Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1916-04-07
MARSHAL FINDS
COMMERCIAL VICE
OUTSIDE IWILEI
New District Attorney May Be
Asked to Look Into Evil
... Conditions .=

That con1mercialized vice is being
practised in the very heart of one of
Honolulu's eongested residence sec
tons, and far away from the confines
of the restricted district at Iwilei, is
the discovery made by U. S. Mar
shall j. J. Smiddy late yesterday aft.
ernCon. ~.
Marshal Smiddy declares that in
School street alone there are five
good-sized houses given over to COM
merciaIized vice and which, up to late
yesterday afternoon at least, have
been running full blast. Four of these
houses, says the marshal, were found
to be inhabited solely by Japanese.
while the fifth house was in charge
of young half-white woman.
Discovered During Search.
The marshal discovered the houses
during search for two Japanese wo-
men, Yao Mort and Fusano Hirakawa,
for whom bench warrants had been
issued. These women had applied in
federal court for writS OF habeas cor
pus, which were denied on the ground
that the women were here for i'm
moral purposes. 1t had further been
ordered that they be remanded to the
federal immigration officials for de-
portation. ~ .-.-
Immigration Commissioner Richard
L. Halsey and immigration Inspector
Harry Brown accompanied the mar
shall on his hunt for the women. One
was located in School street house,
and the other in a house in King
street. -, HI:
Il was certainly surprised at the
manner in which the houses were fur
nished," says the marshal IN each
Of the Japanese houses there were
from three to five women. The house
in charge of the haH-white woman
contained six rooms, and was elabor-
ately fitted up. ] have it on good au-
thority that houses are slowly being
opened up here for the purpose of
eommercialized vice-they open up
the houses and rent out the rooms to
whomeyer desires them"
May Take Matter Further.
Marshal Smiddy added that he un-
doubtedly will lay the matter before
s. c. Huber, the new district attor-
ney. who is scheduled to arrive here
next Tuesday in the Wilhelmina.
In many of the habeas corpus cases
which have come before the local
federal court, petitions of japanese
have been denied on the ground that
the women were coming into the terri
tory for immoral purposes, or the men
as procurers.
Judge Charles F. Clemens says
that, in 10 or IL habeas corpus cases
there has been evidence of breach
of good faith on the part of the petit
TONERS who, although released on
bond with the understanding that they
were not to continue the practises
with which they were charged, failed
to keep their word
A letter from the assistant commits
sioner-general of the bureau of immi
grafton, department of labor, recently
received here by Commissioners Hal
sey, reads in part as follows:
Local offices Commended.
The decision of District Judge
Clemens in the case of Tome TannC
is another cause for mutual congrat
ulation of the bureau, of your office
and especially of the United States
attorneys office, for the great i'm
provement, from both a strictly lega
and good administration point o.
view. .-
This refers, to decisions in and thu
| handling of habeas corpus cases.