The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-10-25
MOTIVES IN 1HE PACAHI
STREET EVIL.

Mr.. Editor: As TO the motives
which perpetuate the Pauahi street
evil: They are variant. and some are
good. but mistaken. while others are
wholly bad. OF course the motives o.
the Japanese toughs, who are the chief
conductors OF the twenty-one or two
brOthels, are greed for gain and carnal
pleasures generally. The nice. re-
spectacle citizens who lease properties
TO them knowing that they are being
used for nefarious ends are moved en-
tirely by the love OF money May not
some of the white ribbon used in Ho-
nolulu for social purity badges be
bought with money from this source
The roots of this evil run out far into
good society. The motives OF the
men who visit Pauahi street for i'm
moral purposes are. OF course. wholly
bad. Those of the inmates OF these
dens are not in all cases so. as | have
shown. The Board of Health and
those who support them in their course
are moved by desire and purpose to-
mitigate the evil. How? First. by
providing for the qualification OF the
animal passions of the men. for whom
they make 800 harlots their wards. TO
prevent them from making indecent
assaults on the innocent women who
go about our streets; and. second. by
Keeping these same 220 haTlots in
health, to prevent these vile men from
imparting diseases of the most loathe-
some sort to- innocent wives and Off
spring. In both these things they
make great mistakes.
In Tokyo people place food in the
yard for rats, that they may not mo-
lest things in the house. The rats
prosper. multiply and infest the whole
place. Instead of calling their law
law to mitigate the social evil they
should have called ii n law to encour-
age vice on the part of soldiers. sailors
and men generally, who are kept from
sinks of iniquity by the fear OF loathe-
some diseases. The Board OF Health
undertakes to make it perfectly safe
for men to indulge their lowest pas
sionS in Honolulu. The Board of
Health guarantees medical treatment
free of charge to any woman who will
devote her life TO the qualification of
| base men who live in or visit Homo
lulu.
AS a matter of fact. the examining
physician in this matter devotes seven
and half hours each week. or fifteen
| hours each fortnight (the time within
which every registered woman must
y.
| lows about four minutes to each of the
| wards of the Board OF Health for med
| ical examination. marking certificates
and making proper entries for his re-
ports to the Board. OF course. this
| would be a farce put for the arrange
! ment that those who are not examined
| within the official hours can be exam
ined privately by the doctor for a fee
| of $3.50. Nothing is said in this con-
nection about motives. The doctor
| does not think that anything can be
done successfully to put stop to- the
evil.
| How would it do to put some goods
| and gold and silver on a convenient
vacant lot for the thieves who come
this way (placing guard at the pub
lie expense to see that the thieves are
not harmed while taking these things)
to prevent them from breaking into
houses? Would this be a brave way
gentlemen of the Board OF Health?
How would il do to place two oil
three hundred Chinese and Japanes,
under guard, to be killed by murderers
in the hope that they might be salts
fed to let the rest of us escape theil
cruelty? Would this course be les:
worthy of you, gentlemen of the Boar'
of Health?
Is indifference to the awful results @
bad legislation and bad management
motive? Not exactly; but il account
for inaction and for conditions tina
would be a disgrace to a Board q
Health in a city having the mora
sense of the Whole community thor
oughly aroused.
The whole community is responsible
for the Pauahi street evil. Ii can b
suppressed.
} Yours faithfully. w. Il. AZBILL-
Honolulu. October 90. 1899.