INTRODUCTION

In presenting to the public the second volume of the series to be issued by the Bureau of Social Hygiene, it is appropriate to state briefly the origin and plans of the Bureau and to indicate the place assigned to the present study in the scheme which the Bureau has undertaken to develop.

The Bureau of Social Hygiene was created as a result of the work of the Special Grand Jury which investigated the white slave traffic in New York City in 1910. It was organized only after a thorough inquiry had been made, involving conferences with over a hundred leading men and women in the city as to the relative value of a public commission as compared with a private organization. The opinion prevailed that a permanent, unofficial organization, whose efforts would be continuous, would probably be more lasting and effective; the Bureau of Social Hygiene was therefore established in the winter of 1911. Its present members are Miss Katharine Bement Davis, Superintendent of the New York State Reformatory for Women, at Bedford Hills, New York; Paul M. Warburg, of the firm of Kuhn, Loeb & Company; Starr J. Murphy, of the New York Bar; and John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

As was stated in the introduction to the previous volume, spasmodic efforts to deal with the problem of prostitution have been made from time to time throughout viiithe course of history. They have failed for several reasons: First, because, as a rule, there has been too little accurate information as to the facts of the situation to be dealt with; again, because they have taken too little account of the teachings of experience elsewhere; finally, because they have been too explosive, too discontinuous, to be effective, even if soundly conceived.

The first book of the present series, entitled, “Commercialized Prostitution in New York City,” was written by Mr. George J. Kneeland, upon the completion of a careful study of conditions of vice in Manhattan, carried on under his direction by a corps of trained investigators. Its aim was simply descriptive; it presented a faithful picture of contemporaneous conditions in New York.

The present book carries the work a step further. Without raising any question as to how far European experience is significant for America, the author describes prostitution in Europe and discusses the various methods of handling it now employed in the large cities of Great Britain and the Continent. The subject is a highly controversial one. For this reason, its investigation was assigned to one who had, on the one hand, previously given it no critical thought or attention, but whose studies of education in this country and abroad had demonstrated his competency to deal with a complicated topic of this nature. Mr. Flexner was absolutely without prejudice or preconception, just as he was absolutely unfettered by instructions. He had no previous opinion to sustain; he was given no thesis to prove or disprove. He was asked to make a thorough and impartial examination of the ixsubject and to report his observations and conclusions. He enjoyed the fullest possible facilities for his inquiries and to them and the writing of this book devoted almost two years.

It is difficult to summarize the contents of the volume. It touches many different aspects of the problem,—the nature of modern prostitution, the factors determining demand, the sources of supply, the various methods used in its regulation or control, their operation and value, the effect of abolishing regulation, and the general outcome of European experience. Though Mr. Flexner has in no way taken America into consideration, without question the facts he has assembled will be highly pertinent to any discussion in this country as to the merits of proposed legislation; for his account makes it clear that widespread misapprehension prevails as to the policies pursued by European cities, and their results.

Two volumes are still to appear: an account of European police systems, by Mr. Raymond B. Fosdick, a member of the staff of the Bureau, and formerly Commissioner of Accounts of New York City; and a final volume dealing with prostitution in the United States in which it is hoped that a program soundly based may be suggested.

John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

New York, Nov. 1, 1913.

PROSTITUTION IN EUROPE

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