Commercialized Prostitution in New York City Part 1

Commercialized Prost.i.tution in New York City.

by George Jackson Kneeland.

INTRODUCTION

In presenting to the public this volume, the first of four studies dealing with various aspects of the problem of prost.i.tution, it seems fitting to make a statement with reference to the origin, work and plans of the Bureau of Social Hygiene.

The Bureau came into existence about two years ago, as a result of the work of the Special Grand jury which investigated the white slave traffic in New York City during the first half of the year 1910. One of the recommendations made by the jury in the presentment handed up at the termination of its labors was that a public commission be appointed to study the social evil. The foreman of the jury subsequently gave careful consideration to the character of the work which might properly be done by such a commission and the limitations under which it would operate. In this connection, separate personal conferences were held with over a hundred leading men and women in the city, among whom were lawyers, physicians, business men, bank presidents, presidents of commercial organizations, clergymen, settlement workers, social workers, labor leaders and reformers. These conferences led to the conclusion that a public commission would labor under a number of disadvantages, such as the fact that it would be short-lived; that its work would be done publicly; that at best it could hardly do more than present recommendations. It was also believed that the main reason why more results of a permanent character had not been obtained by the various organizations which had dealt with the subject of the social evil during the past ten or fifteen years was that most of these organizations were temporary. While active, they materially improved the situation, but as their efforts relaxed, there came the inevitable return to much the same conditions as before.

The forces of evil are never greatly alarmed at the organization of investigating or reform bodies, for they know that these are generally composed of busy people, who cannot turn aside from their own affairs for any great length of time to carry on reforms, and that sooner or later their efforts will cease and the patient denizens of the underworld and their exploiters can then reappear and continue as before.

So the conviction grew that in order to make a real and lasting improvement in conditions, a permanent organization should be created, the existence of which would not be dependent upon a temporary wave of reform nor upon the life of any man or group of men, but which would go on, generation after generation, continuously making warfare against the forces of evil. It also appeared that a private organization would have, among other advantages, a certain freedom from publicity and from political bias, which a publicly appointed commission could not easily avoid.

Therefore, as the initial step, the Bureau of Social Hygiene was formed in the winter of 1911. Its present members are Miss Katharine Bement Davis, Superintendent of the New York State Reformatory for Women at Bedford Hills, New York; Paul M. Warburg, of the firm of Kuhn, Loeb & Company; Starr J. Murphy, of the New York Bar; and John D. Rockefeller, Jr. As the work develops, new members may be added.

One of the first things undertaken by the Bureau was the establishment at Bedford Hills, adjacent to the Reformatory, of a Laboratory of Social Hygiene, under Miss Davis's direction. In this laboratory, it is proposed to study from the physical, mental, social and moral sides each person committed to the Reformatory. This study will be carried on by experts and every case will be kept under observation for from three weeks to three months, as may be required. When the diagnosis is completed, it is hoped that the laboratory will be in position to suggest the treatment most likely to reform the individual, or, if reformation is impossible, to recommend permanent custodial care. Furthermore, reaching out beyond the individuals involved, it is believed that important contributions may be made to our knowledge of the conditions ultimately responsible for vice, and that the methods worked out may prove applicable to all cla.s.ses of criminals, thus leading to lines of action not only more scientific and humane but also less wasteful than those at present followed.

In entering upon its labors, the Bureau regarded it of fundamental importance to make a careful study of the social evil in this country and in Europe. This problem, like any other great and difficult one, can be approached only through an understanding of the various factors involved--physical, moral, social and economic--and of the experience of other cities and countries in dealing with it. Arrangements were therefore made in January, 1912, to secure the services of Mr. George J.

Kneeland, who had directed the Chicago Vice Commission investigation.

Since that time Mr. Kneeland, with a corps of a.s.sistants, has been making a thorough and comprehensive survey of the conditions of vice in New York City, the findings of which are here presented.

The purpose of this volume is to set forth as accurately and fully as possible the conditions of vice as they existed in New York City during the year 1912. It should be clearly understood that the data upon which it is based are not presented as legal evidence, but as reliable information secured by careful and experienced investigators, whose work was systematically corroborated.

In presenting the facts contained in this report, the Bureau has no thought of criticizing any department or official of the city administration. The task which the Bureau set itself was that of preparing a dispa.s.sionate, objective account of things as they were during the period above mentioned, the forms which commercialized vice had a.s.sumed, the methods by which it was carried on, the whole network of relations which had been elaborated below the surface of society. The studies involved were made in a spirit of scientific inquiry, and it is the hope of the Bureau that all departments or officials whose work this book in any way touches may find the information therein contained helpful to them in the further direction and organization of their work.

The Bureau also secured the services of Mr. Abraham Flexner, whose reports on the medical schools in this country and in Europe are well known, to study the social evil and the various methods of dealing with it in the leading cities of Europe. Mr. Flexner spent the greater part of a year abroad, making a searching and exhaustive inquiry into the subject, and is now working on his report, ent.i.tled "Prost.i.tution in Europe," which will be the second volume of the series, to be published in the fall.

The third volume will deal with European police systems. Mr. Raymond B.

Fosd.i.c.k, a member of the staff of the Bureau and former Commissioner of Accounts of New York City, went to Europe in January for the purpose of making this study and is enjoying unusual facilities in the prosecution of his inquiry. The police are necessarily so important an instrument in dealing with prost.i.tution that the success of whatever plan is adopted will depend largely on their organization and efficiency. No adequate descriptive and critical account of the British and Continental police systems exists. Much has been published from time to time, but there does not appear to have been any exhaustive study for the purpose of ascertaining the points of excellence, as well as the defects, of the European police and the lessons deducible from their experience. The police problems of the great European cities closely resemble our own; their police organizations have successfully worked through a period of storm and stress such as we are now pa.s.sing through. Whatever differences may ultimately have to be taken into account, the experience of London, Berlin, and of other cities will, when fully reported, be rich in suggestions that will abbreviate our own period of experimentation.

The fourth volume will be based upon studies made in those cities in the United States where different conditions exist or where special methods of dealing with the social evil have been introduced.

In conclusion, it should be stated that the spirit which dominates the work of the Bureau is not sensational or hysterical; that it is not a spirit critical of public officials; but that it is essentially a spirit of constructive suggestion and of deep scientific as well as humane interest in a great world problem.

JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER, JR.

_Chairman._

New York, May 1, 1913 Bureau of Social Hygiene P. O. Box 579, New York City

COMMERCIALIZED PROSt.i.tUTION IN NEW YORK CITY

CHAPTER I

VICE RESORTS:[1] (a) PARLOR HOUSES

The actual business of prost.i.tution in New York City is conducted in buildings which are designated in this report as vice resorts. These resorts are of several kinds. Most prominent are the so-called parlor house or brothel, the tenement house apartment, the furnished room house, the disorderly hotel, and the ma.s.sage parlor. The present chapter deals only with the first named.

A parlor house or brothel is a building used exclusively for the business of prost.i.tution. It derives its name from the fact that its inmates gather in the parlor to receive their guests. There is, however, an exception to the definition, inasmuch as some parlor houses in New York City are situated on the upper floors of buildings, the ground floors of which are used for legitimate business enterprises.

During the period of this investigation, extending from January 24, 1912, to November 15, 1912,[2] 142 parlor houses were visited in Manhattan.

Though this number does not include all the places of this character in Manhattan, it may be said to approximate the total. It is improbable that many were overlooked. Every one of the establishments investigated was visited two or more times on different dates by different individuals who have made affidavits as to their findings; and the findings of different investigators working in ignorance of one another have been carefully compared. The date and hour of the observation are given in connection with each report.

Of the 142 parlor houses thus investigated, 20 are known to the trade as fifty-cent houses; 80 as one-dollar houses; 6 as two-dollar houses; and 34 as five- and ten-dollar houses. The prices charged in the remaining two houses are unknown.

The majority of these houses are situated in the business section of Manhattan, namely, on Sixth and Seventh Avenues from West 23rd to West 42nd Streets, and in residential sections on side streets from West 15th to West 54th Streets between Fifth and Eighth Avenues. A few of them are located on the East Side on residential streets east of Third Avenue, and on Second Avenue. A still smaller number were discovered on the extreme East Side near the river and below East 14th Street. Not a few of these houses are found in the vicinity of public schools, churches, and hotels; others occupy the upper floors over lunch rooms, jewelry shops, clothing stores, fur shops, and other business enterprises.

Private houses used exclusively for prost.i.tution are usually three or four stories high; those of the cheaper type are in a dilapidated and unsanitary condition. For instance, the fifty-cent houses on the lower East Side are described as being practically unfit for human habitation.

The rooms are dirty, the loose and creaking floors are covered with matting which is gradually rotting away, the ceilings are low, the windows small, the air heavy and filled with foul odors. The sanitary conditions in the majority of the one-dollar houses on the West Side streets between Sixth and Seventh Avenues are hardly less objectionable. No attempt is made to keep the houses clean. The floors are rotten and filthy; they sag as one walks across them. The small bedrooms are damp and unventilated; the atmosphere is heavy with odors of tobacco and perfumes, mingled with the fumes of medicine and cheap disinfectants.

Every step in the process of arranging for and conducting an establishment of this character is taken in the most businesslike fas.h.i.+on. Every detail is arranged in a cold, calculating spirit. It is first necessary to secure the consent of the owner or agent to use the property for the desired purpose. Negotiations may be conducted by the prospective keeper himself or through a go-between who is paid a bonus for securing a suitable building. In the majority of cases regular leases are drawn up and signed for stated periods. Usually two or more individuals enter into a regular partners.h.i.+p agreement to conduct parlor houses. In the course of this investigation interesting data were obtained respecting the purchase, sale, and value of these shares,[3] which constantly fluctuate in value.

Important factors in determining their value at a particular time are public opinion and the att.i.tude of the city authorities toward vice. If the law is rigidly enforced and frequent arrests are made, the shares depreciate and there is a scramble among the partners to dispose of their holdings. If the business is fairly undisturbed, the shares increase in value and can hardly be purchased.

The house once secured and the owners being ready to begin business, a madame or housekeeper is hired by the month or on a percentage basis to take personal charge of the enterprise. She is usually a former prost.i.tute who has outlived her usefulness in that capacity. To her the owners look for results. Every day she reports to them when they call to "make up" the books after business is over--generally during the early morning hours.[4]

Servants are employed to aid the madame: one or more cooks, according to the number of inmates boarding in the house; and maids, usually colored girls, who look after the rooms, tend the door, and aid in the sale of liquor to the customers during business hours. A porter is employed to care for the house and run errands, a "lighthouse," to stand on the street for the purpose of procuring "trade" and to give warning.

The prosperity of the business depends in the main upon the quality of the inmates. If they are young and attractive, and, as one madame was heard to say in another city, "especially womanly," success is a.s.sured. Thus the value of the manager depends in the first place on her ability to secure and hold the "right sort" of inmate. The girls must be contented; they must be stimulated to please; quarrels must be avoided, jealousies nipped in the bud. In the art of management, the madame must exercise all her ingenuity. If a girl is a good "money maker" the madame attaches her to herself in every possible way. Some of these unfortunate inmates become "house girls," remaining year after year, the unsuspecting victims of the madame's blandishments and exploitation.

Certain of the women are well known as "stars." Their reputation follows them wherever they go and madames vie with each other in securing them for their particular houses, in much the same way as a business firm is constantly looking for clever salesmen who have a reputation and a record for increasing business. The author has in mind a particular woman[5]

whose customers follow her wherever she goes. There are in this business many such "stars" or "big money makers," looked upon with envy by their less attractive and less prominent rivals. The secret of their popularity lies frequently in the perverse practices to which they resort.

The manner of carrying on the business has been somewhat modified in recent years. Formerly, the madame gave the girl a bra.s.s check for each customer. After business hours she cashed in her checks, receiving her share of the proceeds, usually fifty cents on the dollar. Nowadays, madames or housekeepers have a punch similar to those used by railroad conductors. When a customer is secured, the inmate hands the madame a square piece of cardboard, in which she punches a hole. Among the exhibits obtained during this investigation is a series of sixteen such cards with the names of sixteen inmates written upon them. They are literally filled with holes, all representing the business done on July 9, 1912, in a notorious one-dollar house on West 28th Street. The largest number of holes punched on a single card that day was thirty.[6]

The madames are alive to the importance of a.s.suring their customers that every precaution is taken to guard the health of their inmates. Hence, in practically all the houses here referred to the investigators were a.s.sured that the girls have in their possession medical certificates signed by physicians, certifying that the bearer has been examined and is free from venereal disease.[7]

In many houses the "doctor" is said to come every week; he makes a hasty and superficial examination, for which he is paid one dollar, one-half of which sum he turns over to the owner of the establishment. Of these physicians, one, a member of the now notorious Independent Benevolent a.s.sociation--a group of men individually interested either directly or indirectly in the business of prost.i.tution in New York City--has a large practice among the inmates of the cheaper type of house. At times, physicians who make a specialty of this branch are also active in the local politics of their respective districts: these men are in demand, for the keepers hope thus to "stand in" with those "higher up." On April 27, 1912, for example, the proprietor[8] of a house in West 36th Street[9]

related the fact that he had recently employed a physician[10] who was being "mentioned" as the next leader in his a.s.sembly district. He tried to induce another keeper[11] to take the same doctor[12] because of political advantages to be gained thereby.

The medical certificates obtained under the circ.u.mstances described are, of course, worthless. According to the best medical opinion the inmates are all dangerous,--in many of them disease is in an acute stage. When external indications develop, the women are sent to a hospital. One girl, in such a condition as to be utterly useless in the house, was removed by her cadet, who, covering up the signs of her disease, put her on the street. An equally unconscionable and characteristic incident is the following: A young traveling salesman was a.s.sured that an inmate was free from disease and a medical certificate stating this fact was shown to him.

As a matter of fact, she was at that time under treatment by the very physician who had given her the certificate. The visitor contracted venereal disease. When he complained to the madame, she gave him a card of introduction to the same doctor, in order that he too might receive treatment.

Since the general closing of parlor houses in 1907[13] it is a matter of common complaint among owners that business is not what it was before. The falling off is explained by an alleged increase of disorderly flats in tenements and of ma.s.sage parlors. An owner who conducted a house on West 24th Street before and after the cleaning up in 1907 declared that his receipts, before that date $3,500 per week from 25 women, have gradually declined until now they are about $2,000 per week. Another owner, in West 36th Street, gave the reason for this falling off: He had visited disorderly flats and had there seen the men who had formerly been his customers. "Why do the authorities bother us?" he remonstrated. "We are locked within four walls. n.o.body sees anything; n.o.body hears anything.

They pa.s.s tenement house laws. Why don't they raid the flats and let us alone?"

There is therefore a constant effort on the part of the keepers of parlor houses to undermine the business done by women on the street, in flats, and in ma.s.sage parlors. They write anonymous letters to the Police Commissioner and the Tenement House Department; they send men to the flats to persuade their inmates to leave and enter the parlor houses on the pretense that much more money can be earned thus; street walkers are frightened away from the vicinity of these houses by threats of the police. The madame of an establishment in West 28th Street drove away a street walker who was soliciting men for a nearby tenement house by telling her that she would make a complaint against her for using a tenement for immoral purposes. There are cases on record where keepers have had officers on the beat and plainclothes men arrest street walkers; they have also been known to "beat up" girls loitering near their places.

If the getting and holding of attractive inmates is one important qualification in a madame, getting and holding trade is its necessary counterpart. Madames are selected who are known to be expert in soliciting trade and "keeping it in the house." They gradually acc.u.mulate lists of names and addresses of men and boys, keeping them up to date, and at stated intervals they send announcements of change of address or a veiled suggestion as to the "quality" of "goods" on display. One ingenious owner has a very neat printed folder reading, "Kindly call at our old place of business, as we have a Beautiful Spring Stock on view." Occasionally--as in the accompanying circular--no object at all is alleged:

"_Dear Sir_:--Kindly call at your earliest convenience at the below address.