the ostensible purpose of keeping company for the land- lady, who says she does very well and makes pretty good money off from men friends she meets. City No. 30. Hotel on St. jias neatly furnished rooms on the second floor, and has an inside connection by means ofliack stairs and halhvay with a room in the rear of The s aloon. This is an assignation resort. Rooms are rented to couples without discrimination, $1.00 each. Liquors are served in the rooms from the saloon by use of backstairs. Girl 19 years old Avho lives on Avenue, also a salesgirl in a ten-cent store, told me that they would get fellows (friends) there, but they entered the hotel from Mr ’s house, because they sayl people who saw them enter think 46 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. nothing of it, not knowing Avhere they are going. There are no regular inmates, although the girl who does chamber work says she is allowed to make some money for herself, if no other girls are around when company calls. Says that the day bartender is very good to her. Afternoons often sends her a good man. Says if the man gives her $2.00 the house gets $1.00, but if he doesn’t stay long and only has $1.50, she gives the house 50 cents. Furtiier says that . , a sport, comes here pretty regularly to entertain men. City No. 47. Page 47. Lai'g^brick building thre e stories high, 62 rooms. Eight unescorted women about the place. Five women loitering on the street. Hotel located in busy section. Four women seen stopping men in the entrance and in the vicinity of the entrance. Three men seen to go into the hotel; has a receiving parlor — disorderly apartments on second floor. A saloon across the street sends trade there. Six inmates counted — estimate the number, twelve. Price of women $1.00 and $2.00, or as much more as can be obtained. Only girls living in the house can bring a man there for fifty cents and entertain him. Names of girls given. City No. 47, p. 58. Three story brick bu ilding locat£d_in bad neighborhood. Majority of apartment located on second floor. Has no women inmates. On account of the had repiN tation, only men of the commonest class come here, for twenty- five cents a bed. Is also doing a good business in this way: A couple comes here and each takes a fift 5 -cent room in which there is but one bed, and are given adjoining rooms. Nearly all are connected by doors fastened only by hooks on one side of the door. In this way both parties register singly, yet are together. The wife of the proprietor says the house is not re- sponsible for such acts as they are not supposed to know of. City No. 47. Hotel Nicely furnished, locat ed in sporty neighborhood. Four women loitering in the neigh- borhood. Disorderly apartments located on second floor. Sa- loon in connection. Price of rooms, $1.00. This is an assigna- tion hotel, though at first it Avould be taken for a strictly man’s hotel , a 19-year-old girl, stated to im-estigator that she had taken different felloAvs to this hotel and they Avere given a room, and further said, “If you want to make a dollar for yourself, go to Mr. (proprietor) and make arrange- ments, saying I sent you,” This is the safest hotel, as the po- lice never bother there. City No. 56. Hotel While at dinner, made a date Avith one of the Avaitresses, and it was understood that this Avas for immoral purposes, though it was not agreed that Keport op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 47 we should use the hotel room. The bell boy at this hotel iu- loriiiea me mat tins girl was "sporty aud that she was wiii- lug to do business, and that her partner was also “sporty” and mat any of tne waitresses would consent to have immoral relations with men. On the next day, the niglit clerk, MX4, said to the investigator that he could take a girl to his room and not be bothered, in one of the rooms of this hotel, this night, a crap game was in progress, and MX4 took part in it, and the bell boy lost money on the game. An engineer here said he v/ould call one of the waitresses here and have her come to my room or 1 could go to her room. This was about two o’cloelt in the morning. When the bell boy tries to hx dates with waitresses, he tries to avoid the head waitress. City No. 56. MX 7 Hotel. Has cigar stand with clerk. So far as I could ascertain, this girl appeared to be straight although she was willing to make dates and go out with traveling men. She made dates to go with investigator. The manicurist at the barber shop near this hotel does not so- licit men, but she is willing to make dates, as she did ivith me, to go out, or willing to make a date to meet investigator in Chicago tor immoral purposes. She suggested that we might go to the MX13 hotel, but this suggestion was not carried out. This seems to indicate the rumors to the elfeet that couples are alloived to occupy rooms at the MX13 hotel, though un- married, are true. In MX19 hotel, I attempted to make a date with one of the ivaitresses. She said she could not go out with me that day, but that she could get one of the other girls upstairs to go out with me. All reports in regard to this hotel are very bad. It is reported that couples can secure rooms there or that a man can meet one of the girls there to go to a room Avith him. The alley across from MX 1 hotel gives access to the back entrance to the MX 19 hotel. It is reported that immoral practices are indulged in back of the lattice work of this alley, and that the girls stand in the en- trance of this alley and pick up felloAvs. City No. 66. Hotel WX 17. (Page 73.) Place is comfort- ably fu rnished... Three story brick building, having a well furnished barroom and barber shop attached. Guests are mirstTy transient. Price of room 75 cents and $1.00. Pew of the guests are Avomen. Women guests are alloAved to enter- tain men in their rooms — those aaIio are also house guests. Boom 15 is occupied by a man alone, so Clara, the maid, tells me, but on three occasions have heard this man bring a woman in with him late at night. On one of these occasions drinks were served them in the room several times. Prom their con- versation and language used, which could be heard by the in- 48 IIeport op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. vestigator, wlio occuiiied room , he knows it was not the man’s wife. One of the regular guests, a man, in room 6, asked investigator if she manicured. 1 replied, “Yes,” and he asked if I would do his nails. My answer was there was no parlor in which it could he done. He says, “can’t I come to your room?” I said no, that would not look right. Then he said, “Come to my room and it Avill be all right here, the proprie- tor doesn’t care.” To this the maid, who was nearby, said, “Go ahead, it is all right,” but I refused. From the maid I learned that the night clerk can be handed some money, and he will not see Avho comes in. City No. 58. RX. Page 358. The population of this city is 2,200. I asked the man in charge of the garage where I could spend the evening and have a good time. He replied, “We have 24 saloons, but not a sporting house.” He then told me of the hotel He said “Well the cook, A X, is game, and she will go Avith you. There is also another there by the name of B X.” He said, “Be there at 8:30 and I Avill intro- duce you. You don’t have to be afraid; go right after her. I have had immoral relations Avith her four or fiA'e times. BX is also game.” At 8:15 the dark girl AX, and BX, the little Avaitress, came out of the hotel, and I said : “Hello”. A traveling man came out of the hotel. I said: “Girls, Ave are strangers and want you to shoAv us your toAvn.” AX said, “We aauII go and get a drink doAvn the street.” We Avent to X saloon, entered the wine room Avhich is closed off the saloon. The first round of drinks A X took beer; B X cream beer. The second round both girls ordered and Avere served Avith beer, by proprietor, and the third rormd all took beer. B X is 16 years old. No questions in regard to ages asked. Then Avent to Y saloon. Wine room in rear. Had tAvo rounds of drinks. Both girls ordered and drank beer, served by the proprietor. Then Avent to Z saloon. Had one round of liquor. All Avere serAmd by proprietor. Then Avent to B & L saloon. HaA^e to go through dark room to get to Avine room. It is closed off the saloon. Room A'ery dark. All served beer. No one came to the room except Avhen called. Anything at all would go in this room as no one Avould be caught. This is a very Ioav dNe, and anything could be done and Avould be permitted. This place is a disgrace to the city and a regular cess pool of vice. From here Ave Avent to the hotel entering the dining room AAdiere I obseiwed a couple loving each other up. They Avere sitting in the dark, so I turned on the light, and the couple quickly emerged from their embarrassing position, and then joined us at the table. Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 49 i . AX introduced this girl as C X. He said: “This is the girl I told you about that was out all night; see how she looks.” The proprietor served beer to all and A X then turned out the lights. When more beer was ordered they were turned on again. There was no objection by any one to this proce- dure. C X is 18 years old. The fellow with C X told me he had her out all night and turned her in at 6 :30 A M. Told me he had been to a dance with her the night before. I asked him what kind of a girl B X is. He said : ‘ ‘ ISlie is only a young girl, but she is all right.” The man with B X said he had it arranged and that B X was coming to his room tonight. A X then said to me: “You are in room 8. I will come to your room, be sure to leave the door open.” BX staid all night Avith the man in his room. City No. 102. Neat ly equipped hotel with bar attached — leading hotel. Said to be a a day and up house. Up- stairs are neatly furnished hotel rooms. About all the guests are traveling men, though they have a fcAV regulars stay here. In the dining room are three floor Avaitresses and , head Avaitress. Help’s quarters are in the adjoining building, in the rear of the hotel. These girls are a very bad set. In Talks with WX 2 and WX 3, Avaitresses at this hotel, am told that this hotel lets rooms for couples for assignation purposes, and has a good deal of that sort of trade among the better class of young people, many of Avhom would not dare to go to a less respectable place for fear of being found. Both girls say such guests are served Avhatever drinks they desire iff their rooms and that they only remain a fcAv hours. Also that this is a good place to meet and make dates with traveling men and the proprietor of this hotel does not care what they do after Avorking hours, so long as they are able to fill their places the next day. Also had a talk with another waitress in this hotel, Avho said that it Avas a place to meet fine felloAvs — that all the girls Avorking there made dates Avith them — that the salaries Avere but $18.00 a month, so some go out for money to dress on — others for a good time. Further says that most of the working girls in toAvn go out Avith fellows for a good time, and that some of them are living at home with their peo- ple. Claims this hotel does a good assignation business — has the better class of trade. Says she makes dates sometimes herself, and goes out Avith the felloAvs and is a lover of beer. City No. 102 Hotel. Office, kitchen and din- ing room downstairs. Upstairs tAventy-four neatly furnished rooms.„ At this time there were seven regular boarders. Other 4— V. o. 50 Report op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. guests were traveling men or couples to take a room for the night — price $i.UU. According to WX 14, a waitress, the house does a good assignation business, and when there are several couples taking rooms there at the same night, all are not re- quired to register , a 16-year-old girl, who is working here, corroborates this statement. Both girls say they go out with men although they have steady beaus and are treated swell. Further say they meet line traveling men here and go out with them sometimes and with others they go to their rooms in the hotel. When these girls have gone out with the men, they say they have had rooms at the CWX 15) hotel, or the WX 7 hotel. City No. 102. Plotel WX 30. Three story frame building having twenty-seven shabbily furnrshed, dirty bedrooms! a common class of laboring men. Is also a shelter for drunken bums seeking cheap lodging rooms. ISome of the rooms espe- cially prepared tor this class of trade. Has few regular boarders. Anyone can get accommodation here and it is nor necessary to register. Men boarders are allowed to entertain their women friends in their rooms. I City No. 80. Operative went to the hotel and told the clerk that she Avanted to haAA her gentlemen friends come to her room — that she made her money by sport- ing. The clerk said she could have aujmne she Avanted in her room and told her he Avould throAV her lots of trade, as he had lots of men Avho came in and Avanted girls. He told the oper- ative that she Avould have no trouble in getting a lot of tradt;, as felloAvs like good looking girls. OperatHe told him that there Avas a traveling man that Avas coming up that night and that he should send him right up to her room, Avhich he said he Avould do. He then asked the operath-e, if she drank beer, and Avhen she said she did, he Avent doAvnstairs and on return- ing had a bottle of beer Avhich he handed to her and then went doAvnstairs. About 7 :30 P. IM. the man operatiA-e came to the liotel and asked this same clerk if there Avas a “Jane” stay- ing there by the name of , and AA*hen told that there Avas, that he Avas expected and that he should go right up to room , but not to make too much noise. Man operative Avent up, and after talking to lady operatHe for thirty minutes, came doAA'n and Avent to his own room in hotel. Massachusetts Vice Commission Report, page 17. A disor- derly hotel is one to which the prostitutes habitually bring their customers for immoral purposes from the streets, cafes, saloons and other public places. One of the most frequent and Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 51 couspicuous expressions of prostituton in Massachusetts is the use made of the disorderly liotels by xirostitutes. Certain ho- tels were evidently planned and built and run for this special purpose. The prostitutes and their male customers, who usu- ally pretend to be man and wife, are the principal patrons of many of these hotels, in many, no register is kept. Those who register usually do so under lietitious names. The women often take a room at the same hotel with different men sev- eral times in one week, or even several times in a single even- ing. These tvomen are known and habitual prostitutes. Ab- solutely no questions are asked. Young girls are often as- signed to rooms with men much older than themselves. Many young girls not yet professional prostitutes have admitted to the investigator that they often occupied rooms with men in certain specified hotels. Women who come to the desk at these hotels to register are often connected with the hotel — that is, they solicit in a saloon attached to the hotel and are intimate with the waiters and other employees who aid them in securing customers. Some disorderly hotels, especially in smaller cities, keep immoral women in the house, ostensibly as waitresses, or chambermaids, or prostitutes from the town. The same room is often assigned to many different couples in one day. The use of these hotels by so many persons for im- moral purposes at relatively high prices and the profit from the incidental sale of liquor to these same guests, give these hotels an earning value far in excess of that to be obtained if used for any legitimate purpose. It is inconceivable that the state of affairs described above, which may be verified by any ob- server, cannot be remedied by jiroper legislation, or by modi- fication of existing licensing conditions. Apartment Houses. : Among the more expensive and so-called respeeiable forms of prostitution is that carried on in apartment houses or in tene- ments. In some places, notably iSlew York, this crime is more severely punished than other forms of the same evil, due to the fact that its evil effects often contaminate other families living in the same building. The vigorous enforcement of the Linley Law in this state would make such practices very rare. Cases have already been brought before the authorities in Milwaukee and the houses placed under heavy bond to abate the nuisance. The following cases are illustrations of apartment houses used for immoral purposes. City No. 102. WX 5. Has a very nice, neatly furnished flat on the second floor, rear! Is running quite a sporting resortT - 4 - 52 Report op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. Is receiving her men friends. Says they are three or five dol- lar men. All business men. She doesn’t cater to the com- mon Class ot trade. Also a few of her girl friends meet their nice company here, among them who told me of this place. To tliese the price of the room is one dollar and one dollar and fifty cents. Claims to have a newly married couple stopping with her. Says the bride, WX 6, is an old friend of hers. Further says “many of the girls go out with the men here.” Says that all hotels take such guests, but in spite of this, she has done Avell because nice men like a private resort, besides she has her own friends. WX 4 is thinking of returning to her home. In that case will sell out to WX b. She is about twenty years old, a typical sporting girl in appearance. This afternoon Avas dressed in a flimsy robe and boudoir cap. Says she keeps a case of beer and a little whiskey on hand for her friends, to liven things up. City No. 59 Street, flat two. Occupies a very comfortably furnished apartment, although nearly alTbl the rooms are bedrooms on the second floor. Is a high gfafie assignation resort. Claims to have the very best of tracteF=^ those who prefer a quietly conducted place to a public resort. Also says tliat she gets $1.50 to $2.00 for the use of a room for a few hours. Further says she has a feAV nice Avomen friends who come on call to fill dates. Also, if people are only quiet, this is a splendid toAvn in Avhich to do business. Is an elderly woman, and has been operating here for years without police interference. I asked the janitor of the apartments if he knew Avhere I could get some “chicken.” He replied I need not go aAvay from these apartments. Although he made this remark, he did not gHe me any definite information. Then Avent to the Apartments, on Street. Lady sitting in the parlor, who answered the bell. She was attired in kimona Avith no corsets on. Any person passing along the sideAvalk could easily see her sitting in the rocking chair in the parlor, Avhich is in the front room. She informed me that she formerly lived on Street, but moved to this place about a year ago. Said she paid $35.00 a month for seven rooms — keeps the rear bedroom and another room and kitchen for her OAvn use. The others she rents to transient trade, and stated to me that she rents a room tAvice an evening at $2.00 a date, so she makes $4.00 per night on a room. She said that the flat below had two girls there at night. She said she heard that there was going to be about fifty spotters next week to get all the dope on sporting houses. She added that they would have to go into every apartment house in toAvn, for they were scattered all over. On this ae- Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 53 count she said they would have to be very careful all along that block. She said that the flat north of hers was occupied by Miss , who has occupied it for thirteen years and always has had, and still has, girls with her. Palm Gardens. The committee finds that in many cities where immorality is most prevalent, there are numerous palm gardens to which women and girls are free to go and spend their evenings. The ostensible purpose of these places is entertainment, which is furnished by the proprietors with free admission. Small tables are provided and many people pass their evenings there. The entertainment is usually musical in its nature. The establishment is run pri- marily for the sale of liquors, although light lunches and cigars are also on sale. This form of entertainment is utilized by the liquor interests, and the music and other entertainment make these places appeal to a certain type of unsophisticated young person. There are many serious and dangerous elements in these re- sorts. Immorality is induced and facilitated. The persons who participate in the hospitality furnished by these places must, by custom, buy drinks or in other ways spend their money liber- ally. Young people are urged by the examples of others about them to try the strong drinks. The result is that the young man and young woman unaccustomed to intoxicating liquors, are soon under its influence, and all too frequently a waiting cab or auto- mobile takes them away to a road house or assignation resort where prostitution is practiced and encouraged. One of the great dangers of the palm gardens lies in the fact that they are the nightly resort of many of the wealthier people of the cities, a fact which throws a glamor of public sanction about such places, at least in the eyes of young persons. The evidence before the committee shows that the palm gar- dens, like many other public resorts, are commonly frequented by prostitutes seeking customers. They freely mingle with in- experienced young people, and moral contamination surely fol- lows. It is also a noteworthy fact that the number of palm gar- dens as a profitable adjunct to the saloon is rapidly growing, and that the menace is thereby becoming more general and more seri- ous. Many of the young men and women who enter these places would be ashamed to enter a common saloon. 54 Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. The evidence secured by investigators and the testimony of persons at the hearings of the committee follow the next section. Wine Eooms. In conjunction with many saloons are neatly furnished and at- tractive wine rooms, so-called, to which women are free to go. In many of these places are stalls or booths. The recognized evil effects of these adjuncts have stirred some officials tp action, and their use has been forbidden in many cities. The evidence indi- cates that such wine rooms are utilized as meeting places for pros- titutes and their customers, a place convenient to make dates and other arrangements for the practice of immoral relations. Solic- iting is open and common, the bartender acting as a convenient agent between the customers and the prostitute. Eve n many immoral women who are not permitted to enter the fron t do or of such establishments are admitted by a side entrance, which is provided and which makes the place more difficult to watch andT^ adds to its menace to public health and morals. In some cases these side entrances are conspicuously designated by the signs “Family Entrance, ” “Ladies’ Entrance,” “Palm Gar den, ” etc. So misleading and damaging is such a designation that many cities by ordinance have forbidden the use of such terms. It is a significant fact that the evidence in nearly every hearing of the committee has been that women should be entirely excluded from saloons, while a few persons have maintained that women should not be permitted in the same room of the saloon with men. In a questionaire sent out by the committee to all district attor- neys of the state, the following question Avas asked: “Are girls or Avomen permitted to frequent the saloons and wine rooms in your city?” Forty-four ansAA’ered, “no,” while fourteen an- swered, “yes.” In answer to the following question, “In your judgment, what effect has the frequenting of saloons by Avomen upon their morals?” the general answer was, “bad,” “dam- nable, ’ ’ etc. One district attornej^ in the eastern part of the state ansAA^ered, “Common decency seems to ansAver that question by saying that it Avould be decidedly demoralizing and vicious upon the community in which such practices are tolerated.” In an- swer to the question, “Should girls or women be permitted in the Avine rooms and saloons AA'ith the opposite sex?” fifty-two out of fifty- tAAm, all that ansAvered, replied, “no.” In answer to the Report op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 55 question, “What would be the effect of the meeting of the two sexes in such places?” the answers were, “bad, ” “ very bad,” “immorality,” “pernicious,” “physical and moral degeneracy,” etc. One district attorney answered, “I believe that the wine room is very detrimental to girls who frequent them. Girls Avho frequent wine rooms stand, perhaps, in the greatest danger of be- coming immoral. ’ ’ Another district attorney in the eastern part of the state answered the foregoing question thus, “I believe the most depraved member of society would disapprove of such con- duct, if he were to voice the sentiments of a conscientious heart. ’ ’ “A palm garden in connection with a wine room is becom- ing one of the most notorious of the latter day resorts. This is particularly true of the large cities and is rapidly spread- ing throughout the smaller cities. The only surprise to any- one who steps into one of the places for an hour or so and observes the amount of liquor drunk and the acts that take place, is how it is possible for any female frequenter offffhese places to long remain moral. The fact that in front of each" of these places cab drivers and automobiles for hire are sol- idly lined up at the curb ready to take the frequenters to the road houses and immoral resorts, indicates one of the plain purposes and the result of the operation of such places. At these places women and girls are plied with liquor until they are helpless.” Typical evidence secured by investigators follows. City No. 47. MXW. Bar_is located on the left side. Ten Avine tables in the rear. Serve lunch, but mostly drinks. ^Wdhieip bohli escorted and unescorted, come in here. About eight women and men Avere here Avhile the investigator was ])resent. They Avere in the wine room at the tables and were intoxicated. City No. 59. Palm garden plainly furnished and has inside, connection at the rear Avith a saloon. A colored pianist, WX 48. and a, colored Avoman sine’er, furnish the entertain- ment from eight to twelve P. M. The singer indulges in rag- time and smutty songs as AAmll as popular ones to the delight of her hearers and occasionally does a vulgar dance. White and colored persons, strangers, are alloAved to drink together at the tables. It is a meeting place for the colored pimps and the Avhite Avomen. Colored Avomen prostitutes gather here to solicit AAdiites AAdio bapnen to be attracted bv the singing aiid spend a short time in the place. WX 48, the colored Avoman AAdio sang here until a fcAv days ago, tells me that WX 47 pays 56 Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. the singer $12.00 per week and the privilege of soliciting any man she can, and taking same to the hotel rooms above. Sev- eral pimps and rounders make this their hangout. WX 47 protects them from arrest as vagrants by calling them em- ployees of the place. WX 44. Palm garden. This is a well furnished cafe and furnishes a business men’s lunch from 11 A. M. to 2 P. M. and thereafter meals “a la carte.” WX 46 is the manager of the place. The palm garden is a very large one. Entertain- ment begins at the palm garden about three P. M. and con- tinues until midnight. A regular cabaret show is furnished. All summer long they have had a famous band here. The leading sporting men of the city and those Avho happen here frecpient this cafe. It is also patronized by the better class of prostitutes. They gather here in the afternoon in quest of a “live” one to take home or who is at least willing to spend money freely with them. On this visit, as on other occasions, I found very young girls, apparently not over 15 or 16 years of age. sitting in the palm garden. Some were served lemon- ade, while others had large glasses of beer before them. One young girl down to the city from became very ill from intoxication and Avas helped to the ladies’ Avash room beloAv. Stimulants Avere given her to brace her up so she could be taken home. Conditions in other cities may be indicated by the folloAving ex- tract from the Massachusetts Report. Massachusetts Vice Commission Report, page 14. “A dis- orderly cafe, saloon or restaurant is a place Avhich kuoAvn prostitutes habitually frequent for the purpose of attracting the attention of prospeetiAm customers or actually soliciting for immoral purposes. Indeed, in the larger cities of Massa- chusetts the most flagrant and open expression of the commer- cialized aspect of prostitution is in connection Avith certain cafes and saloons. Men flock to these places at the dinner hour or later at night to appraise the women and decide which one they Avill select. After the bargain is made, the couples go to a room in some apartment, lodging house, or hotel. These immoral cafes and saloons are also the faA'orite re- sort of pimps and procurers, well knoAA'u thieA'es, pickpockets and ex-criminals. These places are knoAAm to be A’ery profit- able from the commercial point of aucav. The reason of their existence is the profit from the sale of alcoholic liquors to file jirospeetiA-e customers of the prostitutes. The presence of these Avomen stiimdates the business and the proprietors knoAV it and encourage them to remain. The co-called re- Beport op ti-ie Wisconsin Vice Committee. 57 spectable lueu of the community who conduct hotels, cafes and saloons where well-known prostitues resort for business purposes would protest if they were branded as traffickers in women, yet these individuals actually come un- der this heading with the pimps and procurers and the man- agers of the house of prostitution. The police take the position that they have no riglit to interfere, if the letter of the lavt is observed. These restaurants are also the meeting places of young white men and immoral girls who have not yet become prostitutes. Private booths in these restaurants are curtained and couples may enter and draw the curtains together with the understanding that the waiter is not to open the curtains until he is told to do so by the occupants. Young girls often become intoxicated in these places. Some Chinese restaurants have rooms upstairs which they rent to couples for immoral purposes.” , . : i,, Immoral Restaurants and Capes. In some cities of the state, it has been found that some restaur- ants are so conducted as to permit seclusion on the part of couples who are desirous of indulging in immoral practices. This is es- pecially true oCthe majority of the so-called “chop suey ” or Chi- nese restaurants. Inclosed apartments are provided where li- quor is served from an adjoining saloon. These places are cus- tomarily kept open until very late hours, and are commonly fre- quented by professional prostitutes and pimps. Furthermore they serve as convenient meeting places for those who are as yet ashamed to enter wine rooms and saloons. The immorality of these resorts is very contagious, and they furnish a point of con- tact with the most common purveyors of moral contamination and physical disease. The appearance of innocence which many such resorts assume is a strong factor in leading inexperienced young people to enter, and thus they are thrown into the grave danger of meeting with the strongest sexual temptations. The evidence of the investigators of this committee which follows this para- graph indicates how immoral and dangerous are the conditions and practices carried on in these resorts. City No. 47. WXI. Chinese restaurant located on first floor. WX 1 is tlie proprietor. This is a chop suey and Amer- ican restaurant. Thfi_Dl.a.Q.e is plainly furnish ed . At the front is a lunch counter, and at one side, is a table running back nearly half way from the front. Further back are three stalls 58 Eeport op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. with curtains. Two are private dining booths. The other pro- tects a trap door entrance to the sleeping apartment of WX 1 in the cellar. On the opposite side are more tables, partly pro- tected from view by a signboard and by a projection in the wall in front. Th e kit chen is in the rear. This place is open from 7 :00 A. M. to 2 A. M. It is of a bad character. Thvo white girls are waitresses and'solicit patrons of the place and others passing and take them to the hotel upstairs. On cool nights, two or three girls can be found loitering here instead of in the street in the vicinity of this hotel. As soon as a man is procured, they walk boldly out of the restaurant and upstairs without interference. At almost any time while the place is open, two girls are there, and if one secures a cus- tomer to go upstairs, the other tends to the work says that no white girl can Avork there unless she is on in- timate terms ivith the proprietor. Their actions and conver- sation bear this out. The iiroprietor is still selling beer at 15 cents a bottle, though about tivo weeks ago he Avas arrested for doing so. City No. 56. MX 22. . . .- restaurant, corner of and streets. AIIoavs Avomen to drink, and while I Avas there I saAv a number of Avomen, as Avell as men AA^ho Avere intoxicated. Men and girls Avere allowed to act inde- cent]3^ No rooms in connection Avith it, but it is a bad place. About the same condition exists at the restaurant on street. I saAV tAvo couples come out of the restaurant, all staggering and apparently much intoxicated. Girls appeared to be under 20 years of age. I have seen Avomen in this place so drunk that they Avere unable to talk, and they Avere practically helpless. This all goes on with the knoAvledge of the proprietor, as he Avas in and out of the cafe room every little Avhile, Avhile this Avas going on. I saAv fifteen Avomen and eighteen men in this place at one time. Tliis Avas about midnight. No drinks are served in here after 12 o’clock midnight. City No. 56. MX 24. I Avas at this restaurant Avith and and We had a round of beer, each of us having a pint bottle and then called for a lunch and more beer. We Avere seiwed but a short time, when the proprietor came out and took the beer away from and said he Avoidd not sell beer to him. He gaA’e as the rea- son the fact that had that day appeared in court in a certain ease against saloons AAdiere liquor was sold to mi- nors. The proprietor told me he thought he recognized as soon as he came in, but was not sure of it. Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee, 59 It appears the proprietor does not object to serving to because of liis age, but because he appeared in court in the case above nientionad. There were two couples and about ten men here, all drinking, when he was present. The proprietor himself was drunk, and the next morning boasted about it to me in the barroom downstairs. The young Avoman who served us with beer in this place Avas under age. Appears to be about 17 years old. The proprietor said to me, ‘ ‘ That little Avill go up to court toniorroAv morning and take iny license aAvay, ” according to City No. 66. WX. Cafe, restaurant and lunch coun- ter in front. Six enclosed. booths in the rear in which liquors ; are served. Has inside connection Avith saloon I next door. The place is a sporting resort. Upstairs Mrs. I supplies her guests Avith rooms that are also let : to coup les for assignation puiqioses. Four women in tAvo shifts "^daily are employed here as a blind. They are really inmates of the resort. More attention is giAmn to sporting than to the restaurant business. The girls are out! money and boast of getting theirs by beating the “Polanders,” as they call the family, out of room rent by turning “tricks” in the booths. All sorts of bad actions betAveen sexes can be seen and vile language heard most any time. This place is Avell knoAvn as a sporting resort, and is not thought of by anyone as a legitimate restaurant business. City No. 60, WX , proprietor. Restaurant and lunch counter in front. Four enclosed booths ThTThe rear, in Avhieli Tieer is sold in quart bottles only.^ Price 50 cents. Also other liquors. Place is not connected AAuth saloon. Has no license. Has_ inside connection Avith tAvo story brick _i*esidence AAdiieh is a sporting resort. It is being run by and his inistress. The Avaitresses around this cafe are the in- mates. They solicit men patrons of the restaurant. Pay $1.00 for the room, and get all they can for themselves. This resort is on the principal business street of the toAvn, and is being run Avide open. The OAAuier of the property resides upstairs over the cafe. It is common knoAAdedge that Mr is living Avith this Avoman, and is not married to her. The place is open from early morning until midnight, and has tAvo shifts of girls. City No. 60. WX . . ., proprietor. The place is a dirty common class restaurant. vServe regular dinner, also short "Ord^i HaUa feAv regular boarders. Upstairs he lets rooms to couples for assignation purposes, price $1.00. On account of This class of business, the place has a Fad name. - The wait- 60 HePORT OS’ TI-IE WlSCO^TSlN ViCE COMMITTEE. ress in the restaurant makes dates with men patrons of the place tells me that they always have a bad class of help here, as they can get no other. City No. 47. MXJ , waitress from said she had been at this restaurant for two months. Gets $4.00 a week and board, and pays $1.50 for room at the rear upstairs in the MX 1 hotel. When questioned about how she makes a living, she said, “Of course, I go to my room with men, or I could not live.” Said further she would be my friend, if I would come back to the city — that there were a number of girls rooming upstairs and that they were poor working girls and were compelled to hustle on the side. One was 15 years old and worked in the restaurant adjoining the saloon. Saloons and Wine Rooms With Bedrooms Attached. The committee has found one of the most dangerous conditions to be the wine rooms and saloons which maintain bedrooms in connection. These rooms are sometimes rear rooms, or rooms on the second floor over the saloon with a stairway leading fromThe- bar. This direct access from the saloon or wine room greatljMa- cilitates operations. It is very convenient for a prostitute solic- iting in the barrooms to take a customer directly to a place where immoral acts may occur. It is equally convenient for a man to take an intoxicated girl to this secluded room where he can have his way with her. The fact that such equipment makes the opera- tions in connection with the saloon more secluded and difficult to watch is an added menace. The immoral women who frequent these places and are on intimate terms with the proprietors find it very easy to induce men avIio have been drinking heavily to go with them to the bedrooms. All of these acts may take place ivith- out stepping into the street and Avithout attracting the attention of the police aa'Iio may liaA^e the place under observation. Such saloons are very frequently provided with side entrances which makes it possible for the prostitute to enter unobsei’A’ed. There should be some state regulation of this matter. A stat- ute providing that no rooms may be maintained in connection Avith the saloon or Avine room Avoiild be of much assistance in en- forcing the laAv. A further provision to forbid side entrances and entrances from the inside of the saloon to rooms OA'erbead would be an additional safeguard. (See recommendations) Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 61 The evidence given by the committee’s investigators indicates the serious conditions which exist in many of the cities of Wis- consin in connection with wine rooms and saloons with bedrooms attached. The following are typical cases: City No. 47. WXBB. Located in the neighborhood of the sporting flats. Has a cafe_but no music. Two unescorted Avomen Avere in the rear room. Assignation rooms located over the saloon. The proprietor solicited the investigator to go to roadhouse. A man in the rear room Avas solicited by the tAvo girls. He sat and drank AAuth them and AVXBB Avho served the drinks, came back and talked. He then suggested that all go out to ’s place and told the man to take the tAvo girls and a man friend in his machine that Avas stand- ing outside. He then said to me, “Come, go Avith me out to ’s. AVait till 11 o’clock and I Avill get a rig and Ave Avill go out there and haA^e a of a time, and if you haven’t a SAveetheart, I Avant you to be my girl” (The inves- tigator Avas a Avoman.) Tavo girls present, and , are the employees of hotel, but solicit men at night and are indignant if one suggests that they go Avith men for money. Instead they go out for a good time. They live upstairs in a flat provided for the female em- ployes of the hotel by the proprietor. These girls are bad and haA^e turned their private apartment into an as- signation resort. The girls from upstairs are using the back stairs and their alley entrance constantly Avhile plying their trade on the streets at night. City No 59. WX 25. Saloon and cafe doAvnstairs are separated by a halhvay leading upstairs to assignation rooms. Three girl Avaitresses in cafe act as inmates and solicit men patrons price .1?3.00. Three street walkers use this place end are charged fifty cents for their room Avith a man, and live in the hotel. City 102. WX7. Occupies a tAvo story building in Avhich a saloon, Avineroom, and dining rooms are on the first floor. Up- stairs are neatly furnished rooms AAdiich are let to couples for assignation purposes. Price is $1.50. Entrance to the rooms is by the Avine room by means of a staircase. There are a feAv traveling men Avho occasionally stop here. There is an electric piano in the barroom Avhich furnishes entertainment in the Avine room if desired. The door betAveen is open at ail times. Tavo Avaitresses do the upstairs Avork and also Avork in the dining room. At one time freely stated that she goes out Avith felloAvs. Says she meets some very good 62 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. ones who are there for meals and makes dates with them. Fur- ther says that the girls like to get a room here with fellows because it is a quiet place and they don’t have to register. WX 16. The place is a one story building in which is’ a large barroom and other rooms built on, which is divided into — - a wine room ip front and has a stairAvay between it an d~dtpr- saloon. At the rear is a dining room separated from the wine- room by a partition halfway up. Door between. From the dining room a door opens into the kitchen, a room built on to the others. Through it is a door leading into a two story frame dAvelling house. Here rooms are let to couples for assignation purposes, price $1.00. WX17 and another girl friend of hers make this their headquarters. They solicit men from the saloon, if they haven’t felloAvs with them or have a desire to meet someone here. They then take them to the rooms men- tioned. Usually the fellows use the saloon entrance and the girls that of the house or Avine room. WX 22. Th is place has a plainly furnished barroom, also a dining room at the rear on the first floor! Has insidelion- nections Avith plainly fiirnishedTWms'OTrtlie second flocr, some of Avhich are occupied by the family. Others are let to couples for assignation purposes, price $1.00. WX 19 in telling the investigator Avhere some of the best places are to take a friend to make the best of moneA', said she had often been accommo- dated here. Though she liA'es in this A’icinity, and is a single Avoman. Avas not refused accommodation. At first she thought she might be refused, hut Avas not. WX 19 is a notoriously had character knoAvn to almost eAmryhody in town. WX 23. On the first floor, front, is a plainly furnished bar- room A Autli Ins ide connectioiis from the hall to the rear Avith 'twcT winerooms Avhich the hall separates, and on the second floOT axa-plainly furnished rooms that are let for assignation purposes. Saloon has inside connections Avith those ahoA-e by means of a door at the end of th e bar at _ the rear of the room Avhich opens into a lmll_at theJpiiLof tlie-atairs leading UTP a nd also ffonT the~r^r of the building tliyough the wine- ' H)onr~on~the Avest~ sid e of TUe hallAvay and the ladiesT t oilet ind o a small hall , at the foot of the back stairs. Roc ms are TeH to couples for $1.00 each. The place is open all night. This seems to be its only class of trade upstairs. Very young girls Avith men are accommodated here. By common reputa- tion, it is a tough sporting resort. At 10 ;00 P. M. iuA’esti- gator saAv three girls apparently 16 years old Avith men in this resort, having entered from the rear, each seemingly Repokt of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 63 dodging the other and walking in the shadow to avoid being soon. WX 37. On the first floor, front, is a large barroom. In th 3 rear is a wine room, two tables and a piano. The place has inside connections with the rooms above, some~~dfWykich are let for assignation purposes at $1.00 each. Here also the fam- ily Avith small children resides. and Miss and Miss claim that is their favorite place to get rooms AAdth friends. . ' j ' I I In regard to City No. 102 A\dth less than 10,000 inhabitants, and over 50 saloons, investigator states ; “Nearly all the saloons have Avine rooms attached,’ and lnany~~~of'~~tlrese also -iTave'" inside connections 'witli rooms above, Avhich are let for assignation purposes. A num- ber of girls, AAdiose parents reside in toAvn, and Avho live at home, make such resorts their headquarters afteimoons and nights. This is the AAmrst small toAvn I have ever visited. Most of the girls of AAmrking age are employed, but live at home, in spite of Avhich they go out Avith men and often get home the next morning in time to go back to Avork. Even girls in short dresses, schoolgirls, make dates Avith boys and men, accompany them to Avine rooms Avhere they drink beer and other liquors, and then go to any of the many assignation houses. The boys are just as bad. Though under age, the’ly are sold liquor by tbe saloons. They run around with the girls and are seen in their company intoxicated in Avine rooms. Venereal diseases are spread pretty thoroughly among the boys and men.” Dance Halls. Investigation sIioaa^s that one of the greatest attractions for young people is the dance. In many places the charge for the same is only five cents, and boys and girls seek this pastime. To protect females, under seventeen years of age, from the use of intoxicating drink, the legislature passed Section 1557a, Avhich provides : “Any keeper of any saloon, shop or place of any name AA'^hat- soeAmr for the sale of any strong, spirituous or malt liquors to be drank on the premises in any quantity less than one gal- lon, Avho shall permit or alloAV any girl or young Avoman, un- der the age of seventeen years, unaccompanied by her father or mother, to be present at or participate in any ball or dance held in such saloon, shop or place, or in the same or an ad-" joining building, shop or place, or in any place Avhere liquors 64 Report of tpie Wisconsin Vice Committee. are sold or dispensed, or any place adjoining the same, under his license, or who shall permit or allow any such girl or young woman to linger in or frequent such saloon, shop or place, shall he punished by a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. And upon conviction, his license shall he re- voked as is provided in Section 1558 of the said sta'iutes, and proof of such conviction shall be conclusive proof that such keeper maintains a disorderly and improper house as such terms are used in said Section 1558.” The committee finds that this law is being violated in many cities and liquor is being sold in connection with dances without regard 'to the age of females. The testimony before this com- mittee shows that the selling of liquor in connection with dances is one of the most prolific sources of immorality. Also it is ap- parent that dances are being held in halls by private organiza- tions, where all the family are permitted to attend, and that li- quors are frequently sold at such times in violation of Section 1557, which forbids the sale of liquor to minors. The habit so formed frequently leads to attendance at general public dances which are often attended by immoral people. ]\Iany respectable girls innocently attend these dances to satisfy their social desires and obtain some of the pleasures of life. Objectionable and im- moral dances and indecent behavior are allowed. Some places are noted as places where one may get a girl or woman at any time for purposes of prostitution. Some of the proprietors of dance halls testified that one of the greatest causes of immorality growing out of the dance was not the dance itself, but the pass system by which couples are per- mitted to pass out and leave the dance hall for drink or other purposes and to be again admitted free. (Minneapolis Vice Commission Report). ‘AVe are pre- l^ared to state our conviction that among the causes above named, the public dance hall is a conspicuous factor. Tlie public dance hall, your commission believe, and speak ad- visedly, is one of the most demoralizing social infiuences pres- ent in the modern city, directly or indirectly leading to the downfall of more girls, than any other one agency. While outwardly decorous, these places, through their broad oppor- tunities for the mingling of the sexes without adequate dis- crimination as to age and character, and without hoine or Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 65 neighborhood surveillance, constitute a most dangerous men- ace to the social welfare.” Reports op Investigators. City No. 26. NWX. Visited hall on Friday and Saturday nights and report the dancing is outrageous. The dancers dance the tango and hesitation waltz in as extreme a manner as possible. This dance when danced extremely is enough to arouse the passions of anyone. People do not need to know each other in order to ask for a dance, for the fellow goes right up to the girl and asks her to dance, Avhether he knows her or not. Investigator was asked by three different fellows to go with them. The other investigator was asked by two girls where he roomed and when he told them they said they would go up and have a game of cards there before they went away. City No. 88. WX Hall. Dance held here each Sat- urday night. Hall usually let to society or group for the night. Dances given are public ; fifteen cents admission is charged the ladies; gents twenty-five to thirty-five cents. Place is a large frame building. On the first floor is the entrance of the hall. To the left is a large bar which with the large dance hall takes up this floor. At the rear, down a short flight of stairs, is another bar. All the girls are going to and from the bar and the dance hall. After all begin drinking, they drink after each dance. They dance the most violent interpretation of the tango, a great many seeming to try and outdo each other in vulgar dancing. There was a very large crowd present, — both sexes, — principally girls and Avomen. There were about twenty-five girls present under fifteen years old. The pro- prietor in conversation stated that those who give affairs were expected to make their, money off the bar, so they usually only charge fifteen cents admission. At these affairs, which are termed, “Drunken carousals”, there is no discrimi- nation as to age in selling liquor, so young girls and fellows often vie with each other to see who can drink the most. They dance in the most vulgar manner — scenes at such affairs are unbelievable; they are so Ioav they are past description. City No. 41. Judge reports that a couple of the dance halls are very bad. It is bad for the girls to associate with the young men who come there, and they feel in these halls that the young fellows can do and say anything they please which could not be done in other places. , the leading Avoman of the city, referring to one 6— v. o. 66 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. of the halls here, describes it as being one of the bad ones in the city, and states that one of the leading men of the city, whose brother is now running for office, ivas at a dance held in this hall last week and has evidence that in the small hours of the morning, girls ivere so drunk that the men did anything they wanted to with them but lay them out on the floor. City No. 32. Went to Saturday night dance that had been held at hall, corner of Street. Found the place closed and in darkness. During that time noted forty girls between fourteen and seventeen years of age who came to the hall, some apparently bad girls, others quiet in manner. Boys came in bunches. Most of them were of the pool-room ty])e. No one seemed to know why the dance was not being held. Many waited a good while hoping the hall would open. From a talk with the man in charge of the store across the street, I learned that this is a rough-neck dance, — no decent girl at- tends them. Say there is no bar in the hall, but they go to the nearby saloon for liquor. Also says that he thinks that the protests of the pastors of the city churches have at last caused the holders to close it. Said there had been con- siderable talk of closing it on account of its bad character and because there Avere so many girls attending, and that everything was danced there — that is, bear dances, tango and others in their most violent form. City No. 32. Page 223. Operative asked what had become of the Aviue room that used to be in operation at the dance hall. lie replied that they had closed up the wine room, because several saloon keepei’s had recently lost their licenses. luA^estigator saAv no one drinking in the hall, but after each dance, some of the couples Avonld go doAvnstairs. AAdiere drinkes Avere serA^ed, but' operatiA’e saw no bar. or liquor sei’A'-ed to any young girls, but did see young men aa'Iio were apparently under legal age seiwed Avith liquor. He reports that during the intermission betAveen dances, the conduct of several young girls Avas free and easy. ScA^eral had the habit of crossing their legs in such a manner as to expose them- selves in an indecent manner. The manager offered to intro- duce the investigator to some of the young girls. lie made a number of obscene remarks regarding the character of some girls in attendance at the dance and aclA’ised the iiiA'estigator as to Avhieh of the girls he could haA'e imnroner relations AAuth, if he desired. IiiAmstigator then AA’ent to hall located just outside of the citv limits. This place. hiA’estigator found had about forty couples engatred in dancing. About one-half of them Avere young girls and boys. At this place beer and other b'quor Avas sold to the young people aa’Iio Avanted to drink Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 67 ai'ter each dance, and everyone who wanted to drink was supplied with liipior called for. No questions were raised and investigator saw drinks served to a number of boys and girls who Avere under legal age. While attending this dance, inves- tigator made investigations in the vicinity of the hall and outside of the building foiuid a number of couples lying on the grass under the trees and in dark corners. When he left the hall and walked to the city, he passed six couples Avho Avere lying on the grass near the dance hall. A Typical Case. The story of a certain ignorant girl Avho Avas seduced and vio- lated by a man Avhom she met at a luihlie dance hall is so typical that it must he included here practically in full. The ease Avas brought before the Supreme Court of the state, for breach of promise and seduction. Extracts from the case are given be- low. . The ease Avith which an ignorant, perhaps feeble-minded girl falls prey to the designs of a skilled seducer, especially AAdien she has had a few drinks, is startling. She is practically defenceless. In the folloAving story it should be noted that the girl had been drinking, that she regularly frecpiented an immoral dance hall, and that she Avas taken to an assignation resort. The girl can lay the blame for her doAvnfall squarely at the door of a negli- gent community of this state. Neither she nor the young man Avas the principally responsible party. The lax, careless, negli- gent group of society AA’hich permits such conditions is responsible. We all share the shame of this monstrous, criminal, unrighteous practice. vs 157 Wis., 131, 1914 Direct Testimony. Action of breach of promise of marriage. “My name is Elsie I had been seventeen on the 17th of April, 1912. I met the defendant at dances ; some- times tAvice a month. I met him on the evening of May llth at Heintz’s on 37th and Lapham Street. The dance Avas going on. I met that evening there. I danced there. He bought me drinks, cherry and beer, and I took the drinks and he asked me to go to a lunch room. I took the drinks. He bought tAvo glasses of beer for me. That is all. He bought tAvo cherry phosphates. I remained out of the dance hall until about ten after eleven. Then he went to take 68 Report oe the Wisconsin Vice Committee. iTie to a lunch room, and he took me to a different place and he told me that he was going to take me to a lunch room t'' buy me some lunch and I went. He took me to a room. T do not remember where I got off the car. The place where this house is located I do not know. We went to a side en- trance. He did not say anything about the place until he took me to the room where a bed and two dressers were. He said he wanted to marry me and I would have to he there once anyhow before he would take me. Before that he locked the door. I don’t know what he did with the keys, hut I turned around and did not see no keys in the door. I stayed with him in that room until about quarter of nine in the morning. After that I was hroueht in the family way. He offered me $300.00 because he could not marry me because his father would not have if. I suffered a miscarriage on the 9th of September. This miscarriage was brought about because he scared me that he wanted to take me to the doctor, and I thought sure he would take me to the doctor like on Saturday night (to the hotel for immoral purposes). Cross Examination. Prior to this time when I was at the bedroom with him, I was Avorking at the lace paper company receiving $5.25 per week. My money I gave to my parents. I Avas living at home then. The night of May 11th, 1912, was not the only time this man performed immoral acts with me. About the 17th of August he had it with me again. At that time he knew I was in the family Avay and in a pregnant condition. They had dances at the saloon. I went to dances there at that place every time they had a dance, almost. That was about tAvice a month. The dances were held in the dance hall next to the saloon. There Avas two doors leading from the dance hall into the saloon, and then you could go out the rear and come in the back Avay to the saloon and the front way. about six different ways. Through the back door you could go in- to the wine room. It Avas furnished Avith tables and chairs. They had about six tables in there. From the door in front of the danne room you Avent direct in the saloon, and from the door of the rear in the dance room you walked in the wine room. I had been in that wine room. I Avent AvlieneA^er I was invited. There was about seA^enteen young men Avent to that dance hall. I did not dance with all the men. Walter was one of those that could not dance. The different boys I danced Avith did not buy me many drinks. I do remember being in the wine room quite often and haAung something to drink. I Avent to Avork the Monday following this dance. I Avent Avith him to get a drink in the wine room. I stayed in Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 69 the wine room while one dance passed, and I went out. Then he said, I should come back again and 1 went back and we stayed there about forty-five minutes. I went to other dances at different places. On May 12th, 1912, Walter suggested that I go down town with him. He asked whether 1 would not go aown to a lunch room, and I said: “Sure, but no further than First Avenue.” When we cam© to First Avenue, he said: “Down town we can get a better lunch.” And we went down town. He did not take me to no luncn room. My home is a block away from his home. 1 went down town without knowing where 1 was going. Then i asked whicii lunch room lie was going to take me to. He did not answer, but says he wants to go and see a friend of his. 1 remember passing the Frmeess Theatre and then 1 got olf the car. When we got in, (^to the rooiu ) he told me to sit down. Then he went away. 1 stayed there waiting for him for about five minutes. He came back with another fellow. Then they went up a stairway, and he just made a wink. I did not know where he was going to. Alter a while I went up with him and he locked the room right away. When I came into the room, the light was turned real low, so I turned up the light. This man that had accompanied me upstairs went into the room first. He opened the door and Walter took me by the arm and just pushed me in like that, and he locked the doors. “Well, what do you want to do with this? Do you think this is a lunch room?” I said. After awhile, he says, “Oh! That this was the only way he could get me. He wanted me so bad and he thought that this was the only way he could get me. I would not stay in there at all. I looked through the window and seen a rope. I thought that maybe I could get out that way. I did not see no fire es- cape. I only seen a rope. I said I did not Avant to stay there. He says I should because I Avould have to be there once any- Avay before he Avould take me. He then undressed me. I did not have anything to eat or drink. “When my mother asked me Avhere I had been, I told her by a different friend. I did not Avant to tell her about the room. I did not tell her until quite a AAdiile after. Some time in August. This is the first time I told her anything about going into this room Avith ” Action in Supreme Court for breach of promise. Compensatory damages fixed at $1500, and punitory dam- ages at $500. In action for seduction jury returned a verdict of $150 com- pensatory damages j and punitory damages of $1500 AA^hich judgment Avas affirnied by the Supreme Court. 70 Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. Saloons. So much, has been said in previous paragraphs in regard to the extent of the intimate connection between prostitution and the liquor traffic that it is unnecessary at this point to devote a large section to an introductory statement. The reports of the -investi- gators indicate that in each citj^ the most extensively used insti- tution for the fostering of prostitution is the saloon ; that in each city visited certain saloons appear to be the headquarters and meeting place for men and women seeking immoral relations; that of all men connected in any way with commercialized vice, bartenders are the best informed and best able to direct customers to women and resorts where prostitution may be had. One madam examined by the committee acknowledged that when the sale of liquor was prohibited in her resort her custom fell off fully one-half. The pfiysiological and psychological connection be- tween intoxication and unnatural sexual impulses forms the groundw^ork for this conclusion. There can be no question as to the fact that a man or woman under the in^uence of intoxicants is in a much graver danger of committing immoral sexual acts than the man or woman wdiose brain is clear. This committee goes on record as enthusiastically recommending all sane reforms and regulations which may be imposed upon tfie liquor traffic, and the committee further believes that without restricting the activi- ties of certain classes of saloons it Avill be impossible to strike commercialized vice a serious blow or diminish its prevalence and terrible effects in disease and Avasted human life. EePORTS op InA’ESTIGATORS. City No. 59. WX. Has a Avell furnished saloon in front. At its rear is a large palm garden, and a side entrance as Avell from the bar. Cabaret entertainment is proA'ided from S P. M. until midnight. SuggestiAm and A’ulgar songs are sung, as the audience demands. The palm garden is Avell patronized by sporting Avomen Avho sit from table to table Avith men and solicit men. Seems to be the intention on the part of the men to run this place Avide open. Heard the man- ager suggest to a party of four that if thej' Avere out for the night and expected to take in eA'erything, that they should be sure to go to place on road solicited men AA'ho came into the palm garden from the bar and shortly afterward Keport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 71 took a man upstairs. The investigator folloAved them in time to get upstairs as they entered a room. Asked the proprietor for , her daughter, and her answer was that she was in but Avould be busy for an hour. City No. 59. Saloon GX 10. Girls solicit in the barroom with the consent of the proprietor , one of the girls here, has a pimp by the name of G. X. A., who is a frequenter of this place desired to take the investigator to the hotel GX 10 B to carry on prostitution. The proprietor in- formed the investigator that is a hue girl, — she is twenty-four years of age. The girls sit at the table in the saloon barroom claims this city is her home. Car- ries on prostitution and has made as high as $80.00 a week. Makes $10.00 a Aveek in this place. Three Avomen hustle here. One is called City No. 49. GX 119. Character of the saloon is bad. Tavo prostitutes were seen here, ages 21 and 29. Both stopped men. Cafe is in connection Avith saloon, but no music is fur- nished. Beer in the rear room is 5 cents a glass. Both girls solicited the investigator to go upstairs to the assignation rooms over the saloon. City No. 59. Saloon GX 11. This is one of the Avorst places in town. Only young girls hang out here. Girls have inter- course Avith men in the toilet room and also in the small room connected Avith the barroom. A girl called “Babe”, who is about 17 years of age, desired to take the investigator to her sister to carry on prostitution stated that her price Avas $1.00 stated that she has a SAveetheart who takes her all over the country. They were recently in St. Paul. Four of the Avomen in this place Avere smoking ciga- rettes. Reported to be the toughest place in toAvn. The con- versation is all about prostitution. This is a hangout Satur- day night for girls employed at department store. Note by investigator. — This place by all means ought to be closed up. City 94. WX. This place occupies a two story frame build- ing. On the first floor is a common class saloon. At its rear is a large Avine room — Avith a stairAvay betAveen. There is also an entrance to the wine room from Ave. Upstairs is a dance hall. This also has an entrance from First Avenue, next door to that of the Avine room. Here Saturday night dances are held, and pass-out checks are issued. Men take girls into the AA’ine room and get them intoxicated. Mrs. 72 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. . , who has a good deal of trouble with her daughter, age 18, about frequenting this and similar places, says this dance hall has been the cause of the downfall of many girls through their being allowed to become intoxicated here. City No. 94. WX. Occupies a two story brick building, common class saloon, with lunch counter attached. Has a very large wine room. Inside connection between this wine room and plainly furnished rooms above. In the back of this there is a summer garden now fixed up for winter use. This is a notor- iously bad place, especially in the summer season, when so many girls frequent the place, often remaining until a very late hour and becoming intoxicated. Chicago Vice Commission, page 34. Prostitution in the saloon. The Commission has found in its investigation that the most dangerous immoral influence and the most important financial interest outside of the business of prostitution as carried on in houses is the disorderly saloons. The proprietors of these places are using prostitutes as an adjunct to the sale of beer and liquor and are allowing them to openly solicit for immoral purposes in their rear rooms. This is done in spite of the constant statement of the brewers and wholesale liquor dealers that they are against the use of prostitutes in saloons which they supply. Chicago Vice Commission Report, page 119. We found the most conspicuous and important element in connection with the social evil next to the house of prostitution itself was the saloon and the most important financial interest next to the business of prostitution was the liquor interest. Chicago Vice Commission Report, page 127. IMany of the women who frequent the saloons at the beginning are not pro- fessional prostitutes. They are weak morally with a strong desire for drink. They learn that generous men are there who willingly buy them drinks. Minneapolis Vice Commission Report, page 75. While women have been generally excluded from saloons, there are several so-called cafes in the city whose operations are so flagrantly opposed to good public morals as suggests strongly the necessity for ofiicial action. Philadelphia Vice Commission Report, page 8. Investiga- tion has shown that a large number of proprietors of saloons and hotels use their licenses unlawfully and allow immorality Report op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 73 of the most flagrant kind in their rear rooms and rathskellers. Soliciting by prostitutes is carried on in a great many cafes and the waiters and bartenders and often the proprietor will direct the customer to bed houses and furnished rooms in their vicinity. Some saloons have bedrooms on the upper floors and many hotels are extensively used as bed houses. They are often a great source of danger to young girls and are used for soliciting by prostitutes. Street Conditions. There is a very dangerous situation in the tendency of certain young girls to loiter about the streets, in restaurants, railroad stations, hotel lobbies, dance halls and amusement resorts tmtil late at night. Many promiscuously accept invitations to go for automobile rides into the country and to road houses. They are willing to attend the theatre and moving picture shows with abso- lute strangers, little knowing that such practices may lead to careers of professional immorality. The testimony of numerous prostitutes, not only in Wisconsin, but wherever such information has been collected, indicates that this is a very common road, in- deed, to the house of ill fame. The situation in cities of Wiscon- sin furnisihes a very serious problem, and the responsibility rests heavily upon cities and to some degree upon the state govern- ment itself. Practical remedies should be suggested and tried out at once. Some cities have proMded recreation centers and amusement resorts under strict municipal control. The extension of- the neighborhood social centers, and the use of sehoolhouses and churches as social centers, would undoubtedly have a beneficial effect. The phances of such enterprises for success would be more than doubly increased, if parents would take an active and co- operative interest in securing legitimate opportunities for the ex- ercise of the social instincts of young people in every city. The attention of churches and philanthropic organizations and the public schools is called to the necessity of providing wholesome amusement and entertainment under safe auspices to counteract the evil influence and dangerous attractions of the street. In the following paragrapjis are given some of the observations of inves- tigators. City No. 102. Investigator reports that they And in after- noons from three to five and at night until 11 :30 that there is 74 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. co]isi(leral)le streetwalking done here by semi-professional prostitutes wlio ivork in tlie hotels and restaurants as wait- resses, and during their hours off afternoons are found on the streets and in cafes, soliciting men and taking them to almost any place, or to their own rooms. This crowd at night is aug- mented by factory girls, shop girls and others, all of whom ply their trade seemingly without police interference. City No. 5. Among the wmrking girls we find prostitution rampant in this city. This is not due to their receiving less than a living wage, for throughout this valley girls employed in industries are usually Avell paid, receiving $1.00 and up- ward a day for their services. Instead it is the lover of fine clothes, such as could not be bought Avith their salary, that is the streetwalker at night. There are many of these semi- professional prostitutes plying their trade boldly on the streets at night, seemingly Avithout any fear of the police. They are nermitted to frequent the Avine rooms and any of the cheaper hotels will accommodate them, and ask no questions, as most of them are bed houses. It is the general opinion that the moral conditions among the girls, students of the high school, and of college, are good, — that about all of them come from v'ery good homes and are morally clean. City No. 47. Page 58 Street, betAveen and Streets, are the two Avorst blocks in the city for streetAvalkers and immoral resorts. They are in the heart of the city. BetAveen . street and street on north street there are tAvo disorderly saloons and three assignation resorts, Avith 15 Avomen inmates. In the block betAveen street and street there is one bad saloon Avith an attached restaurant, and hotel and restaurant and tAvo ad- .ioining assignation resorts, besides the rooms OA^er the theatre are also noted places. In these resorts are 12 known inmates, making a total of 24 knoAvn inmates in tAvo blocks. Besides these, there are many other Avomen of bad character AA'ho frequent these resorts. On Street, betAveen 10 o’clock and 10:15 P. M. saAV three girls accost men near the entrance to street, upstairs. In the same block, between 10 and 10 ;30 saAv men accosted. Some of the women I later knew to be in- mates of these resorts. On the same night between 5:30 and 5 :55 Avas accosted by fiAm men on street, the principal thoroughfare betAveen and streets. Some of these were bold enough to folloAV. On , betAveen midnight and one A. M., saw 20 women on street, between and streets solicit men passing from doorways. Report op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 75 IMoving Picture Shows and Vaudeville Theatres. The growth of the moving picture shows in the United States has been one of the most surprising and phenomenal developments of the past ten years. The very fact that these amusement resorts are patronized by all classes of people and are wddely spread in every section of all American cities is an indication of the immense popularity wdiieh moving pictures have obtained in this country. It is useless and futile to suggest the discontinuance of these places, even though some have dangerous features. There is a certain psychological appeal in the vivid and sensational life de- picted by moving pictures that draws even more patronage than regular theatres. Indeed, the complaint is coming from theatre managers that the moving picture establishments are taking away their support. The moving picture show has been called very aptly “the poor man’s theatre.” The fact that the admission price is generally 5 or 10 cents, places the “movie” within the reach of children, and classes living even in the poorest sections of great cities. In a large proportion of the films showm by moving picture companies there is a sensational and Inrid exposition of life Avhich parallels the stories of the most yellow dime novels. Many of the shows are melodramatic, morbid, and by over-emphasizing certain unfortunate conditions and characteristics of human life present a wrong view of the w’orld to the spectator. There can be no question but that the frequent witnessing of such shows has a more detrimental effect upon the ideals of children than the read- ing of cheap and sensational novels. It leaves an unwholesome train of thought in the mind of the child, and emphasizes' the stories of murder, illicit love and other morbid subjects with wdiich the immature mind should not be burdened. On the other hand there are so many vmlnable characteristics in the moving picture show, so many fine possibilities for infor- mation and entertainment, that even were it possible to repress them entirely, this would not be desirable. The moving picture theatre under proper supervision and control and showdng clean and healthful pictures has in it the possibility of great cultural benefits. However, the most serious danger of the moving picture theatre is not in the films shown but in the darkness of the room, the dan- 76 Eeport op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. gerous comiianioiis that may he met, and the crowded un healthful atmosphere. Frequent testimony has come before this commit- tee to show that the moving picture theatre is a common place of meeting for many of the wild and careless younger people of every community. Whoever has attended a “movie” in a poor and neglected portion of the city has noticed the freedom with which new companions are “picked up,” and the informal and undig- nified conduct of young men and young women, and in this con- dition lies the real danger in that it furnishes a convenient and easy meeting place for immoral young people. There is a possibility of wiping out this phase of the evils which attend many picture houses. These entertainment resorts can be properly lighted, can be more closely censored to shut out the morbid and sensational film, and regulations can be imposed which would prevent children from attending moving picture shows late in the evening. There can be a more rigid supervision of all that takes place in the moving picture theatre. It is to be noted that the same criticisms, which apply to the moving picture theatre, apply also to the vaudeville show. In ad- dition to the sensational and morbid films which are shown in the vaudeville theatres as well as in the moving picture houses, there are indecent jokes, salacious references, ^ullgar dances, to say nothing of a room in many eases equally as dark as that of the moving picture show. It is inconsistent to impose more strict regulations upon the moving picture theatres, unless a closer cen- sorship is imposed upon vaudeidlle shows. Elements that tend to suggest immoral conduct and morbid trains of thought should be struck as squarely in one as in the other. Before the last session of Congress there was a bill which pro- vided for a United States government board of censors for mov- ing pictures. This bill should receive the endorsement of the state. Testimony before the committee indicates that there is a wide- spread criticism which is adverse to the moving picture shows as they are at present conducted. Some of the testimony on this point follows ; “I was brought up on a farm and never attended them un- til I was 21 years of age. I don’t think I am any the worse off. Is not a child better off playing in its father’s back yard than going to watch a picture tragedy? This is the position I take.” Report op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 77 Milwaukee. Page 296. “I^tlimk there should be more reg- ulation of the dance hail and moving picture show, so far as the age of the child is concerned. Censorship of moving pic- ture shows should be more complete than it is. I understand now that the films are censored. It is not possible for the commission which is not paid to have all of the films censored before showing, as it is necessary for that film to be seen by some person interested in it to report to the commission, and the picture may go around to the majority of the picture shows before that interested person has a chance to see it and complains of it. It seems to me that it would be thoroughly worth while to have a paid commission to censor every film that came to Milwaukee.” Fond du Lac. Mrs Page 22. “I think some of these moving picture shows are a menace. I don’t think it does a child any good to see those white slave or opium scenes. I think it puts into the boys’ heads ideas that they have never thought of, and I think there ought to be a censor- ship for every one.” I Mr. Hadfield. Superior. Page 196. “The great criticism is that the average picture shown that deals with higher class dramatic values is not appreciated. You put something on that requires a little education, and the people do not like it. They don’t want it. All of the people prefer more on the ‘slap stick’ comedy. They don’t care for industrial pictures. They want something with action and that is funny. They don’t care to go in and cry. Some people would leave their home to see a travel picture, but the ordinary person doesn’t care to see travel pictures.” Recreation Parks. The committee finds that the legitimate use of recreation parks in some of the cities of the state has been so perverted that these naturally healthful resorts have become dangerous to public mor- als, the reason being that in a large number of cases, these parks are poorly lighted and inadequately supervised. They thus fur- nish convenient places for immoral practices. The testimony and evidence indicates that it is quite possible and, indeed, custom- ary for young people to seek the seclusion of the parks when they wish to accomplish acts of immorality. It has been the experience of every city that has established playgrounds and recreation parks that the problem of moral at- mosphere is the most difficult with which to deal. For this rea- 78 Eeport op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. sou, many parks and playgrounds have been fenced, and the i>ub- lic is not allowed upon the grounds, except when the supervisor is in attendance. The playgrounds and parks of some cities are well lighted, whicfi makes it difficult for any immorality to take place. Careful reading of the following typical cases will indi- cate how serious is this problem in some cities of Wisconsin. City No. 59. R. 398. “The next day I Aveut to the city park, which I found to be frequented b}' a much differ- ent class than the former park. Here I found men aud women drinking beer in the beer garden, aud many Avere Avell under the influence of liquor. The merry-go-round is the Avorst feature of this place. As an illustration of AA'hat took place, I Avish to relate the case of a youug girl about Id years of age Avhom the attendant permitted to ride about six times Avithout paying a cent. As soon as this attendant had collect- ed the fares, he Avould return to this girl, aud their actions Avere anything but decent. This young girl iiromised to meet this attendant at midnight. “Next visited park aud Avalked to the lake just beloAv , aud as I arrHed near the tool house just behind a little hunch of shrubbery, I saw a youug couple in a compromising position. They made no effort to get aAvay. As I approached, the girl remained stretched out. full length on the ground. The girl Avas in an intoxicated state. All along I saAv couples embracing and kissing each other. At different places in the park, I saAv girls sitting alone until some man Avould come along, whereupon she Avould speak to him in a suggestHe Avay. \ D. C. Eudris, Assistant Supervisor of Recreation of Mihvau- kee Public Schools testified in ansAver to the question, “IIoav are you preventing your minor girls from going Avroug?”, as folloAA's : “You Avill notice that the AA'ituesses on the stand the last feAV days have all attributed girls going Avrong because they have been to dances and palm gardens aud parks. Why? In search of recreation, and CA’ery human being must have re- creation, and Ave haAm been at fault in not supplying our youug people Avith places Avhere they could get Avholesome recreation. They haAm been Avholly at the mercy of commercialized recre- ation. There Avasn’t a place for a girl to go aud get happi- ness, so Ave are trying to giA^e the young jieople AA'holesome, supervised recreation under uplifting conditions.” (Statement of klr Superior.) “I kiiOAV hoAV Avell policed Billings Park has been for a long time. I had a controA^ersy Avith the Mayor at one time, and he insisted that Keport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 79 it was well i:)oliced and Avell lighted. He never was around tliere when r wanted to niid him. 1 was out there and there. W'as a drunken man C'lng right across the path and I was compelled to step over iinn. There was not a policeman in siglic. Tliey insisted that the park was lighted. As a matter ol tact, that is not so. 1 kave been told tiiat young people iretiuenc tins place tor immoral purposes. 1 have seen them myseit. A man told me, who has an automobile and who goes out around there, tliat, as his light flasbes in and out among tiie trees, the conditions are very bad, and it is a shame to take anyoody out tliore. "Tlie smad park near is frequently visited by prostitutes who ply their trade there. 1 saw one woman who took two men to her room within an hour. The young man whose mother conducts the rooming house next to the told me that he saw one woman take nine men to her room in an evening.” (Madison. Page 17. Testimony by ) In an- swer to the questioil Avhere the boys take girls, the reply was, ‘‘They don’t have to go very far off. An ohicer told me he picked up eleven couples on the lake front the other niglil, and one offered him $50.00 not to have him pulled. The man was pulled the next day and fined $5.00. . . park is the hell-hole. Heard of a young girl the other day that was taken over there and stripped before a crowd of men and the police kiieiv it. The girl was taken up by the police, and she was sent to Milwaukee.” (Judge Eisner, Judge of the court having charge of has tardy actions in Milwaukee County.) “I will also, before I forget it, mention that most, if not all of the so-called canoe boat buildings along the Milwaukee River are the hell-holes, that a good many innocent girls have gone Avrong because of the existence of the canoe club buildings along the Milwau kee River.” Commercialized Aspect. Upon the whole, it is very evident that the evils of commercial- ized vice have their most difficult and complicated problems in the businesses which are associated with them. The selfish in- terest of business men, large and small, Avho make an illegitimate profit out of one form or another of prostitution, is the hardest point to sti'ike in attempting to eradicate the evil. Wherever the evils of vice have entrenched themselves in allied businesses, there are found reactionary influences and great unwillingness Bo Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. to accept reform. Only by striking at the commereialmed aspect of this evil is there any hope of suppressing and finally doing away altogether with commercialized prostitution. Laws and in- vestigations are insufficient to accomplish this. There must be something more fundamental and far-reaching than acts of legis- latures and publicity, however good these may be. There must be an awakening of the social conscience to a recognition of the folly of any traffic which damages a part of society. The public must be made to feel that an evil which damages a portion of society directly, also damages the whole of society indirectly, and no man can tell when the roots of the evil may strike him and his JiORie. An intolerant, indignant and insistent attitude of the public in every community would soon drive the selfish per- sons, who profit directly and indirectly from the practice of prostitution, under cover, and make the existence of such prac- tices sufficient to obtain social ostracism and disgrace. In the state of Wisconsin, where many excellent legal instru- ments are already provided, it is possible for any com m unity to strike commercialized vice a death blow through the Linley Law, commonly known as the Injunction and Abatement Law. This law provides a means of striking the owner of property which is used for purposes of prostitution, such a vital blow that it will be the chief concern of owners to keep their property free from any suspicion of immorality. In every community there should be committees and other organizations to enforce this law. In other pages of this report is given an account of the work of the Milwaukee Society For The Suppression of Commercialized Vice, which did such valuable and worthy work in jMilwaukee. Atten- tion is directed to this section. The committee has found that in many places buildings are being knowingly rented by owners and agents, to be used for purposes of prostitution. In some cases buildings which are so located that the rent for ordinary purposes would be $15.00 a month are rented for this purpose for from fifty to two hundred dollars a month, and in many other places the rents charged and paid for the use of such premises are several times the ordinary rent for similarly located quarters in the same city. Tliis extor- tionate rent naturally makes the proprietors and their real estate agents, who profit so largely, object to the work of any committee liEPOKT OF THE WISCONSIN ViCE COMMITTEE. 81 or officers who wish to eradicate the eyil from the city. The fol- lowing reports give concrete examples : City No. 87. GX, page 111. Bad neighborhood. Counted five inmates. Estimated number of inmates, nine. Three men in parlor. Price of prostitution, $2.00; perversion, $2.00. Price of drinks, $1.00; rebate to woman on drinks, 10 cents. Inmates dressed in kimonas. Girls receive one-halt. Weekly board paid by girls, $15.00. One man connected with the house, viz., owner (GX42.) Daily receipts of girls, $8.00. Pent paid, $165 per month. I'ormerly ran a house in Milwaukee. City. No. 68. Page 196 Plats, 20 Street. Pearl J formerly of Racine, landlady. Occupies the whole of the second floor of an old two story build- ing; it is a finely furnished parlor house sporting resort. There are six inmates ; the landlady receives one-half of their earn- ings, and $6.00 per week board. The inmates dress in loose flowing kimonas and loose apron dresses. The landlady says business is very quiet now;. that even so, she has to pay just as much rent, $125.00 a month, and that an ex-alderman, now an assemblyman, Mr , owns it. The real value of the place wouldn’t exceed $25.00 a month. Ruby, an ex-inmate of Grace C ’s sporting resort, Milwaukee, is now an in- mate here. The landlady says she almost always has from 12 to 14 and even 16 girls. It is found that beer is being sold at the customary rate of one dollar per bottle, and that in many places, from thirty to ninety cases of liquor are sold each month, from which is realized an excessive profit. The inmates are urged to have all who patronize their resorts freely spend their money for beer. There is ample evidence on this point. City 87. GX 99. This man had his house for a year and a half. His expenses are $16. QO a day. He pays $165.00 a month rent. Takes in $85.50 a day on- the average. Pays $52.50 pro- tection money. He sells 80 to 90 cases of beer a month at $1.00 a bottle. Has a six year lease. The evidence is plentiful that certain cab-men, liverymen and automobile drivers do a large business in conveying immoral women and their patrons to various resorts and road houses ; that on account of the returns from this lucrative business, they are opposed to any move aimed at the elimination of commercialized immorality. 6-V. c. 82 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. Even such substantial business men as bankers have become in- volved in this disgraceful business. Evidence has come before the committee to show that loans have knowingly been made by banks to persons engaged in conducting houses of prostitution, and that when efforts have been made to have such bouses closed, the bank officials have come to the prosecuting parties and have asked them to discontinue the prosecutions until the loans could be repaid. In one city one of the leading attorneys publicly an- nounced that be would fight the bouses of prostitution in that city, and to bis surprise, be was immediately interviewed by a banker who requested that the action against the houses of prosti- tution be withheld. The banker stated that be held brewery bonds, and that such an action would hurt their interests. The attorney dropped the prosecution, and the place continued in operation. Evidence follows. City No. 49, page 346. When he talked of closing up the house outside the bankers came to him to oppose it, and said that they held a number of bonds of breweries and that it would injure the trade. Says that the moral issue is so linked up with the financial that it is very hard to control it ; that the moral conditions as to saloons Avould be hit by closing up of this place. In many cities we find that certain of the hatels and rooming houses are used for assignation purposes, as explained in a pre- vious section, and because this practice yields a large income, they are opposed to any forces which attempt to Avipe out the eA'il. Ample evidence can be given in support of this statement. (See section on “Assignation Hotels.”) Political Power. Investigation shoAvs that the interests connected Avith commer- cialized prostitution are frequently in cooperation Avith saloons and brcAveries, and through their officers and patrons, exercise a considerable political poAver. One of the best illustrations of this came to light at a hearing of the committee in a city AA'here evi- dence shoAvs that ninety per cent of the saloons ave under the con- trol of breAATU'ies, and tliat certain saloons are the meeting places for i)rostitutes and their customers. Immoral Avonieu are fre- quently the patrons of the saloons, and the barkeepers are their Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 83 active agents in soliciting trade for them and informing customers where such women can be found. The fact was shown that because some of the bankers, attor- neys and other leading business men of the city, some of whom were candidates for certain county and state positions, had signed a petition authorizing a vote in that city at the September elec- tions, to determine the amount of license fee, certain saloon keep- ers, after the petition was filed, displayed in their saloons a list of these signers and headed it, ‘ ‘ Knockers, Kickers and Hypocrites, ’ ’ and admonished their patrons to vote against them in the coming elections. It was further shown that these interests withdrew their business from the bankers who signed the petition. One employer sympathizing with the elements opposed to the signers of the petition noted above, issued a circular and distributed the same to all his employes, forbidding any person in his employ to take part in any ‘‘municipal activity.” A copy of this circular follows. , Wis., Sept. 19th, 1912. “It has come to our notice, that a number of our employes, holding responsible positions in our company, have taken ac- tive part in the recent “High License” campaign, and as this activity and aggressiveness on their part has caused the com- pany mucli annoyance and possible loss of business, the di- rectors of the Company, at a meeting held Mon- day, September 16th, and called for the purpose of discussing this subject, decided unanimously that, henceforth, no em- ployee of this company can hold his position with this company if he becomes an aggressive and active champion for either the pro or con of any campaign or controversy involving poli- tical, religious or municipal matters. However, the directors desire to have it distinctly under- stood, that it is. not their intention nor motive to interfere with the rights and privileges of anyone connected Avith this com- pany. They believe that every man is entitled to his own opin- ion and privileged to act, do and vote as his judgment dic- tates, but they also believe that everyone connected Avith this company should refrain from doing anything that Avill antag- onize the friends of this store.” On the evening folloAAung the hearing of the committee, certain business men met and sent a communication to the goA^ernor of the state, demanding that the vice iuATAStigation he stopped. Apjiar- ently to cover their real designs, they represented that the com- 84 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. mittee had wronged and embarrassed women employes by calling them before the committee for bearings. As a matter of fact, the labor organizations, who naturally would stand in sympathy with the employees, passed a resolution commending the action of the committee in that city. Some of the newspapers in the state took up this controversy and spread the news of it over the state in a light which made the work of the committee difficult and embarrassed the officers of the committee in attempting to secure full evidtoce. It was also shown in another city that some of those interested with the owners in the red light district, after the election in the fall of 1912 had a street celebration with bands, to celebrate the victory of the nonpartisans who defeated the former officers, who had closed the red light district, and that those in charge of the celebration collected money from some of those interested in prostitution. The following is a part of the testimony of a man whose tenants had been fined for using the property for immoral purposes : City 59, page 179. “Q. Did they collect money from you to pay the expenses for decorations and music for the celebra- tion of the election of nonpartisans? A. They didn’t get any. Q. You know it was done? A. Why sure, they met me and Mr right on the corner and asked him and me for money for the celebration. Nonenporcement op Laws. The state of Wisconsin has a code of moral laws which covers practically every phase of the problem under consideration by the Legislative Committee on White Slavery". Some of these laws are so framed in the interests of organized vice as to make it extremely difficult to secure evidence which may be used as proof before a jury, but a much greater difficulty ib to get the law en- forcing officers to utilize in good faith the laws and regulations now at their command. Under the “discovery statute,” upon complaint being made, even on information and belief, any per- son supposed to have information bearing upon a specific case can be brought into court and fully examined under oath, concerning the matter before the court. With diligent and efficient law enforcing officers, men who have the spirit of law enforcement in them and who are supported bj^ public opinion, offenses against Report op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 85 excise or moral laws would not need to stand unnoticed any longer than crimes of theft or murder. But, the great difficulty lies in the fact that when the moral code is broken, the law enforcing officers remain inactive until some private citizen comes before the court and signs a complaint. The private citizen is then ex- pected to give his time and attention to the case, push it through the court, and furnish proof to sustain his action. In this way he is subjected to all the ddium of that portion of the community which cares nothing for the enforcement of the moral law, and he may even suffer business ostracism, even to boycotting that re- sults from making complaints against his neighbors who are doing wrong. Instead of the officers, with all the power and machinery of the county and state behind them, getting the facts and thus performing the duties for which they have been elected and are paid by the taxpayers, the citizen must shoulder the burden. One of the most effective, simple and practical ways of doing away with this unfortunate condition is to so frame the laws of the state that law enforcing officers are not merely permitted to enforce the law, but are compelled to do so. One of the best ex- amples of this evasion of official responsibility is that of the en- forcement of the Linley Law, R. S. 3187c, which in substance pro- vides as follows: “that, whenever a nuisance, as defined in section 3185b, (buildings used for the purpose of lewdness, assignation or prostitution) exists in any county the district attorney or any citizen of such county may begin an equitable action in the name of the state, to abate the same.” Here the district attorney, in all such cases, is granted full authority to take the initiative in bringing action, as specifically as any private individual, but the district attorney is not compelled to initiate such action, although he may have the facts presented to him. In all of the counties that have openly recognized houses of prostitution, only one dis- trict attorney has seen fit to take the initiative, as the law pro- vides ; they continually fall back upon the old claim that it is not their duty to make complaints, though this law certainly charges the district attorney with that duty as fully as it does any private citizen. Furthermore, they are t|ie paid officers of law enforce- ment. This law was purposely framed in this manner to bring the responsibility home to the district attorneys of the counties of this state, but experience has shown that such laws must be made 86 Eeport op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. mandatory before action will be taken by tliem. The law shouhl be amended to fnrnisli this provision. The evidence before the committee shows many other cases of nonenforeenient of the excise laws, as well as many of the other moral laws. The committee has mneh testimony strongly tending to show that the police in many cases have apparently shut their eyes or looked the other way when offenses have been committed within their knowledge. It is also found that the public is over- indulgent and too prone to let law breaking pass unpunished, though it suffers injury by each infraction of the law. It was many times represented to the committee by citizens that to do otherwise would practically destroy their personal business and woidd ostracize them from the business circles to which they be- long. They insist that they are paying officers for the perform- ance of this, their duty, and they believe that it is the diity of the state either to require the law enforcing officers of the county to perform their duty or the state itself to assume this responsibility. Only a small part of the general public is familiar with the laws applying to the various problems of commercialized vice and its attendant evils. This may also be assigned as one of the reasons why the people in general are less active in the enforcement of the law than they would otherwise be. Testimony of nonenforce- ment of laws follows. City No. 59. Mr Page 150. “It was a matter of common knowledge that the segregated districts, so-called, were closed up so far as the district attorney could close them, two or three years ago, and I strongly feel that commercialized vice could be very largely restricted, if the authorities them- selves believed this to be advisable. VTe have a very conscien- tioiis chief of police — a man who is very competent and who believes as honestly as I believe anything that he has found a certain arbitrary line of morality that can be enforced and above or beyond that line he feels it is useless to act. Now. I feel he could raise that arbitrary line materially in enforcfhg the law, and he feels that he cannot. I do no-t think he is mak- ing any effort to carry out the larv above that arbitrary line.” Dr G. A. 22. •“In one of the interviews I had with the district attorney, he said to me, ‘ , Vhat is the use?’ or Avords to that effect. ‘When you are dead there will be prostitution.’ And I ansAvered, ‘Yes.’ He was then prosecuting some murder cases about that time and I said, ‘What is the use of your prosecuting the murder? When you Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 87 are dead tliei'e will be murders.’ ‘Now’, I said, ‘All that ean be done is for you to do your duty and lessen the number of murders in the state, and that is all I Avould like to have you do in regard to prostitution and lessen the amount of prosti- tutes in the state.’ “When a private citizen came to me, as thev often do, to make complaints, I said it was our policy to have the facts submitted to the chief of police and district attorney first, and then, if they could get no action from either of these officers, we would try, and do all that it was possible for us to do as private citizens. I made written complaints to the district attorney and have his acknowledgement in Avhich he states that he has referred both of these complaints to the police depart- Toent. He never made anv further report to me in regard to <■10=^. Our chief of police has e’-pros.sed himself time and again 1-1 tevnr eT an establisl''ed district and that district is contrary to law. Then when the chief of police savs publicly many times that he is in favor of that district, I think it is time for public citizens to see if the^r cannot get some law enforcement without the aid of the ch.ief. Our society has asked for an in- junction in about seventeen cases. We have the records of about one hundred properties — a few more than one hundred houses. The chief of police has expressed himself as being in favor of a segregated district. The Linley law specifically states that the district attorney or any citizen may invoke the injunction. When the district attorney does not desire to invoke that, and gives the specific statement to me that in substance we might as well quit — there will be prostitution vdien we are dead — ive had no reason to believe that the district attorney would desire to cooperate with us in the enforcement of the Linley law. Therefore. I sa\i^ no reason Avhy, as a citizen. I should have gone to the district attorney to do that thing Ave could do just as Avell Avithout, AAdien he Avas apparently uiiAvilling to act.” Page 30. The sheriff testified that he had made raids on the road houses and in tAvo cases found men and AAmmen in the road houses in bed and in another case had a complaint of a young man being there and robbing and taking one of the girls up- stairs — an inmate of the house. “We arrested them in each instance and they Avere founct guilty in each ease. I never called upon the district attorney’s office or any other office to enforce the proAusions of the Linley laAV upon that subject. That is up to any citizen.” Says he has read the Linley laAv over and knoAA's the district attorney can sign the complaint. The .sheriff’s remedy for social evils or vice is: “Close the public dance halls — nail up the Avine room doors ; repeal the 88 Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. Linley law ; give us segregation under police protection and you have the whole thing in a nutshell.” Chief of Police. A37. “There were sixty -nine houses of pros- titution in this city the last record we took of them. This re- cord was taken March 21st, 1911. I do not know of any houses of prostitution in the city at this time. One of Ihe prin- cipal rules at the time of the existence of the district was that no girl or woman applying for admission to one of these places should be admitted without first being reported to the police and men detailed for that purpose would go down there and find out who the girl was, where she came from, her age, her history, whether she was an experienced woman in that line of business or whether she was innocent.” Pa^e 42. “We tried every way to regulate those things so they would not interfere or impose themselves on decent people. That had been the custom here for years.” Page 44. The chief of police states there is an ordinance which provides that no person shall own or lease property used for these purposes (of prostitution) also that no owner or lessee of the sixty-nine houses of that city had been arrested for violating the ordinance. Mr Page 43. “I think, at the present time, neither the chief of nolice here nor the sheriff feels that there is any great proportion of the citizens of the city desirous of strict enforcement of these laws, and, of course, we have had one chief for twenty-five years and for many years the neonle apparently were satisfied that there should be a red light dis- trict — that there should be law violation and that those who wished to commit a crime could go to that part of the city to commit the crime aud it was all riffht, and I am not very much surprised the chief does not readily change. There has been a complaint against the district attorney’s office in not carry- ing out the suirit of the law. I think that is the greatest criti- cism I have heard, that the district attoruey prosecutes these cases without availing himself of the Linley law. and conse- quently, it goes on as an immaterial cheek and the fine does not amount to anything, therefore, no urngress is being maile along right reform lines. T do not think those officers consider the state at all— thev consider public sentiment in doin" what others have done before them, perhaps in the same position to some extent.” U. S. ImmioTation Officer. “T think that every man that has a positicm to enforce the law should be under civil service and should be unimpaired in the enforcement of Rkport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 89 his duties, and politics should have nothing to do with it what- ever. ’ ’ • Miss , page 100. ‘ ‘ The great fault here is the lax- ness of our public officers in enforcing laws we have on the statute book, and I feel sure there Avould not be a house of prostitution in town if the district attorney would enforce the Linley law that was passed at the last session of the Legisla- ture. It seems to me, in , if we want to do any- thing, we have to make it a personal matter. The police chief will say, ‘ Why ! Enter your complaint. ’, and that means we have all the publicity of entering the complaint, in order' to get the law enforced.” Rev , City No. 30. “Complaint has been made to the officers of the city requesting them to close these houses. Sometimes they replied that they did not believe a majority of the people wanted them closed. Sometimes they replied that they were afraid of their own necks, if they should do it, and they wanted to hold their jobs and the higher officials would not support them in any such action.” Dr. W. H. Allen, Madison. Page 7. “It seems to me that among the constructive benefits that can come from your com- mission’s work, if you could really get this state to put its police department on an efficient basis, keep check as to whether or not a fact reported has been dealt with, and so on, that has to do with the violation of the law and with the sup- ervision of the dance halls, much good would result. There is not a city in the state having a dance hall where girls and boys are being debauched, that is not known to the police officer. It is remarkable how these men get this information. We must make it unsafe for the police officer to keep secrets from his chief or from the mayor and the public, and there is a very definite line of work that could be worked out. I think a provision could be made for getting the reports so that at any time a state officer could tell what conditions are in the communities. When a complaint is made, let the persons write a note, perhaps, an anonymous note. Anonymous complaints are not considered worth anything by the police department. It is one of the most valuable complaints there is. Here is a girl who has been going out late at night. Liquor is sold in the place where she has been. The mother registers a request or complaint, and, if you can, es- tablish administrative procedure, so that it would be a direct violation of the law that the mayor would not want to risk and the chief of police would not want to risk, make it as serious 90 Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. to destroy a complaint as it is any other kind of evidence, have a public record of every complaint and have a, column showing every complaint that has not been taken care of.” Enforcement of Law. THE injunction AND ABATEMENT LAW. On June 24th, 1913, an injunction and abatement law, known as the Linley Law, was enacted by the legislature of Wisconsin. This law is similar to the famous Iowa injunction and abatement law, although somewhat less effective, due to the fact that district attorneys are not required to initiate action. (See previous sec- tion on “Nonenfcrcement of the Law,” page 84). A summaiy of the Linley law follows : R. S. 3185b. That Avhoever shall erect, establish, continue, maintain, use, occupy or lease any building or part of any building, erection or place to be used for the purpose of letvd- ness, assignation or prostitution, or permit the same to be so used, in the state of Wisconsin, shall be guilty of a nuisance, and the building, erection or place in or upon Avhich such lewdness, assignation or prostitution is conducted, permitted to be carried on, or continued, or exists, and the furniture, fixtures, musical instruments and contents used therewith for such purposes, are declared a nuisance, and shall be en- joined and abated. R. S. 3185c. That Avhen a nuisance as defined in the aboA'e section exists in any county, the district attorney, or any citi- zen of such county may maintain an equitable action in the name of the state and abate and peiqietually enjoin and re- strain every person guilty thereof from eoutimring, maintain- ing or permitting such nuisance. Upon A'erified complaint and evidence, A\dien required by the court shoAving the nuisance to exist, naming the party guilty, and upon three days' notice, a temporaiy injunction is granted restraining the continuance of the nuisance until trial. If injunction is granted upon action begun by public officials, no bond is required. In other cases it is discretionaiy AA’ith the court. R. S. 3185d. The existence of a nuisance as defined shall be prima facie CAddence that the OAvner has permitted the premises to be so used, and the evidence of the general reputation of the place shall be admissible to proAm the existence of such nui- sance. If a complaint is filed by a priAuite citizen, it shall not Keport op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 91 be dismissed without the coiiseut of the court or district at- torney, giviug the reasons therefor under oath; and if the court is of the opinion that the action shall not be dismissed shall direct the district attorney to prosecute to judgment. If the action is brought by a citizen and there is no reasonable ground or cause for action, the costs are taxed against the citizen. Section 3185f. If the existence of a nuisance is established in an action under 3185b, or in a criminal proceeding, an or- der of abatement shall be entered as a part of the judgment in the case, which order shall direct the removal from the building of all furniture, fixtures, musical instruments, or movable property used in conducting the building, and shall direct the same to be sold under execution, and direct the effectual clos- ing of the building or place, and keep it closed for one year unless sooner released by the court. And if any person shall enter or use the building so closed, he shall be punished for contempt. Section 3185e. The party found guilty of contempt for vio- lating any injunction under these provisions, shall be punished by a fine of not less than two hundred dollars, nor more than one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment for not less than three nor more than six months, or by both fine and imprison- ment. Section 3185g. The proceeds of the sale of such personal property shall be applied to the payment of costs in the ac- tion; the balance, if any, paid to the defendant, and if the owner of the building is adjuged guilty of the nuisance, judg- ment for costs shall constitute a lien against the property prior to any other lien created, after filing a notice. Section 3185h. The owner of any building may appear at any time after the commencement of the action and file a bond in such sum and with such sureties as the court may recpiire, to the effect that he will immediately abate the alleged nuisance that exists and prevent it from being re-established within one year, and will pay the costs that may be awarded against him. Thereupon the court shall dismiss the action and revoke the order made closing the same. Working under the provisions of this law, the Milwaukee So- ciety for the Prevention of Commercialized A^iee has done much good work. This is an organization of citizens, and is financed by subscriptions. Its operations have been confined to tlie city of Milwaukee, and under the leadership of Dr. T. L. Harrington, 92 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. notable results have been accomplished. Below is given a sum- mary of this organization’s work up to October 20th, 1914. SUMMARY OF WORK OP MILWAUKEE SOCIETY FOR PREVENTION OF COMMERCIALIZE!) VICE. Cases. Bonds for each. Number temporary restraining orders. Other disposition of cases. No. 1 $5,000 3,500 100 No. 2 No. 3 1 No. 4 To insure costs 1 No. 5 100 1 No. 6 No bond Parties expelled and action dismissed Defendant left state No. 7 No. 8 1 No. 9 Fined $75 and costs 1 No. 10 1 No. 11 $1,000 No. 12 Application to be made No. 13 No. 14 (< it it No. 15 tl ,t ti No. 16 f ‘t it An Investigation op the Working op the Law. In May, 1914, the American Social Hygiene Association made an investigation of the workings of the injunction and abateuieut law in Iowa and Nebraska. This investigation is uudoubicdly the most careful and scientific study of the effect of this law in communities where it has been in operation for some time that has been made. The conclusions of the American Social Hygiene Association form a complete endorsement of the law and a rec- ommendation for its general adoption and strict enforcement as one of the most effective means of combating commercialized vice. A summary of this investigation, quoted from the Bulletin of the American Social Hygiene Association for Septeniber, 1914, is given below as evidence of the effect of the law in other communi- ties and with the hope that these facts may stimulate the people of Wisconsin to see that the law in this state is vigorously en- forced. Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 93 Conclusions prom a Field Investigation op the Workings op THE Injunction and Abatement Law in Iowa and Ne- braska, Made by the American Social Hy- giene Association, May, 1914. 1. Objections urged against the law. A. “ Scatter ation.” This objection as usually stated is that the enforcement of the injunction laAV has not lessened the evil of prostitution, but has scattered the prostitutes all over the cities, particularly into the residence districts, Avhere they did not go AAdien the segregated districts were in existence. The conclusion on this point is that the closing of segregated districts in loAva and Nebraska has lessened the evil of prosti- tution, certainly in quality and probably in quantity. Com- pulsory prostitution, enslaving of the prostitutes by pimps, procurers, madams, bond sharks, and grafters; the traffic in women and the exploitation of prostitution, for which a mar- ket-place is necessary, are no longer found in the cities of those tAvo states. They flourished during the days in which segregated districts existed. While there are no statistics on which a sure comparison can be made of the number of prostitutes noAv doing business in the various cities of those tAvo states Avith the number which operated therein before the closing of these districts, a sub- stantial majority of those intervieAved believed that there are fewer noAV than there were before. No evidencfe Avas offered or found to prove that there are more prostitutes doing business outside the confines of the seg- regated districts now than before they Avere closed. Abundant evidence Avas found to establish the contention that segrega- tion did not segregate and that many prostitutes, certainly most of those of the better class, never lived in the districts, but always operated in the residence neighborhoods. B. Blackmail and Hardship to Property Owners. This objec- tion is 'that the laAv opens the Avay for unscrupulous adven- turers to harry and harrass oAvners of property, and also that the penalties provided in the injunction law are too drastic and produce undue hardship to such OAvners.. The conclusion on this point is that the objection is abso- lutely Avithout foundation. In a careful examination of the fifty-tAvo eases brought in Hes IMoines, Omaha and Lincoln, and after consultation Avith the attorneys general of both states, the county attorneys who brought the cases, at least one judge be- fore AA^iom they AAmre brought, the police departments which secured the evidence, and with many others familiar AVith the 94 Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. woi-kiiigs of tills laiv, not n, single ease ivas found or Inid lieen heard of in which blackmail had been used or attempted. As regards the penalties provided in the law, the practical result of its enforcement has been that the owner has in al- most every case abated the nuisance and cleared out the ob- .jectionable tenants immediately upon, and in some eases even before, the filing of the application for injunction. This fact, together with the further fact that in only one case out of the fifty-two in Avhich applications for injunctions have been filed in Des Moines, Omaha and Lincoln, has there been even an at- tempt by the prostitute to continue her business at the same address or anywhere Avithin the judicial district, has obAuated the necessity of enforcing the penalties proAuded in the laAv against OAimers. The proof of ignorance of the conditions by owners and the prompt abatement of the nuisances have se- cured in every ease a freedom from such penalties at the hands of the judges. C. Increase of Crimes Against Women. This objection is that Avith the abolition of the segregated districts, the preda- tory male has assaulted Aurtnous Avomen, seduced the weak, and othei’Avise satisfied upon respectable Avomen his animal passions AAdiich formerly found outlet Avithin segregated dis- tricts upon professional prostitutes. It is perhaps sufficient to state, in ansAver to this objection, that there is not a shred of eAudenee in support of it ; not eA’en the bitterest enemies of the policy of the abolition of the seg- regated district AAdio Avere interAueAved (some of them chiefs of police) took any stock in this argument. Either this objec- tion or the objection contained in A, namely, that prostitution has not been lessened and has been scattered throughout th<^ various cities by the abolition of segregated districts must fall to the ground, as they are obAuousW inconsistent. 2. Arguments for the law. A. Segregated districts impossible since passage of in junction latv. The injunction law has proAmd immensely A’aluable as a legal instrument for Aviping out segregated districts, as shown by the experience of Omaha Avhich, Ave are informed by the district attorney, Avas duplicated by Portland, Oregon. The mere existence of this laAv upon the statute books, moreoA-er, has influenced unAvilbng or indifferent public officials to close such districts, either bA" use of this law or by executh'e action. The best example of this contention among the cities in Iowa and Nebraska is Omaha. In Omaha, the district was closed im- mediately after the passage of the injunction laAv, by the police and county attorney acting together — a combination of execu- Keport op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 95 tive and legal action. A representative of this Association fonnd by investigation on the ground that the cities of Wash- ington, D. C., and Dnlnth, Minn., have also snccessfidly taken such executive action after the passage of this laAv. It is evi- dent that the officials either welcomed this law as a nt^w wea- pon or were convinced that their further refusal or neglect to take action to enforce the existing laws against snch places woidd be met by action, under the injunction law, by some citi- zen or association. The fear of the public disgrace involved in the necessity for snch iirivate action has undoubtedly influ- enced law-enforei]ig officials, and can confidently be expected to influence such officials in the cities of other states ivhicli aro consideidng the passage of snch a law. The fact that few priv- ate citizens have been forced to use this law is evidence of the prompt response of officials generally to an! aroused public opinion and to the satisfaction of citizens with the efforts of their officials. Aside from the influence on officials, of the threat of an ex- pose by private action, the injunction law renders the rent- ing of houses by private owners for such purposes within a segregated district extremely hazardous. A property owner cannot plead ignorance of the existence, on his property, of prostitution which is advertised, open, and notorious. In self- protection, the owner would have to insist on the elimination of all those advertising features which make it possible to pay for protection monthly fines such as are usually levied by the police or courts, as ivell as the vast amount of petty graft. In this way the districts would be broken up even without official action. As a matter of fact, no city Avas fonnd in the tAvo states vis- ited, in AAdiich there existed a segregated district where prosti- tution Avas open and notorious. B. Effective legnl iv.Hrvmevt. The use of this laAV has in CAmry instance resulted In the immediate and permanent clear- ing out of prostitutes from the addresses complained of. This Avas extremely difficult to accomplish under the criminal laws, because of the delays, evasions, change of personnel, and other time-killing devices possible under such laws, and impossible under the injunction laAV. It has not infrequently happened under the administration of the criminal laAvs that numerous raids, arrests, and convictions lasting over a period of several years have been necessary before the business became too un- profitable to run. Furthermore, the injunction law places the prostitute permanently under the control of the court, whose order forever prohibits her from practicing her profession anv- where AAdthin the judicial district. There is no fine or impris- onment provided for the first offense, but the penalty for in- 96 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. fraction of the restraining order is so severe and the method of proof so quick and easy (being without a jury and before the judge or court who issued the order) that only one prosti- tute has been found with the temerity even to attempt to re- new the practice of her profession within the judicial district. The state has thereby been relieved from the disgrace of shar- ing in the proceeds of prostitution through the ancient sys- tem of petty fines common under the criminal laws, which only stimulated renewed activity on the part of the prostitutes in order to pay them. C. Property owners now help rather than hinder the elimina- tion of prostitution. The injunction law, b5' its public declara- tion of the responsibility of property owners for prostitution on their premises and its provision for their severe punish- ment for failure to accept that responsibility, has created a new conscience in this class of citizens/ and has changed a large number of them from obstructionists of law enforcement into active allies of the law-enforcing officials. Judges, county at- torneys, and police commissioners testified that property owners are taking a new and lively interest in the characters of their tenants. Our woman field investigator was unable to find real estate agents who Avere Avilling to rent to her for the avoAved purpose of conducting a high-class house of prostitu- tion. In many eases she Avas referred to the OAvner Avith the explanation that owners were now interAueAving prospectiA’e tenants, and the complaint that this practice had cut . the agent’s commission in half. D. An effective weapon against “ scatter ation.” The injunc- tion law has severely checked and discouraged scatteration, more through its potential than actual use. Now that prosti- tutes can be turned out on three days’ notice, and oAvners of property be subjected to disgrace and serious financial loss by the operation of this laAv in loAva and Nebraska, prostitution as a business inAmhdng fixed abodes, costly equipment, and a substantial income, has been practically killed, according t j the almost unanimous testimony of officials, qualified citizens, and denizens of the underAvorld. This statement especially applies to the better class of residence neighborhoods where owners are more particular, because they haA^e more to lose in money and reputation, and AA'here rents are more expensiA'e and the necessary furnishings more costly. Far from driving prostitutes into the better class of residence neighborhoods, this laAv has operated to confine most of those prostitutes who remained in the cities after the closing of segregated districts, to the cheaper transient hotels and apartments*in the business sections. Report of ti-ie Wisconsin Vice Committee, 97 A Summary of the Answers to Questionaires Sent to District Attorneys. Questionaires were sent to each of the 71 district attorneys of the state. Sixty-three answered all or a part of the (questions listed. Eight did not reply. Fifty-seven stated the length of time they had been in office the average being 3.9 years. It is shown that practically all cases of delinquency, reported by these district attorneys were among girls or women who had , had only a common school education, practically none having gone beyond the eighth grade. The avei’age age of such delinquents was given as 19.6 yeai'S. The total number of houses of ill fame reported by sixty-two district attorneys is only 35, with 86 inmates, while the records of this committee show over 350 houses of ill fame in the state, with over 1,000 inmates. The district attorneys report that only thirty complaints were made to them against houses of ill fame. The total number of bastardy actions tried or brought to the attention of the district attorneys (exclusive of Milwaukee County) is given as 1071. Of this number '22 are stated to have been complained against for fornication, and 40 for advdtery. The District Attorney of Milwaukee County states that during his term of office, commencing in January, 1913, he has had brought to his attention from 350 to 375 bastardy cases. He states further that complaints for fornication and adultery in some cases come under the heading of lewd and lascivious be- havior and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and that there are so many hundreds of these eases that it would require a great deal of work to compile a correct statement ; but that there are from two to seven eases weekly under these headings. Forty-two district attorneys state that public sentiment in their counties is in favor of enforcing moral laws, and eight state that it is opposed to the enforcing of such laws. Fourteen counties permit women in saloons, and forty-three counties prohibit it. Fifty-two district attorneys (the total number replying to the question) state that women should not be permitted in saloons. Tn regard to raising the age of consent; 7— V. c. 98 Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 18 district attorneys replied that it should be left as it now is, — viz. 14 years. 5 state that it should be raised to 16 years. 12 state that it should be raised to 18 years. 15 state that it should be raised to 18 or 21 years. 5 state that it should be raised to 21 years. Thirty-four district attorneys reported that saloons are permit- ted to remain open on Sunday, and twenty-four reported that this practice is not permitted. Nine district attorneys reported that saloons are permitted to remain open on election daj^ and forty-five reported that they are not permitted to remain open. Fifty-one district attorneys reported that persons selling liquor to minors are punished, and three that they are not punished. Twenty-seven district attorneys reported that licenses are re- voked by municipal authorities when they violate the laws regu- lating the sale of liquor, and twenty-seven that they are not so revoked. Two district attorneys reported that bonds of the saloon keeper are forfeited for violation of the laws regulating the sale of liquor, and forty-one reported that they are not. Twelve district attorneys reqiiire written complaint and evi- dence before they will act, and forty-four district attorneys do not make such recpiiremeut. Prostitution and the Liquor Traffic. Tlie committee finds that the chief direct cause of the downfall of women and girls is the close connection between alcoholic drink and commercialized vice. Women obtain liquor in iialm gardens, wine rooms, saloons and dance halls. To these places they are frequently taken by their companions and given lif(Tior until their senses are deadened, after which the evil design sought is accom- plished. After the first offence the career of a woman is apt to Ije downward at a rapid rate. It is found that in communities of the state where the use of intoxicating licpiors as a custom is not condemned, where wine rooms, family entrances and palm gardens are adjuncts of nearly every saloon, where the frequenting of such places by women and girls is condoned, the immoral practices and dangers to young Report of the Wisconsin- Vice Committee. 99 girls are most rife. The committee found tiiat in tliese cities many of the saloons have exits to rear rooms or have rooms on an upper floor with direct connections with the bar, and that such rooms are supplied with beds and are rented to patrons for im- moral purposes, for fifty cents or one dollar. Women are taken to these wine rooms and saloons by men and there they are sup- plied with intoxicating drinks, and when in a condition of stupe- faction, are taken to these inner rooms and immoral relations are had. In such places as have been described, no attention seems to be paid to the age of the girl who is furnished the liquor, arid in most of these places but little attention is paid to the age of any person supplied, whether male or female. Of the 230 girls in attendance at the State Industrial School for girls, 45% have used liquor. Only girls under 18 years of age are admitted, the average age at time of admittance being 15.1 years. In one of the smaller towns of the state the dance hall is over a palm garden and in direct connection with the palm garden. The evidence is that school boys and girls from thirteen to twenty years of age have frequently had school entertainments in this hall, and that such boys and girls of all ages go down to the palm garden during the course of the evening. The testimony of the barkeepers of the palm garden was that they sold to everyone and “never bothered about their age,” though they knew these chil- dren to be under age. They further testified that, on the Satur- day night previous to the committee hearing, they had telephoned out for certain girls about seventeen years of age to come to this saloon to meet a couple of strangers who happened to be there, and that the girls came. Tlie dangers to school chiidren in this situation are obvious, and are not less surprising than horrible. The evidence in another city is that on a Saturday n’gh.t pi’c- vious to the committee hearing dances were held in halls in which liquor was regularly sold, in open violation of the stati' law ; that in one of these halls two bars were required to supply the demand of the patrons ; and that on this particular Saturday night, at least twenty-five young girls under fifteen years of age were seen drinking at the bar, many of them already in a drunken Ciucli- tion. A police officer was in the room at the time, and had he Ik eii so disposed, could have seen these violations of positive state law. 100 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. The oOicer referred to was called before the committee and testi- tied that he had seen nothing wrong. Ilow^ever, the person in charge of the hall admitted that there might have been twenty-five of these girls there dancing and drinking, but he stated that their parents were with them. Upon being questioned he was unable to designate any parent who was present. The evidence also showed that some of the iirominent people of this city had theretofore complained of this use of the hall, because the patrons of this place spewed upon and befouled the property of these citi- zeus. Still, in defiance of these legitimate protests, this practice was pei-mitted to continue. This city, according to the evidence of nivestigator, has more immorality among its young girls and women than any other city in the state. In addition to the con- ditions mentioned in this paragraph, thei’e are several open houses of prostitution, protected and recognized by tlie of- ficials of that city, in defiance of the ordinances of that city and the laws of the state. Not only do we find that liquor is the immediate cause of the downfall of a very large percentage of girls, but also that, once they have started upon a life of immorality, they become addicted to the use of alcohol and that, when they finally become inmates of a house of prostitution, alcoholic drink is one of the cliief adjuncts to their business. Every recognized bouse of ill-fame has liquor for sale, and not one of them has been found to liave a local license for such sale. Nevertheless, the liquor is openly delivered to such places, the officials of the city apparently never seeing that it is so done. At least, the keepers of these re^ sorts are not molested in this illegal sale of liquor. Evidence be- fore this committee shows that in most cases they have paid the tax required by the government. In most of the houses of ill-fame, beer is sold at one dollar a bottle, and every inmate is urged to ply the sale of this liquor, as one of the phases of her business, receiving a commission of fen. cents per bottle. It is said by some witnesses that without the use of liquor and drugs inmates could not endure the life of prostitution even as long as they do. Testimony received in one city where the mayor attempted to stop the sale of liquor states that the madams or proprietors of bouses of ill-fame protested to the mayor that without the sale of Heport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. iol liquor they could not make the busiuess pay, and tliat as a result of the prohibition their business had decreased about oiiedialf. Report of the Hartford Commission, 1913, page 74. “As sources of misery to our citizens, the Ji(iuor traffic and pros- titution go hand in hand. If you want to find where prostitu- tion dwells, inquire at some of the saloons. The barkeeper, though unaw'ares, has been a good informer for the commis- sion. If you want to see women in the role of prostitutes at their worst, go to some of the saloons. Sexual crimes often have their origin in the excitement of the drinking cup. Al- cohol is the drug used to stupify the conscience of the novice. Rooms over saloons or connected Avith them are among the most serviceable places for prostitution.’’ Report of the Pittsburg Commission, 1913. “The rear rooms of saloons Avhere women are allowed to congregate and drink with men, along Avith the so-called cafe and roof gardens, are perhaps the Avorst menace to public morals uoav flourishing. In many of these places minors are permitted. The obnoxious cabaret shoAV is becoming a feature and will soon flourish unless the present tendencies are drastically checked. The License Court can and should end both evils. The illegal sale of licpior, Avhich was the most ciying evil complained of by investigators of the red light district, Avas also one of the principal soui'ces of revenue, beer being sold in quantities at $1.00 a bottle.’’ Chicago Vice Report, page 119. “As a contributory influ- ence to immorality and the business of prostitution, there is no interest so dangerous and so i)OAverful in the city of Chi- cago. While some of the liquor interests have gone on re- cord as in favor of the elimination of the sale of liquor in con- nection Avith prostitution, in spite of this fact, hundreds of prostitutes are permitted and encouraged in no less than 236 saloons investigated by the commission. Many of these dis- orderly saloons are frequented by immoral Avomen, Avho openly solicit for drinks and for immoral purposes, and receive the protection of the saloon keepers and interests. “The commission is strongly convinced that there should be immediate and complete separation of the saloon and the social evil, and that no house of assignation or jirostitution or rooms above or adjoining should be alloAved in connection Avith a saloon. “Bawdy houses found by the commission Avere appalling enough, but the abuse of liquor selling privileges is equal in viciousness, through its open and alluring flaunting of vice and degeneracy, and in its destruction of the moral character of men Avho frequent the saloon primarily for drinking only. 102 Report of tHE Wisconsin Vice Committee. "In many cases public dance iialls are located in the same building' with saloons. The dancers have been seen to I're- ipient me rear room or saloons. In other cases the dance halls are in tlie immediate vicinity oi saloons and the dancers go to these. “Many of the women who frequent the saloons at the be- ginning are not proxessionai prosuiutes. They are weak mor- ally, with a strong desire for drink. They learn that gener- ous men are there who are Avilling to buy them drinks. Grad- ually these women find that they are able to earn commissions from the saloon management, on drmks. Thus, the visits be- come more frequent, until they gradually drift into a life ot prostitution for the extra money. “The sale of beer in the rear rooms, when drunk in com- pany with a prostitute, returns a margin ot profit of nearly 180 per cent to the proprietor of the saloon, and the margin of profit on beer, when sold to occupants of assignation rooms over saloons is 360 iier cent profit. Most of these saloons are under the control or ownership of breweries, and this com- mission was so strongly impressed with the evils of the saloon in its effect upon morals that they made the following recom- mendations in regard to it. The enforcement of laws and regulations : “Prohibiting the harboring of prostitutes and disorderlv persons in saloons. “Prohibiting wine rooms and stalls in saloons. “Prohibiting assignation rooms, houses of prostitution, and hotels in connection with saloons. “Prohibiting dances in buildings where there is a saloon. “That no woman Avithout male escort should he permitted in saloons. “That no paid or professional escort for Avomen should he permitted in a saloon. “That no solicitation for drinks or for prostitution purposes by men or Avomeii should be permitted in saloons. “That no immoral or vulgar dances or entertainments should be given in any room connected Avith saloons. “That the ordinances prohibiting Avine rooms should he strictly enforced, and any attempt to proAude booths, screens, curtains about tables in rear rooms of saloons should be imme- diately suppressed. “That all connections leading to rooms OA’er saloons from any part of the saloon should he immediately and permanently closed. “That no intoxicating liquors he sold at any public dance. “That a A-iolation of any of these rules should permanently revoke the license.” Report of the WisconsiI^ Vice Committee. 103 Minneapolis Report, page 75. “AVhile women have been generally excluded from saloons, there are so-called cafes in the city whose operations are so flagrantly opposed to good public morals as to suggest strongly the necessity for official action. These places, ostensibly restaurants, cater almost ex- clusively to the ‘wet goods’ trade. In practice they provide rendezvous for large numbers of prostitutes and their part- ners. In some eases music is furnished as an additional at- traction. These places are rapidly transforming a respectable retail business street into a tenderloin district.” : CAUSES OP PROSTITUTION. Mental Defects. The correlation between feeble-mindedness and prostitution is a feature in the problem of sexual immorality that has, during recent years, commanded much attention. The facts which have come to light in every investigation of this correlation have been so startling that students of the subject are now willing to admit that the mentally defective make up a very large portion of pro- fessional prostitutes. Estimates have been made ranging from very conservative statements of 25 per cent to less conservative statements of 60 and 70 per cent. The truth undoubtedly lies between these extremes. Not only does the mental defect often take the form of sexual perversion and abnormal sex impulses, but the feeble-minded girl, not able to take results into consideration, not keen enough to foresee the consequences of immoral acts, and too ignorant of her own body to understand the meaning of her feelings and the re- sults which attend relaxation from a normal standard, falls an easy prey in the hands of a seducer. Perhaps one of the worst phases of the whole problem of feeble- mindedness is the fact that many defective children are con- tributed through the immorality of the men that take advantage of feeble-minded women. The startling figures indicating the increase of the number of feeble-minded persons in European countries and in the United States has aroused many people to enthusiastic action under the name of eugenics. It is said that feehle-mindedness is increasing in London at more than twice the ratio of the total population. Probably the same can be said i04 ilEPORi’ OR thR Wisconsin Vice Committee. o£ the large eitie.s of the United States. To the unskilled ob- observer, feeble-mindeduess is not apparent, but the psychologist applying scientific tests discovers the defect in the mental opera- tions. In some of the following paragraphs are given the find- ings of the psychologists at the Bedford reformatory and also the statements of psychologists included in the report of the Massachusetts Commission on White Slavery. There is one general criticism which should be made before considering the statements on feeble-mindedness in the following paragraphs. This is the fact that there is an initial process of elimination which takes place before the persons subjected to the tests come into the hands of the investigators. That is, only such t)rostitutes as have been committed to in.stitutious are examined by these tests. It is not unlikely that the least keen and intelli- gent of immoral women are the ones that receive commitment, leaving the more able-minded outside the i-ange of investigation. If it were possible to examine a sufficiently large number of pros- titutes without this prior elimination the figures for feeble- mindedness might be different. The figures, therefore, must be considered as representing the mentality of those examined, and not necessarily accurate for all pro.stitutes. The ^Massachusetts report places the percentage of feeble-minded prostitutes at -31 per cent, whereas the Bedford report places tlie percentage at 2!). 8 per cent. Mass. Report, p,. 28. The Binet tests were applied to 2S9 of tlie 300 women examined, and other psychological tests were used in doubtful cases. TABLE XO. 1.— THE SIEXTALITT OF THE PROSTITUTE. Examined at- Prisons. Detention house, await- Inff trial. Tndu.sti'ial schools . Totals. Per cent. I’eeble-m'nded ... 46 54 1.-4 51 Tiisaiif* 4 11 3 Norm.l 42 .54 39 135 45 Tola! 100 100 100 300 The above table shows that of the 300 prostitutes, 154, or 51 per cent., were feeble-minded. All doubtful cases were Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 105 recorded as normal. The mental defect of these 154 Avomen AA'as so prononneed and evident as to Avarrant the legal com- mitment of each as a feeble-minded person or as a defective delinquent. At the Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded there are an equal nunibeh of Avomen and girl inmates, medically and legally certified as feeble-minded, aaOio are of equal or su- perior mental capacity. The Avomen in this group as a class came from shiftless, im- moral and degenerate families; they AAmre industx'ially ineffi- cient, as shoAvn by the Ioav Avages received, and by their in- ability to retain a position, even in unskilled callings; they Avere very deficient in judgment and good sense ; thej^ lacked ordinary genei’al knoAvledge and practical information, as Avell as ability to perform simple computations, or to read or Avritc, except in the most elementary Avay. The general moral insensibility, the boldness, egotism and vanity, the love of notoriety, the lack of shame or remorse, the absence of even a pretense of affection or sympathy for their oAvn children or for their parents, the desire for imme- diate pleasure Avithout regard for consequences, the lack of forethought or anxiety about the future, — all cardinal symp- toms of feeble-mindedness, — Avere strikingly eA'ident in every one of the 154 Avomen. The mental inferiority of many of these Avomen Avas masked by the glibness of tongue, the bold and confident manner, and the attractive i)hysical appearance Avhich are so often found in such cases. The general appearance and bearing of many Avould not suggest feeble-mindedness to an inexperienced ob- server. The mental age of these 154 Avomen and girls, as measured by the Binet scale, Avas as folloAvs, — None had the mentality of a 12-year-old child. 10 had the mentality of an 11-year-old child. 67 had the mentality of a 10-year-old child. 50 had the mentality of a 9-year-old child. 8 had the mentality of a 7-year-old child. The 135 Avomen designated as normal, as a class were of distinctly inferior intelligence. More time for study of these Avomen, more conii)lete histories of their life in the community, and opportunity for more elaborate i).syehological tests might verify the belief of the exaniiners that many of them also Avere feeble-minded or insane. The mental age of the 135 Avomen rated as normal, as meas- ured by the Binet scale, Avas as follows : 17 had the mentality of a 12-year-old child. 71 had the mentality of an 11 -year-old child. 106 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 32 had the mentality of a 10-year-old child. 4 had the mentalitj' of a 9-year-old child. 11 were not tested. Some of the Avomen seen at the Detention House AA'cre so under the influence of drugs or alcohol as to make it impos- sible to study their mental condition. Others at the Deten- tion House and in the prisons had used alcohol to excess for years, and in the time available, it Avas impossible to differen- tiate betAAmen alcoholic deterioration and mental defect. These drunken, alcoholic and drug-stupefied AA’omen Avere all record- ed as normal. Bedford Report, page 186. Mentality: Of peculiar value, in AueAV of the public interest in the question of mental de- fect as a cause of delinquency, is a study of the mentality or our 647 Avomen. TAventy haAm been pronounced insane, by commissions in lunacy, and haA-e been transferred to asylums for the insane. Three others will probably have to be trans- ferred r 107 Avere unhesitatingly pronouned distinctly feeble- minded. Not all of our 647 cases haA'e been examined bv our nsvchologist. One hundred and sixteen. howeA-er. had had laboratory tests of A^arious sorts. Among these tests, all haA'c been given the Binet test. The result has been as follows : Mentality by Binet Test. ShoAving mentality of 5-year-old child 2 ShoAving mentality of 6-year-old child 1 ShoAving mentality of 7-Amar-o1d child 6 f^hoAving mentality of 8-year-old child 6 Showing mentality^ of 9-year-old child 29 ShoAving mentalitA* of Ifl-A'ear-old child 44 ShoAving mentalitA' of 11-A’ear-old child 26 SboAvincf mentality of n2-year-old child 2 nirr I' — , * " 116 The 44 AAdio hav'e the mentality of a ten-year-old child and under Avere unhesitatingly pronounced mentally defectiA'c. The 72 ghoAving mentalitA- f7’oui ten to tweBm years maA- po«- sibh^ not be so called. The 67 others included among the 107 are those so mentally defeettye that there can be no question as a. matter of observation. Fifty-tAvo others are distincth' border line cases. This is the group which giA'es the most trouble in all reformatoiw institutions. It is safe to say that 90 per cent of all disciplinary difficulties come from cases of this sort. ThcA’- can be easily dhuded into at least two croups. Thus divided, 26 are girls aaTio can be taught A'ery little in Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 107 school, whose general intelligence is low, bnt who may, per- haps, be able to learn a certain amount of manual labor; these cannot “stay good” any length of time. The other 26 are those who do well in school, are capable of mastering even such subjects as algebra and bookkeeping, but have no moral sense or continuity of purpose. Eleven others are also prop- erly in this class, but differ from the two preceding groups in the character of their stability. If they Avere boys, they Avould be tramps. They ai-e all girls aaTio have run away from home, sometimes a number of times, as well as from any place AAdiere they are put to service. The foregoing figures mean that 193 individuals, or 29.8 per cent of the number studied are decidedly mentally defec- tive. This is an extremely conservative estimate. AUE OF first sex OFFENSE. P. 79 Phila- delphia. P. .33 Massachu- setts. P. 216 Bedford . Wisconsin. Morals court. Chicago. Total examined 99 241 300 230 126 Age No. No. No. 1 15 3 11 8 1 u 2 9 4 13 20 12 14 ;... 4 39 29 15 ^ .... 13 ^3 43 16 ')•> 33 61 17 .... 12 24 40 Under 18 54 or 54.5% 171 or 71% 19.3 or 61.. 3% 40 or 67 i% 77 77.7% 206 85% 271 90.3% Average age of those 15.5 yrs. 14.1 yrs. 13.2 yrs. 14.1 yrs. Average age of those 16.4 yrs. 1(>.3 yrs. Average age of all 18.3 yrs. 16.4 yrs. 17 yrs. 24.9 yrs. Average mental age.. 10 yrs. 11.3 yrs. 10 yrs. 11.6 jrs. In order to reduce the number of feeble-minded persons at large in the community, proper educational facilities should be provided, and thorough tests given in every public school from the primary grades through the high school. In this Avay many cases of mental difficulty Avould early be brought to the attention of authorities and might be committed to proper institutions before damage to society and to the individual had been accomplished. Attention to such cases is nOAV being given in many of the most progressive communities of this country, and one of the strong- est hopes for a more efficient and more intelligent generation lies 108 Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. ill the fact that there is a possibility of preventing feeble-minded men and women from reproducing. The damage which has been done by the do nothing policy in regard to defective persons is no longer excusable. In view of the rapid development which has taken place in the science of psychologj’, society now has at hand tlie means of eliminating the mentally unfit and has tlie sanction of the public to jilace them in institutions where their own welfare and the welfare of the community as a whole can be protected. Indirect Causes of Prostitution. Some causes greatly contributing to the conditions which ren- der the fall of girls and women into prostitution po.ssible are not aiiparent to the casual observer and may be termed indirect. Some of these factors are ignorance of sexual phenomena, eco- nomic conditions, industrial conditions, parental ignorance and neglect, commercialized amusements and sensational and lurid newspaper stories and novels. Dr. Betfel, page 80. “In regard to the greatest cause of the downfall of girls, I am rather inclined to think that, aside from the moral view of the problem, the greatest cause of the downfall, not only of girls, but of all. is physical exhaus- tion, — overwork. It is physical exhaustion rather than the other side. 1 believe it is commonly recognized that so many i f the domestics fall because of the fact that they are work- ing and therefore the power of inhibition diminishes so that when they might otherwise feel .strong and powerful, the.v are not. A strong ])owerful physical man or woman is not as a rule the one that is disobedient to the so-called moral laws, but it is in fact the men and women, both, who are over- worked, that succumb to these desires.” Ignorance of Sexual Phenomena. It is difficult to believe that many women would willingly enter a life of prostitution, if they were fully aware of all the results and dangers attending such a career. Many of the greatest dangers to young girls arise out of ignorance or misunderstanding of the physical phenomena which take place at puberty. The strange emotions and impulses which attend the passage from childhood into womanhood are so gravely misunderstood and so constant in their demands for expression, tiiat many girls are led Report op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 169 into dangerous forms of amusement and recreation in attempt- ing to satisfy these physical and social needs. The emotions which the ignorant, unsophisticated, adolescent girl mistakes for that which she calls “love” often lead to immature and dangerous love alfairs, frequently resulting in the loss of virtue. This is especially apt to occur when the girl is permitted great freedom in choosing her male companions, for in every city there are nu- merous men who are waiting to take advantage of just such foolish and misdirected girls as these. The psychology of the sexual emotions is so intimately interwoven with the psychology of the emotion of love that it is impossible for an untrained and unsophisticated mind to separate and distinguish between them. Consequently, when the emotions of a young girl are aroused and brought to the surface by an exj^erienced and selfish nian, it becomes a comparatively easy task to complete the downfall of the girl. The whole question of ignorance of sexual phenomena and par- ental ignorance and neglect are so interwoven that they cannot be separated and treated as independent subjects. Until very recently the majority of parents have felt that no definite in- formation regarding sexual matters need be given to either boys or girls. Just how such an attitude of mind could have arisen is somewhat obscure, but it may have had its roots in the teach- ings of the early Christian Church, which pointed to the body as something to be debased and neglected for the sake of spiritual life. The teachings of the early chTirch fathers were in many cases conducive to an attitude of shame whenever any (piestion of sex was involved. But, regardless of the source of this “con- .spiraey of silence,” there can be no question as to the great dam- age it has done the race, especially under the present highly com- plex civilization, and it is a consciousness of these disastrous re- sults that has led to the general change of opinion on the part of parents regarding the instruction of sons and daughters as fo their sexual natures. It was formerly believed that to say, “Thou shalt not,” w^as sufficient, leaving the reasons and causes and re- sults in the dark. It is now the opinion of the best authorities and most intelligent portion of the public, that it is the duty of parents to give some instruction and some warning to their chil- dren, especially at the time when active sexual life begins, that is, at puberty. It should never be possible for a daughter or sou to say, ‘ ‘ My parents never told me. I did not know. ’ ’ ilO Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. Parental Control. The egotism and self-assertion which develoj) in young jjeople at this particular stage of physical and mental life makes it more difficult and troublesome for the parents to maintain control of their actions. Just at the time when the girl should be most sub- ject to the guidance of her parents, she insists upon having her own way and upon choosing her companions as she wills, and go- ing to places of her own choice. Perhaps in the majority of cases the parents completely misunderstand the strange actions and insubordination of their daughter and put checks upon her which tend to deny her the sort of social experience that she craves and needs. The result is that self-assertion and willful- ness cause such a breach between the parents and the daughter that the control and direction of the mother and father are com- pletely suspended, if not permanently lost. This desire for self- expression on the part of the daughter leads her to conspicuous conduct on the streets, especially when she is supported by other companions of like age and mind, drawing the attention of j’oung men, who cultivate an acquaintance and gradually develop a love affair which, if successful, furnishes a very grave menace to the chastity of the girl. It is improbable that these so-called wayward daughters actively and willingly consent to the fate that too often awaits a moral breach. Some women who have fallen and become professional prostitutes have testified before this com- mittee that they “just wanted to be bad.” Far from the truth, this is a naive expression of the natural desire which healthy, normal girls have for a form of self-expression, which, under the customs of our civilization, must be denied until a woman is twenty or twenty-one years of age, that is, until marriage. It is to be noted and deplored that the very women in whom these emotional disturbances and strong desires for the experiences of love are present are often the very ones who would make the most valuable wives and mothers, and yet, because they misunderstand and misconstrue their impulses, they are laid open to the worst sort of dangers. The Attitude op the Church and Public Schools. The silence of the public schools and churches is more easily explained. First of all, no adequate experiment has been made Hepoiit of the Wisconsin Vice Committee, 111 as to methods of teaching sexual hygiene, nor as to the suitable content of such instruction. There have been sporadic experi- ments here and there in the United States, which have claimed a degree of success, but which have not extended over a sufficient length of time and which have not been examined with sufficient critical care to merit the general endorsement of educators. Con- sequently, public schools and churches cannot be accused of a real neglect of duty in this particular. However, the time is at hand when the foremost educators and social workers are asking that full instruction in sex hygiene be given to all teachers who are being prepared in normal schools and universities, and the same also applies to ministers who are being trained in theological sem- inaries. Teachers should be furnished with the information which. would make it possible for them to understand the phenom- ena which they will see in their pupils, especially at the time of puberty, and ministers should be furnished with the facts of the causes of prostitution, the dangerous elements in commercialized amusements, the fundamentals of sexual psychology and other knowledge which would enable them to be of material assistance to the young people who look to them for certain spiritual guid- ance. . i, , , Parental Ignorance and Neglect. Undoubtedly under late day conditions it is a rule that parents, in cities, especially, pay too little attention to their children after they are ten years of age. The parents are either at work or at saloons, palm gardens, clubs, tea parties, whist parties, etc., until the late hours of the night, and the children are left to shift for themselves or left with the maid at home, or are at liberty to seek companionship or roam the streets. Street schools seem to be the most attractive for them, and they soon learn all existing vices. Many parents apparently desire to get rid of the obliga- tion of the care and training of the children as soon as possible, and it is shifted to kindergarten schools and playgrounds. Lit- tle attention is paid to the late hours and absence from home. Supervised playgrounds in some cities have done much to remedy the effect of this shirking of responsibility. Quick to recognize this opportunity for profit, the owners of commercialized amuse- ments such as dance halls, pool rooms and picture shows, have stepped in and seized the child in its youth and furnished it 112 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. with many entertainments the trend of which is detrimental to its moral welfare. The main idea in the minds of many children is to have a good time and to be free from parental control. In even the most care- fully regulated families it is a very difficult task to resist the child’s demands that it be permitted to go to places of amusement attended by the chihlren of neighbors. While the recreation movement may in a measure imi>rove these conditions, as is strongly urged by many social workers, the fact remains that these various recreation movements all tend to take and keep the child away from the home influence and training in cases where the parents are most desirous of retaining super- vision and control. The dangerous street attractions and temptations permitted by city authorities still lie in the child’s pathway to lure it to de- struction. There are many records of eases in which the child or young woman has reported to the home that she has been at a friend’s home for the evening or night, when, in fact, she has been at some wine room, hotel, or immoral resort. The tendency of even the social center movement is to relieve parents of the responsibility that is theirs, and theirs alone, the projier bringing up and training of the child. The home is becoming more and more as if it were a boarding house ; a place to eat and sometimes sleep. Wiiile parents may be subject to criticism for their lack of proper control in the training of children, we must recognize the fact that e.xisting movements aiming to improve social conditions do have a strong tendency to make it more dif- ficult for them to properly perfoian the duties which we have sought to impose upon them. r.\RENT.\L Neglect. (Testimony) Inmate. City 59, page 133. "I was born in and raisetl thei-e, and 1 was a young girl and did not know any ditferent. 1 knew it was not just right, but 1 did not knoAV that anything was going to happen to me. I left home when I was about 15 years old and had a baby when I left. i\ly mother never told me anything about such things. I was with a young fellow that I went to school with. "We were raised' together. I would not want any of my daughters to go into that life. I never cared for the life. There is nothing but trouble in it. I am now trying to be respectable. I never Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 113 saved money. It is awfully havd for a girl to quit the busi- ness, because they will not let you alone. Statement of District Attorney, Oshkosh, page 48. “You can’t expect the public officials to look after all the children of the city, unless the parents are going to look after them, and if they are not, we ought to have some law to compel them. This afternoon we had six little hoys that had been stealing here for several months, burglarizing the stores; all •little bits of fellows. The parents came into court today. Where were the parents when these boys were’gone? 1 don't feel like punishing the hoys. They are not to blame for everything.” Spectator. “In Marquette, Michigan, they are piini.shing the parents. Thev have called the parents instead of the chil- dren.” Spectator. “A complaint Ave meet continually in Mihvau- kee, as well as elscAvliere, is that the parents are to blame for this condition — that the children are not kept at home, but are permitted to go somewhere else. The recreation move- ment is improving conditions. The home conditions are such that the child can’t stay at home. Just to get home condi- tions, out of mere curiosity, I took a school census in our most congested district. It Avoiild be impossible for the young peo- l)le to stay at home. These are the ones that Ave Avant to pro- vide Avith a jilace to go, even more than the child of the better home. Every hoy and girl Avants a fcAV associates, and Ave Avaut to see that the boy has a good place to go. It is impos- sible to keep every child at home every evening. I doubt Avhether it is the best thing for him. EA^ery person ought to get in touch Avith other young people.” Dr. D. J. Hays, MilAvaukee, in ansAver to the folloAv- ing question: “What Avoiild you suggest as the best remedy to cure prostitution?” says: “I think that in the family, if the people Avith a family at home, good moral people, could instruct their children, make them feel that this life Avas a bail life to live, and that there Avas no money or anything else in it but destruction, it Avonld liaAm a good influence on the com- ing generation.” Dr. Harper, page 3. “The cause of the moral conditions, as I look at it, primarily rests upon the parents, — the indiffer- ence of parents in the iqihringing of their hoys and girls and permitting long trips, hig dinners and dances, late hours of s-v. 0 . 114 liEPOliT OF THE WISCONSIN VlCE ComMITTEE. the night, and early hours of the morning to people that ought to go to bed at D :b0 to 10 :U0 o’clock. ■'1 am strongly of tlie opinion that since the parent is neg- ligent, the state must take a certain amount ol activity and uevise ways and means of teaching plainly and emphatically what these things mean to the indiviaual, for the individual's weitare, and let the ministers in the pulpit take up the moral Side. It should be started at the eightu grade. Those who attend country schools should be instructed in the same man- ner on this iiroposition, because a lot of them never go to the other schools.- i want to tell you, gentlemen, that a lot of those girls that go bad, go bad because they are absolutely ignorant. There are a lot of boys that are ruined for life be- cause they are absolutely ignorant of such things as gonor- rhea and syphilis, and the eifects of these diseases, and there isn't any aoubt about it at all. There are a lot of girls that become pregnant that don’t know the machinery which brings about pregnancy — the little ones — lots of them. And there are parenis who keep these things hidden from the child; and there is another class of people that find out from evil friends what these things are. i am very much of the opinion that open, trank discussions in the schools, public and parochial, should be established and maintained.” Dr. D. J. Hayes, Milwaukee. In response to the query as to the teaching of morals in the home, says: ‘‘In the home or in the church, or wherever it can be taught by anyone who is competent to teach it. The home would be good. If not competent, have it done by a physician. I think that moral training has a great deal to do with those things in youth.” City 59. WGB., pag’e 46. ‘‘Now, it strikes me that the transition stage from the point where the girl is pure and in- nocent to the point Avhere she is ruined is a very important point; that there is less to be done with a woman that has been reduced in the moral spirit, as it Avere, than to saA-e the innocent; and along these lines my oAvn observation leads me to believe that special effort should be made, to Avarn the girls against the late hours of the dance hall and against drink, and by drink I mean intoxicating liquor to the point that they get intoxicated. I have felt from the things that come to me from the mothers about their girls that AA'hile I plainly blame the mother Avho fails to ask herself, ‘Where is my daughter tonight?’ or ‘Where is my boj^ tonight?’ some attention should be given on the part of local legislators to limiting the hours, for instance, the closing of the dances, and haA^e the girls go home at suitable hours, because there is Avhere the great dan- ger is.” Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. IIS City 5S. Miss , page 115. “The greatest cause of the downfall of giils lu my experience is first of all par- ental neglect. The parents do not care for their children from infancy as they ought to. They are not taught morals and respect for their persons. They neglect to teach respect for law. I cannot believe that there is much connection between wages and going wrong, because I know a great number of the noblest girls in the city who are working for low wages and do not go wrong.” Miss , Nurse, Milwaukee, ipage 292. “Children are very much neglected, so far as home care goes. It is nec- essary cpiite often, if you wish to keep a boy and girl in school, to provide clothing for them so they can be dressed decently enough to come to school, because even though the parents have the money, they don’t buy the clothes. The children are too poorly nourished, and the home conditions, due to too many boarders, are not always what they should be for the children.” Mr , Madison, page 3. “As to the effect of pool rooms, iiictiire shows, etc., on parental control; 1 am not satisfied myself as to whether these youngsters go out to the pool room because of iveak parental control in the first place, or whether the weak parental control is the result of these opportunities. I think in many instances they come because of weak parental control. I don’t think tliere is any way of getting away from the fact that the spirit of rebellion is in the boy’s mind, if he wants to go.” Flexner, page 74. “The herding together, by day and night, of men and ivomeii, of young and old, of boys and girls, of all degrees of relationship, or no relationship, not only de- stroys health, but makes, to the ordinary human being, the particular virtue upon which the integrity of the family de- pends, wholly impraeticahle. Any person who has dwelt among the denizens of the slums cannot fail to have brought home to him the existence of a stratum of society of no incon- siderable magnitude, in which children part with their inno- cense long before puberty, in which personal chastity is vir- tually unknown, and in ivliich to have a baby by your father is laughed at as a comic mishap.” Perverted Sex Life of Males. Undoubtedly the fact that a very large number of the men of every community have been so unfortunate as to develop an un- natural sexual desire is a great contributor to the maiutenance llB liEPORT OF THE WISCONSIN ViCE COMMITTEE. and growth of prostitution. There are various ways in which this perverted sex impulse has been developed and accentuated. In most cases beginnings can probably be traced back to early training and various forms of parental neglect and ignorance of the sexual phenomena of chikh’en. The practice of masturba- tion, which may develop even before puberty and always stimu- lates unnatural sexual impulses, is very commonly overlooked by fathers and mothers. When once the child has formed the habit it is extremely difficult to break it. All such practices lead to a morbid condition of the mind and not uncommonly so weaken the will and loosen the moral fibre that it is impossible to resist any sexual temptations which present themselves later in life. Under a natural development the boy would have little or no thought regarding his sexual nature, until after puberty, when it is possible with correct hygiene to turn the energies which might be consumed in the practice of masturbation into strenuous and exciting, out-of-door sports. When puberty is reached and the natural processes of noc- turnal emissions begin, many a boy is frightened by a perfectly natural phenomena, which he does not understand. Too often he is given fallacious advice by older boys who are both ignorant and vulgar, and the result is that he may resort to a quack doc- tor or, following fallacious advice, seek relief through inter- course. At this time, due to parental neglect and immoral and falla- cious information which is handed about among young men, there are a number of false ideas which commonly exist. The first of these is the idea of sex necessity in order to mamtain health. Every man who has mixed with the more -ignorant classes has often heard the statement that intercourse is necessary in order to maintain health. As a parallel phenomena, they refer to the exercise of a muscle in order to secure strength, being wholly ignorant of the fact that the sexual organs are primarily glands which secrete inwardly. Another fallacy is the idea that contin- ence is impossible, that all men practice sexual immorality, and that it is the nature of the male to do so. This, as every well in- formed person knows, is absolutely false, and there are many exanqiles of continence among the every day acquaintances of every man. A third and extremely dangerous fallacy is the com- mon idea among uninformed people that s'cnereal disease is not a Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 117 serious matter. Many young men regard gonorrhea as of no more serious consequence “than a bad cold.” There is undoubt- edly more fear of syphilis. This opinion coidd not exist, were the facts regarding blindness, sterility, feeble-mindedness, paraly- sis and physical decay of all sorts and degrees, as a result of ven- ereal disease, known to the young men of every community. All of these fallacies tend to make the conduct of young men loose, immoral and extremely dangerous to public morals and health. Added to these foregoing fallacies and neglect, there is the positive, detrimental stimulation of alcoholic drinks, and among young children, the use of coffee, tea and cigarettes. The more tender and immature tissue of the boy or girl should not be sub- jected to the use of these stimulants, and the very serious neglect oil the part of parents in this matter of hygiene and regimen un- doubtedly contributes to the unnatural development of sex im- pulses. The practice of seeking the services of a prostitute, whether professional or jirivate, leads many to postpone marriage and the establishment of a home, and in a large number of cases un- doubtedly entirely destroys the possibility of natural family life. All of these factors and facts should be held in view when considering the causes of sexual immorality. Double Standards. A double standard of morality for men and women makes re- form in public morals difficult. Such standards have undoubt- edly filtered down through the centuries from the time of primi- tive family life when, due to the simplicity of society, a larger degree of promiscuity obtained. The ethical standards which fitted well in such a simple form of society have been entirely out- grown by the rapid multiplication of the complexities which sur- round every social group. Simple ethical standards have changed, not only regarding sexual life, but also regarding ownership of property, slavery, treatment of criminals, and every other phase of social relationships. It is unthinkable that ethical standards which maintained among the cave folk and the savages upon the plains, can be sufficient in the great cities and complex relation- ships of present day civilization. The present day demands chastity of men equal to that de- manded of women, and this requirement is emphasized by the 118 Report op the AVisconsin Vice Committee. phenomenal spread of disease and its attending results. The pro- tection of the family, the protection of women and children in particular, who are now the greatest sufferers from this primi- tive standard, demands that society should enforce a single stand- ard for both men and women. Under the double standard the natural protector of the home and of woijien and children be- comes their most dangerous assailant. Under the double stand- ard the finer relationships of monogamous family life are entirely impossible. Under the double standard there can be no degree of security from disease, there can he no confidence between hus- band and wife, and there can be no fine example presented by the father to children who look to the father as the embodiment of the best ideals. The terrible significance of the facts presented to this commit- tee regarding the ■ f recpieney with which married men seek the services of professional prostitutes brings this condition home to the people of Wisconsin in no uncertain manner. The women of the state should demand, and by their moral influence enforce a single standard of morality for both sexes. The intelligent people of the state, both male and female, who see the results and signifi- cance of the worn out and dangerous double standard, should cultivate public opinion to require a standard of morality among men which would furnish the degree of protection and sincerity that the safety of the home demands. Before such a public opinion the brothel and the house of ill-fame would have to go, in view of the fact that these resorts could not exist, even for a brief length of time, under a single standard of morality for men and women. , Economic and Industrial Conditions. One of the indirect causes of prostitution is the economic and industrial conditions under which many women and girls are obliged to work for their living. Undoubtedly this cause is not as important in the state of AA'iseonsin as in some oilier communities, due to the fact that there are no large indus- ti'ial enterprises which depend mainly upon female labor for their operations. In a state like Alassachusetts or Connecticut, where there is a very large amount of female labor in textile factories, tl)e industrial conditions undoubtedly contribute very largely to prostitution. Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 119 “Prostitution is mainly an economic question, but. of course, all ecrnomie (juestions are also moral questions in the end; no question about that; but it is based upon the economic ques- tion and upon the enslavement of woman. The woman is more of a slave than the man to-day, under the present situa- tion. She is getting less pay, and no political rights to speak of. The poor woman gets all the blame and the man is scott free. For every woman prostitute you have at least five men prostitutes.” (Milwaukee. Victor Berger, P. 110.) It is not fair to the unfortunate woman who finds herself en- gaged in prostitution in order to live, to baldly state that she became a prostitute merely because she did not receive enough pay to buy herself the clothes and entertainment which she de- sired. This would be an untrue statement. The real conditions are much more intricate and insinuating than this. The story of the young woman who is subjected on every side to the en- ticements of men, and who is offered excitement and entertain- ment in exchange for services of aii immoral character, is all too common, not only in Wisconsin, but all over the world. More to the discredit of the men who thus take advantage of a woman’s natural desire for active social life, is the fact that such tempta- tions usually come at a time when the girl is less able to resist, owing to the conditions of fatigue and nervousness, which follow a day’s work in the factorjq in the store, or in the kitchen. It has been represented at times that when an individual is fatigued from a day’s work, he or she has little energy to direct toward any immoral practice. This is contrary to the opinion of ps}'- chologists, physicians and experts upon fatigue’ in industrial pro- cesses. It has been demonstrated many times that the nervous system craves a form of excitement and expression after the oper- ations of the daily task, especially if the task is a tedious and monotonous one. The result is that when the offer comes to an ignorant and unsophisticated girl to go for an automobile ride or to a dance, it is difficult for her to deny herself the social contact and excitement which such a pleasure trip would give. Bevond doubt a large number of girls who are not under the direction of older and more experienced persons accept these attentions from designing men, without the least intention of violating any moral law. The casual acquaintance which a young woman finds among the workers of the factory or store may also lead to unwise com- jianionships outside of the establishment in which she works. 120 Report of tpie Wisconsin Vice Committee. The girl living at home and having the advantage of a good place to sleep and eat and a degree of companionship and protection is very much more apt to escape and avoid dangerous companions outside of working hours. As to the conditions in Wisconsin, the committee has not re- ceived much testimony to the effect that industrial conditions in the state contribute largely to the growth of prostitution. Tak- ing the state as a whole, it has been found that wages of girls have a wide range, approximately from $3.00 to $20.00 per week. In a large number of cases the girls live at home and assist in the support of the family. While this committee does not have evi- dence of girls sacrificing their honor for money, there is much testimony to show that the wages received would not pay for room rent, board, etc., if tbe girl were not living at borne. Just what amount a woman should receive in order to live decently and maintain a proper degree of efficiency it is not within the province of this committee to even estimate. The Wisconsin In- dustrial Commission is now working upon this particular prob- lem. There is before the committee, however, evidence that many women continue the practices of jirostitution, once they have entered upon that life, because they can secure much more money by this practice than they can by legitimate wage earning. Sev- eral have testified that they found that they coidd not support themselves as they desired, by any other means, so they continued the life. For instance, we have the case of an English woman who received $3.50 a week for domestic service, and she states that her average earnings through the practice of prostitution are $6.00 a day. She also testifies that she is, nevertheless, kept continually in debt. Another case in point is that of a girl who earned $3.75 a week as a factory employee. She states that she found that she could not make a “decent living'’ by working, and she remains in the business of prostitution “because there is money in it.” That the conditions under which women work tend to create immorality cannot in general be questioned. In many stores and factories men and women of all degrees of morality and immor- ality mingle with promiscuous familiarity. It must also be stated that the requirement that woman employees .shall stand all day. and the active nature of the day’s work cause a severe nervous Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 121 strain, leading to fatigue and weakening of the will power by the time the day is ended. Domestics. The fact that domestic servants show such a large percentage of illegitimate hiidhs requires that their case be especially noted. The question has often been asked, — Why is it that domestics con- tribute so largely to the ranks of prostitution and illegitimate children ? The true answer to this question is that by the natui'e of their daily work domestics are denied the natural oiiportuni- ties for social contact. More than any other group of women la- borers they are made to feel that their work is menial. They are not treated by members of the family in which they work as eipials in any sense of the word; their hours are long and tedious; tliey have little opportunity for amusement ; and it is freipiently the case that if they wish to entertain friends they must do so in a clandestine manner. All of these factors add to the dangers which surround the domestic servant. The fact that she is iso- lated from a natural social group which creates social loyalties and social restraints makes the reasons for virtuous living less strongly apparent in her case than in tiie case of any other groiq) of women employees. Furthermore, a very large percentage of the women serving as domestics are immigrants, very frequently fresh from a peasant life in Europe, and unacquainted with Amer- ican customs. There is in this as^iect of the problem of immorality a very definite line of work lying before women’s clubs and cluirches. Tills is a field in which women can do very much, beginning in their own homes. There is a possibility of providing some form of natural social life for the domestics of a community, and be- cause of the fact that women laborers in families are generally under the direction of the wife and mother of the home, it be- comes a first hand duty of Avomen’s organizations to deal with this serious problem. (See Section on illegitimacy.) Housing Conditions. It is surprising to find housing conditions in the state of Wis- consin, whose largest city is Milwaukee, with a population of aliout 400,000, ivliich remind one of the slums of New York, Chi- 122 Report op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. cago and other highly congested cities. However, the investiga- tion of the committee has disclosed conditions in cities of Wiscon- sin which are as bad as those obtaining in larger cities of the country, though on a smaller scale. It is extremely difficult to understand how any degree of mod- esty and self-respect can be maintained in a home where there are four or five children and as many as nine or ten boarders living in three or four rooms. The committee has information regarding a home, which may be considered typical of the worst conditions which are to be found in the state, in which seven men and five children and a father and mother were living in a five- room house. The kitchen was the only place in which there was not a bed. There Avere no toilet facilities, and the rooms in which the children, boys and girls, had to sleep Avere also occupied by the boarders. Another instance has come to the attention of the committee, in Avhieh the daughter of the family, thirteen or fourteen years of age, slept in the same room Avith the male l/oarders Avith not a possibility of privacy from morning till night because of the fact that the boarders AA'orked at A'arious shifts, night and day, and some Avere ahvays in the house. Under such conditions as these the Avonder is that a girl or boy suiwives with even iihysical health, and it is a still greater Avonder that many come through Avith reasonably good characters. In spite of the contact Avith rough, uncouth men, in spite of continually hearing oliseene language and receiving rough treatment, children actu- ally pass through such conditions and not infrequently possess a commendable degree of purity and A’irtue. Read the folloAving stories of conditions in Wisconsin cities, and try to conceive hoAv under such conditions it is possible to maintain a degree of physical and spiritual Avelfare. The committee finds that the unsanitary housing conditions prevailing among the more ignorant and poverty stricken por- tions of the population in some of the large manufacturing cities strongly tend to immorality. The evidence sIigaa's that in some eases as high as fifteen or tAventy iiersons Ra'c in one small tene- ment house. Persons of opposite sex and of all ages are per- mitted to occupy the same room, in some cases Avith only a curtain for a partition. This is a A'ery serious condition, and ealls for drastic legislation in regard to tenement house conditions. Report op the AARsconsin A^'ice Committee. 123 Mrs , Nurse, Milwaukee, page 292. “A"ou take tlie Slavonian district, and you will find tlie father and mother and perhaps five c-hildreii; it is not a question of poverty al- ways; it is a question of too many boarders. There is no place for the girl of fourteen or fifteen to dress or wash. She has not one place that she can have to herself for five minutes of the day. Yon will find probably seven men boarders. Alaybe half of them ivork at night and sleep in the day time. They get out of those beds and go to work and the other man comes in and goes to bed. The boy and girl have no place to have another boy and girl come to see them. The result is that they run the streets, because they have no social cen- ters. I have in mind the ease of a girl who disappeared and could not be found for several iveeks. The principal reported that the girl was not in school. I went to look her up and found seven men, perhaps five children, and the father and mother. It was just a five room house. The father worked and they were earning sufficient money and there were just five rooms in the house. The kitchen was the only place that had not a bed in it. The only reason it hadn’t a bed was because it was not big enough. The housing facilities were very poor. There are no toilet facilities in a place of that kind, and in the other rooms you could just get between the beds. The father and the mother, a boy of twelve and a girl of fourteen and the rest of the younger children, all slept in the one room, and when I went in there and found out what the place was like I didn’t blame the girl for running away. “1 can tell you of a place on St. Paul Avenue, where I was looking up a neglected child. I found nine men sleeping in the basement, the beds end to end, the toilet in the same place, and one woman cooking. I didn’t know which man she be- longed to, and I couldn’t find out. You can see those things any day in the neighborhood of the St. Paul depot, up at Cly- bourn and St. Paul Avenue. You will probably find three men to one woman in any one of those houses. I think that condi- tion is bad enough. It is not always due to the housing con- ditions. They play a large part in it of course, but it seems to me that the iieople ought not be allowed to rent places to so many people as that. On Sixth or Eighth Street, I think it was, we had a row of houses I think they called Castle Gar- den, and you could go in there any time and find the rats running about. I have had them run over my feet, mau'^ times, and not long ago we had the case of a child in school with a very sore finger and ascertained that the rats had bit- ten it Avhile the child slept ; and the baby was bitten through the mouth. The mother and father drank. The father was scarcely ever sober. There were four children, and they 124 Keport op the Wisconsin Vice CoMMiTTEie. lived ill three rooms in the basement. That is typical of the eases you come across in your day’s travel.” Mrs Madison, page 17. Q. To what influ- ence do you attribute the delinquency of girls? A. 1 attribute the delinquency of girls to the fact that they are just crazy for a good time and dress. 1 have a case in mind — the father and mother and three children and nine men were rooming in a four room house. The girl was run- ning around with just a bare skirt on and no underwear or any shoes. She was sleeping in the same room with the men. She was practically nude, dust a thin dress on. In another ease the father and mother and six children were living in one room with two beds. The brother was twenty-one years old and the girl occupied the same bed Avith him. Mrs MilAvaukee, page 301. "As far as the moral conditions in poor foreign families are concerned, the chief evil comes from Avhat is known as the boarder eA'il. The rooming conditions and sleeping conditions in most of these homes are very bad. It is positively impossible for children to live under those circumstances, and not hear and see that Avhieh they never ought to, and the children in well-to-do fam- ilies do not knoAV until they come to maturity. But the croAvded condition of the home, the constant contact Avith rough and drunken men in the halls, the hearing of obscene language, and all things that go to make up the bad condi- tions in this congested (piarter inevitably interfere Avith the proper liringing up of children, making any moral standards difficult.” VENEREAL DISEASE. One of the factors Avhich brought the Avhole question of the so- cial evil into prominence aa’RS the findings of the medical profes- sion in regard to syphilis and gonorrhea. Before physicians knew of the extent of these diseases and the terrible damage caused by them, comparatively little attention Avas given to the relation betAveen prostitution and venereal disease. With the startling discoA'eries of the latter half of the nineteenth century, the fight against venereal disease began. It has been found by every study of venereal disease that pros- titutes are the great disseminators of gonorrhea and syphilis. It is practically impossible for any Avoman to haA'e promiscuous Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 125 I ( sexual iiitereoui'se through any long period of time Avithotit j citutraetiug either gonorrhea or syphilis, or both. All prosti- f tutes sooner or later contract one or both of these diseases. Ilav- j ing once contracted a venereal disease, the prostitute very soon ' infects her patrons, and they in turn infect other people, man.y : of Avhom are absolutely innocent of any immoral act. The most startling fact regarding venereal disease and' pi’ostitution that has been brought out by tlie investigations of this committee is i the large number of married men who frequent houses of prosti- tution in various cities of the state. Several prostitutes or ; “madams” have stated that not less than fifty per cent of their customers are mariled men. In order to give a clear conception ^ of the extent of venereal disease among prostitutes, the following I section from the report of the social hygiene laboratory of the New York Reformatory for Women at Bedford, New York, is i? given. . A section is also quoted from the Massachusetts report I on white slaveiq". Page 188. A Stud}- of Prostitutes at Bedford: Venereal Disease: The recoi-ds of the Bedfoi'd Reforma- I Tory for girls shoAv that 20.56 per cent, of the 647 inmates have i,'i clinical manifestations of venereal disease. The facts are !i summarized in the following table: , iTotal number of inmates 647 I Niimber free from clinical manifestations of disease 511 Number shoAving clinical manifestations of disease 133 Of the last named: Number Avith syphilis 61 Number with gonorrhea 54 Number Avith syphilis and gonorrhea 9 Number AAuth disease unnamed 8 Number Avith chancre 1 “ ■ 133 (20.56%) A series of complement fixation tests on blood specimens from 466 of the inmates shoves, however, that a very much * larger number are infected with either syphilis or gonorrhea, )’i or both of these diseases. With the Wassermann test, 176, or 37.7 per cent, gave positive reactions ; 273, or 58.6 per cent, ij. arave nea-ative reactions: and 17. or 3.6 ner cent, gave doubt- |j Fid reactions. With a modification of the Wasserman tech- nique, where the tests Avere alloAved to stand for four hours 126 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. at ice l)ox temperature, to fix complement, instead of the usual one liour at 37 degrees C. in the ineuhator, 224, or 48 per cent, gave positive reactions; 212, or 45.4 per cent, gave negative reactions ; and 30, or 6.4 per cent, gave doubtful re- actions for syphilis over the method of fixing complement at 37 degrees C. The same sera Avere tested by the complement fixation test for gonorrheal infection Avith the result that 134, or 29 per cent, gave positwe reactions ; 234, or 50 per cent, gave negative reactions; and 98, or 21 per cent., gave doubt- ful reactions, fixing complement at 37 degrees C. for one hour. When the ice box method of fixation Avas used, 306, or 65.6 per cent, gave positive reactions; 101, or 21.7 per cent. gaA’e negative reactions; and 59, or 12.6 per cent, gave doubtful re- actions ; shoAving an increase of 36.9 per cent of posith^e results over the method of fixing complement at 37 degrees C. in the incubator. “Vaginal smears from the same persons Avere examined, hut it Avas possible to demonstrate the presence of the gonococcus in hut five of them, although many of them shoAv the i>resence of numerous pus corpuscles. “The full significance of the results aboA^e stated does not appear until the statistics are summarized. Of the 466 girls tested, only 50, that is, 10.7 per cent are found to he fi’ee from A'enereal infection. Practically 90 per cent shoAved in- fection : 170, or 36.4 per cent gaA'e posith'e reactions for both syphilis and gonorrhea ; 27, or 5.79 per cent AA'ere posith'e for syphilis only; and 117, or 25.1 per cent, Avere posith'e for gonorrhea only.” Massachusetts Report, page 45. “Of the 100 prostitutes examined for the commission at the Suffolk County House ?f Correction, the Charles Street Jail and the Woman's Reform- atory, 11 had syphilis, 32 had gonorrhea, and 27 had both syphilis and gonorrhea. In 20 of these Avomen the presence or absence of these diseases Avas not ascertained. Of SO Avomen. therefore, 70, or 8714 per cent, had one or both of these diseases. “Of the 100 young girls .iust entering prostitution, exam- ined at the industrial schools, 21 had syphilis. 31 had gonor- "hea, and 4 had both sA'philis and gonorrhea. In 10 of these girls the nresenee or absence of these diseases Avas not ascer- tained. Of 90 girls, therefore, 56, or 62 plus percent, had one or both of these diseases. “In a recent inquiry concerning 8.000 male patients oa-'T eighteen years of age, admitted to a Boston hosnital for all sorts of other medical and surgical diseases, the folloAA'ing re-, suit Avas obtained after careful questioning of all the patients: Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 127 35 per cent admitted a history of gonorrhea and 11 per cent of syphilis at some period of their lives.” Various figures have been given indicating the extent of venereal disease in cities of the United States and of Europe. These statistics are open to doubt and criticism and many au- thorities believe that the facts have been exaggerated. The Indi- ana State Board of Health, in a publication entitled “Social Hy- giene vs. the Sexual Plagues”, states; “Medical observation indi- cates that 80 per cent of males between the ages of 18 and 30 contract gonorrhea.” Dr. William Ophuls of California says, “I should say that a conservative estimate of the frequency of syphilis is that 10 per cent of the male population is suffering from syphilis, and in case of gonorrhea the conservative estimates are 50 per* cent, that is, one-half of all adult males have or have had gonorrhea.” Other authorities state that gonorrhea is the most common of all male diseases. Where the truth lies is a mat- ter that cannot be determined at present, but it is safe to say that gonorrhea is extremely prevalent and offers a very severe men- ace to the health of the public, and that syphilis, while less com- mon than gonorrhea, thorough congenital infection is a grave menace not only to this generation but also to generations to come. Venereal disease provides such a severe and persistent scourge, especially in large cities, that, regardless of whether its prevalence is put at 40 or 50 per cent or 70 or 80 per cent, it 1 becomes one of the most difficult and pressing of public health I j problems. In order to bring squarely before the public the tndy serious nature of gonorrhea and syphilis, the following authoritative statements are quoted. Indiana State Board of Health Circular — Social Hygiene vs. The Sexual Plagues, page 8. “The Century Dictionary defines gonorrhea as follows: ‘In pathology a specific, infections, •| muco-pnrulent inflammation of the inale urethra or the female , vagina or urethra.’ “The belief that gonoriiiea and syphilis were but different 1 expressions of a single disease held sway from the earliest knowledge of the disease, 2,000 years before Christ, until the year 1838, when tliey were finally differentiated. In 1879 a ]diysician named Niesser discovered the specific organism of gonorrhea. The organism or germ is called ‘Niesser’s gono- 128 Beport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. C'ocoiis.’ Gonorrhea is also known in vernacular as ‘clap’, from the old French word ‘clapior, ’ meaning ‘to flow.’ “Following are some of the things that gonorrhea has done to many males and may do to any male who becomes infected and neglects the disease : “Causes stricture or narrowing of the urethra. The inflam- mation leaves a scar. The urine not being able to pass freely sets up an annoying irritation in the urethra. A stricture often can be removed only b}^ a long course of painful treat- ment. A surgical oi)eration is sometimes necessary. “Causes epididymitis or inflammation or SAvelling of one or both of the testes. Where there is double inflammation com- plete sterility may and often does result. Exceedingly pain- ful and dangerous. Victim often suffers distinct loss of moral tone. Mental disturbances. “Causes inflammation of delicate ducts and vesicles in deep urethra, sometimes superiiulucing an abscess, very grave and painful, necessitating dangerous operation. Sterility is again sometimes the result. Often loss of moral tone and mental disturbance. “C’auses gonorrheal rheumatism, one of the most painful diseases in medical knowledge. Here the germ enters the blood, finds a home in the joints, A\diich swell to enormous size, Avith extreme suffering. Ankylosis, or stiffening of the affected joints, is not infrequent, leaA’ing the .sufferer a per- manent cripple. “Causes gonori'heal ophthalmia. Gonorrheal pus trans- ferred to the eye may extinguish sight in a feAV hours. It is an exceedingly stubborn and dangerous aftlictiou. “Causes disease of the jirostate gland. The prostate gland situated at the neck of the bladder is the heart of the sexual system.” Infection of that organ may be the cause of the disease becoming chronic or incurable with destructive ef- fects on the generative function. Abscess sometimes results, necessitating a serious surgical operation. Deep melanchoh' and suicidal tendency sometimes develop. “Causes a tendency, it is thought, toAvard tuberculosis of prostate gland and testes, resulting in dangerous and often fatal surgical operations. “In Avoman, causes inflammation of the ovaries, the Fallop- ian tubes and the uterus, often necessitating radical surgery to save the life of the Auctim. Barrenness and life-long in- A'alidism are, of course, the results.” It is thus seen that this disease, which for so many years has been regarded lightly, is of the greatest seriou.sness both to men and AA'omen. Were these facts more AAudely knoAA'u, but fe\A' peo- ple Avould knoAvinglv expo.se fhemselA'es to the disease. Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 129 Syphilis is a disease caused by a germ known as spiroclietae pallida. The disease is extremely infectious in the first stage and also during certain periods of the second stage. In the third stage the disease sometimes causes the most terrible ulcers and in its manifestations is scarcely less horrible than leprosy. The fol- lowing extract from a paper by Dr. William Oi)huls of Cali- fornia gives a brief description of some of the effects of syphilis. “Syphilitics are prematurely old because their arteries age rapidly; and very freipiently the arteries give way entirely and death results immediately from this giving way of the main channels for the blood supply in the body. Similarly the central nervous s.ystem suffers. The most dreaded dis- eases of the central nervous system, paresis of the brain and spinal tabes, the so-called locomotor ataxia, Avhich incapaci- tates, first, the lower limbs, and eventually leads to a slow lingering death, are much more common in syphilitics than in ordinary individuals. If w'e study the statistics in such eases, we find that 50 ])er cent and more of the sufferers frcm these diseases of the centi-al nervous system have been infected with syphilis. You have all heard in the ncAvspapers the reports of jirofessional men, particularly, Avho have broken down in the prime of their activities, — the busy physician, the busy law- yer, Avho suddenly experiences a change in his entire person- ality; he goes into tremendous undertakings that he is not able to carry out; he squanders his fortune; he neglects his family; he dissipates in various ways; eventually he lands in the insane asylum, — unfortunately, after he has ruined his, family,. These cases — not, mind you, in all such instances, but in many instances — are directly traceable to a syphilitic infec- tion, acquired at some remote: period as a rule, twenty or thirty years before the accident occurred.” Any person Avho desires more detailed information regarding either syphilis or gonorrhea has but to refer to the Avorks of Dr. Prince A. Morrow or Dr. Edivard Keys, in order to find abun- dant material. The most unfortunate and grievous aspect of the Avhole prob- lem of venereal disease is the fact that many totally innocent per- sons become infected and suffer from its disastrous ravages. A few persons become infected through the use of public towels and public drinking cups, public bath tubs and toilets. Cases have been knoAvn of young men infecting girls by kissing, and vice ATrsa. But the most common innocent infection takes place in the ease of Avomen Avho are married to men avIio have contracted t)-V. c. 130 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. the disease. Dr. Prince A. Morrow, the man who is responsible for the bringing of this whole matter to the notice of the public, states that 70 per cent of the women who present themselves to him for treatment for venereal disease, even at public hospitals, are respectable married women who have been infected by their husbands. Gynecologists report that 75 per cent of the opera- tions required for inflammatory diseases in women are due to gonorrhea, and more than one-half of all abdominal operations on women are for tliis cause, and this does not take into consider- ation a large number f women who are note operated on, but who drag out a miserable existence. James Warbasse, a surgeon of Brooklyn, who has written a number of sociological essays on medical subjects, says: “Let not the layman think of this as a disease of the vicious. Gonorrhea is a disease of the vii’tuous wives in our great cities as well as of the prostitutes. Fortj^-five per cent of the un- fruitfulness of marriage is due to gonorrhea in the woman, ac- quired from her husband. The infection once implanted pro- gresses upward into the uterus, thence through the fallopian tubes to the ovaries. The inflammation which it causes sets up adhesions about the ovaries, causing pain and tenderness and effectually closes the fallopian tubes, making her forever ster- ile. “It is the married woman’s most common disease. Every prostitute has it, and fortunately for society it renders her sterile. It is the bond of sympathy between these two great classes of women — and supplied by the husbands.” Warbasse also says that a man who has once had gonorrhea is a dangerous man to marry, and yet 65 to 75 per cent of women who marry are accepting this danger. It is estimated that from 20 to 30 per cent of all cases of infantile blindness are caused by gonorrheal infections at the time of birth. The use of silver nitrate as a remedy for this type of infection is now widespread, and in some states, including Wisconsin, is now required by law under certain conditions. The committee sent a questionaire to the hospitals of the state, requesting certain information regarding venereal disease in these institutions. Seven hospitals replied, and furnished data sufficient to enable the committee to compile the following sta- tistics. ■ Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee, 131 SUMMARY OF REPORTS FROM HOSPITALS. La Crosse Hospital Association Fond du Lac, St. Agnes Hospital Milwaukee. St. Mary’s Hospital Wauwatosa , Milwaukee County Hospital Racine, St. Mary’s Hospital Green Bay, Wisconsin State Reformatory Milwaukee, St. Joseph’s Hospital Totals Total venereal disease 419 1,197 1,415 3,068 937 1,480 1,121 181 6,365 767 4/240 1,216 2,612 5,405 3,995 2,601 10,605 25 49 83 23 27 5 288 No. ol females having syphilis... 41 13 26 44 11 2 137 66 62 102 127 34 27 425 425 No. of males having gonorrhea.. No. of females having gonorrhea 10 39 27 36 169 8 289 11 8 53 25 40 5 142 Total 21 8 92 52 76 169 13 431 431 No. of males having chancroid... No. of females having chancroid. 0 1 9 1 10 14 0 0 0 Total 0 1 9 1 10 14 14 9 ho 29 31 21 145 4 18 40 22 9 93 9 27 90 51 40 21 238 30 33 59 61 49 161 393 4S 9 29 45 17 148 Total 78 42 88 106 66 161 541 0 . .(p. 13 2 • .(p. 15 r. 0 ..(p. 9 3 ..(p. 14 Total ( 2 22 5 29 Totals of venereal diseases. sr 71 196 179 111 206 20 870 870 1 Counted as married. ® No record. Of a total of a little over 16,000 cases treated by the seven hospitals replying to the questionaire, 870, or 5.4 per cent, were treated for a venereal disease. Two and seven-tenths per cent of the total number of cases treated by the hospitals were cases of syphilis, and 2.6 per cent were eases of gonorrhea. Of the 870 eases of venereal disease, 50.4 per cent were cases of syphilis, and 49.5 per cent were eases of gonorrhea, showing that the whole number of venereal disease cases w-as about ecpially distributed 132 Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. between gonorrhea and syphilis. Thirty-three per cent of those treated for gonorrhea were women, and 67 per cent were men. Thirty-one and two-tenths per cent of those treated for syphilis Avere ivomen, and 68.8 per cent Avere men, showing that in these institutions about tAAm-thirds of the eases of A’enereal disease Avere men. Of the Avmmen treated for A'enereal disease, 58 per cent Avere single, AAdiile 42 per cent were married. Of the men treated for venereal disease, 71 per cent were single, and 29 per cent Avere married. It Avill be noticed that there is a discrepancy be- tAveen the total number of cases of A'enereal disease and the num- ber of married and single cases given. This is accounted for by the fact that certain hospitals did not give complete data on the question of civil status of patients. In the operation to determine the proportion of married and single men and Avomen to the total number of those treated for A^enereal disease, the number 808 was used as the basis instead of 870. Eight hundred and eight is the number regarding AA’hom the facts of ciA’il status were giA’eu hy the hospitals. Mention has been made in another section (See section on Recommendations) regarding the adA’isability of establishing public clinics in this state for the free diagnosis and treatment of venereal disease. Such clinical laboratories are maintained by NeAV York City, Syracuse and seAmral other municipalities. These laboratories prove of great serAuce not only to the persons who come directly to the expert in charge for tests made to de- termine the presence of the gonococcus or the syphilis germ, but also many physicians send in specimens to be tested in the labora- tories. This public sei’AUce is a long step toward the treatment of venereal disease as a real and important public health problem. The great preAmlance and damage of gonorrhea and syphilis to child and adult alike demands actiAuty on the part of public health authorities, in order to meet the emergency. In another section of this report, the committee strongly recommends the establishment of public clinics and free wards or hospitals for the treatment of A^enereal disease. The state of Wisconsin, which has been on the firing line of progressh'e measures, should not fall behind the other states in proAuding adequate and widespread facilities for the treatment of the tAvo most insidious and danger- ous diseases with which the human race is afflicted. Report op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 133 Economic Losses Due to Venereal Diseases. When we stop to consider the enormous financial loss to the state by reason of the expenditure, annually, of vast sums for the support of state institutions devoted to the care of its blind, crippled, insane and feebleminded wards, a large per- centage of whom are brought to such unfortunate condition through no fault of their own, but through innocent infection Avith venereal disease, and in addition thereto the physical sufferings not only of such unfortunates but of the thousands of women throughout the state innocently infected Avijth such diseases, and the great loss of time and money to all persons so afflicted, it is evident that the time has arrived when the state must enact drastic legislation in an effort to curb or eliminate these loathsome diseases. The Report of the Philadelphia Anee Commission states that the Royah Commission on the Blind (London, 1889) estimated that the number of people disabled as a result of ophthalmia neonatorum represented an annual burden to the Common- wealth of £350,000; this on the estimated 60 per cent due to gonorrheal infection, Avould be £210,000, or $1,018,500. The Report of the U. S. Secretary of War, for 1913, states: “This office Avas compelled by the fact that the venereal dis- eases were 'the only infectious diseases which shoAved no tend- ency to diminish and had become the greatest- source of disability, to urge the application of the principles of preAmntative medi- cine (page 362). As the result of the propaganda of education in the army, of compulsory jArophylaxis Avitli physical examinations, and of the stoppage of pay of men incapacitated for dujty by venereal diseases, some control apparently has been secured at last oAmr the occurrence of these diseases (page 160).” The Report states further that in 1912 the time lost on ac- count of venereal disease in the army amounted, in the aggre- gate, to 223,038 days, this being 7.79 men per thousand; while in 1911 it amounted to 10.11 men per thousand. It is stated also that in 1912 the ratio of venereal disease in the United States army Avas 115.71 men per thousand; and in 1911 it was 115.29 men per thousand. It has been estimajted by Dr. MorroAV that there are in the 134 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. United States 2,000,000 epileptics. He further states that the eradication of venereal disease would reduce the number of in- stitutions for defectives by at least one-half. Dr. Price of Philadelphia states that of 1,000 abdominal op- erations upon women, 95% were necessitated by conditions re- sulting from gonorrhea. It has been estimated by Dr. Howard Kelley of Baltimore that the cost of venereal diseases, to the people of the United States, is Three Billion Dollars per year. (Report of Pittsburgh Morals Efficiency Commission, page 21. Report of Philadelphia Vice Commission, page 134.) On the basis of the last census this would be equivalent to a tax on the people of Wisconsin, of $76,000,000 per year. Dr. Kipke. In answer to a question as to approximately how many cases of venereal disease he treats a year, he said : ‘‘Besides my private practice we have a clinic for women at the Maternity Hospital and have a clinic there daily, except one day in a iveek. I presume in all we have about two hun- dred eases a Aveek. About ninety per cent of these are Avomen and a large number that contract the disease and are OA'er there contract it from their husbands. I haAm not noticed any increase in venereal diseases since the closing of the ‘red light’ district.” Dr. Gudex, page 78. “I haAm not had boys from 16 to 20 years of age in my office afflicted Avith syphilis, as I haA’e had during the time of the ‘line.’ ” Dr. T. L. H^irrington, page 41. “I Avould say that the eco- nomic loss caused by each case of Amnereal disease Avould de- crease the earning poAver of the Auctim 25 per cent; and that a fair average for the medical services Avould be $75.00, in addition to the charge for certain medicines. The age of the youngest female that I have CA’cr had for treatment AA'as six or , seven months, and the oldest aged person, about 45 years. 1 have not noticed any increase in the number of eases since the abolition of the ‘red light’ district, bnt there has been a decrease, so far as my knoAidedge goes. I do not think there is as much danger of contracting these diseases, since the abo- lition of the district as there Avas before. I think tJiat the (official) examination of prostitutes is a positHe injury in that it giA^es the young man aa4io is tempted to fall and falls a sense of security.” Dr La Crosse. ‘ ‘ During the time of the tenderloin district in La Crosse, I had a good deal of practice in it, and found much venereal disease in that district. I suppose that Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 135 every practitioner takes it for granted that prostitutes have it. I do not think it is possible for them to avoid it for any length of time. In my opinion, the examination could not be of the slightest value in the way of protection.” Dr. Minahan, Green Bay. “I would not wonder if the per- centage of males who at some time during their life have had venereal disease would run as high as 80 per cent but in the eases of females, probably from 40 to 50 per cent. I do not think the surgical operations due to venereal diseases, in my practice, would exceed 20 per cent.” Dr. R. Minahan. “In a way I don’t suppose that any of the cases of gonorrhea fully recover. That is, the germ that produces that disease is supposed to be imbedded in the muc- ous membrane for years and manifests itself afterward. Of course, the prevalence of gonorrhea Avill reduce the child-bear- ing ability Avithin a certain limit.” Dr. Julius Beilin, Green Bay, page 9. Thirty to thirty- five per cent of surgical operations on Avomen are due to vene- real diseases.” Dr. Julia Riddle. She states that she has had a number of cases of gonorrhea during the year and frequent eases of syphilis. She said, “I have had these eases in both mar- ried and unmarried, but I think there is more among the mar- ried. I have not obtained the history of these eases among the married because they do not knoAV what they have and I have never got brave enough to tell my married Avomen what the trouble Avas.” Dr. J. P. Donovan, Madison, page 26. “In the female gon- orrhea usually becomes incurable, and in the male, it may last a man’s Avhole life. We know that syphilis will last forever unless this neAV treatment (salvarsan) Avill cure it, and we have not had time to find out.” Dr. A. G. Sullivan, Madison, page 28. Upon being asked whether he favored quarantine. Dr. Sullivan said, “I favor quarantine on the score that it is a communicable disease. It Avould raise a good deal of havoc for a while. The same thing Avas true Avhen quarantine began for scarlet fever, smallpox, diphtheria. I believe in publicity as a cure for these evils. If you Avould have the names on file and make the physician liable to quite a severe penalty for not reporting, I think you would find that venereal disease Avould decrease. I think you Avould have fewer illegitimate children and less Avork for the abortion- ist.’ 136 Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. Dr. M. E. Corbett, Oshkosh, page 26. “A few years ago the f)i‘ostitutes were examined every mouth as to Avhether they had disease or not. That I consider one of the greatest farces that could exist. There was nothing whatever to protect mem- bers of society who attended those places, because in the mean- time they might contract diseases ; and I have seen cases M'here syphilis has been contracted by a number of individuals from one individual who had passed an examination a month before, and in the interval she had infected a number of men. The period is too long. I never saw so many cases of syphilis or gonorrhea in my life as I did at the general hospital in Vienna when I studied there, and still that city is regulated quite well as regards these diseases I think there is an extra danger on account of the security that they suppose is conferred upon them by these examinations, which are too far apart to do any good, and that is one thing that should be abolished immedi- ately, — those examinations. They are no earthly good what- ever. ’ ’ Dr. H. M. Brown. In reply to the question, “Isn't it a fact that some doctors state that a case of gonorrhea is never cured? he said, “A^ery likely in all cases. Gonorrhea may affect all the joints of the body, the heart, liver, gall bladder, injures the joints, and for that matter gonorrhea has affected the ears — it depends on Avhere the germs happen to go.” In regard to registration by names, he says, “In a way, yes, register by number, because if you begin registering venereal diseases, you can register 90 per cent of the people of Milwau- kee. You must remember that 75 per cent of the operations on women on the pelvic organs are made necessary by gonorrhea, and we can’t any of us be blind to the fact that there is a vast amount of surgical Avork done on the pelvic organs of women. ’ ’ Dr. R. G. Sayle. “In ansAver to the question Avhether I CA’er estimated the economic loss to the state from A'enereal disease, ■ — I have not made an estimate, but I stand appalled, as a sur- geon, at the terrible condition of many of our Avomen. They are prevented from becoming mothers and their inefficiency for domestic relations is terrible. Dh'oree and discontent in the homes are rampant as a result of it. Indirectly, the state is a great sufferer. Dhmree proceedings, court expenses, and all that, — it must be very huge, — the expense to the state.” Report op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 137 Notes on Statistics of Illegitimacy in Milwaukee and in the State as a Whole. Statements or figures regarding illegitimate births are an indi- cation of sexual immorality. There are two types of women who, as a result of immoral acts, give birth to illegitimate children, first: those who are too ignorant of the practices of abortion to secure premature birth of a child by means of an operation, and second, those who prefer to give birth to an illegitimate child rather than to destroy the embryo before it reaches the stage of development at which birth is ordinarily given. The element of cost of abortion may enter into this condition also, inasmuch as the ordinary charge for producing abortion is from $50.00 to $100.00. Furthermore, an intelligent woman who knows the disastrous results which frequently accompany operations producing abor- tion prefers rather to give birth to an illegitimate child than take the chances of permanent disability to conceive, blood-poisoning, diseases of the genital organs and other dangerous results. The maternal instinct probably operates in numerous cases to prevent the destruction of the embryo, once it has been conceived. Thus the tables of illegitimacy which are given below must not be as- sumed to be an accurate indication of the amount of immorality either in a given city or in a state. ILLEGITIMATE BIRTHS (City of Milwaukee — Health Department) Mother's Occupation. 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 Domestic 174 167 187 175 153 180 Factory girl 27 14 13 20 20 11 Clerk 12 7 13 9 11 16 Dressmaker 8 4 6 4 4 7 School girl 6 6 8 5 4 8 Stenographer 3 1 4 3 1 5 Teacher 4 3 2 3 2 5 Waitress 3 2 2 1 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 Not stated 26 24 27 24 18 17 At home 4 5 15 18 10 26 17 8 3 5 13 4 Other occupations 15' 7 8 14 3 14 300 248 289 282 243 298 138 Eeport op the Wisconsin Vice Committee, Age of Mother 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 13 years 2 1 1 1 14 ' “ 2 2 2 0 15 “ 6 1 6 6 3 7 16 “ 9 11 9 12 6 6 17 ‘‘ 23 24 10 10 16 21 18 “ 36 31 32 33 25 32 19 to 25 years 170 137 177 171 136 174 25 to 30 “ 38 28 37 34 29 40 SO to 40 “ 15 13 16 14 22 14 40 to 50 1 1 1 3 1 300 248 289 282 243 298 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 Nonresident mothers 107 73 93 63 82 73 179 Youngest father — 14. Youngest mother — 13. * * # ILLEGITIMATE BIRTHS IN THE CITY OF MILWAUKEE, 1910. Mother’s Occupation. Total so employed No. Of illegitimate births Percentage 6,417 6,065 3,943 3,641 187 2.9 13 ,21 13 .33 6 .165 2,536 1,771 340 4 .158 2 .112 2 .59 392 1 .25 1,264 0 .000 * * * Showing percentage of mothers of illegitimate children in Milwaukee, who were domestics. 1908 58% 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 67.3% 64.7% 62.2% 63% 60.4% Average— 02.6% Domestics Eeport op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 139 Showing percentage of mothers of illegitimate children in Milwaukee, who were between the ages of 19 and 25 at time of birth of the child. 1908 ■ 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 Between ages of 19 and 25.... 56.6% 55.2% 61.2% Averag 60.6% e-58% 56% 58.4% * Table sho-wing illegitimate births in Wisconsin for 1910, classi- fied according to the occupation of the mother. 414 3 108 2 91 2 75 Cashier 2 22 1 19 1 25 1 15 Laundress 3 9 1 8 14 1 9 2 3 Total 831 The above figures have been furnished by the State Board of Health and have been compiled from the original birth cer- tificates filed in that department. If from the total of 831 are deducted the 91 not stated and 19 unknown, the total will be 721. The number of domestics (414) is 57.4% of this latter total. # * * Showing proportions of various female occupations in other cities compared with Milwaukee. Occupation. Milwaukee Lowell, Mass. New York 6,417 1,248 11,046 113.409 6,065 108,723 3,943 413 46,181 3,641 2,536 1,771 488 38,850 258 33,769 540 21,683 340 217 8,958 392 7,504 1,264 251 12,096 140 Keport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. In the state of Wisconsin, where there is comparatively little female labor in factories, the figures given for illegitimacy are not nnnsual. Thus, in the city of Milwaukee there are more than 6,000 domestics and only a little over 6,000 factory girls, whereas in the city of Lowell, Mass., v/hich is about one-fourth as large as Mil- waukee, there are 1,000 domestics and 11,000 factory girls. The proportion of factory girls and domestics in the city of New York is approximately the same as that for Milwaukee. With these facts in mind, it is not surprising to the well informed person, that from 58 to 67 per cent of all illegitimate births in the city of Mil- waukee, and about 62 per cent of the illegitimate births in the state as a whole, are contributed by domestics. It has often been noted by other investigations and by social workers all over the United States, that women in domestic seiudce contribute largely to the number of illegitimate children that are brought into the world, so that the condition in the city of J\Iilwaukee is not in any way unusual. In the city of Milwaukee, it should be noted that 2.9 per cent of all the domestics of the city gave birth to illegiti- mate children, whereas the next largest proportion to give births to illegitimate children was waitresses, at .59 per cent. In drawing conclusions from the statistics of illegitimacy there is a large consideration to be kept in view. It is the fact that for various years, of the total number of mothers in klilwau- kee giving birth to illegitimate children, from 63 to 107 were non- resident persons. Furthermore, there must have been a large number of women who left the city and went to other places where they were not known, in order to escape detection by their friends and acquaintances. In the figures for the city of Milwaukee one group is especially noteworthy. That is those classified as “at home.” It is seen that with the exception of the year 1912, there has been an abso- lute increase during the past six years, the number growing from 4 in 1908, to 26 in 1913. One other criticism of the figures given for the city of IMilwau- kee should be noted. This is the fact that an average of 58 per cent of all mothers giving births to illegitimate children were be- tween the ages of 19 and 25. This is what would be expected, in view of the fact that at this time the highest period of sexual phenomena maintains, and also in view of the fact that at this age there is probably a larger number of women working away Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee, 141 from home and outside of the protection of members of their own' family than at any other. The figures for the state as a whole are comparable to the figures for the city of Milwaukee. We do not have a statement extending through a long period for the state as a whole, a.s for Milwaukee, but there is an indication of a parallel condition throughout the state. (Statements' in regard to domestic servants.) (See table of illegitimacy. See also Report of Industrial School for Girls.) Dr. R. G. Sayle, page 71. “These figures show 60% illegiti- macy in domestics in this city. They have not been in society as much as others. They have not learned how to have abor- tion as much as others, and a great many domestics are higher minded than other girls as far as committing crimes are con- cerned. I have known domestics who have become mothers and have made the statement : “ I did not kill the baby. ’ ’ They are girls away from home and girls who do not know as much as other girls that may have the means of getting out of the preg- nant condition. They go on until it is too late. There are a great many girls who go away from home to become domestics. They are away from home influences and are imposed on. I do not believe that domestics more often become pregnant or that their morality is lower than that of any other class of girls. They less often have abortions. They keep the secret longer and do not have abortion produced. As far as morality is concerned, I do not believe that it would be found to be true that a domestic is more sporty than others.” Dr. Harrington, Milwaukee, page 42. Gives as a reason for the domestic situation that the life of the servant girl is more lonely than the life of the girl who works in the store, shop or factory. “She sees less of society and craves more for social life; added to the fact that the girl who takes up domestic service is not quite as keen and not quite as able to fight her own battle and avoid danger. I think this is more often to be found in the servant girl than in the girl who has taken a posi- tion in the factory or shop.” City No. 59, page 103. Miss “I think somebody answered a question in reference to the large number of down- falls of the domestics. I think that is very largely due to the fact that the average domestic has no place to which she wishes 142 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. to bring a gentleman friend, and sbe therefore resorts to all sorts of places; joy riding to parks and to other places because she does not like to sit in the kitchen -with him, especially if she comes from the country, where the hired girl and the fam- ily are on the same plane. When she comes to the city she can- not recognize the reason ivhy she should receive her friends in the kitchen, while in the country the hired girls go out the front door, and stay with the family, as we know. One great reason is that the domestic servants do not have separate rooms. Architects have not provided separate rooms, except in case of the rich, separate parlors in the young ladies’ home to re- ceive their gentlemen friends. I know a great many girls that think to receive gentlemen friends in a clean kitchen is not all right, and I think it is not all right to the girl. I think the downfall among domestics would be reduced veuy largely if we were to have a decent place in the home to receive a man caller. Girls prefer to work in stores and factories rather than as domestics, because ’ the hours are regular and there is no union for hired girls, and the hours in the stores are regular and they are put upon a different social plane. It is our atti- tude toward our domestic servants that makes domestics prefer to work in the store. I know a girl who worked in store before she came to us. She left a dear friend of hers to go clerking. She said that the reason she came to us was that at the end of the week she had the money we gave her, where- as working in the store she had to pay half or all of it for board, and had practically nothing left. It was the first time she ever tried domestic service and she looked upon it as a great benefit, getting something out of it at the end of the week as compared with the clerk. But there are the hours and all sorts of things, especially where there are children in the family to look after evenings, if their mothers are out. There is a great problem as to hours. Mrs Superior, page 301. “It is a fact that many girls working in domestic service are required to eat their meals in the kitchen or off by themselves ; are required to keep out of the parlors of the homes and keep in a subordinate position, being assigned to bedrooms that are cold, etc. Do those conditions or any of them contribute to the down- fall of domestics? I think that has a great deal to do with making girls discontented. On the other hand, one cannot take them entirely into one’s home, because they simply cease to be servants. They lose their place, and I think as house- wives, if we give them good pleasant rooms and comfortable kitchens, with the privilege of evenings in the dining room — and a large part of them prefer to eat in the kitchen — and the Eeport op. the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 143 privilege of having friends at the house, I think we can elimi- nate a lot of discontent.” Miss , Madison, page 20. “I think the principal reason is that the average domestic is not well educated and is the easiest to prey upon. That has always seemed to me to be the reason. 1 think they are considered as legitimate prey, more than others. 1 think the one thing that is perhaps par- ticularly to blame for it is the fact that the domestics have little recreation where they can meet on a common level or meet people. I think the Y. W. C. A. is doing the best work of any in that line, in having some place to go outside of their working hours. They do some very good work here in that line. 1 believe the reason that they don’t desire to go into domestic service as much as into factories and clerking, is on acconnt of the money domestics receive.” Dr. Sullivan, Madison, page 28. “As far as domestics are concerned, they have few friends. Any sympathy extended to them is quickly accepted, and they are betrayed.” , Sheboygan, page 71. “Why do girls prefer to work in factories or stores ? 1 think it is a matter of independ- ence, so they can do as they please. And there is something about servants; — they are really looked down upon, and it is not just. It is not just when you hear the ladies go into the store and speak about their servant girls. It is natural for the girls to say: “We can be independent.” I do not feel that the factory girl or the girl working in the store is a bit above them. They seem to like to get in contact with more people. It seems to be nicer for young girls to be in company. They do not like to be just at one home. They meet all kinds of people there as friends, and it seems to me that if they could have the same hours and nothing more expected of them, it might possibly help some.” Victor Berger, Milwaukee, page 111. A. I can give you a solution right now. If you will give a girl an eight hour day so she will come at seven or eight in the morning, and go home by five, and in the meantime let the lady of the house help or keep two girls ; if you let the hired girl have the evenings to herself and treat her like any other member of the working class, then you would improve her condition immensely, and they would not furnish such a percentage of prostitutes. In my own home we have had a hired girl for sixteen years. We treat her nicely and as a member of the family. Q. Do you have two girls there? A. No sir, one girl. 144 Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. Q. Does she liave an eight hour day? A. No, but I would be willing to give it to her if anybody else did, right aAvay. The mere fact that she stays sixteen years shows she is pretty well satisfied. This girl has her evenings to herself, reads the papers, goes to the theater. She reads the Leader every night and criticises the editorials. Mrs Sheboygan’, page 109. “I believe the rea son girls in domestic service fall is the fact that they have found their work monotonous, inasmuch as they really are not interested in it, and that their early training has not been right. It stands to reason that men should do the providing and women should look after the homes, and if that is done and people are taught that housework is an art and should not be despised, I believe that would be a remedy. I believe that everyone should have some amusement, for ‘ ‘ all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” Mrs Sheboygan, page 120. “There are several reasons why girls dislike housework. One reason is that they are comiielled to put in long hours, working evenings and af- ternoons. When they are done with their work it is usually late. I think they are oftentimes looked down upon by the employer. ’ ’ Mrs , Oshkosh, page 35. “I think girls prefer factory and store work to domestic service, because they have their evenings, and then I think they have a mistaken idea that they are in a little higher station in life if they are working in a factory or store than if they are working in the kitchen. Of course, that is not the fact at all, and the girl who works in the kitchen can make more than the girl who teaches school in the ward school. She can save more money, because it is all clear gain with her. The girl who teaches school dresses much better; she wears out her clothes faster; she has to con- tribute to things that the girl in the kitchen doesn’t have to.” Abortion. At the suggestion of a woman physician of this state, the com- mittee requested its investigators to investigate the prevalence of the practice of abortion, and the sale of drugs and appliances to secure premature birth. The committee was soon furnished with a number of reports showing that there is a large number of phy- sicians and midwives who not only perform operations for abor- tion, but even encourage this practice. This material was secured Keport op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 145 with comparative ease, and in tlie cities where investigations were made along this line, there is abundant evidence of the common- ness of this practice. In one small city the investigators readily found two doctors who were willing to take eases for abortion. In another city six doctors were found. According to the testimony of certain physicians at the hear- ings of this committee , a large majority of applicants for abortion operations are married women. On the other hand, many in- stances were cited in which the evidence showed that unmarried girls are being advised of this way out of a difficulty and were con- sequently more ready to take a chance than they would otherwise be. The spread of this practice undorxhtedly contributes to the growth of prostitution in Wisconsin. There is some discussion of this subject under the head of illegitimacy, to which the reader is referred (page 137). (Reports of Investigators.) Dr City 12%. Found him a very large man, German, who spoke English with a German accent. Has very plainly furnished room. He invited me into a small front ex- amination room. Told him the same story I had told in re- gard to a girl, and that she had sent me. He said, “Sure, I will help her out, and she, needn’t worry about the after effects of it. Mrs knows I have helped out many a girl — some of them in society in this town today — but no one is the wiser, because the doctor and everyone else concerned has to keep still about it.” He said the price was $50.00 cash, — that she would be ill for ten days or two weeks, and that covered the whole amount of treatment. He then said doctors had to be very careful as this is a dangerous business and a penitentiary offense, so required those whom he treated to sign a statement that they had themselves used drugs which he named — with- out his knowledge. Said that made no difference to the girl, but it was a protection to him, in case some one found it out and tried to make trouble. He then asked where she stayed. I said that I thouglit she would try to get a room with some colored person. He said tliey might talk, — she had better go to Mrs. W. X. Y. I then left, promising to let my friend know at once. “I then called at the office of Dr. W. X. K. I waited in the reception room for a few moments and saw him in his private office. I told my story of a girl in trouble. He was willing to take the case, and asked me her a^e. I told him about 16 years. He said his charges were $50.00. He said, “When she comes, lo-v. o. 146 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee, bring ber right up here to me so no other doctor gets hold of her and finds out her plans, as some are a bad lot and might squeal on us and get us all in trouble. Don’t even tell Mrs. W. X. H. that I said I would take the ease. Tell her I turned you down fiat, because, I don’t even let her know any more than she already knows. Not that she Avouldn’t remain true, but for fear she might speak of some of my cases to some friends she thinks are all right but are not.” I left him say- ing I was going at once to my friend. Dr City No. 39, page 16. After wating more than half an hour in her reception room, was admitted to her priv- ate office. I told her a young girl was in trouble and wanted to be helped out before her parents found it out. She asked how far along she was. I said about three months. She said, “She is too far along for medicine to do any good, so I am afraid I can’t touch it, because I don’t want to ruin my practice with such business.” Further said, “Why don’t she go through with it?” My answer was that owing to her mother’s ill health and her social position that she feared the consequences. Then she said, “I know of a woman doctor who does such things; in fact that is about all her practice now. It has become gener- ally known that she takes such cases, although I don’t like' her for it. If you go to her, I am sure she will do it.” She further named her price. Also said, “She has also stuck some girls, for all there was in it after she found the fellow or her folks would come across, so watch out for that. She is Dr I left for that address. City 56, page 70. Found Dr. WX. 7 in his office. Was ad- mitted to his private office. It was in such disorder, trash, bottles, papers, and clothing scattered everywhere that it might have been taken for a free-for-all instead of a physi- cian’s consultation room. I told him my story of a friend in trouble about four months along, who Avanted to be helped out of it before her parents discovered it. He said he would take the ease but the difficulties were to find a place Avhere she could be safely hidden from gossip. He said that the doctors watch each other very closely since ’s conviction and sentence to state’s prison. Further said he Avould place her in a sanitarium Avhere she could get splendid care for $100 and would be well in a week ; that he Avould make all arrange- ments for her admittance and accompany her there himself. City 56, page 71. Found him Avilling to take the ease. Said, “Send your friend in to make arrangements, as I Avould want to talk to her so as to be sure she would keep still.” I 147 Keport op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. said she was at (city) and had asked me to make ar- rahgements for her so she would be cared for when she came. Then he said that was a different matter. “If she hasn’t her own home here where she can be cared for until she is all right, it will be hard to find a place where she could stay through such an illness without it becoming known, so I cannot do any- thing for her under these circumstances. I can make an exam- ination of her and send her to a doctor friend of mine in Chi- cago, who has an office where she can be eared for.’’ I said, “Could she go direct to him in Chicago?’’ He said, “No, I would have to make an examination first, then give her a card with a special mark on it, so the case would be accepted as all right. Otherwise she would be turned down. She can remain here at the hotel where she will be attended to properly, and the best of accommodations given and care taken for $100.00.’’ This sum was named after stating the prices at the different stages. He said she would be all right again in a week. I left him with the expectation that my friend would see him Mon- day.- Dr City 68, page 197. After waiting in the par- lor, was admitted to her private office and told her my story of a friend in trouble. She asked me how far along, and I said I thought about three months. She said she would give her some medicine for $5.00 that was sure to cause miscarriage, but would not perform aii operation, even though the medi- cine failed. Said she had given this medicine in many cases, and it so powerful that they say it has never failed to work. Then said, in case it should not work in my friend’s ease, she can go to Dr I have been told a number of times that he performs operations and success seems to attend them. I left her undecided as to what my friend would do about her operation. LAW ENFOECEMENT. The most effective recommendation that this committee can make to improve moral conditions is that the laws and ordinances now on the statute books be strictly enforced. In many of those cities where saloons and liquor interests dominate the nomination and election of public officials the moral and excise laws are not enforced. These interests are ever active to secure the nomina- tion and election of men who are in sympathy with their business, regardless of political affiliation. In cities apparently controlled 148 Eeport op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. by li(iuor interests, officers frankly admit that they disregard their sworn duty, for the following reasons ; Because if they perform their duty, public sentiment would not sustain them, and they could not hold their position and secure reelection. Because the general public does not support officers in their efforts to fulfill their oath of office in regard to houses of pros- titution and vice. That they make enemies of the law-breakers and receive no credit from the law-abiding citizens. When he faithfully performs his duty the officer is not commended as a faithful servant. That it is not the duty of officers to institute proceedings; that they are to act only after some private citizen has taken the initiative, made complaint, and obtained the evidence, and that then they wall serve papers and try eases. The usual ex- cuses offered are, in the words of district attorneys, sheriffs, police, etc. : "I do not consider that I am a sleuth.” “I do not act on gossip or reputation.” “The public does not assist me.” “Juries will not convict.” “The public does not give me credit for acts done.” “I know of open houses, but no one complains.” “I think by closing these houses it Avould make the city worse.” “I think public sentiment wants them to run and justifies my violating my oath of office.” I don’t enforce those laAVS (against practices) that I belicA'e will not do harm.” “I think it (a house of prostitution) is a necessity.” “There are a lot of statutes I do not believe in and Avill not prosecute without a warrant.” “It is not my duty to see that they (houses of prostitution) are cleaned up.” “The sentiment of the people is the controlling force regard- ing enforcement of law.” “I think my judgment is better than the judgment of the legislature or common council, as a guardian of the morals of the city.” “My judgment is as good, if not a little better, than some others making laws on this subject.” “My oath of office does not bind me to enforce any law.” “My oath of office means that I shall use my judgment.” A few of the statements follow : Statement of District Attorney, La Crosse, page 104. “I have an obligation regarding the investigation of crime and Report of tpie Wisconsin Vice Committee. 149 in secnring evidence if crime is reported to me, but not until after it is reported or I have some knowledge. I do not go far on gossip or reputation. I do not consider that I am a sleuth as well as a prosecuting attorney.” Page 57. “I will say right here that nine out of ten will criticise before they will assist, and they will file complaints, and Avhen it is run doAvn there is nothing to it. If they would only assist one-half as much as they criticise, we Avould cer- tainly have a model government in this county. We are not looking for praise. We are giving service to the people, and it is our duty to do what is right and what is fair, but of course kind words said Avhen you perform acts, — we all know that helps.” Statement of District Attorney, Oshkosh, page 48. “Noth- ing has been done with the Linley LaAV. As I understand, it is a civil proceeding to get an injunction. My position on that Avas that if they closed there Avas no necessity of using that laAV. If they remained open and juries Avould not convict, then Ave could resort to that laAv.” Statement of Sheriff , Sheboygan, page 130. “I haA^e had information that there Avere three houses of prosti- tution running in this city. There have been no complaints, and they are not objectionable here. As to Avhy I did not close these houses, let me say that Ave have about six hundred Greeks in this city Avho are single, three or four hundred Lithuanians, and about as many Austrians. A large number of the foreign people Ave have are single men, and I think by closing these houses it Avould make the city Avorse than it is. I admit that if a crime is being committed you do not need a complaint, but in these eases no complaints ever come to me at any time. My adAuce is that I think if Ave did close the houses, Ave Avould have a Avorse state than Ave had before. I don’t think I could better it any by doing my duty. I understand that half of the pros- titutes’ earnings, in this city, is paid to the madam they live Avith, and I knoAV a felony is being committed Avhen a person receives these moneys, and he is subject to punishment in the penitentiary. My justification to the people of this county for permitting this crime to continually be committed here is to protect others. If stealing Avere going on I Avould not consider the effect on the other parts of the city, but would certainly stop it. I tbink that public sentiment Avants it to run, and that justifies me to a certain extent, in Adolating my oath of office.” Statement of , Chief of Police, Sheboygan, page 142. “I am aAvare of minors playing pool and billiards in the 150 Eeport of Wisconsin Vice Committee. pool rooms at the age of about nineteen or twenty, and know that it is a violation of the state law. I was thinking that while they were in there they were out of trouble, as long as there is no gambling allowed ivith pool, and I did not think there was any harm. I don’t enforce those laws that I think will not do harm.” “In regard to the house Avhich was ordered closed, I have explained to some of those who signed that petition that they can go on the stand and swear to it. I have talked with a num- ber of people, and the general opinion of the people of the city seems to be that it would be best to run those houses.” Statement of Sheriff, Marinette, page 31. “There are a lot of statutes that I do not believe in and I would not prosecute without a warrant. There are certain things that I would not enforce here because the people of the community do not want them enforced. I am elected by the people of this county, and there will be no crime committed in the coimty as long as I am sheriff and I can avoid it. I don’t care whether the saloons are open on Sundays or not ; I am not mayor. It is not my duty to see that they are closed up. I know the saloons are open on Sunday, and I know the people of this town want it. I don't know whether it is a part of my duties or not. I would recom- mend that vou change the laws on certain things, consider- ably.” Statement of Chief of Police, Green Bay, page 60. “The keeping of the saloons open on Sunday is an open violation of the law. I never informed the officers to enforce the state law or informed myself. I never was informed not to enforce it. The saloons in this city are open on Sundaj^, and they have a right to be, as I understand it. I understand we have in the city a house of prostitution where liquor is sold. If not, they will get it there pretty quick. They most assuredly have a gov- ernment permit. AVe have had no complaints. You would not know the thing was running.” Statement of Mayor, Green Bay, page 72. I have not di- rected the police to take action against the houses of prostitu- tion, because I think it is perhaps best for the morals of the people that they run, and I do not think it is violating my oath of office. I think if the committee Avere in my position and could see things as I see them they Avould take the same stand. I think public sentiment is generally in favor of allow- ing the chief of police to perform his duties to the best of his knoAvledge and belief. The sentiment of the people is the con- trolling force regarding the enforcement of law.” Eepoet of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 151 Page 74. “I think my judgment as guardian of the morals of the city of Green Bay in a way is better than the judg- ment of the legislature or the common council.” Statement of Chief of Police, Fond du Lac, giage 40. “Pub- lic sentiment is the cause of the nonenforcement of law. I take my orders from the Mayor, on the sporting house proposition. I believe that the police of this city could enforce the law so a Avoman would be protected if those houses were closed. I knoAV road houses are a bad thing as to assisting the enforce- ment of the law of this city.” Statement of Mayor of Ashland, page 104. “It would take me and the chief of police fifteen minutes to close that district, if I said so.” From the above it appears that drastic measures must be taken to cause officers either to enforce the law or resign. If the laws in force are wrong and cause injury to the public, they ought to be repealed. Laws are the greatest educators, but laws not en- forced are the greatest enemies to the community, in breeding disrespect of law and its enforcement. For the easier enforce- ment of laws, all officers should recognize the binding force of their oath of office. For the improvement of conditions due to commercialized vice, the liquor traffic and allied interests, the following recommenda- tions are made : In order that definite information may be obtained the committee believes there should be a systematic handling of complaints and permanent records should be made, and that it should be the duty of every law enforcing officer to file and index in his office, for public inspection, every complaint or anonymous communication that comes to him and attach to it a written report of his action upon it. By this method the state Avill put its police department on an efficiency basis, and will have a record as to whether or not the facts reported have been dealt with. Provision should be made for obtaining access to these reports at any time the public is desirous of knowing the conditions. With knowledge that the public may investigate their actions and any explanations that may be offered, it appears that more painstaking investigations would be made by law enforcing* officers. 152 Eepokt of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. Direct regulation of the liquor traffic. Abolition of wine rooms, palm gardens, family entrances and stalls. No one can read the reports of investigators or the testimony of witnesses taken at the hearings, as to the cause of the downfall of girls, and not he convinced at once that more women have fallen on account of their use of liquor, and because of frequenting wine rooms, palm gardens or saloons with bed accommodations, than from any other cause. This condition is found to exist, as shown by the extracts of reports and testimony referred to hereinbefore, and furnishes the reason for the reports and recoimnendations of district attorneys of this state. When we take into consideration the fact that seventy-five per cent fall before they arrive at the age of twenty-one years (the Philadelphia Eeport showing that of a total of 136, 134 fell before the age of twenty-one years ; the Bed- ford Eeformatory Eeport showing 93 1-3 per cent; the Hartford Eeport showing 36 out of 53) and the further fact that the chief immediate cause of downfall is drink, it becomes of serious con- cern to the state. The law now provides that no liquor shall be sold or given away to any persons under twenty-one years of age, but, in most of the cities of the state, it is evident that there is little effort made to enforce the law. In the cities where flagrant immorality exists, proprietors of saloons and palm gardens do not appear to recognize this law as applying to women. The best solution of this difficulty is to put into statute law the follow- ing, which, in substance, is the recommendation of fifty-two dis- trict attorneys* of this state: The law should pro^ude that if a saloonkeeper desires the trade of women, he should provide a separate room for them, with no connection with that por- tion used for males; and that neither sex should be permitted to be or remain in that portion used by the opposite sex. On account of the abuses growing out of stalls, paiditions, etc., in saloons, and the use of “family entrances,” many cities, by or- dinance have forbidden the use of the same. This should be made a law of the state, and the violator should be punished by automatic revocation of his license. ♦Being all of the district attorneys who answered the question sub- mitted as to whether or not women should be permitted in wine rooms or saloons with the opposite sex. Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 153 , : _ Forbid the sale of liquor at all dances. The testimony is that not only are wine rooms and palm gar- dens connected with saloons, but also that they are frequently connected with immoral dance , halls or that there is a saloon nearby, to which couples may go directly from the dance, or from which lic^uor is taken to the dance hall. Past legislation has rec- ognized the evil effect of drink upon girls and young men attend- ing dances where liquor is sold, and the demoralizing effect upon them in being permitted to attend such dances unaccompanied by the father or mother. (For statute see section on dance halls.) While the statute apparently seeks to protect the girl from debauchery, by forbidding her to attend dances in such places unless “accompanied by her father or mother” (the statute does not say guardian or friend), in most cases neither parent is present. The statutes (section 1557), further provide that “no person shall sell or give away to any minor, intoxicating liquors, even by the written order of the parent or guardian of the minor.” It is rather difficult to find the. reason wihich prompted the legislature to place the temptation to drink, before women seventeen years of age and over, in dance halls ; and it is difficult to understand why this limitation was not fixed at twenty-one years at least, as that is the lowest legal age at which licpior may be sold or given away to any person. At one dance attended by one of our investigators on a Satur- day night before the committee hearing at that city, twenty-five girls under fifteen years of age were in attendance, and a police officer was present part of the time. That dance hall had two bars to supply the drinks, and the girls “as the night wore on became grossly intoxicated, and the scenes were too terrible to de- scribe. ’ ’ This dance continued until about three o ’clock Sunday morning. The manager of the dance hall at the committee hear- ing admitted on the stand that all conditions described by this investigator were true, except that he did not think that the girls were intoxicated, and finally claimed that their parents were present, though he could name none. That this law is being continually violated in Milwaukee, and that the keepers continually go unpunished is the statement of all witnesses testifying as to dance hall conditions. That liquor is sold to minors is the testimony in .... vs , 157 Wis. 131, 154 Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. a ease growing out of the debauchery of a sixteen-year-old girl, by a young man, after having attended a dance. This condi- tion emphasizes the need for the enactment and compulsory en- forcement of laws that will protect public as well as private rights. Limit the sale of liquor under license to one floor in lot and block mentioned in license. The present law, section 1548 — 3, provides : ‘ ‘ The application for such license shall be in writing and state the kind of license applied for and designate the premises where such liquors shall be sold. ’ ’ This wording seems to be definite, but by construction it has become so indefinite as to mean but little. The Hotel Superior, for example, covers thirteen lots. The saloon is located on two lots and the license is construed to permit liquor to be sold through- out the building and on all the five or more floors of that hotel. In other cities persons are continually being permitted to take liquor from a saloon to an adjoining restaurant, even though under separate ownerships, and it is there dispensed to young girls. The purpose of police supervision is thus absolutely defeated. In the interests of the dealer, as well as in the interests of law enforce- ment, this provision should be made definite, and should limit the place of sale to the floor, lot and block covered by the license. Require a person having a government permit to have a local license, also. By this arrangement a person having a government permit would be required to give a bond, as provided by section 1548 of the statutes, which provides among other things ‘ ‘ that the licensee will keep and maintain an orderly and well regulated house,” This would provide a guarantee that such places would be prop- erly run. The committee finds that in Wisconsin there are over fourteen hundred permits or tax receipts issued by the govern- ment in excess of the number of local licenses issued ; and in the city of Superior 139 more government tax receipts are issued, than local licenses. It is found that every house of prostitu- tion has paid a government liquor tax of $25.00 ; and in Mil- waukee the party or organization giving dances at which liquor is sold, pays the government tax of $25.00, but does not have a local license for the sale of liquor. The city thus loses the local Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 155 license fees. In selling liquor in houses of prostitution, the cus- tomary price is $1.00 per bottle. If a local license also were re- quired, it would not only tend to put out of business very many of these houses, but it would give the city the additional revenue, and by bond would place the responsibility for the proper conduct of houses upon at least two sureties, by law required in the bond, and approved by the authorities granting the license. Forbid the issuance of saloon licenses to any places having direct connection ivith bedrooms or other private rooms. Laws should be enacted forbidding the issuance of a license to any saloon that 'has any means of connection between the saloon and any living rooms at the rear, side or over-head, or any rooms that may be used for immoral purposes. This is one of the worst conditions existing in the saloon business as a breeder of im- morality. Girls and women are taken to these saloons, wine rooms, and palm gardens, and when in a drunken condition, with their mental and physical powers of resistance so deadened by drink that they cannot help themselves, are taken into side rooms, upstair-rooms or other rooms. In all cities of the state where these sleeping apartments can be reached from saloons by inside connections, immorality is most prolific. Laws should be passed doing away with such connections. j Judgment of conviction by a court of any moral and excise laws in saloon should automatically revoke the license. The present method of revoking a license is so complicated and subject to such political influence that unless private individuals are ready to take up the question, the council seldom proceeds even after the saloon-keeper has been convicted of selling liquor in violation of law. Practically a trial and conviction are required before two separate bodies, one before the court, and another, an entirely different process, before the common council. It would seem that no objection could be successfully urged against pro- viding that the judgment of a court after a full and fair trial, should automatically revoke the license. Much good would result from it, through the trial being heard by a judge, free from poli- tical favors or interests. Violation of moral and excise laws should produce automatic revocation of license. 156 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. Request brewers and wholesale liqour dealers to assist in the enforcement of the moral and excise laws by refusing to sell liquor to or furnish bonds for dealers who violate such laws. It is common knowledge that the brewers and wholesale liquor dealers have within their grasp the power that will make saloons fully comply with the state liquor laws. That is by refusing to sell liquor to or furnish bonds for those who wil- fully violate these laws. In some cities it is found that some wholesale dealers have very materially helped to improve condi- tions, and when it is recognized that a large majority of the sa- loons of the state are under the control of brewers, the power that these interests may exert in requiring obedience to law is evident. The effect of cooperation, on the part of the wholesale dealers would be that local dealers 'would be more careful not to violate the laws and that a better class of men would be licensed to carry on the saloon business. Abolish or regulate road houses. (See also “Road Houses,’’ Page 33.) Road houses outside of cities, many of which are regular parlor houses with women inmates, and country saloons with furnished rooms overhead or adjacent, are, according to all testimony, ex- ceedingly detrimental to morals. They are outside of the jur- isdiction and supervision of the police, are in lonely, sparstlj’ set- tled country districts a few miles out from the city, and they furnisli convenient places for immoral men to take young women by cab, automobile or motor cycle for a “good time” and dance. Here young girls, sometimes seeking innocent recreation, are taken and given liqiior, or even drugs, and afterwards taken to tliese furnished rooms. These places should be subjected to the regulations in a previous section recommended for dance halls, saloons with connecting bedrooms, etc., and to the restrictions as to lot and floor, designated in the license. Eeport op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 157 Age of consent should be raised to at least eighteen years in all cases, and twenty-one years in case of previous chaste character.^' We must take into consideration that no possession of a woman is of as much value to her as is her honor ; yet existing laws permit her to yield this in childhood at a period when in her innocence and lack of knowledge she does not comprehend what she is doing nor the frightful consecpiences of her act, thus per- mitting her to sacrifice that which is of far more value to her than her property. At neither fourteen nor sixteen years of age should a young woman be left legally a prey to the lusts of scoundrels who seek her as a victim. It is a self-evident propositio^i that a girl in those unsettled years of puberty cannot fully realize what .she is doing. She is compelled to resist not only her own impulses, but those of her older male companions, for it is usually at the instigation of male adults that advantage is taken of her ignor- ance or her poverty. What harm can come to any human being by placing the age of consent at the age at which al girl may legally marry without the consent of her parent or guardian, or have the right to sell her property, thus giving protection to her person equal to that which the law gives to her property? The only one who can expect to profit by a lower age is the person who preys upon her ignorance and seeks to victimize her in the interest of the brothel. Again, the men who assault the integrity of a young girl are likely to be possessed of those most loathsome diseases, in regard to the existence of which a girl fourteen years of age is absolutely ignorant, hut which are sure to bring upon her and her offspring terrible suffering and disability, and cause society as well as individuals such heavy economic loss. It would seem hut just and right to womanhood that they should he protected, at least until they have reached that age at which the law recognizes that they have power to con- sent to marry, (eighteen years), or to dispose of property in their own right, (twenty-one years). This should be true, especially when we take into consideration the fact that of the two hun- dred and thirty girls at the Industrial School of this state, 67^ *At present the age of consent in Wisconsin is 14 years for all fe- males, and 18 years for females of previous chaste character. 158 Eeport op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. per cent were committed for immorality and all of these were nnder the age of eighteen years when admitted, their average age at time of admission being only 15.1 years, their average men- tality, as determined by the three recognized tests, being only that of a child ten years old. In the Philadelphia Eeport it is stated that of ninety-nine girls fifty-four fell before they were eighteen years of age. In the Bedford Eeformatory Eeport it is stated that 70 per cent fell before they were twenty-one years of age and 50 per cent before they were eighteen years of age. It further appears from psychological tests that more than 50 per cent of the girls who fall are not of full normal ability (IMass- achusetts Eeport). From this it would appear that it should be the duty of the state to throw about these girls this safeguard to virtue, and to raise the age of consent from 14 and 18 years, as it is now, to 18 and 21 years respectively. Eleven states of the Union now have fixed the age at 18 years as the minimum, and one state has fixed it at 17 years. Twenty- five states, including England and Canada, have fixed the age at sixteen years for all. In replying to the questionaire sent to the district attorneys of this state, of fifty-five district attorneys answering, thirty-two favor raising the age of consent to eighteen or more years. Statement of County Judge, Sheboygan, page 107. “There is a very small percentage of sexual immorality due to a lack of sufficient Avage. The usual difiieulty is that the girl is physi- cally developed before she is mentally developed, and that she cannot take care of herself. IMost of these girls who finally go into the houses of ill fame are seduced before they are six- teen years of age, and if they can be taken care of until they are eighteen or nineteen years of age, Avhen their mental de- velopment Avill haAm caught up Avith their physical dcA’elop- ment, they Avill usually stay straight, hut if they are not given protection in the beginning, they Avill go to the deA'il on a fast express, as has been our experience.” Control of Venereal Diseases. The preA'alence of syphilis and gonorrhea among prostitutes and those who cohabit with them is one of the most serious and disastrous effects of commercialized Auce. EA^ery prostitute who has this disease, and none continue in the business long with- out contracting it, is a prolific source of contagion to those who frequent houses of prostitution. The so-called medical ex- Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 159 animations which, many uninformed people consider to be a safe- guard against infection are worse than useless. At best, these examinations are superficial, and even were they thorough, there would be no insurance in them, because of the fact that the next customer may infect the prostitute and thus make it extremely hazardous for the persons following. These examinations or- dinarily take place once a week, although there is evidence in the possession of the committee of one case in which the prosti- tute had a “certificate of health” which was dated for three weeks in advance, because of the fact that the physician who cus- tomarily made an examination, wms going away on his vacation. Yet, among the uninformed people, it is not uncommon to hear the statement that such and such a prostitute is “safe,” because she has been subjected to medical examination and declared free from disease. Syphilis and Gonorrhea. To those who are well informed regarding venereal disease, there is nothing more appalling than syphilis and gonorrhea. The terrible ravages of these diseases, not only upon the culprit who through an immoral act becomes infected, but also upon the innocent persons, wife or child or stranger, who may be infected by contact, shoAv that no provisions can be too carefully and fully made to prevent the further dissemination of these two diseases. One has only to visit a public clinic and see the diseased and wrecked bodies of persons suffering from syphilis and gonorrhea to be fully impressed with the necessity of public action to stamp out these diseases. The records of insane asylums, penitentiaries and hospitals furnish abundant collateral reasons. Reporting of Venereal Disease. There are many proposals before the public for the suppres- sion of these diseases. One of the provisions of the laws of Wis- consin is that requiring physicians to report eases of venereal diseases which come under their treatment. This law is not ex- tensively complied with. There should be further provisions for the levying of fines for neglect of this public duty. The preval- ence of venereal disease is a matter of public concern and should be so considered by physicians who treat persons afflicted. There 160 Ekport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. is a possibility that a provision allowing a small fee for the re- porting of venereal disease, might be valuable. It has been sug- gested that a law requiring the reporting of gonorrhea and syp- hilis by name and address of the patient would be a valuable in- novation. However, such a law would be even less complied with than the law which requires reporting by number, and there is but little question that the first step in securing records of vener- eal disease in any state or city is to secure the reporting by num- ber. Even such reporting would furnish valuable statistics upon which to base public treatment of this health problem. The law above mentioned is given in the following paragraph. Infectious diseases; Reports in all municipalities by Physi- cians and others. Section 1416-1. (Wis. Stats.) It shall be tbe duty of every physician to report to the department of health in every town, incorporated village or city, in writing the full name, age and address of every person suffering from any one of the infectious or contagious diseases following, to Avit : hleasles, small-pox, diphtheria, (membraneous croup), .scarlet fever, (scarlatina), typhoid fever, tuberculosis (of any organ), rubella (rotheln), chickenpox, typhus fever, plague, erysipe- las, asiatie cholora, Avhooping cough, cerebrospinal meningitis, yelloAv fever, acute anterior poliomyelitis and ophthalmia ne- onatorum; and it shall be the duty of eveiw person, owner, agent, manager, principal or .superintendent of any public or private institution or dispensary, hotel, boarding or lodging house, in any such toAvn, incorporated village or city, to make a report in like manner and form, of any inmate, occupant or boarder suffering from any of tbe said infectious or contagious diseases. It shall also be tbe duty of every physician to re- port by number all eases of SA'philis and gonorrhea occurring in his practice, to the state board of health, at such time and in such manner as the state board of health may dii’ect. Public Clinics. Public clinics should be established in every state, and the state board of health should maintain a laboratory in wbieh tests for venereal disease' may be made for all applicants, whether physicians or patients, free of charge. Such a provision would secure valuable cooperation on the part of the physicians of the community, and would render possible the extension of the acth'- ities of health officers as protectors of the public welfare. In some cities, especially in Ncav York, provision has been made for the testing of specimens for gonorrhea and syphilis, and a very large Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee, 161 number of persons utilize this laboratory. In other institutions there are free public clinics in which syphilis and gonorrhea are treated by acknowledged experts. The state of Wisconsin should have some of these facilities. Every large city should have a free clinic, which should be open both during the day and in the even- ing, in order that persons employed may take advantage of such treatment. Venereal Disease Hospitals and Wards. At the present time, it is difficult for a person having a vener- eal disease to secure proper treatment in a hospital. For this reason, it would be much to the advantage of public health if every large city would maintain a venereal disease ward in con- nection with some hospital. This might be accomplished through a system of subsidizing. Better still would be a city hospital with a ward given over to the treatment of these diseases. The state itself should maintain a general hospital which should in- clude a ward for the treatment of venereal diseases. Such dis- eases as typhoid and tuberculosis have for years been recognized as menaces to public health, whereas gonorrhea and syphilis, which are much more prevalent and vastly more disastrous, have been neglected and left unnoticed, because of the reticence of the public in dealing with the subject. Quack Practitioners. The persons most actively dealing with venereal diseases have been the “quacks.” In this state, fortunately, there is a law which to some extent throttles their activities, by forbidding them to advertise. The newspaper advertisement offering a panacea for all sexual ailments is no longer possible in this state. How- ever, there is no question but that a large number of such illegi- timate practitioners flourish, despite the acts of the legislature. The public should make the services of these men unnecessary and undesirable by establishing a set of governmental institu- tions and facilities which would give free treatment of a substan- tial and scientific character. The section of the state law forbid- ding “quacks” to advertise is given below. Sexual and Venereal Diseases ; Advertising; Treatment of; Penalty. Section 4590n.- Any person who shall advertise in any manner, either in his own name or under the name of an- 11— V. 0. 162 Eeport op ti-ie AVisconsin Vice Committee. other person, firm or pretended firm, association, coi'poration or pretended corporation, in any newspaper, pamphlet, circu- lar or other Avritten or printed paper, the treatment and curing of venereal diseases, the restoration of “lost manhood,” or who shall advertise in any manner that he is a specialist in diseases of the sexual organs or diseases of a like nature or produced by like causes, or Avho shall advertise in any manner any medicine, drug, compound or any means whatever where- by sexual and venereal diseases of men and women may be cured or relieved or abortion or miscarriage produced, and the owner, publisher or manager of any neAA-spaper who shall pub- lish any such advertisement or permit or alloAv any such ad- vertisement to be inserted and published in any neAVSpaner OAvned or controlled by him or in AAdiich he has an interest, and any person, firm or corporation AAdio shall sell, otfer for sale, keep for sale, give aAvay or otherAvise dispose of any iicavs- paper, pamphlet, circular, or other Avritten or printetl pepcr containing any such adAmrtisement, shall be guilty of a mis- demeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than tAA’cnty-fiAm nor more than one hundred dollars. Education. In addition to the aboA^e provisions, health departments and reliable agencies should distribute AAddespread OA^er the state in- formation regarding A^enereal disease. The work of such organi- zations as the Chicago Social Hygiene Society, AAdiich has distrib- uted over a million copies of a leaflet on A’enereal diseases, could be duplicated- in the state of AVisconsin with A'ery beneficial re- sults. The committee belieA^e that A'ery much good Avould be accomplished through the periodical publication and distribu- tion by the State Board of Health, of pamphlets similar to those prepared and distributed by the Indiana State Board of Health, such pamphlets to coA'er the essential facts in regard to sex hygiene, venereal diseases, etc. This literature should be placed in the hands of laborers in the factories and mining camps, should be given to young men and young AA'omen in high schools and colleges, and should be so thoroughly spread OA’er the state that the disastrous effects of gonorrhea and syphilis and the im- minent dangers to all persons liaA'ing promiseiions intercourse could not be misunderstood. Dr. Dearholt, City of Alilivaukee, page 92, in ansAi-er to a question bearing on sex hygiene, says: “I do not believe there Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 163 are very many who are competent to teach sex hygiene or the reproduction of life. I think it is hard to secure those who are competent to do it. I do not believe in the promiscuous teaching of it. I think it Avould be a good idea to have it taught in the normals and in the university.” Dr. Harrington of Milwaukee, page 21, testified as follows : “I am strongly opposed to the teaching of sex hygiene in pub- lic schools, for the reason, first, that the parents are umvill- ing that it should be taught, and the will of the parents should be respected. Second, that schools have already undertaken too much for the children that should be done at home. Third, that we have not, and it will be many years, if ever, before we have properly trained teachers to present the subject. It is a most delicate subject to present to the growing child. 1 am in favor of it being taught to parents, and think this could be done by giving lectures to the mothers and to the fathers ; and joint lectures by those competent to do so to fathers and mothers together. I think that much good could be done by giving a course in our normal schools and in our university.” Special Institutions for Immoral Women and. Girls. Unfortunate women and girls, who, after a career of neglect and mistakes, find themselves lodged in prisons, workhouses or reformatories, are not to be considered as outcasts and sub- jects for the anger and displeasure of society. They should be looked upon as persons who have contracted a moral dis- ease, and should be treated accordingly. The best intelli- gence of today places the blame for the mistakes and errors of prostitutes, less upon the prostitutes themselves than upon the shoulders of society. With this conception of the status of immoral women, one can at once go to a consideration of how these social and moral diseases can be cured. The prostitute, with character greatly soiled and reputation damaged seemingly beyond repair, should be sent to an insti- tution where her physical and mental diseases can be ade- quately treated. She should not be considered the prisoner of the state, but the patient of the state. In view of these conceptions, institutions which treat moral disease in a manner parallel to the treatment of a physical dis- ease have been established in some parts of the 'United States. Such an institution is that at Bedford, New York, which is the most notable of its kind in America. Here the woman is 164 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. given educational training, is taught a trade by which she may earn a decent living, is given a thorough physical examination and treated for venereal disease, or any other disorder, is sub- jected to a psychical test and treated for mental disorders, is given the privileges of a gymnasium, and furnished with ample opportunity for clean and wholesome entertainment. All of this work is placed upon a scientific and thoroughgoing basis. The state of Wisconsin, which stands foremost in many social and political reforms, should be provided with an institution of similar character to that at Bedford, New York. The futility and folly of regularly committing an immoral woman to the workhouse or subjecting her to fines would he ridiculous, were it not so disastrous. By means of the fining system, the state profits by the practice of prostitution. Not only this, but such a system stimulates the prostitute to further activities in order that she may pay her fines. Commitment to the workhouse has no other effect than to destroy whatever self-respect the im- moral woman has, and if she is not totally depraved, to degrade her further. Such a system should be immediately abolished. It is worse than useless. It inflicts actual damage. In its place should be substituted sane and humane policies, and an ade- quately equipped institution in which medical and psychologi- cal attention can he given to the prostitute, and ample oppor- tunity furnished for industrial education. Amy person who will take the trouble to become acquainted with the activities and work of the Bedford institution for immoral women will he readily convinced of the value of such an institution for the state of Wisconsin. Care of Unmarried Mothers. Provision should be made for the public care of unmarried mothers, at the time of confinement. Under present circum- stances, these unfortunate women are outcasts and are shunned by an unsympathetic public. They scarcely know where to go. No institution wishes to care for them. The state should pro- vide an institution in which mothers about to give bii’th to i- legitimate children can be eared for during confinement, given competent medical attention, and after the birth of their chil- dren, assisted to a place of decent employment. As the matter stands at present, many of these women are turned out, imme- Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 165 diately upon giving birth, to their children, to shift for them- selves and make an existence as best they can. The result is that many fall from an already unfortunate position to the vastly worse position of public prostitute. Society should have sympathy and pity for the unmarried mother, and should not be the first to east a stone. The way to respectability and de- cent livelihood should be made easy and straight, not forgetting the complexities and difficulties under which many lonely un- protected girls are obliged to live. Employment Bureaus. Evidence before this committee and the experience of other states and cities with employment bureaus indicates that there should be closer regulation of employment agencies. It fre- quently happens that young and inexperienced women are sent to immoral places, or even induced to offer themselves for the purpose of prostitution, through employment agencies. While no large number of eases has been reported in the state of Wisconsin, it is a wise, precautionary measure to provide f or the proper protection of women and girls who are obliged to utilize employment agencies. Most of all, the state employ- ment bureaus should be made popular and efficient, thus putting the dangerous private agency out of business. The committee recommends that every person managing or operating any employment bureau for women, in this state, from which girls are assigned for employment, shall be required to make and file in his office an application card to be signed by the applicant for help, in which shall be stated the business of the place, the nature of the work to be done by the employee, the wages to be paid, and the statement that no immoral prac- tices or persons are permitted on or about the premises; and that the employment agent shall be required, before sending any young girl or woman .under thirty years of age to any place of employment, to make an investigation of the moral conditions surrounding the applicant for assistance and endorse on the application the facts found; and that no employment agent shall be permitted to advise or send any girl or young woman under thirty years of age to any place of questionable character. l66 Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. Morals or Public Welfare Department. The state has departments for the “welfare” of hogs, cattle, and horses, and for the conservation of forests, birds, fish and game. The time has come when the state should consider the welfare of boys and girls with as much seriousness as it does these various objects of property. It is the opinion of a large majority of officers and others examined before the committee that, for the enforcement of the state morals laws and laws regulating practices which natur- ally tend to immorality there should be a central law enforcing body, which should be removed from all local political influ- ences ; that all residents of the state should be given to under- stand that they have the privilege of making confidential com- plaints to this central body and that such complaints will be fairly investigated, and if well founded, the officers of the county or city will be notified of the facts and the evidence sub- mitted to them with a request that the law be enforced; that this central body should be clothed with the authority, upon the failure or refusal of these officers to enforce the law, to cause these laws to be enforced, in a manner similar to the en- forcement of our state health laws. The nonenforcement of the laws in any community of Wisconsin is a serious damage to the state, not only because it permits the criminal to go un- punished, but also because of its effect upon the youth of the state, in breeding disrespect for the law. This laAV enforcing body should have under its authority secret service officers or detectives whose duty it should be to investigate complaints of non enforcement of law and to report thereon. The committee is informed that the Province of Manitoba has a “Morals Inspector”, Hon. Wm. J. Battley, Winnipeg, Manitoba, to whom complaints of a confidential nature are made, and that much good is being accomplished. Report of Philadelphia Commission, page 44. “As our final recommendation we therefore urge you to appoint a permanent commission similar to the committee of 14 of Xew York, which shall utilize the information we have obtained and make effec- tive our recommendations, extending as these do far beyond mere police problems.” Report op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 167 Report of Pittsburgh Commission, page 22. “The Commis- sion recommends the creation of a permanent, nonpartisan, bureau of public morals to deal Avith the social evil, such bu- reau to consist of seven representative men and women to be Separate from the police system with adequate powers and funds for procuring information and enforcing the law by its OAvn officers and agents.” Report of Minneapolis Vice Commission, page 118. “Whether the various recommendations of this report are adopted or not, it will be desirable for this city to have a per- manent moral commission Avhich shall be a recognized civic organization for such purposes as indicated by Prof. Selig- man, and whose immediate functions shall be to assist in carry- ing out the policy of suppressing the social evil as manifested in its various forms. This proposed morals commission should be Avell equipped with trustAvorthy information regarding the present conditions of the social evil in Minneapolis and Avith the necessary poAvers to act for the best interests of the citi- zens in matters of public morals. The proposed organization should be empoAvered to receive complaints from citizens, to investigate and verify such complaints Avhenever possible, and to present them to the jiroper city officers for adjustment. We suggest that such commission shall be composed of representa- tive men and women Avho Avill Avork for the Avelfare of the whole city. ’ ’ “Professor Seligman, of Columbia College, Avho Avas a mem- ber of the Committee of Fifteen, in NeAv York says: ‘The great trouble Avith all our efforts has been the lack of contin- uity of effort. The committee of 15 did Avhat it could, but the community soon lapsed from the state of enthusiasm and high moral force. The flame Avhich burned so brightly for a time died out and so it is Avith most of our efforts at reform.’ He pleaded for the establishment of a permanent commission Avhich Avould continue to study the question from the medical stand- point, the social standpoint, the economic standpoint, and the sociological standpoint and Avhich should assist in preparing legislation and help the administration enforce Avhatever laAvs or ordinances may be deemed desirable.” 168 Report op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT. Punishment of the Male Offender. Well has the Chicago Report said, “It is man’s and not a woman’s problem which we must face today, commercialized by men, supported by men, the supply of fresh victims furnished by men. A man does the punishing to suit a man’s idea.” All fair minded witnesses have severely criticized the action taken by some courts in dealing with male offenders against the moral laws. In most cases the man is only nominally punished and is permitted to escape with only a small fine. The offenses are punished by the minimum penalty provided by the statutes, and offenders are permitted to be booked, on criminal records, under fictitious names. Very often when raids upon these houses are made, the male patrons of houses of ill fame are permitted to escape. The foundation for this unjust discrim- ination between the punishment of male and female offenders undoubtedly lies in the double standard of morality which the public has for so long a time permitted to exist. The more in- telligent and humane courts are beginning to deal with more wisdom and justice in this matter. In the IMorals Court of Chicago and in the Night Court of New York, female offenders are treated with consideration, and their hearings before the court are carried on in such a manner that the morbidlj" curious audience is unable to hear what is said. Technicalities are to a large extent waived, and the real merits of the case are brought out by the judge, through kindly cross examining. There are numerous examples in this state of the failure of courts to infiict just punishment upon men who have been con- victed of crimes against the moral laws. In one ease, for ex- ample, the proprietor of a hotel not only permitted very young girls to be taken to the rooms of his hotel for immoral purposes, but even called these girls to the hotel, thus definitely violating one of the statutes of the moral code. (See Section 4581a, Wisconsin Statutes. ) The punishment provided under this stat- ute is from one to ten years in the state prison. When the man was brought before the court and convicted of this crime, he was fined $50.00 and permitted to go and resume his customary busi- Keport op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 169 ness practices. The girl in the case was publicly censured and severely rebuked by the court. Such a system of fines has little or no effect as a deterrent to immoral practices. It merely per- mits the city or state to profit by taxing immorality. Everywhere there are demands for time sentences for both the male and the female offender, in eases of prostitution. If the man in the pre- viously cited case had been given a term of years in prison, it would have been a lesson not only to him but to the community as a whole, whereas under the fine that was given, he is free to re- sume his immoral practices, if he so desires. This committee strongly recommends the substitution of jail or prison sentences in place of the fining system, for both male and female offenders against moral and excise laws. In this, the committee joins hands with the leading civic and social workers of the country. The Mann Act as Applied to Municipalities. Laws similar to the Federal Mann Act should be enacted in this state, that will apply to traffic in women between the several municipalities of this state. By this means it would be made unsafe for a man or woman to take a woman from one town or city to another for immoral purposes, as is now frequently done. The young girl is taken from the protection of her own munici- pality to a strange town or city where she knows no one to whom she may appeal for protection. This law would also in a large measure, do away with the serious road house problem. The act should apply to either sex, and every person wilfully violating it should be punished by imprisonment, and be subject to extradi- tion as in eases of rape. Bastardy to be Made Extraditable Offense. Under the present laws it often happens that the father of an illegitimate child, in order to avoid paying the penalty for his misdeeds, and in order to dodge the responsibility of contribu- ting to the support of such child, leaves the state. He, in this manner, places himself beyond the reach of our courts. It is apparent that the law should be so amended as to provide a method of securing his return to this state, as in criminal of- fenses. The passage of such a law is recommended by many of the district attorneys of this state, and is endorsed by this com- mittee. 170 Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. INDIRECT MEANS OF IMPROVEMENT. Teaching of Social Hygiene. The subject matter of social hygiene should be taught in normal schools and colleges and universities of the state. A thorough foundation in the elements of physiology and biology- shoidd be laid, and with this foundation, information regarding reproduc- tion, eugenics, venereal disease, feeble-inindedness and insanity, the social consequences of prostitution and other facts reiatiug to social hygiene, should be given. With such training, the stu- dent would be better prepared to intelligently perform his or her duties as a teacher, citizen and parent. In all of this training the ethics of sexual life and of social hygiene in general should be emphasized. Without even considering the possibility that teachers prepared in normal schools and universities could give instruction in sex hygiene, they would be better able to under- stand the lives of the children with whom they must deal, and this is sufficient argument for the incorporation of these courses. This subject is not without sound precedent, since some of the best known normal schools and universities in the country have done something along this line. Social and Recreation Centers. On the constructive side of this problem nothing is more im- portant than the establishment of reci’eation centers, both in the city and in the country. These should be places of clean amuse- ment and healthful exercise. Not only would a development of social centers in the rural districts contribute to the physical well-being of the young people, but such social centers woidd also furnish a legitimate opportunity for social contact, which is scarce in the country. In cities, the social center would be a competitor to the commereialized amusement resorts which too frequently are dangerous ground for inexperienced young people. At all these recreation and social centers, ample opportunity for physi- cal exercise should he given. There should be gymnasiums fully equipped and made attractive by being well supervised. It is an acknowledged fact that persons having good physical develop- Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 171 ineiit and ample exercise are mucli less subject to sexual tempta- tion than tliose whose bodies are weak and undeveloped. Under this same recommendation should be included municipal dance halls. The recreation center should be provided with a place for social dancing, thus robbing the public dance hall of some of its enticements. It may safely be assumed that young people will dance, if not under clean moral supervision, then in places under the management of the saloon and the keepers of resorts. Interest of Parents Necessary. All social centers, playgrounds, etc., would be greatly reenforced in their work if parents would take an active interest in the management and conduct of such places. A place where the whole family is welcome and urged to be present is not liable to be a menace to the morals of the community. Theaters and Moving Picture ShovFS. In another section, considerable attention has been given to moving iiicture shows and theatres. It is only necessary to re- peat that these places should be better lighted, and that the films and acts shown there should be more carefully censored. The Church and Religious Organizations. Religious and educational organizations should turn their at- tention to and have more interest in the amusements of young people. An effort should be made to furnish something, under the auspices of such agencies that may in some degree compete with the attractions of the public dance hall and moving picture show. It is safe to say that in most cities there are five or six times as many people in the moving picture houses as there are in all of the churches combined. The churches and educational in- stitutions have before them the possibility and the duty of furn- ishing a brand of religious teaching that will penetrate into the daily life and conduct of the young people who come under the influence of these organizations. Social Hygiene Societies. The organization of societies for social hygiene and sex in- struction would be of much value. Such organizations should 172 Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. provide lectures on social hygiene, for parents and teachers, and should distribute authoritative printed matter regarding venereal disease, methods of giving sex instruction, and other features of sex hygiene. The social hygiene society could well work in cooperation with churches, Y. M. C. A.’s and Y. W. C. A.’s, schools, labor unions, women’s clubs, etc. There are a number of these organizations throughout the United States, which are rendering valuable service to the communities in which they work. On a larger scale, the American Social Hygiene Association is doing a similar work, organizing new societies, making investi- gations, securing legislation, etc., etc. Responsibility of Parents. Finally, parents should endeavor to inform themselves regard- ing the conditions, physical and social, under which their children are living. The average parent is bewildered by the develop- ments which he sees in his hoy or girl, and by the complexities of the social life in which the parent attempts to bring the child to maturity with healthy body and character. Parents who are not informed regarding the fundamentals of sex hygiene should make it their first duty to secure sufficient information to prop- erly instruct and guide developments of the child. There are numerous publications which furnish scientific and dependable information regarding sex hygiene and the dangers of venereal disease. Emphasis should be laid upon the normal development ; the pathological side of sex hygiene should be brought in only by way of warning. In the last analysis the parent is most highly ~ responsible for the well-being of the child. Churches, public schools, organizations for social hygiene, the institutions estab- lished by the city and the state for recreation and education, can do but little without the active and intelligent cooperation of par- ents. Upon the parents rests the heaviest blame when a young man or young woman goes wrong, and to them should be given the highest praise for every efficient, intelligent and healthful individual that is raised to maturity. Report op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 173 Suppression of Sensational Newspaper Articles, So-Called Sex Plays and Sex Books. Public opiuion should condemn those factors in ordinary com- munity life which tend to excite a morbid interest in sexual mat- ters and especially in vicious practices connected with sexual phenomena. The lurid and sensational accounts given by news- papers of murder, white slavery, vice conditions hi cities, crime and fraud undoubtedly have a detrimental effect on the mind of the child who reads them. The power of suggestion of these morbid stories leads the interest of the child in directions that are not healthful and arouses a morbid curiosity regarding the condi- tions under which criminals and prostitutes live. Some editors contend that this is the sort of reading matter the public demands. It is probably true that a certain portion of the public demands this type of reading, but it is also true that the appetite is culti- vated by the newspapers. The newspapers, therefore, supply a demand which they have by their own efforts created. The news- paper editor who sincerely recognizes his paper as an educational instrument will take the initiative in reducing and minimizing the amount of space given to crime and increasing the space given to political and social development. The contention made by the newspapers is also voiced by the theatrical managers, that the public demands the sensuous and often unethical sex play. It is an auspicious time for the public to condemn plays that suggest immoral conduct and entirely lack an ethical standard. The United States postal regulations al- ready make it impossible to send the most obscene and vulgar printed matter through the mails, but there is, undoubtedly much damage done by the suggestive novels which receive such wide distribution. An intelligent public opinion that would condemn these three important educational agencies, that would demand clean journalism and moral plays and clean reading matter would go a long way toward eliminating the morbid conditions which exist in the minds of many young people. These are matters which are difficult to touch by legislation, but easy to control by public opinion. The theater can be more carefully censored, but the newspapers and novels are more difficult to reach. It is not, however, a hopeless task, for an intelligent community can ob- ject to such newspapers and such books in a most effective way, that is, by not purchasing them. 174 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. SUMMARY OF CERTAIN PREVIOUS RECOMMENDA- TIONS, WITH ADDITIONS. Relating’ to Law Enforcement. The committee recommends 1. That a morals court be established in cities of the first class, with exclusive jurisdiction over all cases involving moral oft'enses. 2. That a law similar to the Mann Act of the United States government, applicable between cities, villages and towns of this state, be enacted. 3. That police departments be required to keep, file and index all written complaints made to them, with a report of their find- ings and action thereon, such complaints to be open to the inspec- tion of the complainant and to all law enforcing officers of the state. 4. That a permanent State Police Department be established in this state, with power to investigate immoral practices, the rea- sons for nonenforcement of the law in any and all communities of this state, and power to enforce the law in case the local law enforcing officers fail to do so. Such department should be au- thorized to select a competent chief executive officer and a clerk, and should have under its direction and control for the service of law enforcing officers of the state a limited number of secret serv- ice men, who, upon request of local law enforcing officers or tlm chief officer of the department, should be required to investigate and report to local law enforcing officers and to the department, facts regarding any breach of the moral laws or laws regulating practices which naturally tend to immorality in any community of the state. Such department should also have authority to en- force such laws in any and all cases where the local law enforcing officers neglect or refuse to do so, such action to take place only after the local law enforcing officers have been informed and have been furnished evidence of such breaches of the moral laws or laws regulating practices which naturally tend to immorality. 5. That local communities, cities and towns, organize private associations to assist officers in the enforcement of such laws. 6. That in the trial of misdemeanors, when a jury is called the verdict of five-sixths of the members of such jury shall be sufficient to convict or acquit. Report op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 175 7. That provision be made for the extradition of persons charged with bastardy, as in criminal offenses. Relating to Saloons and Other Dispensers of Alcoholic Bever- ages. The committee recommends : 1. That the excise laws be so amended as to prohibit the sale of li(|Uor within or in connection with any hall or place where public dances are held or permitted to be held. 2. That the application and license for the sale of intoxicating li(piors be recjuired to state the floor, lot and block of the premises on which the liquor is to be permitted to be sold under the license, and restrict such sale to such described premises. 3. That every person who has paid a government liipior tax for the sale- of liquor be required also to obtain a local liquor license before being permitted to dispense alcoholic drinks. 4. That the application and license to sell intoxicating liquors shall provide that the premises where such liquors are sold, in addition to the front entrance or entrances shall have only one rear entrance and that all entrances shall open onto a street, alley or other open grounds ; and that all screens and blinds shall at all times be removed from such entrances. 5. That upon a plea of guilty or upon conviction or upon nolle contendere, for violation of any of the moral laws or laws regu- lating practices which naturally tend to immorality, the judg- ment of a court shall automatically revoke the license of the licensee, when a certified copy of the judgment has been filed Avith the licensing body. 6. That no stalls, family entrances or private ivine rooms be permitted in any saloon. 7. That no saloon or wine room or cafe having a license to sell liquor be permitted to have or maintain any direct connection leading from such saloon, wine room or cafe to any room above or at the side or in the rear of such saloon, Avine room or cafe, and that such direct connections noAv existing be immediately and permanently closed. 176 Eepokt op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. Relating to Dance Halls. The cominittee recommends ; 1. That at all public dance halls the sale or other dispensation of any liquor by any person be absolutely forbidden. 2. That all public dance halls be required to procure licenses from the authorities mentioned in section 1518, Wisconsin statutes, and be subject to the rules and regulations made by such authorities. 3. That dances held in public halls, by the terms of such licenses be supervised by a police woman or other competent offi- cer. 4. That the pass* system now used in many public dance haUs be forbidden by law. Relating to Hotels, Lodging Houses, etc. The committe recommends: 1. That all hotels, rooming houses and lodging houses be re- quired to secure licenses from the authorities mentioned in sec- tion 1548, Wisconsin statutes. 2. That hotels, rooming houses and lodging houses be required to keep permanent registers of the names of all guests, such names to be signed in the guest’s own handwriting and such registers to show the hour of assignment to rooms and the hour of surrender of rooms, and that penalties be provided against persons register- ing under fictitious names, or giving false addresses in register- ing. 3. That each hotel and rooming or lodging house be required to have securely and permanently posted hi a conspicuous place on the outer front entrance, a metal plate bearhig the name of the owner of such building, and the name of the lessee, if any, in let- ters of such size that the same may easily be read from the street. (The report is that in states where this law is in use this publicity of ownership has had a very beneficial effect in cleaning up these places. It would also be of value in enforcing the in- junction and abatement law.) *The use of a pass permitting persons to go in and out of the dance hall without paying a second entrance fee has been found by the com- mittee to facilitate immoral practices. 177 Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. Relating to Women. The committee recommends: 1. That every state or county institution to which women or children are or may be committed, except jails and poor houses, be required to have one or more women on its board of man- agers. 2. That every city of the first, second or third class appoint and retain one or more police women for the protection and care of women and children. 3. That the age of consent be raised from fourteen years in the case of any female and eighteen years in the ease of a female of previous chaste character, to eighteen and twenty-one years respectively. 4. That in the industrial home for women now being con- structed, a ward or apartment be equipped with proper hospital facilities for the treatment of venereal and other diseases, and that such industrial home also be equipped with a psychological laboratory for the study and treatment of mental disorders ; girls and women convicted of immoral practices to be committed to such industrial home for treatment and training. Relating to Education. 1. That the public school systems of all cities of the first, sec- ond and third classes provide special classes for subnormal chil- dren, such classes to have in charge skilled teachers, who shall give the specialized instruction and training calculated to secure the best development of such subnormal children. 2. In order to make compulsory education effective the com- mittee recommends that, where necessary, free textbooks, meals and clothing be furnished to needy children. 3. In order that adults who desire to fit themselves to engage in the profession of teaching may acquire that knowledge of child life which should be possessed by every teacher, it is rec- ommended that the principles of social hygiene be taught in the normal sehools, universities, colleges and other institutions en- gaged in preparing teachers for their life-work. 12— V. o. 178 Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. General Recommendations. The committee recommends that social neighborhood centers be developed in connection with our school system. The committee recommends that municipalities provide prop- erly supervised amusements, particularly concerts, moving pic- ture shows, and other like entertainments. The committee recommends that employers of domestic serv- ants be recpiired to furnish such domestic servants with a suitable room in which to receive comiianj". The committee recommends that the number of hours of labor for domestic servants be fixed by law. The committee recommends that the rights of the laboring class be protected. The committee recommends adequate insurance against pov- erty. Summary. All of the foregoing recommendations for improvement may be summarized by urging that the intelligent, public spirited por- tion of every community and of the state take an aggressive atti- tude toward the whole problem of the social evil. Educators, social workers, ministers, doctors, lawyers, tradesmen, laborers, public officials and every group in the community should look upon the problems of commercialized vice as their problems and their responsibilities, and, clearly seeing them, should maiutam an active and open-minded attitude, secure solidarity of effort and become aggressive in securing the repression of commercial- ized vice in every community. Such solidarity and such aggres- siveness would bolster up and stimulate public officials to do their duty against prostitution, and secure the enforcement of the present laws of this state, which, if consistently enforced, would permanently disable and throttle the activities of the exploiters of prostitution. Without a hopeful attitude toward this whole question, success is impossible. Intelligent men must believe in the forward march of society. They must belieA'e that the social order is changing, and changing continually for the better, and that things formerly impossible' have now become possible. This optimistic view of society makes possible the willingness to try new methods of con- 1 Report op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 179 trolling old problems, whereas the pessimistic view forecloses any possibility of initiating reform. With the present intelligent and scientific methods of approaching the problems of commercialized vice and its attendant evils, the opportunities for actual accom- plishment are greater than ever before in the history of the w’orld. The very fact that the people of the United States have recognized the social evil and have investigated it and studied it and enacted laws for its suppression, is an indication of the be- lief of the American people that progress can be made. The age-old problem must succumb to the scientific methods and the enthusiasm of the twentieth century. '!’he program of progress in relation to eoimiiercialized vice strikes first at the flagrant and obvious practices which any critic- ally-minded observer can see in large cities. It deals a blow first at the (ioii]mercialized form of prostitution, securing the enact- ment, for instance, of the injunction and abatement law which makes it extremely hazardous for a property owner to permit prostitution to take place upon his premises. It points to the separation of drinking resorts from dance halls, and makes the sale of liquor to minors a penal offense. It throws protection about the woman who stands in danger of becoming the victim of the lust of man, and severely punishes the man, who is almost invariably the aggressor. Meanwhile, the attention of social workers and educators is turned to the constructive side of the problem, and the opportunities for young persons to remain morally clean are increased. Both the negative side, covering the repression of evil that already exists, and the positive side, making the multiplication of vice more difficult, must be empha- sized in order to successfully combat this evil. The social workers and educators interesting themselves primarily in the construc- tive educational side, the physicians and sanitarians woi'king for the final elimination of venereal disease, the lawyers and govern- ment officials handling directly the legal phases of vice, and the parents and private citizens continually invoking public, opinion to aid them, are united in the hope and belief that evils too long tolerated should be abolished by the collective activity of an en- lightened and aroused society. 180 Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. APPENDIX. Law Enforcement. Troop on Public Officers. Section 368 : — •' ‘ The county attorney is liable to removal when he refuses to prosecute for violations of the liquor law because he believes public sentiment of the community is against the prose- cution of such eases.” (32 Kansas 14. Affirmed in 112 U. S. 201 .) “When the law has been violated, he (the county attorney) is not to consider the sentiment of the county or community in which he resides, before deciding whether he shall prosecute. It is his duty to prosecute all violations of the law brought to his at- tention, -without fear or favor, and without regard to the senti- ment of the community where the violators reside. The sentiment is not and must not be the guide or controlling influence to a county attorney, whether he shall prosecute a person who is guil- ty of violating the law. The state has adopted a certain policy looking to the inhibition of the sale of intoxicating liquors as a beverage, by the enactment of a prohibitory law, and it is the duty of the county attorney to obey that law and comply -with the duties imposed, whether they are pleasant or not.” (page 27.) “After the utterance of his oath, he cannot sit do-wn -with folded hands and refuse to perform the duties imposed on him, on the ground that the sentiment of the community or county in which he resides is in opposition to the criminal laws of the state, and the same duty devolves on every sheriff, mayor and police officer.” (page 42.) Typical Life Histories. Many “madams” and inmates of houses of prostitution were called before the committe in executive session, and requested to make a statement as to the circumstances which induced them to enter upon such a life. They were given the assurance of the committee that their identities would not be disclosed, and that so far as possible their statements would be treated as confiidential. In the following pages are given the stories of two such ma- * dams. Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 181 Statement of WXS, City No. . . . ., page 145. “I am forty- six years old. I was a school teacher before I was married. I have been twice married. My first hnshand died. I left my sec- ond husband because of his unnatural desires, which were re- pugnant to me. He has since died. My resources finally were so low that I had to look around for something to do. 1 did not care for school teaching, for which I had been fitted in my younger days. One day I answered an ad, which led to my be- coming housekeeper in a sporting house. This was the first time I had ever been in a resort. I knew, however, what I was doing. For the first month I worked gratis, but to make things easier for me, the woman in charge gave me the cigar privilege, that is the profits from the sale of cigars. The woman had taken a liking to me, after the first month, and she gave me $10.00 a week and the cigar privilege, which sometimes netted $4.00 or $5.00 a night. It was a $5.00 house. The patrons were gen- erous. I do not care for drink; I never frequent saloons and palm gardens. Soon I had about $300.00 saved, and when the woman who ran the house decided to leave the city and of- fered the house to me, I took it. It was simply a matter of a livelihood for me. “I never have had intercourse with men promiscuously. I will not say that I never have had, but never promiscuously; never for money. I received the money that other people have taken in, but I never have sold my own body. “I sold out my house in M and went to San Fran- cisco, but had only been there about a year when the earth- quake left me penniless. I got free transportation to Chica- go, and was there offered a house in M I borrowed money from friends and took the house. I made wonderfully good money. “I have never made less than $10,000 a year, but I have saved little, for there isn’t a more charitable lot of people in the world than the sporting women. I gave not a cent to the police, but to charitable organizations, sisters of religious or- ganizations, the Salvation Army, beggars, friends, and people in distress: “I usually had from six to eight girls in my house. It was a $2.00 house. The girls got 50% of the earnings, and they paid "ho board. Unless I was certain that girls could take care of themselves, they had to be examined, and no man can ever say he got diseased in my house. ‘ ‘ Girls do not usually have their first relations with men for pay. Most of them have been betrayed. And many, many — I will not say a majority, but many, many of the girls have been married. I have known times when most of the girls in my house were girls who have been married. They were mis- 182 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. treated l)y their iutshands or were there for some other cause; hut, of course, that is no reason for people being in a house. “I never paid to have girls brought to my house. I treated them well, and I coidd get all I Avanted. As to having agents soliciting trade for my girls, I Avill say, no, nothing of the kind. “The mentality of the girls is all right, hut you Avill find as a rnle they are not educated girls. The educated giid was the exception. The Catholic religion seems to predominate among the sporting girls, though I cannot say why. I know that a majority of the girls that have lived Avith me haA*e been of the Catholic religion. There must be something lacking in their training, and yet they are more religiously trained than the other denominations. They haA'e more religion trained in- to them, and yet they seem to fall. “If drink Avere taken from these places, they would go out- side and get it, and I liaAm found it is Amry much better if you have girls in your house and they Avant a bottle of beer, to let them have it. I never cared A'ery much aboAit selling drinks, because I don’t like to haA’e my girls drink. When the liquor Avas taken out of the houses here, I cannot say that my busi- ness decreased to any great extent, because I presume I neA’er catered very much to the drinking element. I neA’er sold A'ery much drink. I used to accommodate the girls. I ahvays had it in the house and Aised to accommodate my girls more than I did the men. If a girl Avanted a bottle of beer I Avould let her have it. Most of the girls liked to drink. I haA’e had girls that did not drink at all. I liaAm had girls that ahvays set their glasses back on the tray, and I have ahvays done that myself. I don’t eare for drink and I don’t care for the effects. “If I conld have my Avay of running a house, and I Avanted to run a house — Avhich I hope I may neA’er Avish to do again — I think the Avay I Avould like to haA’e things done Avould be if a man really feels the call of nature and feels that he lAiust haA’e that, to have him come in and get Avhat he Avants and walk out. I don’t belioA’C in all this entertainment. That is Avhat' draAvs the business. You knoAv those kind of houses — in fact all houses — have beeii that Avay Avhen they had those enter- tainments. It Avas a lot of “Hurrah Boys,’’ and maybe nine out of ten men that come in only Avanted to haA’e some music and dancing, unless they Avanted to buy a drink. “I have never contributed to any campaign fund. The only contribution I cAmr made Avas for the building of the “I neA’er intend to run a place of that kind again. I Avasn't in the business AA’hen they closed the district. I had left the line over a year before that, and at that time I Avas touring the Avorld. I had been gone all that time. Report op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 183 “]\ry iiatrons were Loth married and single men, about evenly divided, — half and half. “If I had my life to live over, I Avould be an old maid school teacher. I would never know a man. If I had only known in the start all I know about men now, I never Avonld have looked at a man. I Avould still be teaching little children. It is hard to tell Avhat the feeling of Avomen avIio have been prostitutes is. You know sometimes people may say they do it because they Avant to do it, and they Avould not do anything else if they could, and maybe that is Avhat the tongue is saying and in the I heart there is something entirely different. You knoAv sport- ing Avomen have good hearts. ' “Sometimes men brought their sons to my house as patrons. They called on me and asked if I Avould give them a girl that Avas perfectly safe; said they preferred that to masturbation. “In order to make it as difficult as possible for girls to fall, I would suggest that the first thing Avould be to eliminate the dance halls, because there girls go and men are only Availing for their prey. The class of men that go to those dance halls are only waiting to make some virtuous girl their prey. That is the first thing I Avould do. I think it is one of the most harm- ful amusements there is for young people. “The dance itself is all right, — but not those public dance halls. There are so many young girls Avho go there, and that j is Avhere they get their first drink, their first invitation to go I Avith a man, and these men are past masters in the art of Avin- ning young girls. If I had a daughter, I don't knoAV Aidiat I 1 Avould do. I think I Avould keep her constantly — if I could af- ford to, I Avould haA'e her Avith me, I Avould take her around and give her enough amusements so she Avould Avant to be Avith me. I Avoidd be almost afraid to trust her aAvay from me. If my daughter had Ih^ed, I Avould probably neAmr haAm been a sporting Avoman. If parents made more companions of their boys and girls, they Avould be better.” Statement of MXE, City No , page 38. “It has been quite a while since I Avent Avrong. “All I got Avas $2.50 a Aveek. I Avas employed in a hotel doAAUi in I Avent out to Central Park and took a drink of beer, and some felloAv said, “Let’s go doAAui to the red light district. It looked good to me, the lights and CAmry- thing, and I Aveut doAvu. “You don’t understand. It is not us people you Avant to look out for. Get out on the streets AA’here the saloons and dance halls are. Those are the places AAdiere the poor inno- cent ones are. I have heard children go past my lioiise and heard them talk Avorse by far than I haA^e heard anyone tallr 184 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. in ray own honse. Those young children, — those are tlie ones to get after. I have sat in my house, close to the sidewalk, since it was closed up, and have heard young girls going by on the street, and have felt like going down and licking them.” When asked what should be done with girls who Avished to reform, the Avitness replied, “I Avould like to ask this. Would you employ many or any of my girls who had to leaAm the house? Would you not fire me the first time your son looked at me? You Avould think that e\mn if I wanted to be good, — it does not make any difference how good I wanted to be, — would you not say to me, ‘I cannot keep you; my son, perhaps, would go with you.’ Where do you want us to go? We are not going to any old “Home” to live. We haAm had better homes than that. It is not difficult to get out of a house, — but what are you going to do when you get out. These women are not going to employ me in their homes ; it does not matter how good I am. Perhaps their husbands or their sons will come home and say to her, ‘What do you want her here for? She is one of the fallen women?’ “It goes right back to the home. Mothers wait too long be- fore telling their daughters things. I think that anyone who really and truly wants to reform can go out and work. She does not have to be sent to a “Home.” “I think the boy is really more to blame than the young woman. The man will take the girl out and tell her how much he loves her, and pretty soon he has the best of her, through promises of marriage. He says, ‘Well, now if anything hap- pens, I will marry you.’ Pretty soon, maybe, the girl will be coaxed again, and the man Avill tell someone else that he was , out with Jennie Jones, and the next evening the other young fellow will go out. ‘Charlie says he was out with you last night’, — and the first thing the poor girl is gone. She is thrown out of her home. She is in bad at home. You are not going to employ her, because she has a bad name. Where is the woman going?’ The last resort for her is a sporting house. She is not going to lie out here in the street, is she? The man has no punishment at all. He can go to your Club, or to your churches and can marry the daughter of the richest man in the city ; and he really is to blame for this poor girl’s going Avrong. The ladies will pat him on the back and put him up for the highest office in the city. It has been done. There should be a fine for a man going with a woman, the same as for a Avoman going with a man. The man may go to the legislature. Where does the Avomau go? The last resort for her is the sporting house, ’ ’ Keport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 185 Statement of E. A. Ross, Professor of Sociology at the Uni- versity of Wisconsin: The statement of Professor Ross in his hearing before this committee, so fully covers the entire problem with which w^e are directed to deal that we feel justified in publishing it in full. Chairman : I would ask you to give us such information as you feel would be right, to aid in carrying out the provisions of this bill. A. : In the first place I have no knowledge of value about the situation here in Madison. I have been here eight years, but I have not heard anything at all of there being any com- mercialized prostitution in this town, so I can’t say anything about it. Coming now to the general question, I would say that until about four years ago I rather uncritically accepted the view that it was well to segregate prostitution. But some- thing I learned down in Cleveland made a great impression on me. The Chief of Police there told me that he had been able to reduce the number of prostitutes by just about 90 per cent by taking away from them music, lights and liquor ; that they had not interfered with the sale of sexual intercourse, but that they had denied these places the privilege of music after a cer- tain hour, selling liquor, and of advertising by lights out in front. That put me on the track of what seemed to me to be a big idea, namely, that the prostitution that you find in a town is not the gratification of a pre-existing demand, but that the demand has been very skillfully stimulated, so that you have a business which stimulates the demand for its goods, just as dry goods merchants stimulate the demand for dry goods, by shop window dressing, by models, by advertising, and every- thing of that kind. As soon as I realized, then, that we were not dealing with what you might call the old Adam in man, the ungovernable desire, which, if denied gratification in one direction, would be certain to seek it in some other, probably more dangerous, direction; as soon as I saw that this demand is multiplied by some hundreds of per cent in order to sell more wares, on the part of those who handle the business of sexual intercourse, then I began to change my position entirely, so that my present position is to hit the thing wherever you see it. One other thing. The statistics gathered by the Immigration Commission show that in our cities such as Cleveland, Minnea- polis and Providence, R. I., about one-seventh of the American born women married over ten years have never had a child, whereas in the country and in the cities for the foreign born, whose men do not run after prostitutes, you will find that not over one-twentieth are barren. I came thus to a realizing sense that the most deadly foe of the home and the family and of nor- 186 Report op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. mal fecundity is prostitution; so I felt that if society did not strike down jirostitution, prostitution would rot the founda- tions of society. So my feeling is that there should be no toler- ation. Prostitution should be hit at wherever its head is seen. It seems to me that instead of being arrested, fined and re- leased, which, of course, stimulates her to tiy to sell more of her wares, the prostitute should be put under custodial care, treated and put in the way of earning her living by legitimate means ; and it seems to me that inasmuch as one of the three or four big props of the business is the OAvners of propertj' used for such purposes, they ought to be struck at. The big props, of course, are first the people who control the girls and receh-e a large part of their earnings ; second, the saloons Avhose liquor sales are very large and A\diose profits on these sales are A'ery large, because they sell a bottle of liquor for tAviee its ordinary price ; and third, the OAAUiers of property — and hitherto they have been left out of the reckoning, so it has been possible for a very respectable member of the community to be draAA'ing double rentals from property, because he Avas letting it be used for immoral purposes instead of for legitimate business pur- poses. 1 think that is all I have to say of a general character. Q. What do you think is the first great cause of delinquency among girls? A. Well, I am sure that 40 per cent and possibly 50 per cent of them are subnormal in intelligence, and they are simply taken adAmntage of. Q. Is that subnormality due to lack of education or are they simply subnormal? A. Xo, I mean congenitally subnormal. Subnormal girls are found in all social circles, but it is the girls doAAui among the poor — they are the ones Avho liaA'e not been guarded and they cannot guard themselves, because they are subnormal. Q. What does the AA-age question haA'e to do AA’ith it? A. Well, my ideas on that point are not based upon first hand knoAAdedge, but I AA’Ould say that I Avould neither ignore the Avage question on the one hand nor make anything like so much of it as some people do, on the other. Prostitution as a busi- ness may properly be interpreted in economic terms, but as to AAdiat brings into the profession particular girls, I do not have the impression that more than ODe-fourth, possibly mueh less are there because they could not make a decent liA'ing by honest Avork. Q. Have you eAmr made a study, or thought of the economic loss due to A'enereal disease? A. I haA'en't made any calcula- tions, because I am so tremendously impressed AA ith the racial damage. That is to say, the marrietl men Avho frequent these places, thereby infecting their aaTa’CS and sterilizing them, are apt to be the relatiA'elj' successful people in the community: the iieople of brains and enterprise, aa’Iio presumably haA'e i Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 187 sometliiug of value to trausmit to their children. They do not leave children, while the unskilled laborer Avho is too poor to buy these indulgences, and is kept free from disease raises a large family. Q. That is one of the great causes then, of the American family being lessened in numbers? A. I believe so, because it is only in the cities where you find this high percentage of sterility. The American women in the country are nearly all having families. Of course, they are not so large as they were. In the cities you find that one out of seven does not have aipy family, and I am afraid that the barrenness will be greater 20 years from now, even if you should shut down prostitution right now. I think the worst of the harvest is yet to come. I would not be surijrised if in 1925 one-fifth of the American- born women in our large cities after several years of married life Avould not have any children. Q. Have you any remedy to suggest? A. Only to treat commercialized prostitution as an absolutely heartless thing, to be sti’uck at wherever you see it. It ought to have no mercy or rights of any kind. It ought to be treated as Japan has treated opium. Japan simply will not allow it to come in, except in medicinal form. In the same way we -ought to re- gard this as more deadly than opium, because it will get us, if we do not get it. Q. What do you think is the effect of parental neglect; girls not being taught to understand their duties and rights and lia- bilities; not being informed? A. My opinion has changed on that point. I used to think that there was no person but what had to face the possibility — -“My boy, my girl, may go that way.” Now I have come to the conclusion, partly on the basis of investigation, that there is practically no such thing as a normal girl properly brought up and cared for, ever going wrong ; it does not occur. I do not mean to say but what it is possible for them to have improper relations. I am talking about being drawn into that trade. Q. We hear very much about the cause being lack of par- ental control ; putting the responsibility for this immorality practically on the parent. If that is true, what would you do with the parents? A. It seems to me that we must distin- guish between immorality and commercialized prostitution. I think that immorality springs either from subnormality in the individual or from something wrong in the home. It may not mean careless parents. It may mean one or both parents dead. On the other hand, there is a big difference, as I take it, be- tween immorality and the practice of prostitution ; girls may yield to their natures, especially the subnormal girl; but it seems to me that the professional prostitute is the product of i j 188 Eepoet of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. a business, you might say, and the thing to do is to get at the people who are operating the business. Q. Well, is it not true that these houses of prostitution — that the prostitutes are practically the same as graduates in im- morality? Do they not all start with immoral tendencies and then when they get so far gone they cannot do anything else, go into a house of prostitution? They are forced in there as a graduate of a business? A. I get the impression that there is such a thing as these houses seeking and entrapping recruits among innocent girls. All I know, though, is from what is published by men like Clifford Roe ; and I had a talk with Mr. Reynolds, whom you have had in your service. I think there does exist recruiting from the innocent, but in general, I think your statement sums it up. Q. I think 90 per cent are recruited the other way. What we are trying to get at is the cause of these recruiting stations. Q. Do you not think that in the home training — that the American home is not what it used to be, what it should be ; that it is practically now nothing more nor less than a boarding house, in a great majority of cases? Boj’S and girls are ther^ at meal time ; they go home late at night and sleep ; and that is about the only home training they get? A. I think that is true, especially in the less attractive homes. Poor people haven’t the money with which to buy things that make home a pleasant stopping place. Some people can have nice books, easy chairs, and pictures, and so on — they compete successfully with the outside attractions, but poor people who have only two or three rooms in a tenement house, they are the ones who can keep their grip on the child only by physical force, you might say. They haven’t anything at home to compete for a moment with the streets and the motion picture shows and other attractions. It is really a very hard situation. I do not know that really anyone is to blame. It is not their fault if they haven’t the means to make the home a pleasant stopping place. The fact is that even the children of slack or careless parents who havn’t any idea of discipline — even those girls do not become prostitutes. The ranks appear to be filled almost entirelj* from the daughters of the poor, which shows to mj'- mind that the trouble is not exactly lax parental discipline so much as absence of attractions within the home. Parents are only one element. Girls are very powerfully influenced to keep straight. I think the greatest miracle of the twentieth century is that we have at least four millions of girls going every day entirely beyond home care, to engage in industry, and so very few go- ing wrong. It is a miracle, the sentiment that they develop among themselves. It really ought to renew our faith in human nature that these working girls do so well. Of course, I expect Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice -Committee. 189 the timo is sroing to come when every considerable employer, of girls Avill have sufficient sense of responsibility to have some matron, somebody to keep an eye on these girls all the time, inst as a teacher, onr community servant, keeps her eye npon the girls in the schools. We have dravrn these yonng women into industry organized with reference to men, and we have not yet adapted it to the employment of yonng women. Jnst as when we hronght yonng women to college, the stairs were adinsted to men, not to women. We had to tear them ont and make them two or three inches lower. The younger employers are getting their eyes open as to what it is np to them to do. 0. What is yonr idea of forbidding the employment of women in certain industries, with the thought of forcing them to marry? A. Ton mean industries for which they are ill- adapted or inst to curtail their opportunities for self-snpport? O. Well, both wavs. A. T would, of course, believe in enr- tailing the indnstrial opportnnities where it is demonstrable that their health or their morals are at stake, or rather I would do this for women under a certain age, nnder twenty- one, maybe ; hnt the proposition to make it harder in any way for women to engage in indnstry ontside of the home, I am thoronghlv opposed to. I think that would he ahsolntely reac- tionary. The other alternative, instead of making indnstry less inviting, is to make the home more inviting, and we are doing it all the time by treating the married woman better, obliging her to he better treated by her husband and better treated by the law. That, to ray mind, is the chief secret force that has been transforming the lot of married women in this country, the fact that she can do something else than marry. 0. A lady in this building, T understand, and she simply voiced the common sentiment, yesterday said: “I will never marry any man and bring np a family, when I can get $75.00 a month.” Were that high compensation removed, would she then take the family course? A. My study of cities where the manufacturing was all for men, metallurgical cities, where the women have nothing to do but marry, and other cities where the industries were textiles and gave them any amount of op- portunity for Avork, has convinced me that the attraction of the sexes is an absolutely fundamental thing and one need never worry lest it fade out or prove insufficient to bring to- gether the requisite number of couples. You may not realize that people are marrying younger in this country than twenty years ago, as is proven by statistics, and more of them are marrying at these younger ages. The proportion of adults married at tiventv. tAventA'-fiA'-e and thirty is greater now than in 1890. Q. In proportion to population you mean? A. I mean that out of every 1,000 women between twenty and twenty five, 190 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. more of them 'were married in 1910 tlian in 1S90, and out of every 1,000 men likewise. So that we need not Avorry ahont the sex atti'action being too Aveak to compete Avith a salary of so mtieli per month. I may say that one thing Ave can do is to cease to sneer at the man AA’hose Avife retains her job after marriage. That Avill no longer make it imperatiA'e that a Avoman shall give up a good job the moment she marries; and if it is not necessary, they Avill keep their jobs and marry. Q. Yon do not think it Avould be a good policy then to for- bid Avomen, Avhen they become married, to cease their Avork; in an occupation I mean ; or in other Avords, they may still retain their positions and keep out some other girl Avho might Avant to take the job at that time? A. I do not think Ave ought to shut married Avomen out of industry, except Avith reference to so many Aveeks at the period of maternity. Soniethiug of that kind. But the shutting of married Avomen out of doing Avork Avhieh they are fitted to do Avould be like tying them doAvn. Their asset in getting men to treat them better has not been agitation and talk. It has been the fact that they could reject a man if he Avould not treat them right, because they could support themseh’es ; if you make them more help- less along those lines, it simply ties them doAvn and makes their position Aveaker in dealing Avith men and endeaA’oring to get a square deal in the matrimonial relations. Q. What effect Avould it have on the other class, avIio are out of employment? A. The demand for the Avork of Avomen is in- creasing faster than the supply. The tendency is not toAvard a loAver Avage ; it is toAvard a higher Avage. The Avomen Avho af- ter marriage continue in industry, Avill be only a fraction of the Avomen Avho marry in any case, and it Avill not be the Ioav paid Avomen aa'Iio are the competitors of the girl Avho is just starting; it Avill be the Avoman AA'ho has got a job so good that she does not Avaut to giA'e it up, and her husband does not Avaut her to gAe it up. It is an interesting job to her. In other Avords, Avith her job, Avith the experience behind it, paA-iug her $20.00 a Aveek she is not in any Avay a competitor of the girl Avho is just starting in at the age of sixteen, and is Avorth only seven or eight dollars a Aveek. Q. Is it not a fact, on that same line, that Ave haA-e in "^his state thousands of men that are out of employment, seeking employment, and are driAmn out by reason of Avomen taking their places and in that Avay they are kept from marriage? A. I think that brings us back to a A'ery ancient debate. For in- stance, labor saving machinery. That has come in tremen- dously. It Avas coming in strongest seA'enty or eighty years ago. Those Avere the days Avhen mobs smashed the machinery in England, and the argument made seemed to be perfectly un- i Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 191 ' escapable, that there Avould he more Avork for them if these I machines AA'ere not brought in; hut economists noAV days all agree that the machines indirectly made more jobs than they destroyed. In the same AAmy I believe that the admission of j women makes as many male jobs as it destroys, and so on. So I I do not believe in making the supply of labor scarce, if it is I good labor. I do not call child labor good labor. ; Q. Take these figures from the report of the MilAvaukee Board of Health. (Figures shoAAung percentage of illegitimacy among domestics and others, read.) That shoAA^s about 60 per i cent domestics and 10 per cent factory employees and about the same clerks. Does that indicate anything as to the illegitimacy in different lines of Avork? A. It indicates a great deal. Those i figures exactly agree AAuth Avhat you find in Ncav York City, for example, and other cities. The reason is, I think, chiefly ' that factory labor is associate labor. The girls Avork out among themselves certain standards as to AAdiat you may do and Avhat you must not do, and they draAv a line beyond AAdiieh you must not go or they Avill not associate Avith you. On the other hand, in domestic service, the girl is meeting temptation single handed. The temptation is nearer to her and more I around her than in the case of the factory girl, and she is ' less aided in coping AAuth it. Q. We Avant to knoAV if Ave can do anything to help matters. I A. Why, the encouragement of clubs and groups on the part j of domestic servants ; if they belong to the Y. W. C. A., or be- long to some Avorking girl’s club that Avould brace them up tremendously, I think. I think that is the chief thing. Q. You said something about the age of child labor. At AA’hat age do you think a child should begin labor? A. It ought to be in relation to their attainments; at least to be con- sidered equally Avith the age. That is to say, a child of fifteen is physically mature enough to engage Avithout harm in most kinds of labor, but if that child cannot yet read and write, unless it is subnormal, it should be kept at school until it can. Of course, I believe that the years fourteen to sixteen Avould he of infinitely more A'alue, both to the child and to the com- munity, if spent in the workshops, in industrial education, than if spent in Avage earning. Q. HaAm you anything to suggest in the Avay of laAv enforce- ment on this subject? A. I should think the employment of some Avoman for this line of police duty Avould be very bene- ficial. The jDoliceman’s honor is in not running aAvay Avhen there is a man flourishing a gun. He is a hrave man. If he ac- cepts graft from the keeper of a disorderly house, that does not make him feel that he has lost his manhood. In other AA’ords, the policeman is a protector against violence. He is not 192 Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. a protector against vice. A woman ’s nature woulrl go out, nor- mally, with the victimized woman, and she would have to be a very had woman, indeed, to begin to become a grafter in this business. Q. We have found cases here in Wisconsin, where we have plenty of laws ; we have the evil ; the officials know of it ; they will not do anything to enforce those laws. What is the state going to do about it, or the county? Some of them give as a reason, that it is against public opinion. Has a minority any right there? Is there any way of making those officials do their duty and enforce the law? A. I do not believe I am ready to offer anything of value on that point. The only way that I have ever known is for the decent element, who are not taking any notice to sit up and take notice — that is the chief trouble, that the people are not taking any notice. Q. Do you see any remedy, where one city in this state, for instance, permits that to go on openly and knowingly, and all of the rest of the state must submit to the injury thus brought about? Has the state any duty upon the subject? A. I sup- pose the only thing would he for the Governor to he authorized to remove the officials that are neglecting their sworn duty. Q. Supposing the Governor does not do it? A. Well, I don’t recollect any other suggestion. I know that in the case of lynching, the Governor of a state has been authorized to re- move the sheriff who does not prevent lynchings. Q. Have you given any thought to the teaching of sex hygi- ene? A. Yes sir. Q. What is your opinion? A. I think it is absolutely nec- essary to come to this. I agree that it would be desirable for parents to take that up and leave the school free from that undesired responsibility; but the parents are not doing it. and we have no assurance that they ever will do it: and so the choice is not between the parents doing it, or the teacher : it is be- tween the teacher doing it or allowing other young people to do it, and Avhen it comes to a choice there, T have no hesitation. I know, of course, that it is very easy to do some persons more harm than good. The qualifications of an acceptable instructor Avill be very much liigher than the ordinary qualifications for teaching. I should think that in a big city they could find competent instructors in sex hygiene and keep them moving about from school to school. The ordinary teachers are not capable of doing it right. There is always great danger of ex- citing and suggesting rather than stimulating them to think. Q. Do you knoAv of any teacher, however poorly equipped, that Avould teach it in any worse way than the way boys and girls get it now? A. No. Q. At what age would you begin teaching sex hygiene? A. Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 193 I have not focused ray attention on those details, so ray judg- ment is of no value ; but I am sure that ,if you wait, as you say, until high school, it means tliat nineteen out of twenty will never come Avithin reach of your instruction; so I should think that Ave ought to begin at the age of eleven; not later than that. Q. What is your opinion of the advisability of having sex hygiene taught uoav in the university, and normal schools, Avitb a vicAV of the students not only becoming teachers, but becom- ing fathers and mothers in a short course of time, and thus be instructed? A. Well, there is no cpiestion about the nor- mal schools, because they are turning out the people Avho Avill have to be the source of AA'liatcA^er is going to be introduced in- to the common schools later on. In the uiiiAmrsity, I should think that students ought to be segregated and ought to be giA'en in a very careful manner a certain minimum of neces- sary knoAvledge. It seems to me that the fact that it is very easy to do it blundei’ingly should not deter us from looking about until Ave find people Avho can do it properly. Q. We have the university doing a lot of Avork in special lines, such as pure seeds, hoAV to get rid of grass hoppers, and so forth; Avhat Avould be your thought of having some branch of the extension cliAusion or some other part of the university make an investigation that AA'ould bring about pure boys and girls, — taking the moral side rather than the physical side? A. Well, I Avould say that a public or state supported institu- tion in selecting its sphei'e of usefubiess must i)ay due regard to the feelings of the citizens, and I am not at all sure that {he university could yet engage in that service Avithout Avound- ing the sense of propriety of a great many ])erfeetly good citi- zens. I think that consideration has to he kept in mind. Q. Do you not consider pure boys and girls the best asset to this state? A. Yes sir. Q. That being true, is it not necessary that that aspect should be subserved as Avell as the financial? A. Certainly, but whether or not the university is the best agency to use for that improvement — it seems to me that is an open question. Q. Would you suggest any better agency? A. There are agencies outside of this state whose research results can easily l)e had. One could call the attention of the people to the litera- ture. Another thing is not to try to reach the average parent directly, but reach those Avho reach them, we Avill say, the clergy and the teachers. To get into direct touch Avith parents in general on this subject is pretty difficult. Personally I should feel that the university might lose as much in other kinds of service as it could gain by this service, because it is so easy to raisuudei'stand and misrepresent Avhat the uuiA-er- sity is trying to do, 13 — V. 0 . 194 Report of the AVisconsin Vice Committee. Q. We have every year a Aveek's course iu apiculture. The farmers of the state come here. Very good field; no question about it. Would it not be of equal serAuce to the state, or even far better, if a like time Avere deAmted to the improvement of the moral thought or bringing about of those things Avhich Avill improve the morals of the state? A. Yes, if it Avere done Avith perfect discrimination, but you can make infinitely more blun- ders in a eugenic Aveek than in an agricultural Aveek. I think that your idea Avill be more generally accepted in 1975 than in 1914. Q. It seems to me it might be a Amry good suggestion to hacn something like that purity congress at Minneapolis, the great social workers and ministers come together from each state, and have a meeting of that kind. A. Yes, that is a someAvhat different proposition. There might be a conAmniug of physi- cians and social workers and others to consider Avhat might be done in the way of more widely acquainting parents through- out the state Avith the various perils to good parenthood. It is just a matter of method, — there is no difference of opinion as to the desirability of it ; it is just a question of Avhat means will Avork noAv Avith the present state of opinion, and what means are premature. WISCONSIN STATUTES RELATING TO PROSTITUTION AND ALLIED SUBJECTS. Polygamy. Sec. 4577. Any person having a husband or Avife living who shall marry another person shall be deemed guilty of polygamy, and shall be punished therefor by imprisonment in the state prison not more than five years nor less than one year, or by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars nor less than tAvo hundred dollars. Limitation. Sec. 4578. The proA-isions of the preceding sec- tion shall not extend to any person AA'hose husband or Avife shall liave been continually remaining beyond sea, or shall haA'e a'oI- nntarily AvithdraAvn from the other and remained absent for the space of seAmn years together, the party marrying again not kuoAving the other to be living Avithin that time ; nor to any person aaJio has been dNorced from the bonds of matrimony. Lewd and lascivious behavior. Sec. 4579. Any man and avo- man, not being married to each other, Avho shall leAvdly and lasciviously cohabit and associate together, or any man or avo- man, married or unmarried, Avho shall be guilty of open and gross leAvdness and lascivious behavior, eA^ery such person Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 195 sliall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not more than one year, or by fine not exceeding five hundred dollars nor less than one hundred dollars. Intercourse with sane single female. Sec. 4580. Any man who commits fornication with a sane single female over the age of fourteen years, each of them shall be punished by imprison- ment in the county jail not more than six months or by fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, or by both such fine and im- prisonment. Any man Avho commits fornication with a sane female of previous chaste character, under the age of eighteen years, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison not more than four years or by fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or by both fine and imprisonment. Intercourse with insane female. Sec. 4480m. Any man who commits fornication, adultery, or incest with any female who is idiotic, insane or imbecile shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison not more than fifteen years nor less than five years. i Seduction. Sec. 4581. Any unmarried man who, under promise of marriage, or any married man Avho shall seduce and have illicit connection with any unmarried female of previous chaste character shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison not more than five years nor less than one year or by im- prisonment in the county jail not more than one year; but no conviction shall be had for such olfense on the testimony of the female seduced, unsupported by other evidence, nor unless the indictment or information for the same shall be found or presented within two years after the commission of the offense ; provided, that the subsequent intermarriage of the parties may be pleaded in bar of a conviction. Soliciting female for purposes of prostitution. Sec. 4581a. Any person who, by force, threats, promises or any other means or inducements, shall entice, inveigle, solicit, induce or take any unmarried female of previous chaste character of the age of six- teen years or under, from her father, mother, guardian or other person having the legal care or custody of any such female, or from her home or other place of abode, Avherever she may be, for the purpose of seduction, prostitution, or with intent to se- duce, defile, deflower, or for the purpose of entering, causing, inducing or procuring her to enter any house of ill fame, assig' nation or other place of prostitution for tlie purpose of prosti- tion, either temporarily or as an inmate of any house or place, and any person who shall directly or indirectly cause, procure or knowingly permit the same to be done, or who shall in any 196 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. way aid, abet or assist, directly or indirectly, ‘ in doing such tiling for any of the puriioses aforesaid, or who shall cause, jirocure, aid, assist, knowingly permit or abet in any manner the seduction, defilement, deflowering or the having of illicit intercourse with any such female by any person, either at her liome or other place of abode or elsewhere, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison not more than ten years nor less than one year or by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars. Sec. 4581b. Any person who shall fraudulently, deceitfully or by any false representations entice, abduct, induce, decoy, hire, engage, employ or take any woman over sixteen years of age and of previous chaste character from her father’s house or from any other place where she may be for the purpose of prostitution or for unlawful sexual intercourse, and any per- son who shall knowingly or intentionallj^ aid, abet, assist, ad- vise or encourage any such act for the purpose aforesaid shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison not less than five years nor more than fifteen years. Sec. 4581c. Any person who shall by any such means as are mentioned in the next preceding section, entice, abduct, induce, decoy, hire, engage, employ or take in any manner an}- female from her home or from any other place where she may be, for the purpose of prostitution or for unlawful sexual intercourse, and any person who shall knowingly or intentionally aid, abet, assist, advise or encourage the doing of any such act for the purpose aforesaid shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison not more than five years nor less than one year. Detention in house of ill fame. Sec. 4581d. Any person who shall detain any woman against her will by force, threats, put- ting in bodily fear or by any other means at a house of ill fame or any other place by any name or description whatever, for the purpose of prostitution or for unlawful sexual intercourse, and any person who shall aid, abet, advise, assist or encourage in such detention shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison not more than fifteen years nor less than five years. Keeping premises for unlawful purposes. Sec. 4581e. Any person, being the owner, lessee or occupant of any premises, or having, in whole or in part, the management or control thereof, who induces or knowingly permits any female under twenty- one years of age to resort to or be in or upon such premises for the purpose of i)rostitution or unlawful sexual intercourse shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison not more tlian five years nor less than one year, Report oe the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 197 Soliciting’ for the purpose of prostitution. Sec. 4581f. Any person who shall solicit, induce, encourage or entice by fraudu- lent or deceitful representations intended or naturally tending to induce, entice or encourage, an unmarried woman of previ- ous chaste character to leave her father’s house or any other place where she may be found for the purpose of prostitution or for the purpose of unlawful sexual intercourse at a house of ill fame or assignation and any person who shall in any manner aid, abet, or assist in any such solicitation for such purpose shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for not less than six months or by imprisonment in the state prison not to exceed one year. Evidence as to house of ill fame, etc. Sec. 4581g. In all prosecutions under these statutes or any other laws for the suppression of houses of ill fame, assignation or places of sim- ilar character, or for keeping any such place or for being an inmate or frequenter thereof it shall be competent for the prosecution to establish the character of any such house or place by showing that the same has a common or general reputation as a house of ill fame, brothal, bawdyhouse or house of assigna- tion, or that such house, while in the possession of the inmates occupying it at or about the time alleged in the information, indictment or other pleading was promiscuously visited at un- seasonable hours by drivers and sundry persons not then resi- dents therein ; and such showing shall be prima facie evidence that such house or place is a house of ill fame, brothel bawdy- house or house of assignation as alleged in the information, in- dictments or other pleadings. Witness not privileged. Sec. 4581h. No person shall be ex- cused or privileged from testifying fully under oath in any prosecution brought under the provisions of either of the pre- ceding seven sections or for any of the causes mentioned in the last preceding section ; but no testimony so given by any person shall be used against him in anj^ civil or criminal action to which he is a party, except a prosecution for perjury committed in giving such testimony. Pandering. Sec. 4581h — 1. Any person who shall knowingly accept, receive, levy or appropriate any money or other valu- able thing, without consideration, from the proceeds of the earnings of any woman engaged in prostitution, shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment for a period not less than two nor more than twenty years. Any such acceptance, receipt, levy or appro- pi’iation of such money or valuable thing, shall upon any pro- ceeding or trial for violation of this section be presumptive evi- dence of lack of consideration. 198 IReport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. Prostitution; situs of crime. Sec. 4581h — 2. It sliall not Le a defense to a iiroseeution for any of the acts prohibited by sec- tions 4581a to 4581g, inclusive, of the statutes, that any part of such act or acts shall have been committed outside this state, and the offense shall in such case be deemed and alleged to have been committed, and the offender tried and punished in any county in Avhich the prostitution Avas intended to be practiced or in Avhich the offense was consummated, or anj’ overt act in furtherance of the offense shall have been committed. Prostitute competent witness, whether married or single. Sec. 4581h — 3. Any such female person referred to in sections 4581a to 4581g, inclusive, of the statutes, shall be a competent witness in any prosecution under sections 4581h — 1, 458111 — 2 and 4581h — 3 to testify for or against the accused as to any transaction or as to any conversation ivith the accused or by him with another person or persons in her presence, notwith- standing her having married the accused before or after the vio- lation of any of the provisions of this act, whether called as a witness during the existence of the marriage or after its dis- solution. Persons responsible for delinquency of children to be pun- ished. Sec. 4581i. In all cases ivliere any child shall be a de- linquent child as defined by the statutes (See. 573 — 2) the parent or parents, legal guardian, or person having the cus- tody of such child, or anj^ other person responsible for the de- linquency, through wilful neglect or by any ivilful act encour- aging, causing or contributing to the delinquency of such child, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon trial and con- viction thereof shall be fined in a sum not to exceed five hun- dred dollars, or imprisoned in the county jail for a period not exceeding one year, or punished bj' both such fine and im- prisonment. (Court may stay sentence not to exceed two years, etc.). “Delinquent child’’ defined. Sec. 573 — 1. Subsec. 2. The words “delinquent child’’ .shall include auA' girl under the age of eighteen years, and any boy under the age of seventeen years, Avho Anolates any law of this state, the penalty for Avhich is not imprisonment in the state prison * * * or ivho kuoAvingly visits or enters a house of ill repute; or who patron- izes, visits or enters any stall saloon, or Avine room or any saloon frequented by men or Avomen of bad repute * or is guilty of immoral conduct in any public place, or about any schoolhouse * . Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 199 Incest. Sec. 4582. Any person being within the degree of consanguinity within which marriages are prohibited or de- clared by law to be incestuous and void, who shall intermarry with each other or who shall commit adultery or fornication with each other shall he punished by imprisonment in the state prison not more than ten years nor less than two years. Producing miscarriage. Sec. 4583. Any person who shall administer to any pregnant woman, or prescribe for such woman, or advise or procure any such Avoman to take any medicine, drug or substance or thing Avhatever, or shall use or employ any instrument or other means whatever, or advise or procure the same to be used, with intent thereby to procure the miscarriage of any such woman shall be punished by im- prisonment in the county jail not more than one year nor less than six months or by fine not exceeding five hundred dollars nor less than tAVo hundred and fifty dollars, or both by such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court. Attempting miscarriage. Sec. 4584. Any woman who shall take any medicine, drug, substance or thing whatever, or who shall use or employ any instrument or other means whatever, or who shall submit to any operation or treatment with in- tent to procure from herself any miscarriage shall be pun- ished by imprisonment in the county jail not more than six months nor less than one month, or by fine not exceeding one hundred dollars. Concealing death of bastard. Sec. 4585. Any Avoman Avho shall conceal the death of any issue of her body which, if born alive, would be a bastard so that it may not be knoAvn Avhether such issue Avas born alive or not or Avhether it Avas not mur- dered, shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not more than one year nor less than six months, or by fine not exceeding three hundred dollars nor less than one hundred dollars. Abandonment of young child. Sec. 4587. Any person hav- ing the custody of any child under the age of six years who shall expose such child in any higliAvay or any other place, Avith intent to abandon it, shall be punisbed by imprisonment in the state prison not more than three years nor less than one year, or by imprisonment in the county jail not more than one year. Employment of children under 14 years of age. Sec. 4587a. Any person having the care, custody or control of any child under the age of fourteen years Avho shall exhibit, use or em- })loy, or in any manner or under any pretense sell, apprentice, give aAvay, let out or otherAvise dispose of such child to any 200 Report op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. person for any obscene, Indecent or immoral purpose, exhibi- tion or practice, or for any business, exhibition or vocation injurious to the health or dangerous to the life or limb of such child, or who shall cause, procure, or encourage any such child to engage therein, and any person who shall take, receive, hire, employ, use, exliibit or have in custody an^' such child for any such purpose shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months or by fine of not more than one hundred dollars, or by both imprisonment and fine. Abandonment of child. Sec. 4587c. * * Any person Avho shall, Avithout lawful excuse, desert or wilfully neglect or refuse to provide for the support and maintenance of his or her legitimate or illegitimate minor child or children un- der the age of sixteen years in destitute or necessitous circum- stances, shall be guilty of a crime and, on conviction there- of, shall 1)6 punished by tine not exceeding five hundred dol- lars, or imprisonment in the state prison, county jail or in the county workhouse not exceeding two years, or both, in the discretion of the court. And it is hereby made the duty of the parent of any illegitimate child or children, under the age of sixteen years, to provide for the support and maintenance of such illegitimate child or children. Provided, that the parent of any illegitimate child Avho shall have made provision for the support of such child by giving bond, or by settlement with the proper officers in accordance Avith the pi'ovisions of chapter 64 of the statutes, shall not be subject to the provi- sions of this section. Indecent Exposure. Bee. 4588. Any person who shall pub- licly expose his or her person, in an obscene or indecent man- ner shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail, not more than six months nor less than ten days, or by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, nor less than one dollar, or both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court; provided, lioweAmr, nothing herein contained shall be held to remit any penalty for offenses heretofore committed. Liberties with Female Child. Sec. 4588a. Any male person over the age of sixteen years ivho shall take indecent or im- l)ropcr I'berties Avith the person of a female under the age of fourteen years, Avith or Avithout her consent, Avithout intending to commit rape on such child, shall be punished by imprison- ment in the state prison not more than tAvo years nor less than one ju'ar or by inpirisonment in the county jail not more than six monlhs, or bj' fine not exceeding tAvo hundred dollars. Report of tpie Wisconsin Vice Committee. 201 Keeping" house of illl fame. Sec. 4589. Any person who sliall keep a house of ill fame, resorted to for the purpose of prostitution or lewdness, or who shall set up or keep a common hawdyhouse or brothel, or who shall knowingly lease or let to another any house or other building or any room in any house or building for the purpose of being used as a house of ill fame, hawdyhouse or brothel or knowing that it will be so used, shall he punished by imprisonment in the state prison not more than three years nor less than one year, or by im- l)risonment in the county jail not more than one year nor less tliaii six months, and wdien imprisoned in the county jail by a fine not exceeding five-hundred dollars nor less than tAvo hun- di'ed dollars; and, in either case, if the lessee of any such pre- mises shall have been convicted under this section such lease shall be void, and thereupon the lessor shall have the like rem- edy to recover possession of such premises as against a tenant holding OA^er his term. Any person Avho shall resort to, fre- quent or become an. inmate of any house of ill fame, common haAvdyhouse or brothel shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding ninety days or by fine of not more than one hundred dollars nor less than ten dollars, or by both fine and imprisonment. Proceedings on complaint. Sec. 4589a. If any person shall make oath before any officer authorized by hiAv to issue a crim- inal Avarrant that he has good reason to, and does, believe that any house or other building is Avilfidly used as and for a house of ill fame for the purpose of prostitution and that persons resort to the same for that purpose, such officer, Avhether the names of such per.sons are knoAvn to the complainant or not, shall issue a Avarrant commanding the sheriff, his deputy or any constable to enter such house or building and arrest all persons avIio shall there be found under circumstances Avhich indicate that they have resorted thereto for the inirpose of prostitution, and also the keeper of the same, and take into custody and keep the said persons and bring them before the said officer to he dealt Avith accoi’ding to laAv; and any officer Avho may liaAm such Avarrant shall have poAver, if necessary, to break open doors for the purpose of executing the same, and may summon to his aid the poAver of the county. Circulation of obscene books, etc. : search v/arrani. Sec. 4590. Any lierson Avho shall import, j)rint, publish, sell or distribute or give aAvay any book or pamphlet, ballad, printed paiier or other thing containing obscene language, i)rints, pictures, fig- ures or descriptions manifestly tending to the coriaiption of km morals of youth, or shall introduce into any family, sdiool or 202 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. place of education, or shall buy, procure, receive or have in his possession any such book, pamphlet, ballad or printed paper or other thing, either for the purpose of loan, sale, ex- hibition or circulation or giving away, or with intent to intro- duce the same into any family, school or place of education shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not more than one year or by fine not exceeding five hundred dollars; and a search warrant may be issued by any justice of the peace, as in case of stolen or embezzled property, for search for any such obscene literature, matter or thing, and when found may be used in evidence and then destroyed by order of the court in which any case arising under this section shall be tried. Any person who shall, in a public place or on any fence or wall, or other surface, contiguous to the public street or high- way, or on the floor, or ceiling, or on the inner or outer wall, closet, room, passage, hall, or any part of any hotel, inn, or tav- ern, courthouse, church, school, station house, depot for freight or passengers, capitol or other buildings devoted or open to other or like public uses, or on the walls of any outbuildings, or other structure pertaining thereto, make or cause to be made any obscene drawing, or picture, or obscene or indecent Avriting, or print, liable to be seen by others passing, or coming near the same, such person so offending, shall in CA'ery such case, be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conAuction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed one year or by fine not exceeding five hundred dollars. Any person or persons, avIio shall put up, in any public place, any indecent, IcAvd or obscene picture or character, rep- resenting the human form in a nude or seminude condition, or shall advertise by circulars or posters any indecent, IcAvd or im- moral shoAv, play or representation, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on coiiAuction thereof, shall be fined not less than tAventy-five dollars, nor more than three hundred dol- lars; provided, that nothing in this act shall be construed as to interfere Avith purely scientific Avorks, Avritten on the sub- ject of sexual physiology or Avorks of art. Any person Avho shall sell, lend, gh^e aAvay, or shoAv, or shall have in his possession Avith intent to sell, giA'e aAvay, or shoAv, or shall advertise or otherAvise oft’er for loan, ghm or distribu- tion, any book, pamphlet, magazine, ncAvspaper, or other printed paper deAmted principally to the publication of crimi- nal ncAA’s, police reports, or accounts of criminal deeds, or pic- tures and stories of deeds of bloodshed, lust or crime, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conAuction thereof, shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than fifty nor more than five hundred dollars. Keport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 203 Sexual and Venereal diseases; treatment of; penalty. Sec. 4590n. Any person who shall advertise in any manner, either in his own name or under the name of another person, firm or pretended firm, association, corporation or pretended corpora- tion, in any newspaper, pamphlet, circular or other Avritten or printed paper, the treatment and curing of venereal diseases, the restoration of “lost manhood” or who shall advertise in any manner that he is a specialist in diseases of the sexual or- gans or diseases caused by sexual weakness, self-abuse, or ex- cessive sexual indulgence or in any diseases of a like nature or produced by like causes, or avIio shall advertise in any manner any medicine, drug, compound or any means Avhatever Avhere- by sexual and venereal diseases of men and Avomen may be cured or relieved or abortion or miscarriage produced, and tlie owner, publisher or manager of any neAA^spaper Avho shall pub- lish any such advertisement or permit or alloAv any such ad- A'ertisement to be inserted and published in any neAvspaper OAvned or controlled by him or in Avhich he has an interest, and any person, firm or corporation Avho shall sell, offer for sale, keep for sale, give aAvay or othei’Avise dispose of any news- paper, pamphlet, circular, or other Avritten or printed paper containing any such adA^ertisement, shall be guilty of a misde- meanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than tAventy-five nor more than one hundred dollars. Sodomy. Sec. 4591. Any person avIio shall commit sodomy, or the crime against nature, Avith mankind or beast shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison not more than five years, nor less than one year. Said crime may be com- mitted by the penetration of the mouth of any human being by the organ of any male person as Avell as by the penetration of the rectum; proof of emission shall not be required. Improper liberties. Sec. 4591a. Any person Avho shall in- decently assault and take improper liberties Avith the prh-ates of any minor by the use of the hand or Avho shall voluntarily permit the use of his OAvn priA'ates in such manner by any minor shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not less than thirty days nor more than six months. Taking and detention of minors. Sec. 4387a. Any person Avho shall, Avithout laAvful authority and for anj^ immoral or unlaAvful purpose, forcibly take or carry aAvay and remove, entice or inveigle any person under eighteen years of age from the home or residence of such person or from the care and custody of his parent or guardian, or, Avithout such authority, forcibly detain such person Avho is absent from his home or 204 Keport of tele Wisconsin Vice Committee. residence or the custody of his parent or guardian, or persuade or entice him to remain absent therefrom, shall be punished by fine not exceeding five thousand dollars and by imprison- ment in the state prison not more than three years or in the county jail not more than one year. It shall not he a defense to any prosecution brought under this section that such per- son consented to such removal or detention. Kidnapping penalty; consent of parent. Sec. 4387m. Any l~>erson who shall take, carry away, decoy, entice away, or se- crete a]iy child under the age of sixteen years, Avithout the consent of the parent, guardian, or laAvful custodian of said child, Avith the intent of causing anj^ relatiA'e or other person to l>ay or offer to pay any sum as ransom or reAvard for the re- turn or release cf such child, shall he deemed guilty of a fel- ony and upon conviction thereof shall be puni.shed by im- ])risonment in the state iirison during the life of the person so convicted. Upon the trail thereof the consent of the parent, guardian, or laAvful custodian of such child shall not be a de- fense unless it shall be made satisfactorily to appear that such consent Avas not obtained by fraud, duress, or threats. Rape. Sec. 4381. Any person aaIio shall raAush and carnally knoAv au}^ female of the age of fourteen years or more, by force and against her Avill, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison not more than thirty years nor less than ten years ; hut if the female shall he proven oh the trial to have been, at the time of the offense, a common prostitute, he shall be so pun- ished not more than seven years nor less than one year. Same. Sec. 4382. Any person avIio shall uulaAvfully and car- nally knoAv and abuse any female under the age of fourteen years shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison not more than thirty-five years nor less than five years. Assault intending to rape. Sec. 4383. Any person aa-Iio shall assault any female Avith intent to commit the crime of rape shall he punished by imprisonment in the state prison not more than ten years nor less than one year. BaAvdyhouses declared nuisances. Sec. 3185b. Whoever shall erect, establish, continue, maintain, use, occupy, or lease any , building or part of huildiug, erection or pdace to be used for the purpose of leAvdiiess, assignation or prostitution, or permit the same to be used, in the state of Wisconsin, .shall be guilty of a nuisance and the building, erection, or place, in or upon Avhich such leAvdness, assignation or pirostitution is con- Report op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 205 ducted, permitted, carried on, continued or exists, and tlie fur- niture, fixtures, musical instruments and contents used there- with for the same purpose are declared a nuisance, and shall be enjoined and abated. Equitable action for abatement. Sec. 3185c. Whenever a nuisance, as defined in section 3185b exists in any county the district attorney or any citizen of such county may maintain an equitable action in the circuit court in the name of the state to abate the same and to perpetually enjoin and restrain every person guilty thereof from continuing, maintaining or per- mitting such nuisance. Upon a verified complaint accom- panied, when required by the court or presiding judge, by affi- davits or depositions showing satisfactorily that a nuisance as defined by section 3185b exists in such county and naming the persons guilty thereof, and upon three days’ notice to the de- fendent or defendants in such action, a temporary injunction may be granted, subject to modification or dissolution, restrain- ing the defendant or defendants until the conclusion of the trial from continuing, maintaining or permitting such nui- sance. All such injunctions issued in actions begun by public officers shall be issued without requiring the undertaking spe- cified in section 2778 of the statutes, and in actions instituted by citizens it shall be discretionary with the court or presid- ing judge to issue them with or without such undertaking. Evidence; dismissal of action; costs. Sec. 3185d. Inactions begun under section 3185c the existence of any nuisance de- fined by section 3185b shall constitute prima facie evidence that the oAvner of the premises affected has permitted the same to be used as a nuisance ; and eAudence of the general reputa- tion of the place shall be admissible to prove the existence of such nuisance. If the complaint is filed by a citizen it shall not be dismissed, except upon a SAvorn statement made by the com- jilainant and his attorney, setting forth the reasons Avhy the ac- tion should be dismissed, and the dismissal shall be approved by the district attoimey of the county in Avriting or in open court. If the court is of the opinion that the action ought not to be dis- missed it may direct the district attorney of the county to prosecute said action to judgment. If the action is brought by a citizen, and the court finds that, there Avas no reasonable ground or cause for said action the costs shall be taxed to such citizen. Punishment for violation of injunction. Sec. 3185e. A party found guilty of contempt foi' the Adolation of any in- junction granted under the provisions of sections 3185b to 206 IReport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 3185h, inclusive, shall be punished by a fine of not less than two hundred nor more than one thousand dollars or by im- prisonment in the county jail not less than three nor more than six months or by both such fine and imprisonment. Judgment and execution; sale of fixtures. Sec. 3185f. If the existence of the nuisance be established in an action under section 3185b, or in a criminal proceeding, an order of abate- ment shall be entered as a part of the judgment in the case, which order shall direct the removal from the building or place of all fixtures, furniture, musical intruments, or movable prop- erty used in conducting the nuisance, and shall direct the sale thereof in the manner provided for the sale of chattels under execution, and the effectual closing of the building or place against its use for any purpose, and so keeping it closed for a period of one year, unless sooner released. If any person shall break and enter or use a building, erection, or place so di- rected to be closed he shall be punished as for contempt, as provided in section 3185e. Application of proceeds of sale; lis pendens. Sec. 3185g. The proceeds of the sale of such personal property, shall be applied in the payment of the costs of the action and abate- ment and the balance, if any, shall be paid to the defendant. The plaintiff may file a notice of the pendency of the action as in actions affecting the title to real estate; and if the owner of the premises affected be adjudged guilty of the nuisance, the judgment for costs shall constitute a lien thereon prior to any other lien created after the filing of such lis pendens. Undertalring to release building. Sec. 31851i. The owner of any building or part of building affected by an action under section 3185c may appear at any time after the commencement thereof and file an undertaking in such sum and with such sureties as shall be required by the court to the effect that he will immediately abate the alleged nuisance, if it exists, and prevent the same from being reestablished in the building or part of building aforesaid within a period of one year there- after, and will pay all costs that may be awarded against him in the action. Thereupon the court shall dismiss the action as to such building or part of building and revoke any order pre- viously made closing the same ; but such dismissal and revoca- tion shall not release the property from any judgment, lien, penalty, or liability to which it may be subject by law. Presence in saloons prohibited penalty. Sec. 1557n. Every keeper of any saloon, shop, or place of any nature or character Report op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 207 whatsoever for the sale of any strong, spiritous, malt, ar- dent, or intoxicating liquor, who shall either directly or in- directly sutfer or permit any person of either sex under the age of twenty-one years, unaccompanied by his or her parent or guardian, or suffer or permit any person to whom the sale of any ardent, spiritous or intoxicating liquors or drinks has been forbidden in the manner provided by law, who is not a resident, employe, or a bona fide lodger or boarder on the pre- mises of such licensed person, to linger or loiter in or about any barroom or other room on such premises in which intoxi- cating liquor is sold or dispensed, shall for every such offense be liable to a penalty not exceeding fifty dollars, besides costs, or imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding sixty days; and any such person so lingering or loitering, as aforesaid, who is not a resident, employe, or a bona fide lodger or boarder on the premises, or who is not accompanied by his or her par- ent or guardian, shall also be liable to a penalty of not more than twenty dollars, besides costs, or imprisonment not ex- ceeding thirty days in the county jail. Girls at dance. Sec. 1557a. Any keeper of any saloon, shop or place of any name whatsoever for the sale of any strong, spiritous or malt liquors to be drank on the premises in any quantity less than one gallon who shall permit or allow any girl or young woman, under the age of seventeen years, un- accompanied bj'' her father or mother, to be present at or par- ticipate in any ball or dance held in such saloon, shop or place, or in the same or an adjoining building, shop or place, or in any place where liquors are sold or dispensed, or any place adjoining the same, under his license, or who shall permit or allow any such girl or young Avoman to linger in or frequent such saloon, shop or place, shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. And upon convic- tion his license shall be revoked as is provided in section 1558 of the said statutes, and proof of such conviction shall be con- clusive proof that such keeper maintains a disorderly and im- proper house as such terms are used in said section 1558. Duties op Officers. , ' ' ' Removal of County officers. Sec. 968. The governor may remove from office any sheriff, coroner, * * * or district attorney, giving to such officer a copy of the charges against him ancl an opportunity of being heard in his defense; * ^ ^ County Officers, how appointed. Sec. 967. Whenever there shall be a vacancy in either of the offices of sheriff, coroner, 208 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. * Qp district attorney the governor may appoint a suitable person to such office until another shall he elected and qualified. * '* To keep the peace. Sec. 727, Sherififs and their undensher- itt's and deputies shall keeii and preserve the peace in their respective counties, and quiet and supiiress all affrays, routs, riots, unlawful assemblies and insurrections; for which pur- pose, and for the service of processes in civil or criminal cases and in the apprehending or securing any person for felony or breach of the peace they and every coronor and constable may call to their aid such persons or power of their count}' as they may deem necessary. Excise laws; enforcement by local officers; penalty. Sec. 1553. Every sheriff, undersherift' and deputy sheriff', police offi- cer, marshal, dejnity marshal or constable of any town, village or city who shall know or be credibly informed that any oft'ense has been committed against the provisions of any law of this state relating 1o excise or the sale of intoxicating liquors shall make a complaint against the person so offending within their respective toAvns, villages or cities to a proper justice of the peace therein, and for every neglect or refusal so to do, every such officer shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall he punished by a fine not exceeding fifty dollars and the costs of prosecution. Duties of District Attorney. Sec. 752 (2). It shall be the duty of the district at-torney : * * (2) To prosecute all criminal actions. (3) To give advice to the "" * and other officers of his county, when requested, in all matters in which the county or state is interested or relating to the discharge of the official duties of such board or officers; * "" Mayors, cities of 2nd, 3rd and 4th class. Sec. 925 — 38. «= =:;= mayor shall be the chief executive officer and head of the fire and of the police departments; he shall take care that the laws of the state and the ordinances of the city are observed and enforced and that all officers of the city dis- charge their respective duties. * * * Sec. 859 — 40. The Mayor shall appoint the members of the Fire and Police Commission. Sec. £59 — 41. The chief of police and * * shall be appointed by board of police and fire commissioners, and Report of tpie Wisconsin Vice Committee. 209 110 iiersoii shall ho appointed to any position eitlier on the liolice force or in the fire department ivithont the approval of said board. * * Police. The ordinances of nearly all cities in substance pro- vide that the Chief of iiolice and all piolicemen shall cause the iniblic peace to he kept and shall see that all laws and ordi- nances of the City are enforced; and it is their duty to arrest all persons seen by them, violating any law or ordinance. STATTSTK^S FROM POLICE RECORDS OF MILWAUKEE. Below are given statistics from the police records of Mil- waukee, comjiiled during a period wdien that city had a seg- regated district. They are valuable as showing certain facts about “madams” or keepers, about houses of ill fame, and about the inmates of such houses. It should be remarked that Mihvankee, since the date of these statistics, has done away with the segregated district. TABLES prom POIJCE RECORD OP MILWAUKEE UNDER SEGREGATED DISTRICT, DATED MARCH 21, 1911. TABLES OP KEEPERS OR “MADAMS.” Age of Madams. No. of keepers or “madams'' under ago of 23 0 “ “ at age of 23 2 “ “ “ “ 24 2 “ “ “ “ 25 5 “ “ “ “ 26 2 “ “ “ “ 27 1 “ “ “ “ 28 5 “ “ “ “ 29 7 “ “ “ “ 30 2 “ “ “ “ 31 2 “ “ “ “ 32 4 “ “ ‘ “ 33 3 “ “ “ “ 34 2 “ “ " “ 35 1 “ “ “ “ 36 3 “ “ “ “ 37 2 “ “ “ “ 38.. 4 “ ■■ “ “ 39 4 “ “ “ “ 40 9 “ “ “ between ages of 40 and 50 6 “ “ “ “ 50 and 60 3 “ “ “ age not given 2 Total 74 Average age of keepers or “madams’’ 34.2 years 14-V. C. 210 iiEPORt OF iHE WlSCONSllSr ViCE CoMMITTEE. LENGTH OP TIME “MADAMS” HAVE CONDUCTED HOUSES OF PROSTITUTION. No of keepers or “madam.s” who have been n business for less than 1 year (2 mos.) 1 year 2 years 1 1 2 7 6 15 7 11 3 3 10 a length of time in business not given 2 Total 74 Average length of time in business 7.7 years 3 4 “ 6 “ 6 “ 7 “ 8 “ 9 “ 10 to 15 years. 15 to 20 The Madams, according to the data given above, were of every age from twenty to forty, and nine ivere over forty. There is less irregularity in the number of years which madams have been in business. Of seventy-four cases, it seems that thirty-three, or 45.2 per cent, had been in business over five and less than eight years, and six had been in business between fifteen and twenty years. The length of time in business does not necessarily mean the length of time in business in the city of Milwaukee. Many had conducted similar enterprises in other cities. The amount of damage done to the community by such enterprises as these during the periods of time repre- sented above, the amount of disease caused and the thousands of dollars squandered, can only be estimated. There are no statistics available to show such facts accurately. TABLES OP HOUSES. Total number of houses, including separate flats 104 Total number of prostitutes in these houses 405 No. of Prostitutes in Houses. No. of houses having 1 prostitute 15 “ “ 2 prostitutes 15 “ “ 3 “ 18 “ 4 “ 18 “ “ 6 “ 19 “ 6 “ 11 « « 7 ‘< 2 “ “ 8 “ i •• " 9 “ 3 “ “ 10 to 15 prostitutes 0 “ “ over 15 prostitutes (16) 1 Average number of prostitutes in each house 4 The smaller house of prostitution is seen to predominate. Of 104 houses, 85, or 81.2 per cent, had from one to five in- mates, the average number of prostitutes in houses being four. The discrepancy between the number of keepers or “madams,” I Report op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 211 as given in the table above, is explained by the fact that there are a number of prostitutes carrying on their Inisiness in flats independently, without “madams”, or keepers. TABLE OF INMATES. Age of Inmates. No. of prostitutes under age of 21 (20) 1 “ “ at age of 21 30 “ “ “ 22 58 “ “ “ 23., 75 “ “ “ 24 51 “ “ “ 25 37 “ “ “ 26 30 “ “ “ 27 14 “ “ “ 28 28 “ “ “ 29 16 “ “ “ 30 24 “ “ “ 30 to 35 24 “ “ “ 35 to 40 10 “ “ over age of 40 (to 42) 3 “ “ age not given 4 Total 405 Average age of prostitution 25.5 years LENGTH OF TIME A PROSTITUTE. No. of prostitutes who have practiced prostitution less than 1 month (3 weeks) 1 “ “ “ “ 1 month 3 “ “ “ “ 2 “ 2 (< n << g . 2 “ “ “ * “ 4 , 8 *< (( «4 4( g << g “ “ “ 6 “ to i year 3 “ “• “ “ 1 year 86 “ “ “ “ V/z years 5 “ 2 “ 70 21/^ “ 3 “ “ « « 3 “ 58 << a << << 4 “ 47 t< it <4 44 C <4 97 “ “ “ 6 “ 16 44 4< 44 44 tt “ “ “ 8 “ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! s “ » “ “ 9 “ 10 “ “ “ “ 10 ‘‘ 6 <« “ “ “ 10 to 15 years 7 over 15 years 4 “ “ length of time as prostitutes not given 4 Total 405 Average length of time in prostitution 3.3 years The above table show^ that in the 104 houses there were 405 inmates. It is a significant fact that of the 405 inmates, 184, or 45.5 per cent, were over twenty-two years and under twenty-five years of age. The largest number at any one age were twenty-three years of age, there being 75 at this age. The average age was 25.5 years. Of the 405 inmates, 275, or 67.9 per cent, had been profes- ^12 Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. sioiial prostitutes or inmates more tliau one year and less than live years. The student of social problems may well ask what becomes of the large number of iirostitutes Avho leave the busi- ness after having engaged in it for four or five years. The probabilities are that a considerable number succumb to dis- ease, while others, leave the business to engage in some legiti- mate work, a few marry, and others return to their homes. The death rate among prostitutes is very high. There is some discussion of this point, in this section, under the. paragraph on “Occasional Prostitutes.” It is a notable fact that the number engaged in prostitution varies inversely as their length of time in the business. LAWS RECOMMENDED. A Morals Court. The committee recommends the establishment of a Morals Court for cities of the first class. This court should be con- ducted along lines similar to jiivenile court proceedings and its purpose should be the investigation of the moral welfare of persons brought before it and the ascertainment of the causes for such delinquency. Testimony has been presented before this committee to the effect that cases of this class are now be- ing disposed of before the district court in a very few minutes, the average time according to testimony being two and one half minutes for each case. This, of course, covers all classes of cases. The great number of cases being brought before the court at the present time renders it impossible for the judge adeipiately to ascertain the causes of delinquency in such cases. As sucih a law would apply solely to ^Milwaukee, the committee l)elieves a bill should be drawn to fit Milwaukee conditions, and therefore does not present a bill on that subject. The Mann Act as Applied to Municipalities. At many of the hearings of the committee it was suggested that a state law, similar to the federal iMann Act, which prohibits the transportation of a female from one state to another, for immoral purposes, should be passed, such law to be made applicable be- Kepobt of the V7isconsin Vice Committee. 213 tween luuiiicipalities within the state. Such a law is recoin- inended by this committee. ! » ' - A BILL To prohibit the transportation of women or girls for immoral purposes, within the state. iTlie people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : Section 1. There is added to the statutes a new section to read : Section 4589a. Any person wlio shall knowingly transp rt, or cause to be transi)orted, or aid or assist in obtaining trans- portation for, or in transporting, or taking in any manner or by any means from one town, village, or city within this sta':e to another town, city, or village within this state, any -woman or girl, for the purpose of prostitution or debaiicherr, or for any other immoral purpose, or Avith the intent or purpose to induce, entice, or compel such Avoman or girl to become a prostitute, or to give herself up to debauchery, or to engage in any other im- moral practice ; or avIio shall knoAvingly procure or obtain or cause to be i)rocured or obtained, or aid or assist in procuring any ticket or tickets or any other form or means of transporta- tion or evidence of the right thereto, to be used by any Avonian or girl Avithin this state in going to any place Avithin this state for the purpose of pj'ostitution or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose, oi' Avith intent oi' purpose on the part of such person to induce, entice, or compel her to giAm herself up to de- bauchery, or any other immoral practice, Avhereby any sudi woman or girl shall be taken, carried or transported to or from or betAveen any toAcn, Aullage or city Avithin this state and any other town, city or village, or Avho shall knoAvingly cause or assist in causing such Avonian or girl, Avhether Avith or Avithout her consent, to come, to go, or to be carried or taken or trans- ported as a passenger upon the line or route of any common carrier or any other means of coiiAmyance, transportation, lo- comotion, or travel for such purposes shall be deemed guilty of felony, and upon coiiAuction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not more than fiAm thousand dollars, or by imprisonment in the state prison for a term not exceeding five years, or by both such fine and impi'isonment in the discretion of the conrt. Section 2, Any female referred to in this act shall be a com- petent Avitness in any prosecution thereunder, to testify to any and all matters, including conversations Avith the accAxsed, or by him Avith third persons in her presence, notAvithstanding her marriage to the accused either before or after the violation 214 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. of any of the provisions of this act, whether called as a wiincss during the existence of the marriage, or after its dissolution, but no conviction shall be had for such offense on the testimony of the female so transported, unsupported by other evidence. Police Women. Nearly every witness who testified before the committee, fa- vored the appointment of one or more women on the police force in the various cities of the state, who primarily should be as- signed the duty of looking after the welfare of women and chil- dren on the streets, at dance halls, picture shows, parks, etc. The following amendment is suggested and adds but a few words to the present law. A BILL To amend sections 925 — 22 and 925 — 23 of the statutes, relating to police women. The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : Section 1. Section 925 — 22 of the statutes is amended by in- serting in line seven, after the Avord “policemen”, the Avords “a part of Avhich number shall be Avomen, Avho shall have the care and protection of Avomen and children.” Section 2. Section 925 — 23 of the statutes is amended by in- serting in line six, after the Avord “policemen” the Avords “in cities of the second and third classes one or more of Avhom shall be Avomen and AAdio shall haA'e the care and protection of Avomen and children.” A Permanent State Police Dejpartment. It has been stated by nearly every official and social Avorker testifying before this committee, that the enforcement of the moral Iravs and other Iraa's regulating practices Avhich tend to im- morality cannot be secured through officers Avho are controlled by local influence, and that the enforcement of such Iravs can be secured only through central officers Avho are not influenced by local sentiment. The above statements are borne out by the re- ports and recommendations of other vice commissions AA'hich Iira'C iiiA'estigated this subject. Eighteen states noAv have such a Irav. at least in principle. In order to reduce to a minimum the expense of maintaining Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 215 such a department, the committee in the following proposed l)ill provides that the board of managers shall consist in part of three of the state officials now provided for by law, and that the mem- bers of the board of managers of such department shall receive no compensation other than the actual expenses incurred in the performance of their duties. A BILL To provide for the establishment and maintenance of a state police department. The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : Section 1. There is created a state police department, which shall be under the management of a board of five members, two of Avhom shall be Avomen. The Chairman of the Industrial Commission, the Attorney-General, the Secretary of the State Board of Health, and tAvo Avomen to be appointed by the chief justice of the supreme court shall constitute the board of state police. The said Avomen shall be so appointed Avithin thirty days after the passage and publication of this act. One Avoman shall be appointed Avhose term of office shall expire on the first IMonday of July, 1917 ; another Avhose term of office shall ex- pire on the first Monday of July, 1918. Thereafter a member shall be appointed on the first Monday of June in the year of the expiration of such term, for a term of three years. Ap- pointments to fill vacancies shall be for the unexpired term. Section 2. At its first meeting, AAdiich shall be held at the Capitol at Madison, said board shall organize by the selection from its number, of a president Avho shall, when present, pre- side at all meetings of the board; and shall elect a clerk, AAdiose duty it shall be to keep a record of all proceedings of the board and to transmit to parties entitled to receive the same, the orders and conclusions of said board. At said meeting or as soon thereafter as practicable, and triennially there- after, the said board shall elect, by a majority vote of the mem- bers thereof, a superintendent of said department. Upon the recommendation of said superintendent, said board shall ap- point at least five persons as policemen or detectives, and in its discretion, as necessity requires, may, upon the recom- mendation of said department, appoint not more than ten men Avho shall be knoAvn as state policemen. At least one- fifth of such police officers shall be Avomen. Said superin- tendent unless removed for cause, shall hold office for a term of three jmars from the date of his appointment, and said 216 Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. state policemen shall hold office during the pleasure of the board, provided the superintendent of said department shall have the poAver to discharge any such policemen in excess of five, if, in his judgment, the efficiency or needs of the depart- ment shall so require. Said board shall have poAver, by a ma- jority vote, upon cause shoAvn and after due notice and hear- ing, to suspend or remove from office the superintendent and make other appointments in his stead. Said board may fill any vacancy occurring among its appointees as it may deem Avise and shall have the poAver to prescribe rules and regulations for the proper gOAmrnment, discipline and efficiency of said de- ])artment, to define the duty of the superintendent, as imposed by this act, to administer oaths: summon Avitnesses; and to compel their attendance, in the manner provided by laAv for the attendance of Avitnesses at court. Section 3. The general office of said police department shall he in the city of Madison and the superintendent of public property is hereby authorized and directed to furnish suitable rooms for the purposes of said department, properly equiirped, and, upon recpiest of the superintendent, from time to time, to supply the same Avith necessary books, stationery and appli- ances as the reasonable needs of said department shall require, at the expense of the state. The superintendent of said depart- ment shall have poAver to administer oaths, and may engage, subject to the approval of said board, office assistants and cleri- cal help, to be paid by the state, at a cost of not exceeding tAvo thousand dollars ])er annum. Section 4. Said department, Avhen reque.sted by the gov- ernor or any sheriff, district attorney, coroner, or chief cf po- lice of any city, or any other legally appointed pres ‘cuting offi- cer or upon the petition of any five citizens, of the state, shall AvheneAU'r practicable and in all reasonable Avays. assist in the iiiAmstigation, detection and prosecution of all criminal matters Avithin the jurisdiction of the officer or person making such re- ([uest, and the superintendent of said department and any state policeman shall have and may exercise in any })art of the state the same poAver, Avith respect to all criminal matters, as sheriffs, jAolice and constables are noAv required to exercise in their re- si)ectiAm jurisdictions. Said department shall also render as- sistance, Avhen requested, if practicable, to any sheriff', district attorney or chief of police in any part of the state. WheneA'er said state policemen shall not be engaged in any specific AA'ork, as proAuded for in this section, they shall, under such rules and I'egulatious as may be made by said board, and under the direc- tion of said superintendent, use their best efforts to preA'ent crime, pu'eserA^e the peace of the state, and secure the detection, ai'rest and comnetion of criminals. Report op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 217 Section 5. Any nieni])er of said state police department may request ariy sheriff or deputy sheriff or district attorney in any county, any })oliceman of any city, or any constable of any town, to assist in tlie investigation, detection, and prosecution of criminal offenses within his .jurisdiction, and such officer shall, when so requested, render all reasonable assistance, and shall he paid as hereinafter iirovided. Any sheriff' or constable may, and any deputy sheriff' or policemen, with the consent of the authority to which he is subject, shall, go to any part of the state when required by the superintendent of the state po- lice, and while acting under the authority of said superintend- ent, shall have all powers conferred upon state policemen under the provisions of this act. Section 6. The salary of the superintendent of state police shall be twenty-five hundred dollars, and the compensation of each state policeman shall be fixed by the board at a rate not to exceed four dollars per day. The said officers shall be reim- bursed for all exjienses while in the performance of official duty and shall render to the superintendent an itemized account of such expenses. Said salaries and expenses shall be paid by the state monthly as is provided by law for other officers of the state. Section 7. Each officer and policeman of said state police department shall, before entering upon his duties, be sworn to a faithful performance thereof, and shall give to the state and file with the treasurer thereof a bond, with sureties, approved by the board of managers of said department, as follows: the bond of the superintendent of state police shall be ten thousand dollars; the bond of each state imlice shall be fixed by the board. Said board may require a renewal of any bond whenever they may deem ])roper. Unless the oath of office be taken and a bond filed within ten days after an appointment, said appointment shall be void and the board shall, as herein- Ix'fore })rovided, fill the vacancy so caused. Section 8. Any state ])olice officer, aiipointed as provided in section two of this act, who directly or indirectly receives a reward, gift, or gratuity on account of his official services, ex- cept as approved by the board, or to infiuence his behavior in office, shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred nor more than five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment, and shall be dishonorably discharged from said department. Section 9. The superintendent of state police shall render a report to the said board of state police giving in detail the work of the department under its control whenever required. Said board shall, on or before the first day of December in each year, file with the governor a report setting forth in detail the 218 Report of the Wisconsin Vice CommitteI:. work of the state police department for tlie year ending the thirtieth day of June next preceding. Said report shall be printed by the secretary of state at the expense of the state and shall be distributed in such manner and form as the board may determine. Section 10. Whenever, pursuant to the provisions of this act, any state policeman or officer shall appear as a witness in any case, the court before which the case is tried shall tax such sum to be paid as costs as, in its judgment, may seem reason- able for time and expense, and said iioliceman shall duly re- ceipt for all sums so received and immediately pay them over to the superintendent of state police. Whenever any sheritf, deputy sheriff, policeman, or constable shall perform any service under the direction of the superintendent of state pol- ice, or at the recpiest of any member of said department, he shall receive therefor such sum as may be agreed upon, not exceeding four dollars per day and expenses, to be paid by the state as other" bills are paid, and whenever such sheriff, deputy sheriff, policeman, or constable shall be required as a witness, the court before Avhich the ease is tried shall tax such sum to be paid as costs as, in its judgment, may seem reason- able for the services so rendered, and such officer shall duly receipt for all sums so received and immediately pay them over to the suiierintendent of state police. Said superinten- dent shall render a monthly account to the secretary of state of all sums received by him under the provisions of this act and pay the same to the treasurer of the state. Section 11. The superintendent of state police shall, with the direction and advice of the board, have immediate and di- rect charge of said state police department, and may suspend for cause any officer under his control pending a hearing and decision by the board, lie shall keep an accurate account of all receipts and disbursements of said department and sub- mit his books to the secretary of state for inspection, Avhenever required, lie shall also file and index in his office all written complaints and a statement of the action taken thereon. Section 12. During the absence or disability of the superin- tendent of state police, the board may make a temporary ap- pointment from the state iiolice to perform the duties of the superintendent. Section 13. The fines and forfeited bonds in all eases in Avhich any evidence has been furnished by said state police de- liai'tment or any officer thereof before any justice of the peace or before any court of this state shall be paid to the state, and it shall be the duty of the superintendent of police to render each month an account of the same to the secretary of state. Section 11. Said superintendent may be required to investi- Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 2i9 gate and rei)ort to law enforcing officers and to said board facts relating to any breach of the laws in any cominnnity of the state. Sncli board of state police shall have authority to enfoijce the moral laws in any and all cases where the local law enforcing officers neglect or refuse to do so, such action to take i^lace only after the local law enforcing officers have been informed of and have been furnished the evidence of such breaches of the moral laws. Section 15. In order to secure the enforcement of such laws where the local law enforcing officers neglect or refuse to en- force the same, the said superintendent shall report such fact to the said board of state police, and thereupon at their request it shall be the duty of the attorney-general’s department to pros- ecute such violations. Section 16. Such superintendent of state police and any state policeman shall have the right to enter into any place where crime is being committed, and every person being there- in or having charge of such place who refuses or fails to ad- mit such officers, or obstructs or attempts to obstruct the en- try of any such officer into such place, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty dollars. The Age of Consent. ' There is a widespread demand that the age of consent for women be raised. The following proposed amendment covers the changes in the existing statutes, that would be required. Since the average mentality of the women addicted to immoral practices is shown, by the three recognized tests, to be only about that of a child ten years of age, there certainly is a necessity that the state lend its aid in securing protection for. such women. A BILL ^ To amend sections 4381, 4382, 4580, 4581a, 4581b, and 4588a of the statutes, relating to the age of consent for women. The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows ; Section 1. Section 4381 of the statutes is amended by strik- ing out the word “fourteen” where it occurs in line two and insei’ting in lieu thereof the word “eighteen.” Section 2. Section 4382 of the statutes is amended by strik- ing out the word “fourteen” where it occurs in line two and inserting in lieu thereof the word “eighteen.” Section 3. Section 4580 of the statutes is amended by strik- ing out the word “fourteen”, where it occurs in line two and 220 Report op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. inserting in lieu thereof the word “eighteen”; and by strik- ing out the word “eighteen” where it occurs in line six and inserting in lieu thereof the words “twenty-one.” Section 4. Section 4581a of the statutes is amended hy strik- ing out tlie word “sixteen” where it occurs in line four and inserting in lieu thereof the words “twenty-one.” Section 5. Section 4581b of the statutes is amended hy striking out the words “sixteen” where they occur in line three and inserting in lieu thereof the words “twenty-one.” Section 6. Section 4588a of the statutes is amended by striking out the word “fourteen” where it occurs in line three and inserting in lieu thereof the Avord “eighteen.” An Industrial Home for Women. One of the difficult problems this committee has been asked to solve is : “ What shall be done Avith the Avomen who are inmates of houses of prostitution, when such houses are done aAvay A\ith?” In some states an attempt has been made to solve this problem by proA'iding suitable “Homes” for such Avomen, Avhere they may be kept until they have received proper medical treatment and been pronounced free from disease, and Avhere they may receive instruction in some useful line of Avork, so that npon their re- lease they may be able to secure honest employment. The Bed- ford Home, at Bedford, N. Y., best illustrates Avhat may he done along this line. As AVisconsin is noAv engaged in the construction of an indus- trial home for Avomen, this* committee recommends that in such home a department for the care of these unfortunate Avomen be proAuded. From this home they might he paroled as soon as tlieir condition Avould Avarrant it. The folloAving proposed bill makes provision for a depai'tment such as is aboA'e suggested. A BILL To amend Sections 4944n and 4944r of the statutes, relating to an industrial home for Avomen. The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as folloAvs : Section 1. Section 4944n, of the statutes is amended by insei'ting in line fifteen thereof, after the Avord “Prostitute” the Avords “or of soliciting on public streets or places for the Ueport op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 221 purpose of prostitution, or frequenting disorderly liouses or houses of prostitution.” Section 2. Section 4944r of the statutes is amended by add- ing at the end thereof the words “and shall equip one ward or department of such institution Avith suitable hospital facilities for the treatment of AAmmen afflicted with venereal disease ; and shall also equip a psychological laboratory for the study and treatment of mental disorders to Avhich Avomen and girls addicted to immoral practices are subject. Such females shall be committed for treatment and such industrial training as shall enable them to support themselves properly, and shall be subject to such examinations, treatments, operations and tests, under the rules and regulations of the board of control, as shall be deemed necessary by the state board of health to improve their physical and mental condition. Protection Against Venereal Disease. The testimony presented at hearings of this committee, by physicians throughout the state, tends to show that a large ma- jority of all males, and a very large number of females, at some time in life contract venereal disease, and that very frequently such disease is transmitted to innocent persons. It is stated that in a vast number of siich eases a cure is never effected. Un- doubtedly this causes one of the greatest possible economic losses to the state. To remedy such a state of affairs the folloAving proposed bill is recommended. A BILL To prohibit sexual relations between persons afflicted Avith venereal disease, and providing a penalty. The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : Section 1. There is added to the statutes a neAv section to read: Section 4579a. Any person afflicted with gonorrhea or syphilis, Avho shall knowingly transmit or assume the risk of transmitting such disease by intercourse with another person, shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dol- lars nor more than five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail for not less than six months nor more than one year; and in addition thereto shall be liable to the party in- jured in damages to be recovered in any court of competent jurisdiction, 222 liEPOK'L' 01>' THE WISCONSIN ViCE COMMITTEE. Pandering'. The investigators of this committee, in their efforts to ascer- tain the location of immoral resorts in different localities of the state, found that information as to immoral resorts could liest be obtained from certain barkeepers, cab drivers, hotel clerks and others. It was found that many of these persons made a practice of furnishing the names and addresses of women, and even young girls, whom they knew it would be safe to approach. For the purpose of eliminating this practice the following pro- posed bill is offered. A BILL To amend section 4581h — 1 of the statutes, relating to pan- dering. The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : Section 1. Section 4581h — 1 of the statutes is amended by adding at the end thereof the following : Any liveryman, auto driver, cab driver, bartender, hotel clerk, bellboj^ waiter, or policeman, or any other person, who shall furnish to any per- son seeking opportunity for immoral practices the name or address of any prostitute or immoral girl or woman, or house of prostitution or assignation, shall be punished by imprison- ment in the county jail for not less than thirty days nor more than six months, or by a fine of not less than twenty-five dol- lars nor more than one hundred dollars. Indecent Exhibitions at County and State Fairs. klany complaints have come to this committee tliat indecent exhibitions are permitted to be held at county fairs, and evt-n at the state fair. Such indecent exhibitions certainly tend to corrupt the morals not only of youths, but of adults as well. For the purpose of prohibiting such exhibitions in future, the following proposed bill is recommended. A BILL To prohibit indecent exhibitions at fairs and providing a penalty. The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : Section 4590 of the statutes is amended b}”- adding at the end thereof : (e) Any person who is the superintendent, manager, or offi- Report of tpie Wisconsin Vice Committee. 223 cer of any fair association, or the owner, manager or i)erson in cliarge of any show or exhibition which tends or would nat- urally tend to the corruption of the morals of youths or of others, who permits the same to be so exhibited, and every person aiding or abetting in such act, shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the c- nty jail for not less than thirty days nor more than six mcnlhs; and before any moneys shall be paid to them by the state the officers of the fair association shall make and file a eertifieate of the fact that no such exhibition was held or permitted to be held upon the grounds under their control. Punishment for Violation of the Moral Laws. Complaint is very frequently made that the punishment in- flicted upon the male for the violation of the moral laws is very much less severe than that inflicted upon the female for the same offense. It is insisted that it is only just and proper that the male should be made to suffer equally with the female. It is contended further that a second or subsequent conviction for a violation of any of the moral laws or other laws regulating practices which tend to immorality should be punished by im- prisonment, and not merely by a fine as is very frequently the practice at present. For the purpose of carrying out the above suggestions the fol- lowing proposed bill is offered. A BILL 'I’o create section -IGdoa of the statutes, relating to i)enallies in certain cases. Tlie i)eople of tlie state of Wisconsin, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : Section 1. There is added to the statutes a new seetio]i to read : Section 4635a. LTpon a second or subsequent plea of guilty, or a plea of nolle contendere, or upon conviction upon trial for violation of any of the moral laws of this state, the punishment inflicted by the court shall be imprisonment for the term provided in that particular section of the statutes. 224 Repout of the Wisconsin Vice Committee, Hotels. Much evidence has been presented to the committee that com- mercialized prostitution is knowingly permitted in manj" of the liotels of the state. It is believed that much good would result if guests were com])elled to register their true names and ad- dresses, and a penalty provided for registration under a ficti- tious name or address. In many cases closed private dining rooms in hotels are used for immoral purposes. Legislation for the regulation of such private dining rooms is needed. The following addition to the innkeepers law is suggested. ' ■ A BILL To amend Section 1408m — 10 of the statutes, relating to inn- keepers. The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : Section 1. Section 1408m — 10 of the statutes is amended liy inserting after subsection 10 thereof a new subsection to read: 10a. 1. Innholders’ licenses or permits issued under subsec- tions 1 to 11 of section 1408m — 10, of the statutes and its amend- ments, shall be granted oidy after investigation by or under the direction of the licensing board into the fitness of the applicant to receive STich license, and shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter, as well as the provisions of said statutes. 2. Hotels and all premises maintained wholly or in part under innholders’ licenses or permits shall at all times be sub- ject to inspection with reference to conditions existing upon the premises, by the police or other officials lawfully exercising the functions of police, and by inspectors and agents of the board charged with the duty of licensing innholders, and by agents and inspectors authorized by any district attorney or by the attornej^-general. Report of unlawful conditions exist- ing upon or about such premises shall forthwith be made to the licensing board. 3. All persons licensed as innholders shall keep, or cause to be kept by their employees, a register in permanent form for the recording of the true name and residence of every person occupying or sharing in occupying for any period of time whatsoever of the day or night a room upon the premises con- trolled by the licensee, other than an open room exclusively de- voted to and used for the convenience of all amests of either or Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 225 both sexes, such as an office, reception, dining, reading or wait- ing room, together with a true and accurate record, made by the licensee or his employee for the time being in custody of such register, of the room or rooms assigned to such person or persons and of the time when each of such persons began and ceased to occupy such room or rooms. The register so kept shalUat all times be open to the inspection of the police and to officers, inspectors and agents of the government, and each such hotel shall cause the name of the owner and of the occu- pant of the premises to be conspicuously displayed on the front door of such building in letters not less than three inches in height. 4. All persons occupying or sharing in occupying rooms as described in the preceding section shall either sign their true names and residences in such register or shall cause their true names and residences to be entered upon the register for them, or shall state their true names and residences to the licensee or to his employee in custody of the register, Avho shall enter the same upon the register. 5. All persons refusing or neglecting or otherwise failing to comply with the provisions of the preceding sections of this act, including persons knowingly signing or entering or caus- ing or iiermitting the entering of a false name or residence in a register required by the provisions of this act to he kept, shall be punished by a fine of not less than Vventy-five dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment for not more than two months for each offence, or by both such fine and imprisonment. 6. It shall be unlawful for any person holding an innhold- er’s license or for any employee of such licensee to use, main- tain for use or permit the use of closed private dining rooms in hotels and upon premises maintained wholly or in part under an innholder’s license, by a number of persons more than one and less than five, unless the persons shall all be men or shall all be women ; provided, however, that nothing herein contained shall he held to prevent the serving of meals to a family in its proper lodging room or suite of rooms. A space so enclosed that persons within it are shut off from public view, whether by walls, doors, curtains, portieres, screens or other device, within which either food or drink is served or consumed, shall be deemed to be a private dining room Avithin the meaning of this section. 7. An innholder upon whose premises a room or space has been used in violation of this act shall be punished hy a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment for a period of not exceeding three months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. 8. The clerk of anj" court in AA'hich any person is convicted of a violation of any of the provisions of this chapter shall 15— V. 0. 226 Keport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. forthwith send a copy of the record of such conviction to the board charged with the duty of issuing innholders’ licenses in the city or town where the offence occurred. 9. Whoever being licensed as an innholder is convicted a second time under the provisions of subsections 1 to 11 of sec- tion 1408m — 10 of the statutes, or under the provisions of this section, shall in addition to suffering the penalties provided in the preceding sections of this chapter be adjudged to have for- feited his license as an innholder. Section 2. This act shall take effect upon its passage and publication. Necessity for Requirement that Lodging Houses and Rooming Houses Be Licensed. The present economic conditions necessitate the widespread use of lodging houses and rooming houses. In the interest of morality, as well as sanitation, there should be a requirement that such lodging houses and rooming houses be licensed by the state, and that registration of roomers and lodgers in such houses be required. The following bill covers the above suggestions. A BILL To provide for the licensing, inspection and regulation of rooming houses and lodging houses. The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : Section 1. No person owning, leasing, occupying or manag- ing a building or part of building used for private dwelling purposes in any city or toivn shall engage in the business of renting rooms for lodging except under a license therefor from the board authorized by section 1548 of the statutes to issue licenses. A person shall be deemed to be engaged in the busi- ness of renting rooms for lodging, within the meaning of this act, if the total number of occupants of all rooms rented by him is greater than five. Such license shall state the true name of the licensee and the location of the premises to which it re- lates, and shall not be assignable and shall not authorize the renting of rooms at any location other than that described. No fee shall be required to be paid for such license. A copy of every license issued and a record of the date when and the name and residence of the person to whom it was issued shall be kept by the licensing authority. Section 2. No license shall be granted until the fitness of the applicant therefor has been established to the satisfaction Keport of the 'Wisconsin Vice Committee. 227 of the licensing board. The police shall, upon request of the licensing authority, investigate and report upon the fitness of applicants to receive such licenses. Section 3. All persons managing or otherwise having or sharing the control of any building or part thereof in which rooms are rented for dwelling or lodging shall keep or cause to he kept in permanent form a register in which shall be entered the true name of every person and the city or, town of perma- nent residence of every person renting or sharing in renting a room, and of every person occupying or sharing in occupying a room which has been rented upon the premises, together with a true and accurate statement of the time when the renting and occupation by each and every person begins and terminates. Such register shall at all times be open to the inspection of the police and of the licensing authoidties and their authorized agents. Section 4. The premises so occupied, used or controlled by the licensee, shall at all times be subject to inspection by the licensing authorities and their authorized agents and by the police, who shall report the results of their inspection to the licensing authority. Section 5. Every license shall be understood to be granted subject to the condition that the licensee shall not engage in, authorize or allow any disorderly conduct upon the premises, and that the provisions of this section shall be complied with. Section 6. Any person failing to comply with the provisions of this act shall be punished for each offence by a fine of not less than five nor more than one hundred dollars, or by im- prisonment for not more than one month, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Section 7. A license issued under the provisions of this act shall be revoked if at any time the licensing authority, after investigation and after hearing, or after giving an opportun- ity to be heard, a notice of which shall be left at the premises of the licensee not less than twenty-four hours before the time set for the hearing, shall be satisfied that the licensee is unfit to hold such license. Immorality in Cafes, Restaurants, Saloons, Etc. In many cafes, restauisants and saloons there are small apart- ments separated by partitions, curtains or screens. In many cases young girls are taken into these private apartments and there served liquor, and later taken to places where immoral practices are permitted. In order that the present laws prohib- 228 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. iting such practices may be more easily enforced the following bill is presented : ' A BILL To Prohibit Immorality in Cafes, Restaurants, Saloons, Etc. The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: Section 1. It shall be unlawful for any person owning, managing or controlling a cafe, restaurant, saloon or other place where food or drink is sold to the public to be consumed upon the premises,' in any city or town, and for any person em- ployed by such person, to provide, maintain, use or permit the use of rooms, booths, stalls or enclosures of any description whatsoever which are so closed by walls, partitions, curtains, screens or other devices that the persons within cannot at any time be seen by all other persons in such cafe, restaurant, saloon or other place, or in any divisions thereof into which the premises may be divided under regulation of licensing au- thorities. Section 2. Any person violating the provisions of the pre- ceding section shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or by imprison- ment for not more than two months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Section 3. Whoever shall resort to any cafe, restaurant, saloon or other place where food or drink is sold or served to be consumed upon the premises, for the purpose of immoral solicitation or immoral bargaining, or in any manner induc- ing another person to engage in immoral conduct, and who- ever being in or about any such place shall engage in any such acts, shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or by imprison- ment for not more than one year, or by both such fiue and imprisonment. Section 4. Whoever being licensed as an innholder and who- ever being licensed to sell intoxicating liquors, shall, himself ■or through his employes, knowingly permit a cafe, restaurant, saloon or other such place maintained by him or under his ■direction or control, to be used for any of the purposes de- scribed in section three of this act, shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred nor more than one thousand dol- lars, or by imprisonment for not more than two years, or by both such fine and imprisonment. A person shall he presumed knoAvingly to have permitted such use within the meaning of Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 229 this section if by the exercise of reasonable diligence and watchfulness he could have learned of such use. Section 5. In addition to the penalties provided in the pre- ceding sections the license or licenses of a person convicted of a violation of the provisions of section four, upon the first conviction may be suspended for such period as the licensing officer or board may determine, and upon the second convic- tions such license or licenses shall be adjudged to have been forfeited. Section 6. The clerk of the court in which any person is convicted of a violation of any of the provisions of this chap- ter shall forthwith send a copy of the record of such convic- tion to the boards having jurisdiction of such license or li- censes in the city or town where the offense was committed. Section 7. Innholders’ licenses or permits issued under subdivisions 1 to 11 of section 1408m — 10, of the statutes and its amendments shall be understood to be subject to the pro- visions of this section, and saloon licenses issued under the provisions of chapter 66, of the statutes. Fictitious Names Permitted in Court Records. Evidence has been presented to the committee that persons of standing and of presumed respectability, who have been arrested for violating the moral laws, have been permitted by the court to give fictitious names, in order that they might escape unde- sired publicity. In order that there may be no unfair discrim- ination in such cases the following bill is proposed. A BILL To prohibit the use of false or fictituous names. The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as folloAvs : Section 1. Any person who shall give or permit to be given, or knowingly receive or permit to be entered upon any process or docket any false or fictitious name or address in place of the person’s true name or address, upon being arrested for a violation of any of the excise or moral laws of this state, or an ordinance of any village, city or toAvn, shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than one hun- dred dollars or by imprisonment in the county jail for not less than one month nor more than six months. 230 Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. Unlawful Use of Certain Drugs and Appliances. This committee has found that in many of the cities of the state drug stores have for sale certain drugs and remedies which are intended to bring about an abortion, and also certain drugs and appliances which are intended to prevent conception. It has been stated to the committee by a resident of one of the smaller cities of the state that in that city it was a common oc- currence for minors to boast openly that they felt perfectly safe in having illegitimate relations, because of the fact that they possessed such appliances. In order to eliminate the evils arising from such a state of af- fairs the following hill is recommended. A BILL To create section 4538a, forbidding the sale of drugs and ap- pliances in certain cases. The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : There is added to the statutes a new section to read : Section 4583a. Any person who shall sell or give away, or keep for sale or for gratuitous distribution any drug or nostrum or any contrivance, thing, or device intended for the preven- tion of conception or for causing unlawful abortion, except upon a prescription of a reputable physician, shall, upon con- viction, he punished by imprisonment in the county jail not more than one year nor less than six months or by fine not ex- ceeding $500 nor less than $100 or by both such fine and im- prisonment in the discretion of the court. Enforcement of Laws. One of the most serious problems which this committee has found to exist is that caused by the non-enforcement of laws. Many officers have testified that they had made no effort to en- force certain laws, because they believed public sentiment was op- posed to their enforcement. The present methods of remov- ing such officers are difficult to take advantage of, and are sub- ject to many delays. In order to remedy such a condition the following bill is proposed. A similar law has been upheld by Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 231 the supreme court of the state of Kansas (32 Kansas 14), and affirmed by the U. S. Supreme Court (112 U. S. 20l). A BILL To create section 4549a of the statutes, authorizing the circuit court or judge to remove officers for misfeasance, mal- feasance, or nonfeasance in office, and providing a method of procedure therefor. The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : Section 1. There is added to the statutes a new section to read : Section 4549a. 1. Any district attorney, city attorney, sheriff, mayor, police officer, marshal, or constable, shall be removed from office by the circuit court or judge upon charges made in writing and hearing thereunder, for the folloAving causes : (1.) For Avilful or habitual neglect or refusal to perform the duties of his office. (2.) For conscious obstruction to the due course of the ad- ministration of public affairs. (3.) For Avilful misconduct, or maladministration in office. (4.) For corruption. (5.) For extortion. (6.) For gambling. (7.) Upon conviction of a felony. (8.) For intoxication or upon conviction of being intoxi- cated. 2. The complaint or petition shall be entitled in the name of the state of Wisconsin, and may be filed upon the relation of any five qualified electors of the county in Avhich the person charged is an officer, the county attorney of such county, or the attorney-general, and shall be filed by the attorney-general AAdien directed so to do by the goAmrnor. It shall be the duty of the county attorney to appear and prosecute this proceed- ing AAffien the officer sought to be removed is one other than himself ; and Avhen the proceeding is brought to remove the county attorney, the court may appoint an attorney to ap- pear in behalf of the state and prosecute such proceedings. 3. It shall be the duty of the governor, Avhenever he has knoAvledge that reasonable grounds exist for the filing of com- plaint against any of the Avithin named officers, to direct the attorney-general to file the same against the offending party and prosecute the said action. The accused shall be named as defendant, and the petition, unless filed by the attorney- general, shall be verified. The petition shall state the charges against the accused, and may be amended as in ordinary ac- 232 Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. tions, and shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the circuit court of the county in which the person charged is an officer. The accused may at any time prior to the time fixed for hear- ing file in the office of the clerk of the circuit court his answer, which shall be verified. 4. If the person or persons filing the complaint or the de- fendant believes that the cause ought not to be heard before any judge of such circuit, he shall at the time he files his peti- tion or answer in the office of the clerk of the circuit court file a copy thereof in the office of the clerk of the supreme court, together with an application to the supreme court asking for the appointment of a judge outside of such circuit to hear the com- plaint. Upon the filing of the copy of such complaint, together with the application, in the office of the clerk of the supreme court, it shall be the duty of the chief justice of the supreme court, or in his absence or inability to act, any justice thereof, to forthwith issue a written commission directing a circuit judge of the state of Wisconsin outside of such circuit to pro- ceed to the county in which the complaint is filed, and hear the same. Upon the receipt of such commission said judge shall immediately make an order fixing a time for hearing, which shall not be less than ten nor more than twenty days thereafter, and forward said order to the clerk of the circuit court of the county in which the hearing is to be had. The clerk shall file such order and fortliAvith cause a copy thereof or a notice of the time and place of hearing to be served on the accused. If the cause is to be heard by a judge within the judicial circuit, upon the presentation of the petition, or a copy thereof, to such judge, he shall make an order fixing a time for the hearing as hereinbefore specified. 5. The proeeeding shall be summary in its natnre and tri- able as an equitable action, and may be heard either in A'aea- tion or term time, and shall be heard before the court or judge without the intervention of a jury. Upon the filing of the pe- tition in the office of the clerk of the circuit court and pre- sentation of the same to the judge, the court or judge may sus- pend the accused from office, if in his judgment sufficient cause appear from the petition and affidavit or affidaA'its Avhich may be presented in support of the charges contained therein. In case of suspension, as herein proAuded, the temporary A’a- caney shall be filled in the manner proA’ided by laAv. 6. If upon a hearing herein proA'ided for, the circuit court or judge shall find that the accused should be remoA'ed from office he shall make and enter of record an order of removal, and the Amcancy thus created shall be filled as proA'ided by law. 7. In ease of appeal to the supreme court, the cause shall be advanced and take precedence over all other causes upon the Keport op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 23a court calendar, and shall be heard at the next term after the appeal is taken, provided the abstract and arguments are filed in said court in time for said action to be heard. The supreme court shall fix the time of hearing and filing of arguments. The taking of an appeal by the defendant and the filing of a supersedeas bond shall not operate to stay the proceedings of the circuit court or judge, or restore said defendant to office pending such appeal. If the final termination of such pro- ceedings be favorable to an accused officer, said officer shall be allowed the reasonable and necessary expense, including a reasonable attorney fee to be fixed by the court or judge, he has incurred in making his defense, by the county if he be a county officer, or by the city or toAvn in which he holds office if he be mayor, city attorney, police officer or marshal. If the action is instituted upon complaint of citizens as herein pro- vided, and it appears to the court that there was no reason- able cause for filing the complaint, the costs may be taxed against the complaining parties. H. Any judge who is required to preside at a hearing herein provided for, outside of his judicial district, shall be allowed his necessary actual expenses incurred by reason of such hear- ing, and the necessary and actual expenses of his official re- porter. An itemized sworn statement shall be made by such judge and official reporter, showing the amount of expenses incurred, and the same shall be filed with the secretary of state. Thereupon, the secretary of state shall draw his warrant upon the treasurer of the state for such amount. 9. This method of removal shall be in addition to other methods provided by law. A BILL To amend section 1557a of the statutes, relating to the attend- ance of girls and women at certain dance halls. The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : Section 1. Section 1557a of the statutes is amended te read : Section 1557a. Any keeper of any saloon, shop or place of any name whatsoever for the sale of strong, spirituous or malt liquors to be drank on the premises, who shall permit or alloAV any woman to be present at or participate in any ball or dance held in such saloon, shop or place, or in the same or an adjoining building, shop or place, or in any place where liquors are sold or dispensed, or any place adjoining the same, under his license, or who shall permit or allow any such girl or young Avoman to linger in or frequent such saloon, shop or place, shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more 234 Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. than one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed six months, or by both such fine and imprison- ment. And upon conviction his license shall be revoked as is provided in section 1558 of the said statutes, and proof of such conviction shall be conclusive proof that such keeper main- tains a disorderly and improper house as such terms are used in said section 1558. A BILL To create section 2394 — 92 of the statutes relating to employ- ment agencies. The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in Senate and Assembly, ’do enact as follows: Section 1. There is added to the statutes a new section to read : Section 2394 — 92. (a) Every person managing or operating any employment bureau for women, in this state, from which girls are assigned for employment, shall make and file in his office application cards to be signed by any applicant for help, on which shall be stated the business of the place to which an employee is to be furnished, the nature of the work to be per- formed by the employee, the Avages to be paid, and the state- ment that no immoral practices or persons are permitted on or about his premises and the employment agent shall, before sending any young girl or Avoman under thirty years of age to any place of employment, make an inA’estigation of the moral conditions surrounding such place and endorse the facts found, on the application; and no employment agent shall adAuse or send any girl or young Avoman under thirty years of age to any place of questionable character. (b) No such licensed person shall send or cause to be sent any female help, serAmnt, inmate, performer, or any other per- son to enter any questionable place of bad repute, house of ill fame or assignation house, or to any place of amusement in which immoral practices are permitted, or place resorted to for the purpose of prostitution, or any gambling house, the char- acter of Avhieh such places the licensing person knoAvs either directly or by reputation or Avhich he might obtain by reason- able effort. (c) No such licensed person shall knowingly permit any questionable character, prostitute, gambler, intoxicated person or procurer to frequent such agency. (d) Every such licensed person shall keep a premanent rec- ord and index Avith names and postoffiee addresses of all per- sons placed in seiwice by him, with reference to the facts con- tained in the application, AA'hich record shall be open to the in- Eeport of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. 235 speetion of the officers of the law and the parent or guardian of such person. A BILL To amend sections 1548 — 2 and 1549 of the statutes, relating to applications for licenses to sell intoxicating liquors. The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : Section 1. The first three lines of section 1548 — 2 of the stat- utes are amended to read as follows: Section 1548 — 2. “All applications for license to sell intoxicating liquors in any town, village or city in this state shall be made in writing, giving the location by number of floor, lot and block of the premises where such business is to be conducted and shall state that there are entrances only from the street and not more than one rear exit and that the same opens upon open grounds, and that there is no direct connection between said premises and any room or rooms to the rear, to the side, or upstairs; that there are no stalls, family entrances or wine rooms in said premises, and that there are no screens or blinds that interfere with a full view from the street, throughout said premises where such busi- ness is to be conducted, and the” Section 2. The eleventh line of section 1549 of the statutes is amended to read as follows : “Persons intoxicated or border- ing upon intoxication or to habitual drunkards; that he will maintain said premises Avith entrance only from the street and only one rear exit, Avhieh shall open upon open grounds ; that he will not permit any inside connection betAveen said premises and any room or rooms at the side, rear or above said saloon; that he aauII not permit any stalls, family entrances or wine rooms on said premises, nor permit any blinds or screens that will interfere Avith a full vicAV from the street, throughout said licensed premises, and that” A BILL To create section 4612a of the statutes, relating to the trial of misdemeanors in certain cases. The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as folloAvs : Section 1. There is added to the statutes a new section to read : Section 4612a. The trial of all misdemeanors arising under the moral and excise laws shall be tried by the court having jurisdiction, without a jury, provided, however, that if a jury be demanded, the verdict of five-sixths of their number shall be sufficient to convict or acquit. 236 Report op the AViscoxsin Vice Committee. Summary of Work of Committee. Public hearings have been held by this committee in 13 cities of this state, the time occupied in conducting such hearings being 26 days. At such hearings 605 witnesses were exam- ined by the committee. Before commencing hearings the chairman of the committee visited 42 cities of the state, occupy- ing about 60 days in such work, and interviewed 311 of the lead- ing social workers and public officials as to vice conditions exist- ing in their respective cities and as to the methods and extent of law enforcement in such cities. 35 cities were visited by the expert secret investigators of the committee for the pur- pose of learning the causes, conditions and earnings of com- mercialized vice, and the class of people profiting therefrom. In the aggi’egate they occupied in this work about 270 days. No contributions of time, money, services or other thing of value have been received by the committee, other than as stated in this report ; nor have any money or services been contributed by the members of the committee, other than as herein stated. Report of the 'Wisconsin Vice Committee. 237 Summary of Receipts and Disbursements of Committee. RECEIPTS. Appropriation provided for by Chapter 339, laws of 1913 $10,000 00 Refund on overcharge by railroad companj' 8 20 • Total $10,008 DISBURSEMENTS. Salaries. E Iroead fars. Sleeper, Street car, livery and bus fares. j Hotel. 1 Meals. Miscel- lan- eous. Total. $2,385 10 $103 10 $17 60 $3 40 $69 75 $36 55 $10 39 $2,625 89 Clerical help, preparing 332 26 20 80 1 45 38 00 16 75 1 50 410 76 rept. Detectives 1,368 70 158 66 11 00 38 89 190 45 ! 184 90 601 13 2,553 73 Attorney (Jas, B. Rey- None 19 00 3 00 11 17 ' 5 65 1 50 40 32 nolds) . 87 15 87 15 156 90 156 90 39 62 39 62 7 00 4 20 4 75 6 55 22 50 Members of Committee. None 772 94 82 75 19 96 317 40 j 437 46 20 57 1,651 08 Total $4,173 21 $1,081 50 $114 35 $67 90 $631 52 js687 86 $831 61 $7,587 95 Balance on hand, unexpended, as of Dec. 4th, 1914 $2,420.25 FURTHER EXPENSES TO BE INCURRED. (Estimated) Printing 10,000 copies of report $800.00 Express and Postage on report 200.00 Envelopes for report 25.00 Salary of stenographer 150.00 Supplies from Superintendent of Public Property 86.45 Miscellaneous • 58.80 Total , 1,320.25 Estimated balance to be returned to the general fund of the state $1,100.00 INDEX. Page. Abortion 144 Act authorizing investigation to be made 5 Age of consent •. 157 Law recommended 219 Age at time of first sex offense (Table) 107 Agents of prostitution 13 Madams, Defined 13 Owners, Defined 13 Pimps, Defined 14 Procurers, Defined 13 Apartment houses 51 Assignation hotels , 44 Bastardy to be made extraditable offense 169 Call houses 41 See “Places of prostitution” Causes of prostitution 103 Indirect 108 Mental defects 103 Churches and religious organizations 171 Churches and public schools. Attitude of 110 Cities having recognized districts. List of 38 Cities having immoral places which are allowed to exist with little if any interference on the part of officials. List of . . 39 Commercialized aspect of prostitution 79 Committee Act authorizing appointment of 5 Members of 7 Methods of procedure 10 Organization 7 Receipts and disbursements of 237 To serve without compensation 7 240 Report of the ^YISCONSIN Vice Committee. Page. Control of veneral diseases See “Veneral Diseases” County and state fairs, Indecent exhibitions at, Larv recommended 222 Dance Halls 63 Girls and women at (Law recommended) 233 Recommendations 176 Typical case of downfall due to 67 District attorneys, Questionaire sent to 97 Domestics 121 Illegitimacy (Tables) 137 Testimony 141 Double standards 117 Drugs and appliances. Unlawful use of certain Law recommended 230 Duties of society 12 Earnings of prostitutes (Table) 20-22 Economic loss due to venereal disease 133 See “Venereal Diseases” Economic and industrial conditions IIS Education Venereal diseases 162 Recommendations 177 See “Social hygiene” Employment agencies and bureaus 165 Law recommended 234 Enforcement of law 90, 147 Law recommended 230 Reasons given by officials for nonenforcement of certain laws 14S Recommendations 174 Testimony 86, 148 See “Injunction and abatement law” See “Nonenforcement of law” False registration See “Fictitious names” Family entrances 152 Fictitious names Registration in hotels 176 In court records (Law recommended) 229 Index. 241 Page. Gonorrhea See “Venereal diseases” Histories of inmates 19 Tables 20-22 Reports of investigators 23 Hospitals Venereal disease hospitals and wards 161 Venereal disease in, (Tables) 131 Hotels 44 Law recommended 224 Recommendations 176 Housing conditions 121 Ignorance and neglect, Parental Ill Ignorance of sexual phenomena 108 Injunction and abatement law 90 Arguments against law 93 Arguments in favor of law 94 Conclusions of American Social Hygiene Association 93 Results accomplished by the Milwaukee Society for the Pre- vention of Commercialized Vice 92 Wisconsin law 90 Illegitimacy 137 Age of mothers (Table) 138 Illegitimate births (Table) 137 Occupation of mothers (Table) 137,138 Percentage of domestics 138 Immorality in cafes, restaurants, saloons, etc. Law recommended 227 Immoral women and girls. Special institution for 163 Industrial home for women Law recommended 220 Inmates Age of (Table) 210 History of 60 (Tables) 20-22 History of two typical cases 180 Length of time in business (Table) 210 Number in houses (Table) 209 Reports of investigators 23 is-v. a 242 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. Page. Law enforcement See “Enforcement of laws” Laws recommended Age or consent 219 Applications for liquor licenses 235 County and state fairs, Indecent exhibitions at 222 Dance halls 233 Employment agencies 234 Enforcement of laws 230 Drugs and appliances. Unlawful use of certain 230 Fictitious names in court records 229 Hotels 224 Immorality in cafes, restaurants, saloons, etc 227 Industrial home for women 220 Licensing of lodging and rooming houses 226 Mann Act as applied to municipalities 212 Misdemeanors in certain cases. Trial of 235 Morals court 212 Pandering 222 Police women , 214 Punishment for violation of moral laws 223 Removal of officers 231 Sexual relations by person afflicted with venereal disease.. 221 State police department 214 Venereal disease, protection against 221 Venereal disease ward in industrial home for wmmen 220 Linley law 90 Liquor traffic Application for license for sale of liquor (Law recommended) 235 Brewers can assist in enforcement of excise laws 156 Family entrances 152 Immorality in saloons, etc 227 Local license in addition to government permit 154 Palm gardens 152 Prostitution and the liquor traffic 98 Recommendations in regard to saloons, etc 175 Reports of other commissions 101 Reports of investigators 61 Regulation of liquor traffic 151 Road houses 156 Sale of liquor at dance halls 153 Saloons 70 Saloons with bedrooms, etc 60, 155 Saloon licenses to limit sale to one floor, etc 154 Stalls 152 Violation of moral or excise laws to revoke license auto- matically 155 Wine rooms 152 Madams Age of (Table) 209 Length of time in business (Table) 210 Term defined 16 See “Agents of prostitution” Index. 243 Page. Mann Act as applied to municipalities 169 Law recommended 212 Mentality of prostitutes (Table) 104 Misdemeanors, Trial of, in certain cases Law recommended 235 Morals court 212 Morals or public welfare department IGG Law recommended 214 Reports of other vice commissions 1G6 Moving picture shows and vaudeville theaters 75 Nonenforcement of law 84 See “Enforcement of law” Occasional prostitute, The 18 Palm Gardens 53, 152 Pandering Law recommended 222 Parents, Responsibility of 172 Parental control 110 Parental ignorance and neglect Ill Parks 77 Parlor houses 32 Perverted sex life in males 115 Physicians, Testimony of, in regard to venereal disease 134 Pimps 14 Places of prostitution Assignation houses 44 Call houses 32 Parlor houses 41 Road houses 32 Rooming and lodging houses 43 244 Report of the Wisconsin Vice Committee. Page. Police department, State Law recommended 214 Police women Law recommended 214 Police records of Milwaukee, Statistics from 209 Political Power 82 Prostitution 17 And the liquor traffic 98 Wisconsin laws relating to prostitution and allied subjects. . 65 See “Causes of prostitution.” Prostitutes See “Inmates” See “Madams” See “Street conditions” Public clinics 160 Punishment of male offender 168 Punishment for violation of moral laws Law recommended 223 Quack practitioners 161 Questionaire sent to district attorneys 97 Receipts and disbursements of committee 237 Recommendations Dance halls 176 Education 177 General 178 Hotels 176 Law enforcement 174 Lodging houses 176 Saloons, etc 175 Summary of 178 Women ' 177 See “Laws recommended” See “Suggestions for improvement” Recreation centers _ 170 Removal of officers Law recommended 231 Index. 245 Page. Restaurants, cafes, etc 57 Law recommended 227 Road houses 33 Rooming houses and lodging houses 43 Law recommended , 226 Ross, Statement of Professor E. A 185 Saloons 70 See “Liquor traffic” Segregation 26 Arguments in favor of 27 Arguments opposed to 28 Cities having segregated districts. List of 38 Sex hygiene 170 See “Education” Sexual phenomena. Ignorance of 108 Social centers 170 Social hygiene 170 Special institutions for immoral girls and women 163 Stalls ; 152 See “Liquor trafiic” State police department Law recommended 214 Statistics from police records of Milwaukee 209 Statutes relating to prostitution, Wisconsin 194 Street conditions 73 Suggestions for improvement 168 Bastardy to be made extraditable offense 169 Churches and religious organizations 171 Interest of parents necessary 171 Mann Act as applied to municipalities 169 Punishment of male offender 168 Responsibility of parents 172 Social hygiene societies 171 Social and recreation centers 170 Suppression of sensational newspaper articles, so-called sex plays and sex books 173 Teaching of social hygiene 170 Theatres and moving picture shows 171 See “Recommendations” See “Laws recommended” 246 Keport op the Wisconsin Vice Committee. Page. Summary of work of committee 236 Syphilis See “Venereal diseases” Tables Age at time of first sex offense 107 Cities having recognized districts 38 Cities having immoral places not officially recognized 39 Histories of inmates 20-22 Hospitals, Venereal disease in 131 Illegitimacy 137-139 Injunction and abatement law 92 Mentality of prostitutes 104 Police records of Milwaukee under segregated district 209 Theaters 75 Unmarried mothers, Care of 164 Venereal diseases 124 Control of 158 Economic loss due to 133 Education 162 Gonorrhea 159 Hospitals and wards 161 Protection against (Law recommended) 221 Public clinic^ 160 Quack practitioners 161 Reporting of 159 Reports from hospitals (Table) 131 Syphilis 159 Testimony of physicians 134 White slavery 15 Wine rooms 54, 152 Women, Recommendations in regard to 177 ' -■ ^ / '^: ■ ■'S f W^A . " S. i": P^r?r'-:v 'r- ■ ■ "■■' ■■'. ^ y.-J :.'-"''^Z‘-^ «■ '* y \