THE SUPPRESSION OF BROTHELS.

NZ Truth, Issue 150, 2 May 1908, Page 6

THE SUPPRESSION OF BROTHELS.

•TO THE EDITOB.

Sir,— Continually cas.es crop up where the police have- instituted proceedings upon such flimsy evidence as to render the whole affair a farce, and when such cases occur it has been your duty to point out to the authorities w.hat kind Of idiots they have made of themselves. Bad as these cases may be to the reputation of the Maoriland police, they at least indicate one state of things, m itself very good, and that is : that there is much vigilance on the authorities' part. Indeed, to judge by these cases — of which the "Psyche* and the "Sleep" cases are typical — there is no more vigilant force m the wide world than Dinnie's satellites. Possibly, then, it will come as a surprise to many to learn that the lynx-eyed "slops" (usually so „• quick to act) are, and have been, aiding and abetting, by their inactivity, a state of things which, if not up to the standard set by the some-time-ago destroyed cities Sodom and Gomorrah, is at least a standing disgrace to the men who are supposed to attend to the ; enforcement of New Zealand's many laws. I refer to the dozens of houses of ill-fame which at present exist m this city of Wellington. There is hardly one of the leading" residential streets m this city which does not possess a resort, and that such a state of things should exist m this lawladen Dominion is,. I say; an, absolute disgrace and admission of incompetence on the part o! tue'.pplice authorities. Of course, it may be contended thajli the 'police have no knowleage of these places. This contention, however, wilPftbt 1 st'aiid for a moment, > for ! the police" <§Muld know. As a matter of fact, thetfde.te'ctive office at Lainbton-quay has, JjHSaYisJ every, reason to believe, a ;{^ery.9r«o.Qd knowledge of these places — a .^kjiqwledge possibly not even equalled by : ,a^W|filiin"g-j ton cabman (and what he .doe'sn!t;ktiow of these' shows usually isn't worth worrying over). No doubt that such a number of these sores exist may be unknown to? the great number of Wellingtonians, xbut there are also, a number of folk fully aware of the awful state of things indicated. There seems to be an unwritten, rule with the authorities that as long asa brothel is well conducted, and no complaints are made by the neighbors,, no action is to be taken. The existence of such a rule is a sure indie. ' n that things are m a very bad st-w The mere fact that Acts are m force which ; are intended to do away with such places is a sure indication that the New Zealand public wishes them abolished, and, therefore, the police and detectives, if they are to do their duty, should obey the will of those whose servants they are. When a bookmaker applies for a telephone connection he doesn't get it. Why ? Because betting is considered by the authorities, a vice. When a house of ill-fame applies for a telephone connection it gets it. F.rom this it is only reasonable to argue that the authorities do not consider immorality a vice. To prove the statement that a house of illfame can get a- telephone connection, one need only to refer to the case of a^ Thorndon establishment, situated m one. of Wellington's most "classy" streets, which possesses, amongst other conveniences, the telephone. It is almost cer.tain that the detectives and constables of Wellington are quite awafe of this fact, and yet no move is made by them towards abolishing this den of iniquity or towards having the telephone cut off. Because such a state of things exists, because the police know of these places, and permit their existence, are reasons a neglect of duty can be charged against them. They should not stop to consider if a place being run quietly is sufficient excuse for its continued existence. They have before them certain Acts, and their duty is to prosecute whenever a breach ,of an Act occurs. Whilst on this subject, a peculiar fact, which will probably not meet with the entire and unqualified approval of Hobson-street, may be.mentioned. Many of these places— in fact, practically all— are situated m Thorndon. Hawkesto,ne-street can boast a very fair number, Murphy-street is not behind, whilst Thorndon-quay, Garden-road, and many other of Thorndon's "naice" streets all bring their little contributions to swell the aggregate. Is it the atmosphere, or does the fact that Thorndon is supposed to harbor the majority of our alleged aristocracy help to account for it ? Possibly these is something m the last suggestion, when one considers that on a recent occasion, when a certain brothel had a number of its windows smashed, the offenders were nearly all members of "leading" Wellington families. It is unnecessary to mention the names m this case as they are wellknown in* connection with 1 th* incident mentioned. Some of the young; "mitlemen" concerned were m the uniforms of their various volunteer corps. It is unnecessary to mention the fact that the "gentlemen" all held commissions. Very rarely is it that a man m the ranks commits an offence of this kind, when m uniform, Such things are usually left to the officers, who are, m many cases, unmitigated cads. On an occasion some time ago a keeper of one of these places caused to be circulated cards giving an open invitation j;o all comers. Some of these cards found their way into a certain Government Department, yet I understand no action was taken by the police m the matter. It is a dreadful blot on the character of the city that such places should be permitted to ply their awful calling, and as long as such places exist the police cannot he said to have done their duty. There is another and a totally different point of view from which the matter may be looked at, and the same decision arrived at. Every day Wellington doptors are treating cases of men who have contracted awful diseases at these places. In many cases death, some years later, is the result of these diseases, and m others, though the particular disease may be eradicated, yet the way is leMT^bpen for other complaints some of which bring an early 'death m their train. ■ Many men there are to-day who because of disease contracted m these places, are living lives which are • helJs neon earth. Thus from a physical n^g£d||k, a moral standpoint, the affair »o?i^v&v@&~&£ ( l e d ■ a,nd yet bring m the

sorts. It would surely be a simple matter, requiring not even a prosecution. The police need simply give these women "the tip" and they certainly would move. It is only the certainty of immunity from prosecution that prompts them to stay. If it were likely . to do good, a list of some of these . places could be given, but beyond showing up landlords, who accept rent from such tenants, little benefit would accrue from such a course. Action m these matters rests with the police, not with a newspaper. There are many young men here to-day who would be leading good, clean lives, instead of wicked, immoral ■—-<!, had these houses not been m existence when their iinna^*"-. careers began. Of course, . there are many who would go wrong anyway, but there are also numbers who, were it not for the facilities for wickedness which these places offer, would be upright and good citizens. President Roosevelt, m his "Strenuous Life;" tells us that, though m many matters we may make terms with sin we must not compromise. And yet when the Wellington polico say, as their actions if not their words indicate, "run your < brothels quietly and we'll not interfere," they most certainly compromise with sin. In conclusion, the matter can be briefly summed up thus : these places exist : the detective office knows these places exist, therefore, Commissioner Dinnie, who is head of the Police Force, Chief Detective McGrath. head of Wellington's detective force, and Inspector Ellison, m cnar«-e of the "Rfellington police district, all fail signally m their duty, and confess themselves incompetent 'as long as such resorts are permitted to ]exist m ci"- 1 - alarming numbers as they do. Thanking you m anticipation.—l am, etc., ' -Wellington, ..April 24, 1908. , « ' S — — — - — —