The Saint Paul globe., 1900-04-29
AN EVIL FOsTERED BY THE PRES
ENT POLICE THAT IS BECOM-
ING ALARMING
INCREASE OR SOCIAL EVIL
VICE JOsTLEs VIRTUE IN THE
HALLS OF FLATS AND CORRI-
DORIS OF APARTMENTS
UNPLEASANT SUBJECT AT BEST
But 1t Is One That Is Growing More
So Daily Under the System That
sweIIs the Municipal Court
Receipts.

There is one feature of Republican mis-
rule in St. Paul that will appeal alike to
Republicans and Democrats, PopuIists
and Prohibitionists, to all order-loving
citizens of every nationality and walk in
life. 1t is the steady increase of the So
cial evil and It's rapid spread from the
confines of a once limited area until it has
permeated nearly the entire city
1t is but little over a year since this
began. Time was when the coterie of rec
ognized courtesans was rounded up in a
certain locality, and everything possible
done to safeguard the respectable portions
Of the city from the cancerous infection
Of the social evil. Today the iniquitous,
infamous system of Republican policing
has permitted the spread of the contagion
| until scarcely a precinct in any ward is
free from the haunts and lairs Of the
| prostitute.
Less than eighteen months ago Lieut..
Boerner, then of the central police STA
| ton, was in possession of book in which
was recorded the names Of limited num-
Der of female panderers to immortality.
| Once month the unhappy creatures
were hauled before the municipal judges
and fined. They were all notorious, all
| ticketed, and their shameless traffic was
confined to a rather sequesrered portion of
| the community. But Lieut.. Boerner has
been transferred to Margaret street police
| station. With his going, the book in
which was recorded the names of these
women seems to have disappeared. At
| least there is at present no attempt made
oh he
| tions. From a comparatively small num-
| Der of such women they have increased
until it is estimated that fully $50 of them
are plying their trade in different parts OF
| the city and paying minimum monthly
| fine of S. each.
A strange idea appears to have sudden-
| ly possessed the police of st. Paul. They
seem to act upon the theory that any
| girl or woman in St. Paul, no matter
/ where located, may, by the payment OF
IS per month, pursue her disgraceful call
ing and solicit on the public streets IN
any part of the city. The result of this
attitude of the Republican police depart
ment is obvious. Streets swarm with
scarlet women after nightfau Respeeta-
BILE women are In continual danger of be-
ing accosted, and in many cases have
been. Numerous apartment and tenement
houses are devoted to purposes of assig-
nation Through the pernicious system
adopted by the st. Paul police authori-
ties, the social evil has been scattered
| throughout the city in all directions. Vice
is permitted to jostle virtue in the halls
of flats and the corridors of apartment
houses. The infamous traffic has been
wonderfully extended and has followed
the Republican flag during the past eigh-
teen months.
The @ n h bac o~yY,osa5 H.
new industry known as the candy shop
and cigar store blind. These were moth,
ing more nor less than houses of ill-fame
conducted on a somewhat limited scale,
AT the time the exposure was made COM
plant had been made by the proprietors
Of number Of important ST. Paul in
dustrfes employing women and girls that
the latter were in constant danger OF
insult from the denizens of these resorts
Investigation proved this to be true But
the general public was considerably sur
prised at the bold and defiant attitude
of the keepers of these shady resorts
1t was subsequently revealed that the
proprietors were claiming, and receiv-
Ing, protection from the police. They had
paid their S. apiece and demanded the
worth of their money.
The pressure of public opinion closed a
few Of these places. But large number
are still running. Should the Republican
party, by any possibility, elect its ticket
en- Tuesday next, they will continue to
increase in a fearful ratio. 1t is no.
torious fact that concerted and or
ganized movement has been in progress
for several days whereby those places
have been carefully canvassed and So
licited for contributions to the Republican
campaign fund. 1t is the beginning of an
industry, the end of which, under present
Republican license, no man can foresee
1t is to the interest of every pure-minded
man and woman, every property owner
and land owner in the city that the heavy
hand of righteous condemnation be placed
upon this evil. 1t is a fostering sore
which cannot fail to poison the body
polite Of the whole city.
In addition to all this 1t is we'll to know
tribute 10 policemen for permission to ply
their trade, not one dollar of which ever
finds it's way into the city treasury. In
addition to the outrage perpetrated upon
him by the presence in his Immediate vi
cinity Of such social degeneration the de-
cent citizen has not the satisfaction of
seeing the city treasury enriched by the
blood money. There is now no complete
list. Lieut.. I3oerner has shaken off all
responsibility and gone to Margaret
street. A small per centage of these
women are fined each month"; but the
great majority OF lnem are roaming the
city establishing resorts of assignation In
some Of the largest tenement and apart
ment houses, and settling with the
copper on the corner"
This Is far from being a pleasant sub-
ject to write about or talk about But
complaint is rife in almost every ward in
the city of the rapid increase in the
social evil, fostered and encouraged by
the present police system of ST. Paul.
1t is a text worthy the denunciation Of
every pastor IN the city. 1t is an evil
worthy the condemnation of every voter
in the city at the polls next Tuesday. If
our tenement ana apartment houses are
to be polluted by gross lasciviousness
that has ctept up from under the hill,''
and, by the grace of an incompetent Re-
! publican administration, spread through
ell the arteries of social life. is it not
| time to call a halt? 1t is altogether a
question OF morals 1t involves no mu-
nicipal extravaganza and is not at all q.
| question of municipal political economy.
But 1t does involve the home life of St.
! Paul citizens and as such 1t Is but right
and just that attention be directed to it.