Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-12-01
INTERESTING DOCUMENTS.

Mayor Gourley's Request to the Chief of
the Department of Public Safety-The
Order Closing the Houses.
Mayor Gourley's letter to Chief Brown of
the Department of Public Safety and the
Chiefs positive order to Superintendent of
Police O'Mara are appended:
MAYORS OFFICE, !
PTTTsBURG Nov. %.
J o. Brown, ESQ.,, Chief Department Public Safety:
DEAR SIR-One of the special duties of the
Mayor under the laws of this Commonwealth
is to cause the ordinances of the city to be
faithfully and constantly obeyed. The new
charter specially gives the Mayor general
SUPERVISION of all the departments, with
power to direct their officers within their
duties under the law and ordinance. One of
the ordinances of the city, found in Thom-
sons Digest, page 366, which has been for
years. and is now hagrantly disregarded is
as follows:
"An houses of ill-fame, all houses fire.
ouented by persons for lewd and uuchaste
purposes, all unlicensed public dance
houses. and all houses and places where
intoxicating liquors are sold without license
or contrary TO the laws of this Common
wealth shall be deemed and held to be dis
orderly houses, and the police of said city
are empowered to arrest every keeper
thereof and every person found therein, and
to bring all such persons before the Mayor
(now before the police magistrates) OF said
city for examination and hearing and each
such above described person whom the
police magistrate shall adjudge guilty Of
maintaining such houses. or of visiting the
same for immoral purposes, shall be fined
not less than S. nor more than 500 for each
Offense,n etc.
While this ordinance is quite rigidly en-
forced, by your department., against ordi-
nary houses in which Intoxicating liquors
are sold in violation of law, it is, and has
been, in SO far Us it relates to the houses of
ill anne, an absolutely dead letter.
Under the federation, Il not the sheltering
care of the police department of this city
the most witherIng curse of the age has
spread and deepened until whole ward of
tine city has been blighted and ruined by its
deadly touch. OF this Hydra-headed sin,
perverted moral nature, degradation of
character, disgusting Deastliness, Dlunted
ana benumbe6 sens1bi1tles, depraved life
Before its baneful influence, the "sanctity of
womannood ades away, the romance of life
dies, and the world itself loses its charm"
The diseases engendered by it are poison
ing innocent children and lowering the phys
ical tone OF a great nation.
VIII the closing of houses of ill-fame cure
this fearful evilf / do not know. l fear it
will not; not until the Janus-faced lechers
the heartless, double tongued, calculating
sedUcers, the whitened sepulchers, some of
whom adorn the pews OF churches in which
good men preach, arc followed by the same
condemnation that is visited upon the un-
fortunate women whom they have cruelty
NfOQ9SO. TOT Uu0 unudpDN anu con-
ditions which make it lssible for these de-
bauchers to enjoy the respect good peo-
pie while their deserted victims are
osUracised by society, you and are not re-
sponsible. Nor have we made the laws
relating to the great evil OF prostitution
The attempt has ever been to treat this two
sided crime with one-sided laws. We are
not responsible Tor the law nor the conse-
uuences OF its enforcement.
Your department thrust upon me the re-
spoHsib1iity OF issuing an order to prohibit
the sale of liquor in houses OF ill-repute.
assumed the responsibility, though the duty
was imperative on you under the law. Let
the Mayor issue his order and / will obey"
said your Superintendent OF Police as if the
order of the Mayor were higher than the law
which it is your Superintendent's duty to
enforce. Because of the confidence placed
in your Judgment, have been reluctant to
interfere with houses OF ill-ame. But the
demand comes to me in so many vays that
it becomes impossible for me to continue
silent.
1t is not always easy to determine what is
best to do, but since have occupied this
office l have tried not to shrink from or
evade any well-defned official duty. From
the duty that is pressed upon me now there
is no escape. / cannot but insist on the en-
forcement of the law. The consequences
are not with you or me. You are daily en-
forcing the ordinance which have quoted
against those who sell liquor in violation of
law. Now let me urge upon you its enforce
ment against an infinitely worse evil
To say that the closing OF houses Of Ill re-