The Kalispell bee., 1902-08-22
rENpERLoIN A IL.
In Spokane as Well as In the Good
City of KaIispelI.


Lave troubles of our own, but the
disposition and government of the
tenderloin district is not peculiar to
any one particular locality. In Spo-
kane the offensive question is being
debated Whether to move the dis
Urict, abolish the dives or fence them
in. A late issue of the Spokesman
Review handles the question locally
and editorially, but reaches about the
same conclusion as has been arrived
at in Kalispell, and don't know. The
review says:
1.-The problem of where to put the
immoral women of the city is one
which will always cause trouble and
uncertainty" said Corporation Cum
sci John P. Judson yesterday. "There
is one thing certain, though, and this
is that there is plenty of law, both
municipal and state, to remove them
from their present quarters and to
shut up all the buildings which are
now used for such purposes in Klon-
dixie alley. Whether we want to do
this or not is the question. 1 am sat
isf1ed that they are not in the proper
place at present, but whether it
would be wise to attempt to move
them or not is a question which is
hard to solve.
"Of course, we cannot blot out i'm
morality. No city has ever succeeded
in doing so and in many instances
the results have been anything but
beneficial l took a walk through the
alley the other day with two of the
other city officials to look things over
and see in what condition they are
being kept. | have examined the
Chinese quarters of San Francisco
but I think I never saw anything as
disgraceful as is presented to the
view on a visit to the alley. Every
nationality can be found there, while
the squalor and the foulness of the
sight is sickening.
But efforts to remove them would
result disastrously When they were
moved several years ago from their
headquarters on Mill street to their
present location the business blocks
in the heart of the city began to fill
up with the outcasts. Decent people
left the blocks and no end Of trouble
and inconvenience was caused. The
present location has the advantage of
being concentrated and close to the
police. The sight presented from the
main streets of the city is, however,
| Il lice nj Ofb oh IO
done to remedy the evil. | am in
| favor Of building board fences across
the entrances of the alleys in such a
manner that those walking past need
not be shocked by the sights pre-
sented within. To attempt to move
the district to some other part of the
town would mean the filing up of the
blocks with the undesirable class of
tenants, and this we should avoid if
possible.
This problem has often troubled
municipalities and always will. 1t
has to be controlled by good judg-
ment, and we must philosophically
make up our minds to contend with
it. The situation at present in Spo-
kane would be about as good as one
could expect if the alleys were fenced
so that the scenes on the inside could
not be open to the public gaze
While it might be difficult to move
the more offensive denizens of the
so-called tenderloin district to a 10
cality farther from the much Travelled
l thorougfares, it is certain that if they
are to remain in their present quar-
ters every means should be utilized
J. to keep them from the public view
e A good many people would like tc
q see the foul colony driven forth tt
some place where it would be unable
to fiaunt it's traffic so near the hear
n of the business district of the city
l. 1t is a great misfortune that thu
l. Whitechapel element was ever per
;. mitted to get foothold so near tt
the main avenues of trade wher,
S people can not go about their bust
o ness without being offended by tn
S unwholesome spectacles that are com
l. mon to these disreputable localities
1t is little short of a shame tha
the pubic building OF the city Shoul
y overlook the most filthy and notor
% ously bad kennels within the munic
pal limits. 1t is little less than al
outrage that patrons of public l
@ brary should be compelled even t
v approach the neighborhood of thes
sinks of immortality. There is n
question that the patronage of tn
)'- library is not half what it would b
,e if it had respectable surrounding
and was not within a stones thro'
of the plague spot where decent PEI
or pie fear to tread.
n. If the outcasts are not removes
,d there should be no delay in shuttin
off the offensive sights by fence {
otherwise. And there need be no III