The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-04-07
CLOSE TIE DIVES.


The attention which The CALL is devot-
ing to the dives in this city ought to do good.
These institutions are relics of old mining
days, when some of the sons of toll beguiled
their of hours in society which had not been
recruited from the Sunday schools. 4
dancehouse was an attraction in a mining
camp as baTroom. In the rush for gold it
was impossible to concentrate the attention
Of the better class Of miners, who were not
certain how long they would remain in Cali
fornia. upon the social evils; they were al
lowed to flourish until society crystallzed.
But San Francisco long ago emerged from
that documentary stage. We have codes Of
law against all forms of open vice; if they
were executed none of the resorts Of the
deprayed and the criminal would be in
existence. That they do still flourish is one
CT the anomalies of the day.
From the careful report of the representa-
tive OF The CALL who explored them it
appears that. as q rule, the police have done
their duty with regard TO these places.
Arrests have been made time and again.
The owners Of dives have been hauled up
before the police courts and held to answer.
There the affair generally ends. Sometimes
there is q trial which terminates in an
- .
No one is punished. No dive is shut up.
When the citizen asks how this failure Of
justice comes about be is told that the
wretches who run the dives have pull"
What is pull" who is pulled, and how
is it done? The public would much like to
have these questions answered. When a
man is arrested for crime his fate depends
on the action of few persons-a District
Attorney, who may decline to prosecute
him: a Judge. who may discharge him; a
clerk, who may manipulate the papers SO
that he gets off On straw ball. or is released
In consequence of the disappearance of
necessary testimony, or Deputy Sheriff,
who may get other criminals On the jury
pledged to find verdict for the prisoner.
The pull" must be worked On one of these.
Is it impossible to sift some one failure of
justice to the bottom, and TO find who was
pulled. and who pulled him?
There ought to be in this intelligent and
moral community some citizens public
spirited enough and bright enough to trace
the pull business from its inception to its
final triumph, and to show us in flesh and
blood the people who shield the dive-keep-
ers from punishment, and who perpetuate
among Us nurseries Of vice to sap the virility
and poison the morals of young men. Who
own the buildings where the dives are stu
ate? Who pays taxes on the CTemorne
building? Who ind0rses the applications Of
the keeper Of that and other dives for
license? The public thirst for the names
of these excellent citizens in order to bestow
on them some token of their respect and
admiration for virtue.
In every large city there are music halls,
where ballets are given and songs are sung
to nondescript audiences and the perform
ances are not always In good taste. But in
most cities these establishments are under
the yigilant surveillance of the police. When
breaches of ths peace or other disorders
occur arrests invariably follow, and pend
ing the inquiry the hall is closed. III the
circumstances are suspicious the license Of
the hall is revoked and the proprietor, il he
does not 20 to jail, is thrown upon the mercy
of cold world. The consequence is that
the conductors Of such establishments are
particularly careful that no disturbance
shall take place Oh their premises and that
no conduct smacking of open immortality
shall occur therein. In New York. where
the pull system prevails to considerable
extent, the police manage to break up re-
sorts of fragrant vice by repeated arrests
and neyer-ending interference. In Paris,
tuO Ch1o mas uUuIicucu iOI
years. the slightest approach to disorder or
misconduct is the signal for the appearance
Of the police, with the proprietor at their
back. The cafe where Therese sang to
thousands Of roysterers was as orderly as a
church.
The reason why our dives revel in free
dom is that the respectable class does not
think it worth while to modest them. Some
Of our rich men. members of churches, shin.
ing lights in society and public life, see
these plague spots and know that they are
freauented by thousands to the utter ruin OF
their morals, their manners and their health.
Yet they only laugh when a crusade against
them is suggested and meet the suggestion
with a reference to Don Quixots and the
windmills. Bali dozen resolute citizens
of standing and intelligence, mastering as a
reserve force to the police. would very
quickly get to the bottom of the pull bust
ness and close up the dives, though per-
haps in the melee some regulations might
be smirched. But that is the fortune Of