Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1901-10-01
PROTECTING VICE IN HAWAII.

Attorney General Knox hes laid be.
fore the President certain facts concern
1 90 a state OF affairs 10 Hawaii that may
require o Thorough Investigation OF the
territorial government. II will be re.
called that Judge Humphreys, OF the
Territorial Circuit Court at Honolulu,
was recently brought before the attor-
ney general on charges preferred by the
Hawaiisn Bar Association. The par
ticulars OF the complaint against his sd-
ministration OF his Office need not be
recited, since be has been exonerated
on every point of the indictment. Brief
fl stated, the accusations were that
while occupying place on the beech
he continued to control the editorial
policy OF newspaper hostile to the
government, and owned by bin before
bis appointment; that he had packed D
grand jury with opponents to Governor
Dole: tnat he had exercised political iD.
flu in procuring legislation, and
that he had been harsh and unfair in
his treatment OF members OF the bar.
Suffice 1t to say that the evidence Of
fered In support OF the charges was
most flimsy, and brought down upon the
complsinants sharp rebuke from AT
torney General Knox.
10 his reply to the complaint of the
Hawaiian Bar Association, however,
Judge Humphreys iucluded as ex-
nibits two charges delivered to the
grand Jury of his district by him
self; a cnarge to the Federal grand jury
of the Territory by UOited States Judge
Estee, and an official report to the
Commissioner OF Labor indicating the
notcrious existence at Honolulu (under
the protection of the GovernmenD of Q
most revolving form Of vice. The state
meuts contained in these exhibits are
of character that makes them urfi
for publication in their entirety in q
family newspaper. They point out that
within O mile from the centre of the
Hawaiian capital an institution is main
tanned, with the full knowledge and
consent of the Territorial authorities" F"
which is inhabited by slaves under h
control more absolute and despotc
than that to which African bondmeD
we're ever subj acted in the United
States" (the quotations are from the
off :iNl documeDtt). The slaves confined
10 this moral pest nouse are women and
young glrls, few of them French and
the remainder Japanese. They are
taken thither by procurers employed
by the company which owns the inclos-
urs and buildings (snd which, by the
way, is Incorporated under the laws oi
Hawai), and are sold at prices ranging
from 500 upward, according to their
age and attractiveDess.
The masters pay an annual license
fee of $50 for each OF their chattels; and
'..if by reason of decsying physical
charms one is unable to meet with her
owners requirements she is sold to
some Monaghan who desires personal
servant or attendant" Failure on the
part of an inmate to earn q certain
amount OF money per diem is followed
by the /, fl ction of brutal physical
punishment, Occasionally reaching
such lengths of cruelty as TO call for
expostulatioD by the policemen detail
ed to prevent the inmates and visitors
from indulging in disorderly conduct.
Rules and regulations for the conduo
of the horrid trade piled at this institu.
ton have been made by the loos
police, and are posted at the entrance
TO the stocksde surrounding rhe in
closure. The health officers exact O
fee of 81 so per capita per month fol
Issuing a certificate OF health to til,
dwellers in the sink OF iniquity, sn(
the grand jury preceding the one al
legged to have Deen packed" by Judg'
Humphreys reported "the condition o
the premises and the general manage
ment, which is conducted under th'
supervision of the police department o
and the board OF health" to be "as sat
isfactory ss could be expected" Tb
average sge of the poor creatures Is I'll
teen years, and there are several unde
twelve.
at is heartrending TO walk through
the streets of this internal inclosure,
Gays Special Investigator Oimstea
In his report to the commissioner
| labor; and one can we'll believe hin
The helIish traffic 10 human bodies an
souls Is In direct violation OF Hswaiis
law, yet il is guarded and supervise
By the health and police officials; su
by their condonstion of the otfeDs
a0ains' public decency every one OF th
territorial officials has made himself
participant in the crime. Judge Hun
phreys would have been der'
lict 10 his duty II he had failed to d.
nounce the den OF Iwilei to the gran
iury-a proceeding which evoked th
wrath of the time serves Of th
Hawaiian Bar Association. The worI
feature OF the case is that the slave pc
of Iwilei is regarded as one OF the uuiqr
attractions OF Honolulu. 1t is visite
by ell elements OF society; strange
and tourists are taken there by respec
able residents, and gszs with morbid i
terest on the brszen display OF enslav'
vice. The pollutlng Influence OF the
stilutiop, therefore, is not confined
Hawaii and the Hawaiisps, but
spread, through the increasing numb
OF American visitors to the territory,
all parts Of our country. What is q
: vicious example Of expiring mormonis
or of the institutions Of domestic slsve
in the Sulu archipelago by comparis'