BAWDY HOUSES.

NZ Truth, Issue 59, 4 August 1906, Page 6

BAWDY HOUSES.

Sanctimonious Stuif tiers Who Batten on Brothels.

Owners of bawdy houses, .who inva-' riably get three times the rent the awful structures are worth, and often more, appear to be treated with the greatest respect by the civic authorities, merely because they a re pprope r ty owners, and hold a stake m the worst part of the city v If the buildings axe such as should be condemned the other eye is winked, and nothing said. When the les.°«ees of these shows are women of the unfortunate class, and they are police-c.oufted for leading animmbr'al life, their names and the streets m which they live are duly designated m the press reports, for the information of a curious public, who like to read Just that sort of information ; but there* is always a notable omission— the swell owner who dcrivea revenue from the women who hire put their bodies m such shameless fashion is never mentioned. Which. is a profound pity. Were that stated m every instance the populace would give them a red hot time, and better houses would replace the present shacks, and a 'better class of people would tenant them. -Some, of these, .pinching, parsonically inclined pirritans with puff paste countenance?not only let one but as many as three and four, 1 and m one instance, to this writer's knowledge, five cottages, to loose women, and the abnor■mal rents derived therefrom make quite a luscious income. "Vet they are regarded as paragons of purity. Their malodorous shanties should be razed to the ground where they arc very bad ; they are a by-word, and the pestiferous back-yards attached to them smell like TEN DEAD CHINAMEN,, ; and they ,are a 'menace to the health of the community. The . last ; man m,( this or any other city who is asked: to pull down his stinking timber is. the snuffling, sanctimonious sinner who has a big pull m local affairs, and who can. .bribe (it has and can be done) those whose duty it is to condemn the awful eyesores which'disfigure the place and make the streets m which they are located places to be avoided > even m the daytime. There -doesn't happen to be a paper of the -daily persuasion knocking round that* would dare s ay: tnat Mr So-and-so was the owner of . a "drum 1 ' m such and such street. Were he a business man it would lose the gentleman's, custom, and his advt., and it would engender the malice of his family, and the hatred .of his many friends,, some of whom might also o#n "drums" themselves. The very! "best" men m the. cities run ram- j shackle buildings of this sorry sort, but' they lease them through house i agents, and pretend to knPw nothing more about them. -Which is so much j j flam. Whips of these house agents ! , are highly moral men, top, and that | being' so why do they place such an.inflated value, on tenements if they were not perfectly aware that they were to i be turned into HAUNTS OF DEBAUCHERY ? Seeing that they know, the owners must know also, because the latter must see that their dwellings aren't nearly worth the rent received. But | ( not'only lhen but women owners are concerned" in this business, and SHE is generally the sort who makes inquiries regarding the human- derelicts who inhabit the tenements. SHE invaria- ! bly has full knowledge of their more than dubious character, and gloats over her sordid igains when the rents are raised to an almost prohibitive amount. Her fallen sisters must pay her her price for the offence of having fallen, or else get out. The lady landlord always has her eye on the rhino, and' keeps"' it there with great and unabated fervor. ■ Of course the j demi monde must, have some place m which to* live, but that is another mutter. What is objected to is the tall rents they are compelled to pay j just, because they are the OUTCASTS OF SOCIETY, and because they are popularly supposed to be able to make "good money," not only by. the prostitution of their bodies, but by selling, liquor to patrons at quadruple the price they buy it for. The goody goody, monied, and duly sanctified members of the community are aware of their misfortune, turn it ( to account, anrt make them pay through the nose -fo?s being degenerates. When the name o? the wanton is published m the police reports it wouldn't be a bad ides, were the name of the owner of the house she inhabits published also, to- 1 gether with . the amount she pais weekly ; then the community would get a much better conception of tb.3 j character of the pursey plutocrats v?ho rule because they have beans. Knowledge is power, and were the peopto made- aware that these rump ty.roosters made out of lewdness they- wb.ul-d speedily put them in' them place,,