lygamous tendency will break through somewhere.
Prostitution will only spoil those men in whom there is not much
to spoil, and if the desire for marriage is thus lost, the man's
unbegotten children may have cause to thank him." Neisser, Naecke,
and many others, have pleaded for prostitution, and even for
brothels, as "necessary evils."

It is scarcely necessary to add that many, among even the
strongest upholders of the moral advantages of prostitution,
believe that some improvement in method is still desirable. Thus
Berault looks forward to a time when regulated brothels will
become less contemptible. Various improvements may, he thinks, in
the near future, "deprive them of the barbarous attributes which
mark them out for the opprobrium of the skeptical or ignorant
multitude, while their recognizable advantages will put an end to
the contempt aroused by their cynical aspect" (_La Maison de
Tolerance_, These de Paris, 1904).

4. _The Civilizational Value of Prostitution._--The moral argument for
prostitution is based on the belief that our marriage system is so
infinitely precious that an institution which serves as its buttress must
be kept in existence, however ugly or otherwise objectionable it may in
itself be. There is, however, another argument in support of prostitution
which scarcely receives the emphasis it deserves. I refer to its influence
in adding an element, in some form or another necessary, of gaiety and
variety to the ordered complexity of modern life, a relief from the
monotony of its mechanical routine, a distraction from its dull and
respectable monotony. This is distinct from the more specific function of
prostitution as an outlet for superfluous sexual energy, and may even
affect those who have little or no commerce with prostitutes. This
element may be said to constitute the civilizational value of
prostitution.

It is not merely the general conditions of civilization, but more
specifically the conditions of urban life, which make this factor
insistent. Urban life imposes by the stress of competition a very severe
and exacting routine of dull work. At the same time it makes men and women
more sensitive to new impressions, more enamored of excitement and change.
It multiplies the opportunities of social intercourse; it decreases the
chances of detection of illegitimate intercourse while at the same time it
makes marriage more difficult,