El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-04-10

. The corporation court he pointed out.
permits filing complaints of vagrancv
against practcers OF adultery, with a
maximum fine Of $500. Action can be
brought against disorderly houses in
the county court, and a Jail sentence
can be imposed upon violators The
state,law, he said, makes it an offence
for owners of properties or agents to
rent property FOR the conducting Of
! disOrderly houses.
Eliminates All LeEalized Districts.
! While the state legislature gave to
I El Paso the power to segregate pros
4 titutes, the supreme court had recently
decided that the city could not do so,
and said in effect that il could only
suppress. The action Of the supreme
I court" he declared. has eliminated
! all legalized districts in Texas"
Il but recently learned" Mr.. Nc
I Broom continued " that IL is the duty
! Of the district judge to charge every
grand jury to investigate conditions
as to disorderly houses and to report
| their findings"
!. B. Gwin. secretary Of the Ell Paso
Associated Charities. briefly reviewed
the progress that is being made i'm
many cities of the country towards
/ the elimination of the restricted dis
trict and open prostitution. He quoted
| from numerous reports of commissions
3 that had conducted Investigations.
. These indicated that even where a
segregated district is maintained. there
district than within, and that where
the district has been abolished the
evil has been reduced. In closing, he
stated that the elimination Of the dis
trict in FL PasO. which has already
been accomplished, is nut the first
step towards the improvement of moral
conditions and that much remains to
be done through the agency OF the
club.
Durlee Pleads for Brond spirit.
] y
the Y. NJ. c. A.. spoke at some length
upon the spirit that should be be-
mnd the new movement. THE demand
is for no lttleness of spirit. but for
greatness Of spirit" he said. THE de-
mand is for q breadth Of spirit. for
patience and consideration. ana earn
estness that win result in a steady
and constructive policy This can be
no opposition organization and
answer the demand that brought it
into life. It must be constructive
The immediate objective or the
club has 10 do with the matter Of
open prostitution. and I'm our treat
ment OF this matter we shall test the
quality Of our spirit and reveal the
outlines OF our policy. We're we ami
mated by lesser motives all that
would be necessary for us to do would
ne run out and gather some frag-
mentary data, parade it before tie
public. and raise q hue and cry against
the city administration. II is prob
anle lnat tnlS would etfectuallv insure
against the possible reopeninE OF tho
restricted district But I conceive our
temper and policy viii permit no such
procedure We have a constructive
work 10 do
Lack Of Policy Evident.
few weeks ago this citv was |
following the policy Of handling The
prostitution problem thar had been
pursued bv cities generally from time
immemorial We endeavored 10 con- 4
Zine them and supervise them. as FAR
as possible, in "a sharply defined dis
trict IL was an attempt to regulate
as Tar as possible what We failed 10
see We could destroy Then one fine
morning we wake up and find our
supreme court has made il unmistaI,-
aoly evident this is an utterly Illegal
ariminal thing to do. Being UNWILLING
TO continue this wrong thing. our an.
-horites proceeded to abolish the dis
-rict' Then, with their accustomed
policy OF handling this disfressinr-
problem suddenly taken AWAY. nc
aiken up in the place Of the old onea'
And 10 date, III there has been a ciesr-
DEFINED and satisfactory policy for
lancIng this traffic determined upon.
ms 1act has not been made plain 10
he general public"