Page:Wrong and Right Methods of Dealing with Social Evil - Elizabeth Blackwell (1883).djvu/63

Rh in the streets lessens the desire to go to these women." Again (7413), "It has been alleged that these women have only been distributed and forced into more private resorts. All my inquiries and observations, however, are opposed to the truth of such a statement." Again (7585), "I have not the slightest doubt in my own mind, as a police officer, that the number of prostitutes in Glasgow and its suburbs has been reduced."

There is abundant testimony from this experienced officer, who, with his little army of 1,069 men, is watching this evil, day and night, that, as the brothel-keepers find it unprofitable to keep up their trade, owing to the frequent interference of the authorities, so other branches of this vile trade are also diminishing, under the action of public opinion enforcing law.

This police evidence is supported by the formally-stated and quite independent report of benevolent institutions. Thus the managers of the Magdalen Institution and its connected homes, state: "The Homes during the past year have been kept full, mainly owing to the wholesome enforcement of the Police Act against street solicitation and improper houses. This much-needed repressive action on the part of our civic authorities has had the effect of partially protecting the virtuous, and making the practice of vice more difficult, whilst it has led to a desire on the part of many to be delivered from a life