UNCHASTITY 259 



lis. By making a bacteriological examination of each 

 case, tlie proportion of prostitutes found to be suffer- 

 ing from gonorrhea was increased from nine per cent 

 to fifty per cent. 



The conclusions drawn by the committee as to the 

 proper action to be taken under the circumstances, 

 seem to us quite absurd. Instead of recommending the 

 abandonment of the unwise attempt to make vice safe, 

 by enabling the criminal to escape the penalty which 

 nature inflicts for the transgression of moral and natu- 

 ral law in relation to purity, they recommend a more 

 rigid investigation, suggesting that the examination 

 should be made twice a week instead of weekly, and 

 that a bacteriological examination should be made in 

 every case. They also recommend that special hos- 

 pitals and dispensaries shall be provided for persons 

 suffering from venereal disorders, where they may be 

 treated at the public expense, and thus enabled to re- 

 turn as quickly as possible to their base and immoral 

 business. 



What a horrible spectacle is this to contemplate in 

 the midst of our boasted civilization ! A vast outfit of 

 laboratories and hospitals, an army of physicians, 

 nurses, pharmacists, clerks, etc., all devoting their lives 

 to the fostering and encouraging of a business which 

 depends wholly for its existence upon the violation of 

 the laws of God and man! If the moral sense of so- 

 ciety, especially of politicians,— and it is feared the 

 same must also be said to a considerable extent of the 

 medical profession,— were not blunted to a most as- 

 tonishing degree, the only remedy which would be sug- 

 gested for this gigantic evil would be its absolute pro- 

 hibition and extermination by means of severe penalties 

 and a faithful administration of the law. What can 



