Page:Wrong and Right Methods of Dealing with Social Evil - Elizabeth Blackwell (1883).djvu/64

54 of evil" (7413). In proof of this the statistics of the inmates are given. These, which were only 46 in the year 1860, before public opinion had awakened, had risen to 114 in the year 1871. The number has continued to increase in direct ratio to the vigor of the administration, reaching 244 in 1880 (7463). As stated by Mr. McCall, "They find their calling is so hard and so unprofitable now, that they are glad to take refuge in the institution."

It is said, in relation to the women who enter the hospital: "The poor diseased persons it receives and cures are chiefly young, ignorant, almost always friendless, and wretched; and until brought under the influence and affectionate counsels of the matron, have scarcely ever known what it is to have a kind word spoken to, or a kind action done for, them." In examining the reports of the Magdalen Institutions, it is found that a large percentage are placed in situations or restored to friends. In 1879 fifty-one per cent. were thus aided. The reports abound with letters from these grateful girls.

The important subject of venereal disease is successfully met and provided for, as far as fallen women are concerned. Any measures which tend to check promiscuous intercourse are necessarily beneficial, because it is this evil which is the origin and cause of disease.

No woman who is diseased is admitted as a resident of the Magdalen Institution. No compulsion is