INTRODUCTION TO FIRST EDITION

In presenting to the public this volume, the first of four
studies dealing with various aspects of the problem of
prostitution, it seems fitting to make a statement with
reference to the origin, work and plans of the Bureau
of Social Hygiene.

The Bureau came into existence about two years ago,
as a result of the work of the Special Grand Jury which
investigated the white slave traffic in New York City
during the first half of the year 1910. One of the
recommendations made by the jury in the presentment
handed up at the termination of its labors was that a
public commission be appointed to study the social evil.
The foreman of the jury subsequently gave careful con¬
sideration to the character of the work which might
properly be done by such a commission and the limitations
under which it would operate. In this connection, sep¬
arate personal conferences were held with over a hundred
leading tnen and women in the city, among whom were
lawyers, physicians, business men, bank presidents, presi¬
dents of commercial organizations, clergymen, settlement
workers, social workers, labor leaders and reformers.
These conferences led to the conclusion that a public com¬
mission would labor under a number of disadvantages,
such as the fact that it would be short-lived; that its work
would be done publicly; that at best it could hardly do
more than present recomrnendatiotls. It was also be¬
lieved that the main reason why more results of a per¬
manent character had not been obtained by the various

vii