The Vice Bondage of a Great City; or, the Wickedest City in the World — John Shaqi
The Vice Bondage of a Great City; or, the Wickedest City in the WorldHarland, Robert O.
History
The Vice Bondage of a Great City; or, the Wickedest City in the World
Harland, Robert O.
Chicago (Ill.) -- Moral conditions; Prostitution -- Illinois -- Chicago
Her procurer in dull times, may take her from one house and resell her for
a new price. She is thus bartered as a dead commodity instead of a woman
of flesh and blood.
There is nothing in human history that is so filled with horror as this.
There is no deeper stain on the annals of this nation than the crimson
stain of White Slavery.
It is the evil that cries daily to Heaven for vengeance. Thousands of
mothers lift their trembling arms and cry out to God to kill the monster
that has eaten their daughters.
And this White Slave Trust, taking the money from these ill-fated women,
turns part of its profits over to the magnates of the great Vice
Trust,--to men who stand high in the world of politics, to men to whom we
intrust the task of making our laws and administering them!
The law stands without and makes no effort to stem the tide of infamous
traffic in women. Political leaders listen to the voice of a people's
protest, sham a "clean-up" and then send forth the word to the vice
lieutenants to "lay low" for a short time. Within a few weeks, the monster
creeps from his hiding place and feasts ravenously on the victims piled up
and waiting for him.
We have shown the price of these pitiful victims of a vice system.
We are now ready to show how every form of vice in which woman stands as
the central figure is protected by the police department at the command of
the political lords and their friends, in order that they may derive a
vast income from the human sacrifice.
CHAPTER VI.
Vice and Graft.
Police Collectors--The Prostitute's Graft Price--The Kimona Trust--Laundry
Trust--The Woman and the "Cadet"--Terrible Examples--To the Woman:
Death--How About Your Daughter?
From the enemies of moral progress and from those who find it to their
personal interest to exploit the shame of women and the crimes of men, the
cry has been raised:--
Vice, segregated and otherwise, is absolutely essential in a large city.
Passions must be given an outlet; lusts must be allowed to exhaust
themselves.
That view, in the face of earnest study of the subject, is a pernicious
fallacy.
Take away from man the open temptation; cleanse his paths of the thousand
lures to evil; bar his coming in contact with the lost woman as far as it
is possible and you will minimize vice to a marvelous degree.
It is on the fallacy and sophistry of the theory that passions of men must
be satisfied, that Chicago today carries on its terrible exploitation of
vice.
It is on that theory that the Vice Trust has built its superstructure,
created its gigantic business, bartered its thousands of women for
flesh-prices and harvested millions of dollars annually.
Vice exists under the conditions which we have depicted, because the Vice
Trust--the all powerful coterie of police and politicians,--wish it.
The would-be municipal leaders, are the powers behind the city's ignominy
and shame!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account