WE FORGET
99
Rev, Van Marter Speak,* on Con
dition* of Vice - Methodist Church
Filled at Joint Service in Which
Rev Falconer and Dr. R. C.
Jenkins Take Part.
(Marchl2, 1923.)
..(Report headlines and all from
Ketchikan Chronicle of March 12
1923.)
“I offer no apology for my
discussion of this theme tonight.
The public is now asked to take
its stand as to whether it believes
in law, order and common decency.
If I as a minister in a church
that stands for the highest, keep
silent, I ought to be held up to
public scorn and contempt,” the
Rev. C. M. Van Marter declared
last night in speaking on the sub
ject. “Shall the law be enforced
OR SHALL THE UNITED STATES
ATTORNEY BE FIRED.” The
audience filled the main floor of
the churdh, the balcony ahd even
the stairwsyy.. . He took as . his
text, “Ye cannot serve God and
Mammon.”
Referring to the stand taken
that of two .evils ..one ..should
choose the least> Mr. Van Marter
pointed out how an evil that was
endorsed and condoned soon be
came a public sore and proved that
the Federal law for the abatement
of the redlight district had “teeth”
in it by reading the text of the
law passd in 1919.
“Why then the howl and' roar
in Ketchikan when the matter of
its enforcement was taken up by
the (assistant United States attor
ney? Are we as American citizens
going to throw it over and con
tinue to go to (our lodges and
salute Old Glory?” Mr. Van Mar
ter demanded.
“This subject has many phases,
some pathetic, some contemptible,
■while others are ridiculous,” Mr.
Van Marter continued. “The path
etic part is that woman who is
supposed to stand for all that
is purest and lovliest in life should
•ink to such depths as to be placed
in the spotlight of public investi
gation. But I am not going to
arraign the women of the under
world and hold them up to public
scorn and contempt, many of whom
have been forced into a life of
shame.
“Tihe contemptible feature of
this evil is that one cannot turn
the searchlight of public investiga
tion upon the men who uphold
support, patronize and make the
existence of such places possible.
Men live and prey off the products
of this sin and evil life— pimps
so low and vile as to live on the
money of fallen women and then
beat them up as happened here
recently.
Ketchikan’s “Wall Street”
“A man once pointed out to
me our restricted district and said,
‘This is Ketchikan’s Wall Street,’
Mr. Van Marter told his audience.
“I thought it was a joke, but since
the assistant United States Attor
ney dropped a wet blanket over
Ketchikan’s ‘Wall Street,’ causing
a! panic in some circles, I am
reminded of that Wall Street where
fluctations in the stock market so
often cause a panic in the financial
world.
‘I thought the iuture oi AiasKa
depended upon 'her fishing re
sources, her great forests, her fur
industry^ and for that reason steps
have been taken to insure their
future, but as I listen to some
of the arguments put forth, it
would seem that her future de
pends upon a row of assignation
houses filled with prostitutes. Is
it possible that the financial basis
of this town rests upon such a
flimsy foundation that whenever
the Grand Jury meets, the under
world denizens are thrown into
a panic or get out of town? That
which is outlawed has no standing
in court and nothing logical or
decent can be said about it. If
fish are caught illegally , every
cannerymen wants the ..law ..en
forced, Why all this fuss and
commotion? This disturbance in the
financial and industrial world ap
pears almost like breaking up of
home ties, the severing of family
relations.
“When thia question came up
my wife said ^to fcne, ‘If (you
don't lift your voice and 'take
a stand on this matter, I will think
you have some financial, political
or private reason for not doing
so.’ This cry of ‘It will ruin our
town, it will send it upon the
political rocks,’ is an echo of the
cry when the gambling hells and
dance halls on Front Street were
closed. But these, places were rented
for twice as much almost before
the inmates were kicked out.
“A man said to me the other day,
Well, if they close the red light
district we will vhavq k\o new
school building/
“Now, vehemently declared Mr.
Van Marter, '-‘if this restricted
district is allowed to remain and
your boys are allowed to visit
them and our youths go slumming
you won’t need a school house.
What you will need is a home for
feeble minded. Government statis
tics show that 96 percent of the
prostitutes in the United States
have venereal diseases. The
greatest percentage of deaths re
sult from such 'diseases. The hospi
tals are filled with men, women,
and children suffering from some
form of them. Yet there are
mothers who wish to keep these
sources of disease and death.
“As to the argument that pros
titution should be segregated where
they can have medical inspection
and police supervision. Medical
inspection is nothing but a monu
mental farce and medical graft,'’
went on Mr. Van Marter. “For
years the English army carried
such women in camp, until it was
proved that it made them physically
unfit for duty. The majority of
the progressive states have abolished
these districts. They were not al
lowed in the vicinity of the United
States Army and Navy camps. It
is a great pity that the United
States War Department and Gen
eral Pershing did not appoint a
delegation to visit Ketchikan and
get some ideas before taking such
drastic measures.
As to segregating them so that
they will not be all over town—
what reputation has the place
known as the Bath House? The
Rex Rooming House? Pig Tail
Alley? Rooms over certain stores
in the heart of the city? Places
in Newtown? At Charcoal Point?
What about the bootlegging joints?
The opening gambling all night?
“If the laws are enforced and
every disreputable place in town
cleaned up and abatement proceed
ings enforced for a year, owners
of the buildings would be more
careful in future about renting
them to people of such character.