September 3, 2025 • 40 mins
This investigation delves into the complex and often overlooked issues surrounding prostitution. While many individuals instinctively seek the causes behind societal vices, a significant portion of the intelligent population in New York has suffered the consequences of this persistent issue without exploring its root causes. Each year, countless lives are impacted, as broken health and tarnished reputations emerge from this vice. Is it too late to awaken your curiosity and compassion for this critical matter? We argue that it is high time to conduct an inquiry that addresses these pressing concerns‚one that is essential for public safety, personal well-being, and the greater good.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Section fifty six of the History of Prostitution. This is
a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
Recording by Samantha Miles. The History of Prostitution by William Sanger,
(00:24):
Section fifty six, Chapter thirty six, New York, Extent, Effects
and Cost of Prostitution, Part two. But the Hospital. Although
the Chief is not the only institution on Blackwell's Island
where patients are treated for venereal disease, the Almshouse, Workhouse
(00:45):
and penitentiary have each a share of sufferers from this malady.
To what extent will be shown by the annex table
eighteen fifty four Almshouse thirty three eighteen fifty five, Almshouse
one hundred seventy three eighteen fifty six, Almshouse eighty five,
eighteen fifty seven, Almshouse fifty two eighteen fifty four, Workhouse
(01:10):
sixty five, eighteen fifty five, Workhouse thirty one, eighteen fifty six,
Workhouse five eighteen fifty seven, Workhouse fifty six, Penitentiary eighteen
fifty five, one one hundred seventy six eighteen fifty six
Penitentiary two hundred thirty four, eighteen fifty seven Penitentiary four
(01:31):
hundred thirty Bellevue Hospital, New York City, also under charge
of the Governors of the Almshouse, is not professedly available
to venereal cases. By report from the Medical Board of
that institution, which will be found in the next chapter,
it is seen that they estimate not far from ten
percent of the inmates of Bellevue Hospital are admitted for
(01:54):
affections which have their origin remotely in venereal disease. These
data are sufficient to fix the numbers thus treated as follows.
Year eighteen fifty four total number of patients seven thousand,
thirty three ten percent for venereal cases seven hundred three
eighteen fifty five six thousand, six hundred ninety seven patients,
(02:16):
six hundred seventy for venereal cases eighteen fifty six, six thousand,
three hundred ninety two patients, six hundred thirty nine for
venereal cases eighteen fifty seven, seven thousand, six hundred seventy
six patients, seven hundred sixty eight for venereal cases. In
regard to the nursery hospital on Randall's Island, It is
(02:38):
stated by doctor H. N. Whittlesey, the resident physician, that
nine tenths of all diseases treated in this hospital during
the past five years have been of constitutional origin, and
for the most part hereditary. The exact proportion which hereditary
syphilis bears to the sum of constitutional depravity cannot be
stated with accuracy. It is an estimate far within the
(03:01):
bounds of probability to assume that one half of the
diseases referred to by doctor Whittlesey are complicated with or
by syphilitic taint, and the numbers of the nursery hospital
will therefore stand as follows here eighteen fifty four total
number of patients two thousand, one hundred ninety nine fifty
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percent for venereal cases, one thousand, one hundred eighteen fifty
five two thousand, three hundred ten patients, one thousand, one
hundred fifty five for venereal cases eighteen fifty six one thousand,
two hundred seventy five patients, six hundred thirty eight four
venereal cases, eighteen fifty seven one thousand, four hundred sixty
(03:43):
nine patients, seven hundred thirty four for venereal cases. Following
the institutions in charge of the governors of the Almshouse
is the New York State Emigrants Hospital on Wards Island,
New York City, under the direction of the Commissioners of Emigration.
In the RS reports, whereof the following cases of venial
disease are noted eighteen fifty three, six hundred fifty seven,
(04:08):
eighteen fifty four, seven hundred thirty two, eighteen fifty five,
eight hundred fifty six, eighteen fifty six, five hundred eleven,
eighteen fifty seven, five hundred fifty nine. The New York
Hospital Broadway next claims attention. The reports for the undermentioned
years give the number of venereal cases as follows eighteen
(04:30):
fifty two, four hundred seventy eight, eighteen fifty three, three
hundred thirty eight, eighteen fifty six, three hundred seventy two,
eighteen fifty seven, four hundred five. These embrace the principal
public hospitals of New York. There are other institutions such
as Saint Luke's Hospital, Saint Vincent's Hospital, the Jews Hospital,
(04:52):
et cetera, but they are of recent origin and their
practice will not form an element in this calculation. The
dispensaries of the city relieve yearly a large amount of sickness.
In the New York Dispensary Center Street, the cases of
venereal disease are reported as follows eighteen fifty five one thousand,
one hundred fifty four, eighteen fifty six, one thousand, three
(05:15):
hundred ninety three, eighteen fifty seven one thousand, five hundred
eighty This gives an average of about three percent of
all the patients treated. The Northern Dispensary Waverley Place does
not publish any detailed report of the diseases treated, and
to make an estimate, it will be necessary to assume
that the proportion is the same as in the New
(05:37):
York dispensary, namely three percent. By this rule, the following
results are obtained year total number of patients three percent
for venereal cases eighteen fifty nineteen thousand, six hundred fifteen patients,
five hundred eighty eight for venereal cases eighteen fifty one,
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twenty thousand, six hundred eight eighty patients, six hundred twenty
for venereal cases eighteen fifty two twenty one thousand, nine
hundred forty one patients, six hundred fifty eight for venereal
cases eighteen fifty four fourteen thousand, seventy five patients, four
hundred twenty two for venereal cases eighteen fifty five twelve thousand,
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three hundred seventy eight patients, three hundred seventy one for
venereal cases eighteen fifty six eleven thousand, seven hundred ninety
seven patients, three hundred fifty four for venereal cases eighteen
fifty seven ten thousand, eight hundred ninety five patients, three
hundred twenty seven for venereal cases. The Eastern Dispensary Ludlow
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Street does not give any detailed report of the diseases treated,
and the same approximation will be made as previously. Year
total number of patients three percent for venereal cases eighteen
fifty five, twenty five thousand, six six hundred twelve patients,
seven hundred sixty eight for venereal cases eighteen fifty six
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twenty one thousand seventeen patients, six hundred thirty for venereal cases.
To the De Milt Dispensary, Second Avenue, the same system
of approximation will be applied. Year total number of patients
three percent for venereal cases eighteen fifty two to fifty
three two thousand, one hundred ninety seven patients, sixty six
(07:30):
for venereal cases eighteen fifty three to fifty four, nine
thousand six patients, two hundred seventy four venereal cases eighteen
fifty four to fifty five, fourteen thousand, thirty four patients,
four hundred twenty one for venereal cases eighteen fifty five
to fifty six, twenty thousand and four patients, six hundred
(07:52):
for venereal cases eighteen fifty six to fifty seven, twenty thousand,
six hundred eighty four patients under twenty four venereal cases
eighteen fifty seven to fifty eight, twenty six thousand, seven
hundred eighty five patients, eight hundred three for venereal cases.
The Northwestern Dispensary eighth avenue subjected to the same rule
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gives year total number of patients three percent for venereal
cases eighteen fifty four nine thousand, two hundred sixty four patients,
two hundred seventy seven for venereal cases eighteen fifty five
eleven thousand, five hundred eighty one patients, three hundred forty
seven for venereal cases, eighteen fifty six eleven thousand, four
(08:38):
hundred seventy seven patients three hundred forty four for venereal cases.
Cases of venereal disease are treated in the clinical lectures
at the three medical Colleges of New York City. From
the New York University Medical College, the following report of
patients has been obtained. It is undoubtedly much too low
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an estimate eighteen fifty five forty seven, eighteen fifty six,
fifty three, eighteen fifty seven, sixty nine, and assuming that
the practice of the others is of the same extent,
we have as venereal cases treated in the three colleges
eighteen fifty five, a hundred forty one, eighteen fifty six,
(09:20):
one hundred fifty nine, eighteen fifty seven, two hundred seven.
As many of the patrons of New York Houses of
ill fame reside out of the city, some further information
must be sought beyond our own limits. Without professing to
inquire into the public health and all the suburbs previously enumerated,
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it will be sufficient to take the reports of the
Superintendence of the Poor of King's County to ascertain what
amount of syphilitic infection has been treated at the public
cost in Brooklyn and its environs. The reports of doctor
Thomas Turner, resident physician of the King's County Hospital, show
the following cases eighteen fifty three, one hundred sixty five,
(10:04):
eighteen fifty five, three hundred sixty two, eighteen fifty seven,
three hundred eleven, or about ten per cent on the
total number treated in the Brooklyn City Hospital. The cases
of venereal disease received and treated wherein eighteen fifty four,
one hundred fifty eight, eighteen fifty five, one hundred seventy three,
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eighteen fifty six, one hundred sixty eighteen fifty seven, one
hundred eighty six, eighteen fifty eight to May one sixty five.
It is being already stated that sailors are great patrons
of prostitutes, and to obtain any true statement of venereal
disease among them, some estimate respecting this class must be made.
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For this purpose, the reports of doctor T. Clarkson Moffatt,
physician in chief of the Siemens Retreat, Staten Island, New York,
are available the number of cases treated in the several
years as he are given eighteen fifty four, six hundred
fifty seven, eighteen fifty five, four hundred seventy three, eighteen
fifty six, three hundred fifty five, eighteen fifty seven, three
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hundred sixty five eighteen fifty eight to April first, eighty two.
This is nearly twenty four percent on the gross number treated.
This concludes the published reports of charitable institutions, and the
question next arises what amount of syphilis is treated by
physicians in private practice. It is impossible to obtain any
(11:36):
reliable data upon this head. The Medical Board of Bellevue Hospital,
composed of some of the leading members of the profession
in the city, state that they are unable to say
what proportion of the practice among regular and qualified physicians
in this city is derived from the treatment of annereal diseases,
but they know it is large and that many receive
(11:57):
more from this source than from all other soorts together.
There are also a very large number of advertising pretenders
who offer their services for the treatment of secret diseases,
and many drug stores whose main business is derived from
a similar source, Together with an infinity of patent medicines
announced and sold as specifics for all venereal maladies upon
(12:21):
the simple commercial principle of supply and demand. There are
so many proofs of the extent of the evil they
profess to relieve. Should the number of cases of venereal
disease treated in private practice by qualified physicians and by advertisers,
added to the number of patients who supply themselves with
patent or other medicines from drug stores be regarded as
(12:42):
equal to the aggregate of those treated in public institutions,
the estimate could not be deemed extravagant. The design is
now to ascertain how much venereal disease exists in New
York at the present time. To do this, it will
be necessary to recapitulate the information already given the cases
below those treated in eighteen fifty seven institutions. Cases Penitentiary Hospital,
(13:06):
Blackwell's Island two thousand, ninety, Almshouse, Blackwells Island, fifty two, Workhouse,
Blackwell's Island, fifty six, Penitentiary, Blackwell's Island, four hundred thirty
Bellevue Hospital, New York seven hundred sixty eight, Nursery Hospital,
(13:27):
Randalls Island, seven hundred thirty four New York State Emigrants Hospital,
Wards Island five hundred fifty nine, New York Hospital Broadway,
four hundred five, New York Dispensary, Center Street, thousand, five
hundred eighty, Northern Dispensary, Waverley Place, three hundred twenty seven,
(13:48):
Eastern Dispensary, Ludlow Street, six hundred thirty de Milt Dispensary,
Second Avenue, eight hundred three, Northwestern Dispensary, Eighth Avenue, three
hundred forty four. Medical Colleges two hundred seven, King's County Hospital, Flatbush,
Long Island, three hundred eleven, Brooklyn City Hospital, Brooklyn, Long Island,
(14:11):
one hundred eighty six, Seamen's Retreat, Staten Island three hundred
sixty five total nine thousand, eight hundred forty seven. Medical
men and those acquainted with the internal arrangements of public
institutions need not be reminded that the general system of
record and hospitals includes only what may be called the
(14:31):
prominent malady. Thus, if a man were admitted with a
broken limb, it would be registered as a fracture, and
if the same man were suffering indirectly from syphilis at
the same time, no entry would be made thereof, although
the physician rendered him every professional assistance towards its cure.
It is estimated that in this manner a large number
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of the cases of venereal disease treated in all public institutions,
except such as make a specialty of those maladies, is
never recorded elsewhere than on the private case books of
the attending physicians. More particularly is this the rule and institutions,
supported wholly or in part by voluntary contributions their benevolent directors,
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have not yet owedlived the prejudice which formerly held it
almost as disgraceful to treat as to contract syphilis. Some
of the spirit which drove the unhappy men and women
so afflicted from civilized life to perish in the fields
or woods, as in London, Edinburgh, and Paris during the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and at a later period drew
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from the papal government a bill recognizing the affliction as
a direct punishment from the Almighty for the sin of incontinence,
still survives in the present generation. The trustees of more
than one of the dispensaries in New York have directed
their medical officers not to prescribe for such complaints, and
a hospital in a sister city which receives a yearly
(15:59):
grand and from public funds, has in its printed rules
and regulations no person having gonorrhea or syphilis shall be
admitted as a charity patient. Some remarks are made hereafter
upon this course, and the facts are mentioned now to
explain why many cases of venereal disease never appear upon
the reports of institutions where patients are treated practically. Such
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prohibitions are a dead letter. No physician of a public
institution applied to by a poor wretch suffering from syphilis
could pass them by without attempting to relieve. Let the
orders of the Board of Trustees be what they may.
His mission is simply to apply the aid of science
and skill to the alleviation of any ailment which may
be presented to his notice, And his appreciation of the
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responsibility of his office is too keen to allow him
to refuse the prayer of such an applicant. Hence arises
a circumstance that the case is treated under some other name.
If then the cases recorded are but two thirds the aggregate,
the numbers stand. Thus cases recorded in public institutions nine thousand,
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eight hundred forty seven cases not recorded four thousand, nine
hundred twenty three, for a total of fourteen thousand, seven
hundred seventy cases in the year eighteen fifty seven. In
public institutions. The difficulty of forming an opinion as to
the extent of venereal disease treated in private practice has
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been already mentioned. In the absence of all information, collateral
circumstances form the only guide to a conclusion. The amount
is unquestionably very large, so large that if its full
magnitude could be discovered and announced, every reader must be astonished.
The first consideration to support this view may be found
(17:47):
in the army of advertising empirics who make it a
source of revenue. Each of these men must have numerous patients.
He could not keep up his business without them. Any
practical advertisers knows that to insert an announcement of some
twenty or thirty lines every day and at least two
daily papers, to repeat the same in weekly journals, and
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in addition to this, to post handbills on the corner
of every street and employ men or boys to deliver
them to passengers at steamboat docks, ferry landings, and railroad depots,
cannot be done without a considerable outlay whatever its prospective
advantages may be, No one supposes these charlatans to be
actuated by pure, disinterested benevolence. They crowd the columns of
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our journals and insult us with their printed announcements in
the public thoroughfares simply because it pays These means obtain
them customers, and whenever this result ceases, the announcements will
be discontinued. While they appear, there is positive proof that
their issuers are gathering patronage. The number of patent medicines
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always in the market for the cure of secret diseases,
and which the vendors announce can be scent any distance,
securely packed and safe from observation, affords a corroboration. They
are made and sold as a business speculation. When their
reputation diminishes and the public become doubtful. If all the
virtues of the materia medica are comprised in a single
(19:16):
bottle of red Drop or Unfortunate's Friend, the manufacturer will
soon stop, and the inventors will resort to some other
employment for their capital. The extent to which advertising, empirics
and patent medicines are flourishing is an undeniable proof of
the prevalence of the maladies they professedly relieve. The legitimate
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business of drug stores affords another link in the chain
of evidence beyond the regular nostrums. Almost every druggist in
the city sells large quantities of medicine for the cure
of venereal disease. Sometimes a man will candidly tell the
storekeeper that he has contracted disease and ask him to
make up something to cure it. At other times, a
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prescription which has been efficacious in a formal an attack
will be presented, or the sufferer has taken counsel among
his friends and companions and obtained some infallible recipe from
one of them. In short, there are so many different
means taken by persons who have contracted disease that it
is impossible to enumerate the various methods which the aid
(20:17):
of the drug store may be invoked. There are many
traditional recipes which can be used without the necessity of
purchasing ingredients of a druggist. One favorite remedy among the
lower classes is pine not bitters. Bottles of this preparation
are kept for sale, and liquor stores particularly in those
neighborhoods where prostitutes most do congregate. Another reason may be
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submitted why a large amount of venereal disease must be
treated privately. Many of the victims are men who move
in a respectable sphere of society, and have probably been
led to the act which resulted so disastrously in a
moment of uncontrollable passion. Their social position would be irreparably
damaged should they enter a public hospital, and the desire
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to retain their status forces them to secrecy, even if
the natural repugnance of every man to the former course
did not exist. It is vain to deny that while
medical institutions designed for the public good are so managed
as to inflict a disgrace upon their inmates, their benefits
are circumscribed and will never be accepted by any but
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the poor unfortunates who have no other means of obtaining relief.
In the case of syphilis, this is particularly to be
regretted from the nature of the disease. Every day it
is neglected, it becomes in a tenfold degree more aggravated,
and entails proportionate misery in after life. If it be
assumed that the private cases of venereal disease equal in
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number those treated in public institutions, and aggregate is obtained of
more than twenty nine thousand, five hundred cases every year.
If the former are double the number of the latter,
the sum will be over forty four thousand cases per annum.
Either of these conjectures is below the truth, and we
are satisfied from professional experience and inquiry that there is
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no exaggeration in estimating the number of patients treated privately
every year for Luais venerea as at least quadruple the
cases receiving assistance in hospitals and charitable establishments. The result
is the enormous sum of seventy four thousand cases every year.
If each person suffered only one attack each year, this
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would represent one sixth of the total population above fifteen
years of age. But many persons, especially among abandoned women
and profligate men, are infected several times in the course
of twelve months, and any attempt to say what proportion
of individuals are represented in these seventy four thousand cases
would be mere speculation without a particle of conclusive evidence
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to support it. Notwithstanding the magnitude of the result, a
very brief consideration will show that it is not extravagant.
In addition to the arguments already advanced in this chapter,
the reader will recollect that in a previous section it
has been shown that two out of every five prostitutes
in New York confessed the syphilitic taint. Supposing a girl
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relinquishes her calling as soon as she becomes aware of
being diseased, several days may have elapsed before she discovered
her condition, and during that interval she must have infected
every man who had intercourse with her. To take the
most liberal view, it may be conceded that the portion
who acknowledged infection were not all suffering from the primary
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or communicable form. Many of them had doubtless recovered from that.
But if only one half were so suffering, and each
of these infected only one man, the result would be
three hundred sixty five thousand men diseased every year. This
is not an exaggerated estimate. As was said when alluding
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to the prostitutes who admitted their contamination. There can be
no possible suspicion that they would acknowledge sickness if they
could avoid doing so, and consequently the sick are certainly
not overrated. It may be objected that the numbers who
owned disease were spread over a considerable space of time,
but this can be met with the fact that the
inquiry which produced this result was in progress simultaneously in
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all parts of the city at the farthest, did not
extend three months from the time of commencement to completion,
and the natural presumption would be that as during that
time the health of the women was neither better nor
worse than in any other three months of any year,
the same proportion of diseased women could be found whenever
an investigation was made. In other words, that two out
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of five prostitutes in New York are diseased. The calculation
that of these diseased women, one half only are effected
in a manner which renders them liable to infect their
paramours is also a liberal one. Ciphilis, when manifested in
its secondary stage in the shape of sores, eruptions, and
blotches upon the face or person, is so disgusting that
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no prostitute thus disfigured could retain her place in any brable,
unless it was one of the very lowest grade, because
her appearance would immediately repel all visitors. In its primary
or local form, it is, of course concealed from her customers,
and may be so concealed for a considerable length of time.
These facts born in mind, is not almost too liberal
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an estimate to assume that one half who admit syphilis
are suffering in the secondary or palpable form. This line
of argument, supported by the facts given, is perfectly justifiable
viewed in what light she may, and proves that the
estimate of seventy four thousand cases of venereal disease annually
is much too small. Another course of reasoning may be adopted.
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The time occupied in taking the senses is stated at
three months. This included all the needful preliminary measures, the
instructions to examiners, the conferences with police captains, et cetera,
and the final proceedings such as arranging and writing out reports.
Allow one third of the time for these introductory and
concluding adjuncts, and to believe about sixty days including Sundays,
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or fifty two working days devoted to the actual inquiry.
The inquiry resulted in the discovery of syphilis in such
a proportion of women as would amount to an aggregate
of two thousand on the total number of public prostitutes.
Suppose the disease of two thousand women equally distributed over
the fifty two days, or in other words, that an
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average number were infected and confessed it every day, and
the result is thirty eight women diseased every twenty four hours.
We wish to make this argument as plain as possible,
and the reader will pardon what may appear needless repetition.
If this disease existed in each woman for four days
before she was conscious of it, or it became so
(26:52):
troublesome as to force her from her calling, and during
this interval of four days each woman had intercourse with
only one man per day, over fifty thousand men would
be exposed to the risk almost the certainty of contracting
infection in the course of the year. As the Medico
Triururgical Review said in the course of a similar argument
(27:12):
upon syphilis in London, this estimate is ridiculously small. In
the first place, a majority of the women would not
abandon their calling in four days after infection, but would
continue it as long as they could possibly submit to
the suffering involved. Every resident of New York will remember
the excitement caused in the spring of the year eighteen
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fifty five by the arrest of a large number of
prostitutes in the public streets, their committal to Blackwell's Island,
and their subsequent discharge on writs of abeis corpus on
account of informality in the proceedings. But it is not
generally known that of those arrested at that time a
very large proportion, certainly more than one half, for suffering
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from syphilis in its primary form, and many of them
in its most inveterate stage. We make this assertion from
our own knowledge, the result of a professional examination and
mention the circumstance now to prove that women will not
abandon their calling when they know themselves diseased, so long
as they can possibly continue it. If the estimate had
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been made that each woman continued prostitution for eight days
instead of four days after she was infected, it would
have been a closer approximation to the truth, and it
would have shown over one hundred thousand men exposed to
infection every year. Again, the supposition that a prostitute submits
to but one act of prostitution every day is ridiculously small.
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No woman could pay her board, dress and live in
the expensive manner common among the class upon the money
she would receive from one visitor daily. Even two visitors
is a very low estimate, and four is very far
from an unreasonably large one. But suppositions might be multiplied,
and the argument extended almost ad infinitium. One more calculation
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be submitted, and then the reader can form his own
conclusion upon the question whether the theory of seventy four
thousand cases of venereal disease in New York every year
has not been supported by a mass of evidence far
more weighty than can ordinarily be adduced. To establish a
controverted point, it shall be assumed that the thirty eight
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women infected every day continue their calling for six days
after the appearance of venereal disease, and during such six
days one half of them shall submit to one and
the other half to two sexual acts daily. Then in
the course of a year, one hundred and twenty five
thousand men would be exposed to contamination. To this ad
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the number of women infected, which at thirty eight daily,
would imuntain nearly thirteen thousand in the year, and a
total of one hundred and thirty eight thousand will be presented,
or nearly double the number assumed as a basis for remark,
it is needless to advance further reasons in support of
the soundness of that opinion. Next in order will be
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the consideration of the amount of money prostitution costs the public.
The amount of capital invested in houses of ill fame,
and the outlay consequent thereupon presents a total which cannot
but surprise all who have not deeply reflected upon the
ramifications of the evil. The police investigation of May eighteen
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fifty eight, quoted a few pages back, gives a total
number of houses of prostitution as three hundred seventy eight,
and the worth of property thus employed can be ascertained
with a tolerable degree of accuracy from information obtained in
many cases by actual inquiry. The value of real estate
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where was owned by the keepers of these houses has
been already given in some instances, and in others the
rent may be assumed equivalent to ten percent per annum
upon the cost of the property, which is certainly not
an undue valuation. Dividing the total number of houses into
four classes, the estimate stands as follows. Eighty houses of
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the first class are estimated from actual inquiry to be
worth including real estate and furniture, thirteen thousand, eight hundred
dollars each, or a total of one million, one hundred
four thousand dollars. One hundred houses of the second class
are estimated at twenty five percent less than those of
the first class, namely ten thousand, three hundred fifty dollars
(31:29):
for each, or a total of one million, thirty five thousand,
one hundred twenty houses of the third class at five
thousand dollars each, six hundred thousand, seventy eight houses of
the fourth class at one thousand dollars each, seventy eight thousand,
three hundred seventy eight houses of prostitution are estimated worth
(31:51):
two million, eight hundred seventeen thousand dollars. Add for houses
of vacignation, twenty five houses of the first class at
twelve thousand dollars each, three hundred thousand, twenty five houses
of the second class at nine thousand dollars each, two
hundred twenty five thousand, thirty five houses of the third
(32:13):
class at five thousand dollars each, one hundred and seventy
five thousand, fifteen houses of the fourth class at three
thousand dollars each, forty five thousand, one hundred total for
houses of prostitution and assignation three million, five hundred sixty
two thousand dollars. In addition to this are one hundred
(32:35):
and fifty one dancing saloons, liquor and lodger beer stores.
Mainly dependent upon the custom of prostitutes and their companions,
Any place in which it is possible to carry on
either of these businesses must be worth two hundred dollars
a year rent, which would give a value of two
thousand dollars each, or a total of three hundred two thousand.
(32:56):
The necessary stock, fixtures and implements cannot be worth less
on an average than one hundred dollars in each place.
This gives a total of fifteen thousand, one hundred and
an aggregate capital of three million, eight hundred seventy nine thousand,
one hundred dollars invested in the business of prostitution. That
this is not an extravagant estimate will be admitted by
(33:18):
any real estate owner or person acquainted with the value
of property in the city, especially if he takes into
consideration the location of many of the houses, and calculates
how much more the adjacent lands and buildings would be
worth if these resorts of vice and infamy were removed.
On a scale, correspondingly, a large is the amount of
(33:38):
money actually spent upon prostitutes. The weekly income of each
woman cannot be less than ten dollars. Many pay much
more than that sum for their board alone, and in
first class houses, it is not uncommon for a prostitute
to realize as much as thirty or fifty dollars or
upward in a week. But if the income is taken
(33:59):
at the lowest point, the aggregate receipts of six thousand
courtesans amount to sixty thousand dollars per week or three million,
one hundred twenty thousand per year. Every visitor to a
house of prostitution expends more or less money for wines
and liquors therein. In some cases this outlay will be
larger than the cash remuneration given to the women, But
(34:21):
other men are not so lavish in their hospitality, and
it is fair to assume that such expenditures amount two
thirds of the previous item. A weekly total of forty
thousand dollars or two million, eighty thousand dollars spent for
intoxicating drinks and houses of prostitution every year. In describing
the customers of houses of vact Nation, it has already
(34:43):
been remarked that in the first class many of the
female visitors take that step not for gain, but impelled
by affection or sexual desire. They would spurn the idea
of being paid for their company. But the houses at
which their intrigues are consummated, being luxuriously, firm furnished, and
conducted by women of known discretion in secrecy, have a
(35:04):
high tariff of prices as one of their features. Visitors
must pay as much there for accommodation as the rent
of a room and compensation to a female would amount
to in places of less pretension. It is assumed that
four thousand, two hundred visits are paid to houses of
aasignation every week, and for the foregoing reason, estimating them
(35:25):
to cost the men the same in every instance, and
fixing that cost at three dollars for each visit, this
item will amount to twelve thousand, six hundred dollars per week,
or six hundred fifty five thousand, two hundred dollars per year.
The consumption of wine and liquor is small in houses
of aacinination as compared with houses of prostitution. It may
(35:46):
probably amount to five thousand dollars per week or two
hundred sixty thousand dollars per year. The income of the
dancing saloons, liquor and larger beer stores frequented and mainly
supported by prostitutes and their friends, cannot be less than
thirty dollars per week for each house, and as are
one hundred fifty one establishments of that description, the aggregate
(36:08):
of money dispersed in them will be four thousand, five
hundred thirty dollars per week or two hundred thirty five thousand,
five hundred sixty dollars per year. These sums exhibit the
outlay for the pleasures of prostitution. The ensuing items give
its penalties. Of the inmates of the island. Late the
Penitentiary hospital in eighteen fifty seven, over sixty five percent
(36:31):
were afflicted with venereal disease. The total expense of that
institution for the year was thirty five thousand dollars, and
the pro rata amount for civilidic patients would be twenty
two thousand, seven hundred fifty dollars during the year or
four hundred thirty eight dollars per week. Bellevue Hospital cost
to maintain it during eighteen fifty seven seventy thousand dollars
(36:54):
in round numbers. The Medical Board say that ten percent
of its inmates are treated for diseases originating in the
syphilitic taint, and this proportion of the expenses being chargeable
to prostitution amounts to seven thousand dollars per year or
one hundred thirty five dollars per week. The Nursery Hospital
on Randall's Island cost the City of New York seventeen
(37:16):
thousand dollars for maintenance during eighteen fifty seven. One half
its infant patients are treated for diseases resulting from venereal infection,
and eight thousand, five hundred dollars per year or one
hundred sixty three dollars per week is a quota of
expense caused by this vice and its sequel. The number
of cases of venereal disease treated in the New York
(37:38):
State Emigrants Hospital on Ward's Island was six and a
half percent of the total relieved on that Island. The
expenses for eighteen fifty seven or one hundred nine thousand dollars,
and the share chargeable to prostitution will be seven thousand,
seventy five dollars per year or one hundred thirty six
dollars per week. In the New York City Hospital broad Way,
(38:00):
fourteen percent of the patients during eighteen fifty seven were
treated for venereal disease. The cost of maintenance for that
year was fifty nine thousand dollars, and the share caused
by prostitution was eight thousand, two hundred sixty dollars per
year or one hundred fifty nine dollars per week. The
cases treated in dispensary practice have been averaged at three
(38:22):
percent throughout the city. The yearly expenses of those charities
are as follows. New York Dispensary nine thousand, one hundred dollars,
Northern Dispensary three thousand, five hundred fifty, Eastern Dispensary three thousand,
seven hundred to Milt Dispensary five thousand, three hundred, north
(38:43):
Western Dispensary two thousand, six hundred thirty total twenty four thousand,
two hundred eighty dollars, and the proportion chargeable discyphilis must
be seven hundred twenty dollars per year or fourteen dollars
per week. Very little expense is incurred by the medical
colleges in the cases of sybylis treated at the clinical lectures,
(39:03):
as the relief is generally confined to a prescription or
a site operation, and if medicine is supplied in a
few cases, the amount is so small that in a
calculation of this sort it is not worth notice. The
expenses of the King's County Hospital, Long Island for eighteen
fifty seven amounted to seventy five thousand, three hundred dollars.
(39:25):
About ten per cent of the patients treated were venereal sufferers,
and the cost for them amounts to seven thousand, five
hundred thirty dollars per year or one hundred forty five
dollars per week. In the Brooklyn City Hospital, the proportion
of venereal patients is twenty seven per cent of the aggregate.
The total annual expenses are seventeen thousand, two hundred dollars,
(39:46):
and the amount incurred on account of this disease is
therefore four thousand, six hundred forty four dollars per year
or eighty nine dollars per week. In the Seamen's Retreat
Staten Island, New York, twenty four percent of the inmates
suffer from venereal disease. The expenses during the year eighteen
fifty seven were forty three thousand, five hundred dollars, of
(40:08):
which ten thousand, five hundred forty dollars per year or
two hundred three dollars per week must be considered the
proportion rendered necessary by syphilis. End of section number fifty six.
Recording by Samantha Miles
Section fifty six of the History of Prostitution. This is
a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
Recording by Samantha Miles. The History of Prostitution by William Sanger,
(00:24):
Section fifty six, Chapter thirty six, New York, Extent, Effects
and Cost of Prostitution, Part two. But the Hospital. Although
the Chief is not the only institution on Blackwell's Island
where patients are treated for venereal disease, the Almshouse, Workhouse
(00:45):
and penitentiary have each a share of sufferers from this malady.
To what extent will be shown by the annex table
eighteen fifty four Almshouse thirty three eighteen fifty five, Almshouse
one hundred seventy three eighteen fifty six, Almshouse eighty five,
eighteen fifty seven, Almshouse fifty two eighteen fifty four, Workhouse
(01:10):
sixty five, eighteen fifty five, Workhouse thirty one, eighteen fifty six,
Workhouse five eighteen fifty seven, Workhouse fifty six, Penitentiary eighteen
fifty five, one one hundred seventy six eighteen fifty six
Penitentiary two hundred thirty four, eighteen fifty seven Penitentiary four
(01:31):
hundred thirty Bellevue Hospital, New York City, also under charge
of the Governors of the Almshouse, is not professedly available
to venereal cases. By report from the Medical Board of
that institution, which will be found in the next chapter,
it is seen that they estimate not far from ten
percent of the inmates of Bellevue Hospital are admitted for
(01:54):
affections which have their origin remotely in venereal disease. These
data are sufficient to fix the numbers thus treated as follows.
Year eighteen fifty four total number of patients seven thousand,
thirty three ten percent for venereal cases seven hundred three
eighteen fifty five six thousand, six hundred ninety seven patients,
(02:16):
six hundred seventy for venereal cases eighteen fifty six, six thousand,
three hundred ninety two patients, six hundred thirty nine for
venereal cases eighteen fifty seven, seven thousand, six hundred seventy
six patients, seven hundred sixty eight for venereal cases. In
regard to the nursery hospital on Randall's Island, It is
(02:38):
stated by doctor H. N. Whittlesey, the resident physician, that
nine tenths of all diseases treated in this hospital during
the past five years have been of constitutional origin, and
for the most part hereditary. The exact proportion which hereditary
syphilis bears to the sum of constitutional depravity cannot be
stated with accuracy. It is an estimate far within the
(03:01):
bounds of probability to assume that one half of the
diseases referred to by doctor Whittlesey are complicated with or
by syphilitic taint, and the numbers of the nursery hospital
will therefore stand as follows here eighteen fifty four total
number of patients two thousand, one hundred ninety nine fifty
(03:21):
percent for venereal cases, one thousand, one hundred eighteen fifty
five two thousand, three hundred ten patients, one thousand, one
hundred fifty five for venereal cases eighteen fifty six one thousand,
two hundred seventy five patients, six hundred thirty eight four
venereal cases, eighteen fifty seven one thousand, four hundred sixty
(03:43):
nine patients, seven hundred thirty four for venereal cases. Following
the institutions in charge of the governors of the Almshouse
is the New York State Emigrants Hospital on Wards Island,
New York City, under the direction of the Commissioners of Emigration.
In the RS reports, whereof the following cases of venial
disease are noted eighteen fifty three, six hundred fifty seven,
(04:08):
eighteen fifty four, seven hundred thirty two, eighteen fifty five,
eight hundred fifty six, eighteen fifty six, five hundred eleven,
eighteen fifty seven, five hundred fifty nine. The New York
Hospital Broadway next claims attention. The reports for the undermentioned
years give the number of venereal cases as follows eighteen
(04:30):
fifty two, four hundred seventy eight, eighteen fifty three, three
hundred thirty eight, eighteen fifty six, three hundred seventy two,
eighteen fifty seven, four hundred five. These embrace the principal
public hospitals of New York. There are other institutions such
as Saint Luke's Hospital, Saint Vincent's Hospital, the Jews Hospital,
(04:52):
et cetera, but they are of recent origin and their
practice will not form an element in this calculation. The
dispensaries of the city relieve yearly a large amount of sickness.
In the New York Dispensary Center Street, the cases of
venereal disease are reported as follows eighteen fifty five one thousand,
one hundred fifty four, eighteen fifty six, one thousand, three
(05:15):
hundred ninety three, eighteen fifty seven one thousand, five hundred
eighty This gives an average of about three percent of
all the patients treated. The Northern Dispensary Waverley Place does
not publish any detailed report of the diseases treated, and
to make an estimate, it will be necessary to assume
that the proportion is the same as in the New
(05:37):
York dispensary, namely three percent. By this rule, the following
results are obtained year total number of patients three percent
for venereal cases eighteen fifty nineteen thousand, six hundred fifteen patients,
five hundred eighty eight for venereal cases eighteen fifty one,
(05:58):
twenty thousand, six hundred eight eighty patients, six hundred twenty
for venereal cases eighteen fifty two twenty one thousand, nine
hundred forty one patients, six hundred fifty eight for venereal
cases eighteen fifty four fourteen thousand, seventy five patients, four
hundred twenty two for venereal cases eighteen fifty five twelve thousand,
(06:21):
three hundred seventy eight patients, three hundred seventy one for
venereal cases eighteen fifty six eleven thousand, seven hundred ninety
seven patients, three hundred fifty four for venereal cases eighteen
fifty seven ten thousand, eight hundred ninety five patients, three
hundred twenty seven for venereal cases. The Eastern Dispensary Ludlow
(06:44):
Street does not give any detailed report of the diseases treated,
and the same approximation will be made as previously. Year
total number of patients three percent for venereal cases eighteen
fifty five, twenty five thousand, six six hundred twelve patients,
seven hundred sixty eight for venereal cases eighteen fifty six
(07:06):
twenty one thousand seventeen patients, six hundred thirty for venereal cases.
To the De Milt Dispensary, Second Avenue, the same system
of approximation will be applied. Year total number of patients
three percent for venereal cases eighteen fifty two to fifty
three two thousand, one hundred ninety seven patients, sixty six
(07:30):
for venereal cases eighteen fifty three to fifty four, nine
thousand six patients, two hundred seventy four venereal cases eighteen
fifty four to fifty five, fourteen thousand, thirty four patients,
four hundred twenty one for venereal cases eighteen fifty five
to fifty six, twenty thousand and four patients, six hundred
(07:52):
for venereal cases eighteen fifty six to fifty seven, twenty thousand,
six hundred eighty four patients under twenty four venereal cases
eighteen fifty seven to fifty eight, twenty six thousand, seven
hundred eighty five patients, eight hundred three for venereal cases.
The Northwestern Dispensary eighth avenue subjected to the same rule
(08:15):
gives year total number of patients three percent for venereal
cases eighteen fifty four nine thousand, two hundred sixty four patients,
two hundred seventy seven for venereal cases eighteen fifty five
eleven thousand, five hundred eighty one patients, three hundred forty
seven for venereal cases, eighteen fifty six eleven thousand, four
(08:38):
hundred seventy seven patients three hundred forty four for venereal cases.
Cases of venereal disease are treated in the clinical lectures
at the three medical Colleges of New York City. From
the New York University Medical College, the following report of
patients has been obtained. It is undoubtedly much too low
(08:58):
an estimate eighteen fifty five forty seven, eighteen fifty six,
fifty three, eighteen fifty seven, sixty nine, and assuming that
the practice of the others is of the same extent,
we have as venereal cases treated in the three colleges
eighteen fifty five, a hundred forty one, eighteen fifty six,
(09:20):
one hundred fifty nine, eighteen fifty seven, two hundred seven.
As many of the patrons of New York Houses of
ill fame reside out of the city, some further information
must be sought beyond our own limits. Without professing to
inquire into the public health and all the suburbs previously enumerated,
(09:41):
it will be sufficient to take the reports of the
Superintendence of the Poor of King's County to ascertain what
amount of syphilitic infection has been treated at the public
cost in Brooklyn and its environs. The reports of doctor
Thomas Turner, resident physician of the King's County Hospital, show
the following cases eighteen fifty three, one hundred sixty five,
(10:04):
eighteen fifty five, three hundred sixty two, eighteen fifty seven,
three hundred eleven, or about ten per cent on the
total number treated in the Brooklyn City Hospital. The cases
of venereal disease received and treated wherein eighteen fifty four,
one hundred fifty eight, eighteen fifty five, one hundred seventy three,
(10:26):
eighteen fifty six, one hundred sixty eighteen fifty seven, one
hundred eighty six, eighteen fifty eight to May one sixty five.
It is being already stated that sailors are great patrons
of prostitutes, and to obtain any true statement of venereal
disease among them, some estimate respecting this class must be made.
(10:48):
For this purpose, the reports of doctor T. Clarkson Moffatt,
physician in chief of the Siemens Retreat, Staten Island, New York,
are available the number of cases treated in the several
years as he are given eighteen fifty four, six hundred
fifty seven, eighteen fifty five, four hundred seventy three, eighteen
fifty six, three hundred fifty five, eighteen fifty seven, three
(11:12):
hundred sixty five eighteen fifty eight to April first, eighty two.
This is nearly twenty four percent on the gross number treated.
This concludes the published reports of charitable institutions, and the
question next arises what amount of syphilis is treated by
physicians in private practice. It is impossible to obtain any
(11:36):
reliable data upon this head. The Medical Board of Bellevue Hospital,
composed of some of the leading members of the profession
in the city, state that they are unable to say
what proportion of the practice among regular and qualified physicians
in this city is derived from the treatment of annereal diseases,
but they know it is large and that many receive
(11:57):
more from this source than from all other soorts together.
There are also a very large number of advertising pretenders
who offer their services for the treatment of secret diseases,
and many drug stores whose main business is derived from
a similar source, Together with an infinity of patent medicines
announced and sold as specifics for all venereal maladies upon
(12:21):
the simple commercial principle of supply and demand. There are
so many proofs of the extent of the evil they
profess to relieve. Should the number of cases of venereal
disease treated in private practice by qualified physicians and by advertisers,
added to the number of patients who supply themselves with
patent or other medicines from drug stores be regarded as
(12:42):
equal to the aggregate of those treated in public institutions,
the estimate could not be deemed extravagant. The design is
now to ascertain how much venereal disease exists in New
York at the present time. To do this, it will
be necessary to recapitulate the information already given the cases
below those treated in eighteen fifty seven institutions. Cases Penitentiary Hospital,
(13:06):
Blackwell's Island two thousand, ninety, Almshouse, Blackwells Island, fifty two, Workhouse,
Blackwell's Island, fifty six, Penitentiary, Blackwell's Island, four hundred thirty
Bellevue Hospital, New York seven hundred sixty eight, Nursery Hospital,
(13:27):
Randalls Island, seven hundred thirty four New York State Emigrants Hospital,
Wards Island five hundred fifty nine, New York Hospital Broadway,
four hundred five, New York Dispensary, Center Street, thousand, five
hundred eighty, Northern Dispensary, Waverley Place, three hundred twenty seven,
(13:48):
Eastern Dispensary, Ludlow Street, six hundred thirty de Milt Dispensary,
Second Avenue, eight hundred three, Northwestern Dispensary, Eighth Avenue, three
hundred forty four. Medical Colleges two hundred seven, King's County Hospital, Flatbush,
Long Island, three hundred eleven, Brooklyn City Hospital, Brooklyn, Long Island,
(14:11):
one hundred eighty six, Seamen's Retreat, Staten Island three hundred
sixty five total nine thousand, eight hundred forty seven. Medical
men and those acquainted with the internal arrangements of public
institutions need not be reminded that the general system of
record and hospitals includes only what may be called the
(14:31):
prominent malady. Thus, if a man were admitted with a
broken limb, it would be registered as a fracture, and
if the same man were suffering indirectly from syphilis at
the same time, no entry would be made thereof, although
the physician rendered him every professional assistance towards its cure.
It is estimated that in this manner a large number
(14:52):
of the cases of venereal disease treated in all public institutions,
except such as make a specialty of those maladies, is
never recorded elsewhere than on the private case books of
the attending physicians. More particularly is this the rule and institutions,
supported wholly or in part by voluntary contributions their benevolent directors,
(15:14):
have not yet owedlived the prejudice which formerly held it
almost as disgraceful to treat as to contract syphilis. Some
of the spirit which drove the unhappy men and women
so afflicted from civilized life to perish in the fields
or woods, as in London, Edinburgh, and Paris during the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and at a later period drew
(15:37):
from the papal government a bill recognizing the affliction as
a direct punishment from the Almighty for the sin of incontinence,
still survives in the present generation. The trustees of more
than one of the dispensaries in New York have directed
their medical officers not to prescribe for such complaints, and
a hospital in a sister city which receives a yearly
(15:59):
grand and from public funds, has in its printed rules
and regulations no person having gonorrhea or syphilis shall be
admitted as a charity patient. Some remarks are made hereafter
upon this course, and the facts are mentioned now to
explain why many cases of venereal disease never appear upon
the reports of institutions where patients are treated practically. Such
(16:23):
prohibitions are a dead letter. No physician of a public
institution applied to by a poor wretch suffering from syphilis
could pass them by without attempting to relieve. Let the
orders of the Board of Trustees be what they may.
His mission is simply to apply the aid of science
and skill to the alleviation of any ailment which may
be presented to his notice, And his appreciation of the
(16:45):
responsibility of his office is too keen to allow him
to refuse the prayer of such an applicant. Hence arises
a circumstance that the case is treated under some other name.
If then the cases recorded are but two thirds the aggregate,
the numbers stand. Thus cases recorded in public institutions nine thousand,
(17:06):
eight hundred forty seven cases not recorded four thousand, nine
hundred twenty three, for a total of fourteen thousand, seven
hundred seventy cases in the year eighteen fifty seven. In
public institutions. The difficulty of forming an opinion as to
the extent of venereal disease treated in private practice has
(17:27):
been already mentioned. In the absence of all information, collateral
circumstances form the only guide to a conclusion. The amount
is unquestionably very large, so large that if its full
magnitude could be discovered and announced, every reader must be astonished.
The first consideration to support this view may be found
(17:47):
in the army of advertising empirics who make it a
source of revenue. Each of these men must have numerous patients.
He could not keep up his business without them. Any
practical advertisers knows that to insert an announcement of some
twenty or thirty lines every day and at least two
daily papers, to repeat the same in weekly journals, and
(18:09):
in addition to this, to post handbills on the corner
of every street and employ men or boys to deliver
them to passengers at steamboat docks, ferry landings, and railroad depots,
cannot be done without a considerable outlay whatever its prospective
advantages may be, No one supposes these charlatans to be
actuated by pure, disinterested benevolence. They crowd the columns of
(18:33):
our journals and insult us with their printed announcements in
the public thoroughfares simply because it pays These means obtain
them customers, and whenever this result ceases, the announcements will
be discontinued. While they appear, there is positive proof that
their issuers are gathering patronage. The number of patent medicines
(18:55):
always in the market for the cure of secret diseases,
and which the vendors announce can be scent any distance,
securely packed and safe from observation, affords a corroboration. They
are made and sold as a business speculation. When their
reputation diminishes and the public become doubtful. If all the
virtues of the materia medica are comprised in a single
(19:16):
bottle of red Drop or Unfortunate's Friend, the manufacturer will
soon stop, and the inventors will resort to some other
employment for their capital. The extent to which advertising, empirics
and patent medicines are flourishing is an undeniable proof of
the prevalence of the maladies they professedly relieve. The legitimate
(19:36):
business of drug stores affords another link in the chain
of evidence beyond the regular nostrums. Almost every druggist in
the city sells large quantities of medicine for the cure
of venereal disease. Sometimes a man will candidly tell the
storekeeper that he has contracted disease and ask him to
make up something to cure it. At other times, a
(19:57):
prescription which has been efficacious in a formal an attack
will be presented, or the sufferer has taken counsel among
his friends and companions and obtained some infallible recipe from
one of them. In short, there are so many different
means taken by persons who have contracted disease that it
is impossible to enumerate the various methods which the aid
(20:17):
of the drug store may be invoked. There are many
traditional recipes which can be used without the necessity of
purchasing ingredients of a druggist. One favorite remedy among the
lower classes is pine not bitters. Bottles of this preparation
are kept for sale, and liquor stores particularly in those
neighborhoods where prostitutes most do congregate. Another reason may be
(20:42):
submitted why a large amount of venereal disease must be
treated privately. Many of the victims are men who move
in a respectable sphere of society, and have probably been
led to the act which resulted so disastrously in a
moment of uncontrollable passion. Their social position would be irreparably
damaged should they enter a public hospital, and the desire
(21:02):
to retain their status forces them to secrecy, even if
the natural repugnance of every man to the former course
did not exist. It is vain to deny that while
medical institutions designed for the public good are so managed
as to inflict a disgrace upon their inmates, their benefits
are circumscribed and will never be accepted by any but
(21:22):
the poor unfortunates who have no other means of obtaining relief.
In the case of syphilis, this is particularly to be
regretted from the nature of the disease. Every day it
is neglected, it becomes in a tenfold degree more aggravated,
and entails proportionate misery in after life. If it be
assumed that the private cases of venereal disease equal in
(21:44):
number those treated in public institutions, and aggregate is obtained of
more than twenty nine thousand, five hundred cases every year.
If the former are double the number of the latter,
the sum will be over forty four thousand cases per annum.
Either of these conjectures is below the truth, and we
are satisfied from professional experience and inquiry that there is
(22:07):
no exaggeration in estimating the number of patients treated privately
every year for Luais venerea as at least quadruple the
cases receiving assistance in hospitals and charitable establishments. The result
is the enormous sum of seventy four thousand cases every year.
If each person suffered only one attack each year, this
(22:29):
would represent one sixth of the total population above fifteen
years of age. But many persons, especially among abandoned women
and profligate men, are infected several times in the course
of twelve months, and any attempt to say what proportion
of individuals are represented in these seventy four thousand cases
would be mere speculation without a particle of conclusive evidence
(22:52):
to support it. Notwithstanding the magnitude of the result, a
very brief consideration will show that it is not extravagant.
In addition to the arguments already advanced in this chapter,
the reader will recollect that in a previous section it
has been shown that two out of every five prostitutes
in New York confessed the syphilitic taint. Supposing a girl
(23:13):
relinquishes her calling as soon as she becomes aware of
being diseased, several days may have elapsed before she discovered
her condition, and during that interval she must have infected
every man who had intercourse with her. To take the
most liberal view, it may be conceded that the portion
who acknowledged infection were not all suffering from the primary
(23:34):
or communicable form. Many of them had doubtless recovered from that.
But if only one half were so suffering, and each
of these infected only one man, the result would be
three hundred sixty five thousand men diseased every year. This
is not an exaggerated estimate. As was said when alluding
(23:54):
to the prostitutes who admitted their contamination. There can be
no possible suspicion that they would acknowledge sickness if they
could avoid doing so, and consequently the sick are certainly
not overrated. It may be objected that the numbers who
owned disease were spread over a considerable space of time,
but this can be met with the fact that the
inquiry which produced this result was in progress simultaneously in
(24:18):
all parts of the city at the farthest, did not
extend three months from the time of commencement to completion,
and the natural presumption would be that as during that
time the health of the women was neither better nor
worse than in any other three months of any year,
the same proportion of diseased women could be found whenever
an investigation was made. In other words, that two out
(24:40):
of five prostitutes in New York are diseased. The calculation
that of these diseased women, one half only are effected
in a manner which renders them liable to infect their
paramours is also a liberal one. Ciphilis, when manifested in
its secondary stage in the shape of sores, eruptions, and
blotches upon the face or person, is so disgusting that
(25:02):
no prostitute thus disfigured could retain her place in any brable,
unless it was one of the very lowest grade, because
her appearance would immediately repel all visitors. In its primary
or local form, it is, of course concealed from her customers,
and may be so concealed for a considerable length of time.
These facts born in mind, is not almost too liberal
(25:23):
an estimate to assume that one half who admit syphilis
are suffering in the secondary or palpable form. This line
of argument, supported by the facts given, is perfectly justifiable
viewed in what light she may, and proves that the
estimate of seventy four thousand cases of venereal disease annually
is much too small. Another course of reasoning may be adopted.
(25:46):
The time occupied in taking the senses is stated at
three months. This included all the needful preliminary measures, the
instructions to examiners, the conferences with police captains, et cetera,
and the final proceedings such as arranging and writing out reports.
Allow one third of the time for these introductory and
concluding adjuncts, and to believe about sixty days including Sundays,
(26:09):
or fifty two working days devoted to the actual inquiry.
The inquiry resulted in the discovery of syphilis in such
a proportion of women as would amount to an aggregate
of two thousand on the total number of public prostitutes.
Suppose the disease of two thousand women equally distributed over
the fifty two days, or in other words, that an
(26:31):
average number were infected and confessed it every day, and
the result is thirty eight women diseased every twenty four hours.
We wish to make this argument as plain as possible,
and the reader will pardon what may appear needless repetition.
If this disease existed in each woman for four days
before she was conscious of it, or it became so
(26:52):
troublesome as to force her from her calling, and during
this interval of four days each woman had intercourse with
only one man per day, over fifty thousand men would
be exposed to the risk almost the certainty of contracting
infection in the course of the year. As the Medico
Triururgical Review said in the course of a similar argument
(27:12):
upon syphilis in London, this estimate is ridiculously small. In
the first place, a majority of the women would not
abandon their calling in four days after infection, but would
continue it as long as they could possibly submit to
the suffering involved. Every resident of New York will remember
the excitement caused in the spring of the year eighteen
(27:32):
fifty five by the arrest of a large number of
prostitutes in the public streets, their committal to Blackwell's Island,
and their subsequent discharge on writs of abeis corpus on
account of informality in the proceedings. But it is not
generally known that of those arrested at that time a
very large proportion, certainly more than one half, for suffering
(27:53):
from syphilis in its primary form, and many of them
in its most inveterate stage. We make this assertion from
our own knowledge, the result of a professional examination and
mention the circumstance now to prove that women will not
abandon their calling when they know themselves diseased, so long
as they can possibly continue it. If the estimate had
(28:14):
been made that each woman continued prostitution for eight days
instead of four days after she was infected, it would
have been a closer approximation to the truth, and it
would have shown over one hundred thousand men exposed to
infection every year. Again, the supposition that a prostitute submits
to but one act of prostitution every day is ridiculously small.
(28:36):
No woman could pay her board, dress and live in
the expensive manner common among the class upon the money
she would receive from one visitor daily. Even two visitors
is a very low estimate, and four is very far
from an unreasonably large one. But suppositions might be multiplied,
and the argument extended almost ad infinitium. One more calculation
(29:00):
be submitted, and then the reader can form his own
conclusion upon the question whether the theory of seventy four
thousand cases of venereal disease in New York every year
has not been supported by a mass of evidence far
more weighty than can ordinarily be adduced. To establish a
controverted point, it shall be assumed that the thirty eight
(29:20):
women infected every day continue their calling for six days
after the appearance of venereal disease, and during such six
days one half of them shall submit to one and
the other half to two sexual acts daily. Then in
the course of a year, one hundred and twenty five
thousand men would be exposed to contamination. To this ad
(29:40):
the number of women infected, which at thirty eight daily,
would imuntain nearly thirteen thousand in the year, and a
total of one hundred and thirty eight thousand will be presented,
or nearly double the number assumed as a basis for remark,
it is needless to advance further reasons in support of
the soundness of that opinion. Next in order will be
(30:02):
the consideration of the amount of money prostitution costs the public.
The amount of capital invested in houses of ill fame,
and the outlay consequent thereupon presents a total which cannot
but surprise all who have not deeply reflected upon the
ramifications of the evil. The police investigation of May eighteen
(30:22):
fifty eight, quoted a few pages back, gives a total
number of houses of prostitution as three hundred seventy eight,
and the worth of property thus employed can be ascertained
with a tolerable degree of accuracy from information obtained in
many cases by actual inquiry. The value of real estate
(30:43):
where was owned by the keepers of these houses has
been already given in some instances, and in others the
rent may be assumed equivalent to ten percent per annum
upon the cost of the property, which is certainly not
an undue valuation. Dividing the total number of houses into
four classes, the estimate stands as follows. Eighty houses of
(31:05):
the first class are estimated from actual inquiry to be
worth including real estate and furniture, thirteen thousand, eight hundred
dollars each, or a total of one million, one hundred
four thousand dollars. One hundred houses of the second class
are estimated at twenty five percent less than those of
the first class, namely ten thousand, three hundred fifty dollars
(31:29):
for each, or a total of one million, thirty five thousand,
one hundred twenty houses of the third class at five
thousand dollars each, six hundred thousand, seventy eight houses of
the fourth class at one thousand dollars each, seventy eight thousand,
three hundred seventy eight houses of prostitution are estimated worth
(31:51):
two million, eight hundred seventeen thousand dollars. Add for houses
of vacignation, twenty five houses of the first class at
twelve thousand dollars each, three hundred thousand, twenty five houses
of the second class at nine thousand dollars each, two
hundred twenty five thousand, thirty five houses of the third
(32:13):
class at five thousand dollars each, one hundred and seventy
five thousand, fifteen houses of the fourth class at three
thousand dollars each, forty five thousand, one hundred total for
houses of prostitution and assignation three million, five hundred sixty
two thousand dollars. In addition to this are one hundred
(32:35):
and fifty one dancing saloons, liquor and lodger beer stores.
Mainly dependent upon the custom of prostitutes and their companions,
Any place in which it is possible to carry on
either of these businesses must be worth two hundred dollars
a year rent, which would give a value of two
thousand dollars each, or a total of three hundred two thousand.
(32:56):
The necessary stock, fixtures and implements cannot be worth less
on an average than one hundred dollars in each place.
This gives a total of fifteen thousand, one hundred and
an aggregate capital of three million, eight hundred seventy nine thousand,
one hundred dollars invested in the business of prostitution. That
this is not an extravagant estimate will be admitted by
(33:18):
any real estate owner or person acquainted with the value
of property in the city, especially if he takes into
consideration the location of many of the houses, and calculates
how much more the adjacent lands and buildings would be
worth if these resorts of vice and infamy were removed.
On a scale, correspondingly, a large is the amount of
(33:38):
money actually spent upon prostitutes. The weekly income of each
woman cannot be less than ten dollars. Many pay much
more than that sum for their board alone, and in
first class houses, it is not uncommon for a prostitute
to realize as much as thirty or fifty dollars or
upward in a week. But if the income is taken
(33:59):
at the lowest point, the aggregate receipts of six thousand
courtesans amount to sixty thousand dollars per week or three million,
one hundred twenty thousand per year. Every visitor to a
house of prostitution expends more or less money for wines
and liquors therein. In some cases this outlay will be
larger than the cash remuneration given to the women, But
(34:21):
other men are not so lavish in their hospitality, and
it is fair to assume that such expenditures amount two
thirds of the previous item. A weekly total of forty
thousand dollars or two million, eighty thousand dollars spent for
intoxicating drinks and houses of prostitution every year. In describing
the customers of houses of vact Nation, it has already
(34:43):
been remarked that in the first class many of the
female visitors take that step not for gain, but impelled
by affection or sexual desire. They would spurn the idea
of being paid for their company. But the houses at
which their intrigues are consummated, being luxuriously, firm furnished, and
conducted by women of known discretion in secrecy, have a
(35:04):
high tariff of prices as one of their features. Visitors
must pay as much there for accommodation as the rent
of a room and compensation to a female would amount
to in places of less pretension. It is assumed that
four thousand, two hundred visits are paid to houses of
aasignation every week, and for the foregoing reason, estimating them
(35:25):
to cost the men the same in every instance, and
fixing that cost at three dollars for each visit, this
item will amount to twelve thousand, six hundred dollars per week,
or six hundred fifty five thousand, two hundred dollars per year.
The consumption of wine and liquor is small in houses
of aacinination as compared with houses of prostitution. It may
(35:46):
probably amount to five thousand dollars per week or two
hundred sixty thousand dollars per year. The income of the
dancing saloons, liquor and larger beer stores frequented and mainly
supported by prostitutes and their friends, cannot be less than
thirty dollars per week for each house, and as are
one hundred fifty one establishments of that description, the aggregate
(36:08):
of money dispersed in them will be four thousand, five
hundred thirty dollars per week or two hundred thirty five thousand,
five hundred sixty dollars per year. These sums exhibit the
outlay for the pleasures of prostitution. The ensuing items give
its penalties. Of the inmates of the island. Late the
Penitentiary hospital in eighteen fifty seven, over sixty five percent
(36:31):
were afflicted with venereal disease. The total expense of that
institution for the year was thirty five thousand dollars, and
the pro rata amount for civilidic patients would be twenty
two thousand, seven hundred fifty dollars during the year or
four hundred thirty eight dollars per week. Bellevue Hospital cost
to maintain it during eighteen fifty seven seventy thousand dollars
(36:54):
in round numbers. The Medical Board say that ten percent
of its inmates are treated for diseases originating in the
syphilitic taint, and this proportion of the expenses being chargeable
to prostitution amounts to seven thousand dollars per year or
one hundred thirty five dollars per week. The Nursery Hospital
on Randall's Island cost the City of New York seventeen
(37:16):
thousand dollars for maintenance during eighteen fifty seven. One half
its infant patients are treated for diseases resulting from venereal infection,
and eight thousand, five hundred dollars per year or one
hundred sixty three dollars per week is a quota of
expense caused by this vice and its sequel. The number
of cases of venereal disease treated in the New York
(37:38):
State Emigrants Hospital on Ward's Island was six and a
half percent of the total relieved on that Island. The
expenses for eighteen fifty seven or one hundred nine thousand dollars,
and the share chargeable to prostitution will be seven thousand,
seventy five dollars per year or one hundred thirty six
dollars per week. In the New York City Hospital broad Way,
(38:00):
fourteen percent of the patients during eighteen fifty seven were
treated for venereal disease. The cost of maintenance for that
year was fifty nine thousand dollars, and the share caused
by prostitution was eight thousand, two hundred sixty dollars per
year or one hundred fifty nine dollars per week. The
cases treated in dispensary practice have been averaged at three
(38:22):
percent throughout the city. The yearly expenses of those charities
are as follows. New York Dispensary nine thousand, one hundred dollars,
Northern Dispensary three thousand, five hundred fifty, Eastern Dispensary three thousand,
seven hundred to Milt Dispensary five thousand, three hundred, north
(38:43):
Western Dispensary two thousand, six hundred thirty total twenty four thousand,
two hundred eighty dollars, and the proportion chargeable discyphilis must
be seven hundred twenty dollars per year or fourteen dollars
per week. Very little expense is incurred by the medical
colleges in the cases of sybylis treated at the clinical lectures,
(39:03):
as the relief is generally confined to a prescription or
a site operation, and if medicine is supplied in a
few cases, the amount is so small that in a
calculation of this sort it is not worth notice. The
expenses of the King's County Hospital, Long Island for eighteen
fifty seven amounted to seventy five thousand, three hundred dollars.
(39:25):
About ten per cent of the patients treated were venereal sufferers,
and the cost for them amounts to seven thousand, five
hundred thirty dollars per year or one hundred forty five
dollars per week. In the Brooklyn City Hospital, the proportion
of venereal patients is twenty seven per cent of the aggregate.
The total annual expenses are seventeen thousand, two hundred dollars,
(39:46):
and the amount incurred on account of this disease is
therefore four thousand, six hundred forty four dollars per year
or eighty nine dollars per week. In the Seamen's Retreat
Staten Island, New York, twenty four percent of the inmates
suffer from venereal disease. The expenses during the year eighteen
fifty seven were forty three thousand, five hundred dollars, of
(40:08):
which ten thousand, five hundred forty dollars per year or
two hundred three dollars per week must be considered the
proportion rendered necessary by syphilis. End of section number fifty six.
Recording by Samantha Miles
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