Moines, that I have no hesitation in placing myself on record with the
deliberate statement that any future administration will hesitate
before attempting to again place the city of Des Moines in the
"segregated" class.

Respectfully submitted,
A. G. MILLER,
Chief of Police.

STATEMENT OF THE CITY PHYSICIAN.

One of the most difficult questions before municipal governments for the
past half a century has been the controlling and the successful handling
of prostitution, and during the last ten years this problem has become
more and more perplexing.

Men of knowledge and familiar with this subject have given this problem
much thought and consideration trying to devise some logical plan that
would lead to a satisfactory solution. Segregation has been argued pro
and con; licensing and physical examination have been suggested and put
into practice, but not until recently has it been actually demonstrated
that this great question can be solved.

All great cities have been wrestling with this question and have tried
various methods, and have yet to find a satisfactory method by which
these classes can be controlled. Prostitutes and their followers are no
small factor that go to make up a city's population, and they will
follow their vocation to some extent under any circumstances or
conditions.

This being true, it has on the other hand been proven beyond a
reasonable doubt that this class of traffic can be almost entirely
abolished. Prior to September 15th, 1908, this city had what is commonly
known as a "red-light district" covering an area of about three square
blocks. In this district the rowdy and tough element naturally
congregated, and it was an every day occurrence to see drunken brawls,
cutting and shooting scraps, and suicides; everything, in fact, that
would be disgusting and annoying to the sober-minded citizen. It was an
every night occurrence for ambulance calls to come from this district,
where some unfortunate had been stabbed or shot down, or an inmate of
one of the disorderly houses had committed or made the attempt at
suicide.

On the fifteenth day of September, 1908, the superintendent of the
Department of Public Safety issued an order to the effect that the
"red-light district" would no longer be tolerated, and that the common
prostitute and street-walker would be prosecuted to the fullest extent
of the law. From that date on a gradual decline was noticeable i