Page:Wrong and Right Methods of Dealing with Social Evil - Elizabeth Blackwell (1883).djvu/46

36 Farther testimony from France gives the clue to the immediate cause of this disruption of society.

"The attention of those suffering from poor wages and only partial employment has been directed by their leaders toward the luxurious lives of the bourgeoisie. There is no doubt that among the less sober and industrious workmen the hatred felt a hundred years ago against the aristocracy is now aimed at that wealthy middle class for which France is remarkable. Madame must have her equipages, Monsieur his mistresses, and the poor suffer."

Again, we have the following statement, written last June, and again and again confirmed: "The state of society in Paris has become very immoral. Obscene literature abounds everywhere, and has led to obscene manners. One of the most repulsive forms of this obscenity is the increase of what are politely called the frail sisterhood, who now infest every quarter, high and low, far and near, to such an extent that from morning to night the streets are encumbered with them. The papers have complained, the inhabitants have petitioned, but to no purpose; somehow or another the Government appears powerless to grapple with the growing evil. It is useless to hide the fact, and whatever squeamish persons may say to the contrary, the truth must be told in plain language. There are things still viler. I allude to their male associates, known as les souteneurs or 'bullies.'"