AUCKLAND'S "BARBARY COAST"

NZ Truth, Issue 507, 6 March 1915, Page 6

AUCKLAND'S "BARBARY COAST"

THE BLUE MORALS OF GREY-STREET MAYOR PARR SAYS "IT IS A PUBLIC SCANDAL" ..• Landlords to be Made to do Their Duty - —

In "Truth's" last issue was published a necessarily condensed report of the prosecution of two women, Jeenie Allen, otherwise Gawn, and Elsie Harcourt, otherwise Morton^ or McPhail, Who were convicted by MrrFrazer,,S.M., on charges arising out of the conduct of a distinctly disorderly house, nt 103 Grey-street. Naturally, anything approximating a full report of the unsavory proceedings was out of the question. It, however, sufficed to show that the police were forced to take action because this particular house had been made trie haunt of members of the Maori contingent, and, as a consequence of visiting this dirty den, several of the young fellows, it is alleged, -were discharged from the force as being medically unfit. = Not to state the matter too plainly, these young men were said to have CONTRACTED THE "SOCIAL" DIS- ' EASE, and it was surmised that the source of the contagl4n was some unfortunate creature, Delia. Pine or Gawn, who was not before the Court at ttie time, but who, as the evidence disclosed/was a frequenter of ,. this; dreadful den. The evidence or .statements made m court before Mr., Frazer, S.M.Y'showed that the woman Allen or Gawn bore a terrible character, was described as being one of the lowest characters m New Zealand, that she had been the' parsm.our^of one or two desperate criminals, and* that one Robert Gawn, with whom she had lived was wanted m New Zealand, that he had been.iocatcd m Newcastle .(N.S.W.) , and that he had invited the woman Allen, or Gawn, to go to Newcastle, and there carry on her dirty brothel-keeping business. it was, arising out of these terrible disclosures; made before the Magistrate, that "Truth" drew attention to tho fact that Grey-street was named after Sir George Grey, that it was disgusting to find that the memory of this statesman should be so degraded, and also pointing, out how the City Council was neglecting tho interests of tbe many poor, but clean-minded and clean-living, and reputable citizens of this street, by -failing to take steps to rid the street of its many undesirablea. Incidentally, ,of course, "Truth" could not refrain from drawing, its own conclusion that many landlords must be well aware of the source .of the rent paid by the OCCUPANTS OF THESE LOW DENS, "Truth" is more than gratified to note that following , on its strictures and report of last issue, the reputable residents of this dreadful struct, a street which, we said last week, should be one of Auckland's most noble thoroughfares, have taken action, and it is not unlikely that as a consequence, 'a, considerable improvement will be' effected m this notorious quarter ot the city. On Monday last a fairly large number of the reputable residents of Grey-street waited on Mayor Parr at the Town Hall, and' put the position of Grey-street before him, and urged that some effort should be made by the civic, authorities to .repiovo the unwholses'ome stigma now attached io the street. Attention was drawn to the report of the. case_ m question, ahd it was pointed .out that Grey-street was now such that respectable women dare not traverse the street without running the risk of being insulted. Some samples of the language to be fre-' quently heard m Gi-ey-street were given, and, generally, it was pointed out that the unenviable- reputation of the street was sttch that the value of property had greatly depreciated. Many occupants of Grey-street dens, It was further pointed out, had awful reputaiiotte, and it was up to the Mayor to do something, or sec that steps wore taken to IMPROVE GREY-STREET'S MORALS. The Mayor, m replying to the various statements made, expressed surprise that things m Grey-street were so bad, and he had been utterly astonished when he read tho statements which hud been made m tho Magistrals Court. There could be no doubt that matters In Grey-street were becoming a public scandal, and the civic authorities would have to do all In'thelr power to clean the street up. He pointed out that Auckland's Town Hall, Myers Park, and the Campbell Creche and Kindergarten school, which Mr. A. M. Myers was building, were all closo to Grey-street, and it was not desirable that these things m Grey-sUset should happen. It seemed to him that mi matter how bad tin- women were. Hie landlords wero more to blame. They took big rents for their premises, and thoy knew, or ought to know. the characters of their tenants. He was afraid that many of the landlords closed their eyes to what wus going on, and he expressed the opinion that property owners should, before renting their promises, make the fullest inquiries into the characters of the tenants, In what houses they had lived previously. If, however, those landlords would not do their duty, some means would have to be taken of MAKING THEIR NAMES PUBLIC. In the meantime, he promised to bring the m&tter before the City Council. Not only was the Mayor of Auckland deputatlonlsed that morning, but Mr. A M Myers. M.1.. ex -Mayor of Auckland, was waited upon by tho propertyowners and house-holders In GreyIt\vus represented to Mr. Myers thai whereas his gift of « l*rk had dono much to abolish slums In Grey-street, there were ft number «.f undesirable occupants of house* In the vicinity of Mvers Park and the Town Hall. In Halving to the representations made, Mr. Mycft* expressed his sympathy with U.e objects of those who had placed the position before him. and h»- suggested that were It detlnlteiv ascertained that houses of an Immoral nut ore were being carried on, the landlords shuuld »w made aware of the character of lln-ir tenants. •Truth" c-ruilnly takes t<. Itself the credit of having by Hiving publicity to the matter lu.«t week, forced the reputable people ot < .rey-stfe-H lo take some steps i<» clear up their awfid surrounding*. Here, again. 'Truth" de. sires t.i point out that If it v-'-re I.KFT T<) THE HAII.V NKW.SI'APEUS. poor and honest and clean people, oblige./ („ r.-*i<fe m ft"--*'' •'• **'•'•''* '<* «be one In .jmsilon. would n>»i be giv.-n 11 anything like v jj^lCJrc, .ti__aJ> --* -&iVJ* ,

( Parr pointed out that bad as the" woI men are m certain parts of the street, they really could not be compared with those sordid soulless skunks, the owners of "proputty" who receive their weekly rent, knowing, or who should know that the gold and silver received by them, was the price of woman's prostitution. "Truth" knows of ono instance where an agent, if not the owner of certain property, whloh was about to be rented, increased the rent fully 60 per oent., because he knew the character of the woman. We know the term applied to the specimen of manhood who battens on an unfortunate woman. We call him, m the language j p£ the Law of Western Australia, "a I bludger." What can we call . those who receive rent from a brothel-keeper, and know? how the money has been earned? YAs for. publishing tho names of property-: owners, whose hovels are tenanted by PROSTITUTES, THIEVES. AND BLUDGERS, the position is one fraught with difficulties. "Truth" might, m fact colild easily, publish the names of . Greystreet dens, whose inhabitants are "Flossies," and their batteners, but it would be a difficult thing to establish that the owners of these dens knew their tenants to be women of the unfortunate description. It would .not suffice for "Truth" to provo what Is easily proved that woman who live m Grey-street, or who frequent houses m Grey-street, are prostitutes, but to prove that tho owners \knew what' "Truth" could prove, is another matter, and, as "Truth" remarked last week, the solution of the trouble, the cleanipg up of Grey-street, rests with the police and the Magistrate. .. ..-..'..> . /' Judging by the great fuss which is being made over tho bluo morals of Grey-street one would easily como to the conclusion, that is ( if he wero d new comer m the city, that certain people m this notorious street are no abetter than they ought to be, and that the discovery is quite a recent one. • One result of "Truth's" plain spokenr report of the proceedings before Magistrate Frazer, is that quite- a lot of people Who ought to' know a great deal better, are smugly pretending that they "\Vere unawaro of the fact that things arc as bad as they arc; whereas 'they know, or ought to knotv, that tho disclosures made by "Truth" glye but a vague idea of what does ; gq en m Grey-street, ahd has been "going on for years past right under their noses. If they are unaware of the fact, it simply goes to pkovc that thero are none so blind as they who will- not see. nor hone so deaf as thoso who will': not hear. This expression of public horror that Grey-street -is LINED WITH. LOW DOWN BROTkELS, ,:''... that thieves and' the worst possible characters - frequent these dens, -s- that the street is a byword m the realms ot respectability, is characteristic of. that wretched wowseristic spirit that has . for so *long held New Zealand. Now that this paper h*as forced public attention on to Grey-street and has told tho truth as revealed by over whelming evidence m the Magistrate's Court, the fact should be unflinchingly faced "and admitted that Grey-stre# has been what It is for years past? though it was .not considered respectable to admit the unwholesome truth. In the post people protended that they were unaware of the existence of that plague spot. The parson also sought toYigaore it, but now that l'.ps aro unsoaled and that people pretend that they have just awakened to the fact that Grey-street Is had, it is r^aUy amusing .to note the parsons having a chip In. ."it is so like the parson. -.■■..!.: '..'