The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1872-03-09
The Social Evil.

me SOCidi EVIL.
Ii II now nearly twelve years since an Act was
passed by the Hawaiian Legislature, the preamble
Of which reads a. follows
=. Whereas, The evils and diseases arising from
prostitution are widespread and apparent, carry
ing death 10 thousands Of the Hawaiian race, and
preventing the increase Of the population andit
being impossible to suppress and crush out pros
%utution but that its evils and diseases may be
combatted, circumscribed and diminished -
Il was therefore enacted, that every common prosti-
tutie, in and around the city OF Honolulu, shall
be registered, ana shall attend medical examina-
tions once in every two weeks, under pain Of I'M
prisonment not less than thirty nor more than
sixty days.
Doubtless the intentions of the promoters of
this law were Of the best, but its results, during
the years that it has been in force, have proved,
beyond any question, that it utterly fails of the
objects as set forth in the preamble recited above.
Not only are the : . evils and diseases arising from
prostitution, neither - combattcd, circumscribed
or diminished " through its operation, but we
speak advisedly when we assert that those evils
and diseases are more rife in Honolulu at present
than ever known before and thus, to whatever
causes we may ascribe the fact, the law has utterly
failed Of accomplishing the mitigating effects for.
which it was intended, and it ought TO be re-
pealed.
At the time of its enactment in 1860, the law
met with very strong opposition from Christian
members of the community, more particularly the
American missionaries, who prophesied that it
would be calculated to increase rather than d.
minish immortality. The result has borne out
their authorizations. The few abandoned women
who openly acknowledge their Infamous calling,
are known as Iaikini, or 80 licensed, - and are I'M
doubtedly regarded, though without legal reason,
as under the laws protection in the prosecution of
their trade. But the great majority of women Of
loose character, are, through fear of the pro-
visions of the law in regard to medical examina-
tions, entirely deferred from making themselves
known to the sheriff or deputy marshal, whose
duty it is under the law to superintend the
bureau of registration. That these women are
very numerous, is well known, and it is among
them that the disease is most prevalent. They
seldom or never apply to a foreign physician, but
, either put themselves under the treatment Of some
native pretender to medical knowledge, or, unat-
tended altogether, rot and die.
This subject of the - Social Evil" is one that
has demanded the attention of the philanthropic
and the statesmen of all countries, and has been
discussed pretty thoroughly both IN a moral and
sanitary point of view. The system of licensed
houses of prostitution is so repugnant, that the
public sentiment of u Christian community will
not tolerate it's establishment. 1t has been tried
in only one such community of late years-that
of the city of st. Louisiana there it is acknowl-
edged to be a failure, and a strong movement is
in progress to discard it. The evil has reached
to such a degree of magnitude in the city Of San
Francisco, that some Of the physicians of that
berg having advocated the adoption of the license
system, but the press, with scarcely an exception,
have secuted the degrading idea, and there is no
probability of its being seriously entertained.
But the evil with us is a very grave one, and
instead of simply ignoring the subject, or of idly
lamenting Ii, it Is time that some action should
be taken towards graphing with it. Here is
something for the coming Legislature to look into,
with a view to reformatory measures.
The present law = to mitigate > is confessedly
worse than useless, and should be repealed. The
establishment of Il House OF Correction, where
the class of women referred to, who are convicted
of an offense before the proper tribunal, can be
detained for the purposes of reformation, is what
we would suggest. Punishment for offenders of
this sort, should, we contend, be viewed entirely
as a healing or curative measure, and not inflicted
as simply to satisfy justice. The spirit of the
law that Furnishes and of the pardon that ~forgives,
should be essentially the same, only different
instruments for restoring to society sound members.