Reformation in Kalgan

Kalgan, the show place of what Chinese Communists call their "new democracy," girded for battle. As Government armies converged on the arsenal city, its Communist occupants announced: 1) a purge of "criminal secret agents of Chiang Kaishek" who had plotted a "big military insurrection"; 2) "a fervent and indignant wave" of defense construction; 3) "emancipation of prostitutes."

Announcement No. 3 was the most detailed. Reported the Communist New China Daily News: when the Japs left Kalgan they also left 562 "sellers of smiles and flesh," doing business in dozens of brothels. "Brothel keepers flogged them when business was not good and often violated them."

Communists came to the rescue with an unconditional ceasefire. By official decree brothel keepers were forbidden to hold girls in bondage. "But liberation was not achieved without months of patient work in enlightening the prostitutes' warped minds. Now they dress in plain, homely clothes instead of the erstwhile seductive dresses. . . . Most have been sent back to their families or married off to small businessmen, carpenters, tailors, etc."

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