If all men married when quite young, not only would the remedy be worse than the disease—­a point which it would be out of place to discuss here—­but the remedy would not cure the disease.  The prostitute is something more than a channel to drain off superfluous sexual energy, and her attraction by no means ceases when men are married, for a large number of the men who visit prostitutes, if not the majority, are married.  And alike whether they are married or unmarried the motive is not one of uncomplicated lust.

In England, a well-informed writer remarks that “the value of marriage as a moral agent is evidenced by the fact that all the better-class prostitutes in London are almost entirely supported by married men,” while in Germany, as stated in the interesting series of reminiscences by a former prostitute, Hedwig Hard’s Beichte einer Gefallenen, (p. 208), the majority of the men who visit prostitutes are married.  The estimate is probably excessive.  Neisser states that only twenty-five per cent. of cases of gonorrhoea occur in married men.  This indication is probably misleading in the opposite direction, as the married would be less reckless than the young and unmarried.  As regards the motives which lead married men to prostitutes, Hedwig Hard narrates from her own experiences an incident which is instructive and no doubt typical.  In the town in which she lived quietly as a prostitute a man of the best social class was introduced by a friend, and visited her habitually.  She had often seen and admired his wife, who was one of the beauties of the place, and had two charming children; husband and wife seemed devoted to each other, and every one envied their happiness.  He was a man of intellect and culture who encouraged Hedwig’s love of books; she became greatly attached to him, and one day ventured to ask him how he could leave his lovely and charming wife to come to one who was not worthy to tie her shoe-lace.  “Yes, my child,” he answered, “but all her beauty and culture brings nothing to my heart.  She is cold, cold as ice, proper, and, above all, phlegmatic.  Pampered and spoilt, she lives only for herself; we are two good comrades, and nothing more.  If, for instance, I come back from the club in the evening and go to her bed, perhaps a little excited, she becomes nervous and she thinks it improper to wake her.  If I kiss her she defends herself, and tells me that I smell horribly of cigars and wine.  And if perhaps I attempt more, she jumps out of bed, bristles up as though I were assaulting her, and threatens to throw herself out of the window if I touch her.  So, for the sake of peace, I leave her alone and come to you.”  There can be no doubt whatever that this is the experience of many married men who would be well content to find the sweetheart as well as the friend in their wives.  But the wives, from a variety of causes, have proved incapable of becoming the sexual mates of their husbands.  And the husbands, without being carried away by