Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-04-30
WHAT SIOUX CITY NEEDS.

Se.S
gain is still considerable
WHAT SIOUX CITY NEEDS.
lSioux City Journal
Having received full measure OF UNI
desirable publicity from recent dis
closures of unsavory conditions, II Is
important that Sioux City shall profit
by the desirable advertising that must
follow a cleanup.
To this end it Is essential that there
shall be thorough housekeeping
not merely once-over that will fill the
atmosphere with dust temporarily,
eventually permitting 1t to settle down
into its old corners and crevices.
Practical results are wanted-results
that hold forth reasonable promise OF
permanent Improvement in conditions
AS the issue is mainly a moral one.
there is no need for mixing politics
with this reform. The need for q
cleaner Sioux City having been dem
onstrated beyond question. all good
citizens must be prepared to cooperate
to meet the need. There Is no excuse
for political or factional rancor IN
connection with the work.
The first desideratufn in the cam
paign for a cleaner Sioux City Is
more effective method OF dealing with
concentrated vice. Lack Of repres.
sive measures in the past has caused
the evil of prostitution, accompanied
invariably by illegal liquor selling and
occasionally by gambling. to become
the agency Of widespread system OF
law violation in Sioux City, Thinly
masked as hotels or rooming houses.
houses Of prostitution have furnished
headquarters for associated vice. 1t
used to be the policy Of the city gov
eminent openly to tolerate and regu-
larly to mulct these places. The late
scandal in the police department dis
closed a system Of liberation on q less
formal basis Unless all indexes OF
public sentiment in Sioux City are
misread, the present demand Is that
such places shall not be allowed to
operate at all.
How are so called disorderly houses
to be got at when operating under the
guise Of hotels and rooming houses?
Under law now on the statute books
of Iowa the method Of dealing with,
such places Is made as simple and
effective as is the method Of dealing
with law breaking saloons under the
mulct law. This Is the Cosson law,
better known as the red light law"
a statute devised by the present attor-
ney general OF Iowa for the specific
purpose OF putting immoral resorts
out of business. Its utility has been
so widely recognized that virtual
duplicate OF It has been placed on the
statute books OF nearly every progress
sive state Congress last year adopted
it as the most feasible means for COM
batting the social evil in the District
Of Columbia.
Under the Cosson law which has
just been replaced on the Iowa stat
ute books after invalidation on tech
nicality. the main responsibility Tor
violation Of the law against prostitu-
ton is placed on the owner OF the
premises in which the offense occurs.
Under the Cosson law property used
for immoral purposes can be enJoined,
just as property used for illegal sale
OF liquor has been enjoined. Further
violations OF the law In premises
against which injunctions have issued
can be punished for contempt Of court.
and il persisted In the premises can
be closed and kept closed by order OF
the court.
There are premises in Sioux City
that have been notorious as affording
permanent headquarters for CONNER
cialized vice. There is no valid reason
why one of these buildings should be
allowed to remain available for such
USE A Cosson law Injunction should
be just as easy to get as liquor law
Injunction. Once such an Injunction
issues, it is up to the owner to see that
his property Is not used for immoral
purposes. Failure to do so may mean
eventual withdrawal Of the premises
from rental for any purpose.
The Cosson law should be put to
work in Sioux City, first perhaps Civ
ing citizens whose property is now used
for immoral purposes chance to 90
a little reforming on their own ac-
count. After all the old haunts OF the
underworld have been withdrawn from
the market the traffickers In sin may
or may not be able to find new head
quarters for law violation. That is an
issue to be dealt with later. Every
time a house Of prostitution is put out
of business a potential bootegging
joint is closed.
For the present It would seem to
be good deal easier to slap a Cosson
law Injunction on alleged hotels and
rooming houses than to clean up the
town by driving their denizens from
ono joint to another or by encourag-
ing them to leave town while trains
are running In both directions.
The new Cosson law went into effect
the other day on publication. What
are we going to do with It? Why not
put 1t to work.
A Mothers Crusade.