Prostitution, considered in its moral, social, & sanitary aspects, in London and other large cities with proposals for the mitigation and prevention of its attendant evils / by William Acton.

  • Acton, William, 1813-1875.
Date:
1862
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Prostitution, considered in its moral, social, & sanitary aspects, in London and other large cities with proposals for the mitigation and prevention of its attendant evils / by William Acton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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    public comfort or public morals, it steps forward to arrest and punish him, yet, surely, by no fail use of words can it be represented as thereby sanctioning drunkenness when unaccompanied by indecorous or riotous behaviour. It merely declares that in the one case interference falls within its functions, and that in the other case it does not. Likewise in the parallel case under consideration, such legislative interference as we suggest would merely hold this clear, sound, intelligible language: ‘ Prostitution per se is a sin against taste, morals, and religion ; but it is one of those vices, like bad temper, hatred, malice, and covetousness, which, however noxious, it is not a part of the duty of government actively to repress or punish; the propagation of syphilis is an overt act of public mischief, a crime committed against society, which it clearly falls within their province to prevent.’ “ One word more on this subject. We cannot imagine that any one can seriously suppose that prostitution would be made either more gene- rally attractive or respectable by the greater decency and decorum which administrative supervision would compel it to throw over' its exterior. We know, that the absence of these does not deter men of irregular passions from the low pursuit; and we know, moreover, that wherever these are needed for the behoof of a more scrupulous and refined class of fornicators, they are to be found. We are convinced, also, that much of the permanent ruin to the feelings and character which results from the habit of visiting the haunts of prostitution, is to be attributed to the coarse language and the brutal manners which prevail there; and that this vice, like many others, would lose much of its evil by losing all of grossness that is separable from it. Nor do we fear that the improve- ment in the tone of prostitution which would thus result, would render its unhappy victims less anxious to escape from it. Soften its horrors and gild its loathsomeness as you may, there will always remain enough to revolt all who are not wholly lost. Much, too—everything almost— is gained if you can retain any degree of self-respect among the fallen: the more of this that remains, the greater chance is there of ultimate redemption; it is always a mistaken and a cruel policy to allow vice to grow desperate and reckless. It is for the interest of society at large, as well as for that of the guilty individual, that we should never break down the bridge behind any sinner.” The last few lines of the preceding passage seem to me most appro- priately to enunciate the main proposition to which I am about to address mySelf namely, that strong arguments for regulating and ameliorating the physical condition of prostitutes are to be deduced from considera- tion, not of their temporal and bodily comfort, but of their future amend- ment and spiritual welfare, as well as of the interests of their frequenters and of posterity. The whole subject having been so unpopular, and the mere allusion to it virtually tabooed, even in administrative circles, perhaps from men’s nervous reluctance to admit acquaintance with it, only half-formed opinions prevail among the most enlightened official men, and extremely erroneous ones among the general public. This is particularly noticeable with respect to the extent of the class, and the progress, eftects upon society, and social future of its members; and I shall endeavour, in suc- ceeding chapters, to supply materials for an amended judgment.