Commercialized Prostitution in New York City

E PROS

nefit, or under the direction or control of owners of vice resorts, of madames, procurers, or pimps. There has been much speculation as to the number of suc

January 24th, 1912, to November 15th, 1912, the number of professional prostitutes actually counted was 14,926. Of this number, 6,759 were found on the streets in different localities in Manhattan; 8,167 prostitutes were seen and counted in parlor houses, resorts in tenement apartments, disorderly massage parlors, hotels, saloons, concert halls, and miscellaneous places.[174] Not all the vice resorts operating in Manhattan were visited; nor we

tic service, trade, industry, commerce, stenography, school teaching. Those who are arrested come mainly from the class first named, thus confirming the results obtained by Miss Mary Conyngton, an investigator for the Department of Labor at Washington, who declares that out of 3,229 women arrested for offenses against the law, 2,606, or 80.71 per cent claim to have followed the ordinary pursuits of women "within and outside the home."[176] But, it must be added, the majority of those now engaged in prostitution seldom reach the Night Court or rescue homes. They are too well-dressed, too clever, and have long since learned the art of escaping the hand of the law. Of the women at large interrogated, 487 gave their occupational history; of these, it is not surprising to find that the percentage of domestic servants is lower than among 168 girls found in rescue homes, refuges and asylums. Of the 487, th

pleasure,-not, of course, at the beginning, necessarily vicious pleasure,-easily led,-now by natural emotion, again by cunning design. The explanation of her pre

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lly several, no one of which can be regarded as paramount. Sometimes a girl's lover puts her into the life or deserts her after seduction, leaving her without hope for the future: "I was ruined anyway," she would say, "and I did not care what became of me." Again, "I loved the excitement and a good time, easy money and good clothes." Another one remarks, "I was born bad and actually enjoy the life." "I was tired of drudgery as a servant," said another, "I'd rather do this than be kicked around like a dog in a kitchen by some woman who calls herself a lady." Few girls ever admit th

nted good times, money and clothes." Seduction, too, is alleged at all levels,-base men taking advantage of natural craving for interest and affection. "I was 17 when I went with my sweetheart," said a shop-girl; "I never intended to make it a business, I was in love with the first fellow," declared a former stenographer. The point should also be emphasized that victims of this kind do not succumb merely to man's impulse; often they are conquered by deliberate design. Undoubtedly responsible for part of the supp

5 each. Twenty former stenographers earned on the average $11.25 a week; of the eight women who claimed to have been school-teachers, one had earned $80 a month, and one $90. One hundred and thirty-nine girls (12 per cent) declared that they went into the life for economic reasons. Thirty-three put it this way, "I could not support myself"; fifty-five declared that they could not support themselves and their babies, sometimes their parents; forty-five said they were out of work and could not get it; nine w

y the age is highest in case of the former teachers, of whom one reports her first offense at 21, another at 20; one or two report their fall in their 18th year. The average time which elapsed before the girls finally drifted into professional prostitution was two years, i. e., when they were 19 years of age. The life of the professional prostitute has been estimated at five years, on the ground that she dies, withdraws, or is incapacitated after she has been in the business on the average for that length of time. But a study of more than a thousand prostitutes, all now activ

ablishments. The street girls are, generally speaking, at the bottom. As in the upper, so in the underworld, social status changes with prosperity or adversity, though the tendency-by reason of the progressive demoralization of the life-is definitely downwards. Under the influe

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, because their customers are derived from all social classes. The careless, unkempt woman at the bottom is adjusted to the requirements of the least exa

who earn ten, twenty, twenty-five or more dollars per week. They are proprietors of small business enterprises, clerks, bookkeepers, bartenders, barbers, tailors, waiters, soldiers, sailors, messengers in banks, members of social and political clubs or of benefit organizations. Saturday and Sunday are the popular nights with men of this type. The owners and madames provide extra "goods" to "

of about 500 young men whose ages range from twenty-one to thirty. They are fond of attending boxing contests, wrestling bouts, athletic meets and public dances. After such exhibitions or "affairs" they go in groups of five or ten to the houses, spending long hours in promiscuous orgies. Owners make a specialty of c

ded. In order to make doubly sure that their visits will not be known, prominent customers occasionally hire an entire establishment. An instance is cited in which a well-to-do patron remained three days in such a resort. At times, however, men are utterly reckless: they have been known to leave their business cards behind them, or their sig

lness of their lives at other times. There are thousands of these men in New York. No home ties restrain them; no home associations fill their time or thought. Their rooms are fit only to sleep in; close

sure. This great host visit the theaters, parks, seashore resorts, museums; they trade in stores and shops, and some of them, before they return to their homes, become customers in vice resorts.

men per day. This statement is corroborated by data secured by the Vice Commission in Chicago, where the average was found to be 15 per day for 18 inmates in one house covering a period of 22 months,[181] as well as by data obtained in Syracuse, New York, where the average n