El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-06-07
MAYOR DAVIS AND COUNCIL
ORDER A STRICT CLEANING UP

w WITHOUT waiting for any further request from
w army officials any special demand the part
w of the people of the city, the mayor council
have acted promptly and directly to close the houses Of
prostitution in Fl PasO Notice has been given that al
these places matter where situated be closed
fore Saturday night and that those remaining In operation
VIII be raided by the police thereafter.
Al that is needed put full stop to the open prac-
uce Of prostitution Is the constant activity Of the police
under the orders Of the mayor There laws and
dnances IN plenty to every contingency They have
not been enforced heretofore but that the order has
gone out the people Of the city have right to expect that
the police viii Tgdy enforce the laws Especially should
be understood that landlords renting their property for
these purposes viii be prosecuted reenessly who
lets his property to known prostitutes entitled
TO respect consideration than who lives directly
of the earnings Of lewd women
As for the women themselves they must followed up
wherever they CO. and pursued by the agents Of the law
until they finally leave the city They are known to the
police and they should be watched warned and sent away
whenever It that they violating the law This
method VIII often be effective without the ordinary pro
Of court trial and fine An that is necessary most
cases is to make known to the voators that there
be more immunity.
Some inmates of the district" are already taking their
departure Sevenyive said to have left
Wednesday night and by the of this week the dis
rct to which officials Of the department pointed
the shame Of Fl PasO viii have passed out Of existence
Closing the district is only partial solution Of the
problem FL Paso is the easier part The harder is
the cleaning ont Of candesne establishments scattered
throughout tie city and county Scores Of Tooming houses
and many road houses said to harbor the Illicit traffic
The police and shers officers doubtless possessed Of
information regarding these places No effort should be
spared by the authorities to remedy the condition by
rests and prosecutions and by sending the away
unless they give satisfactory evidence OF intention to take
up other of livelihood Landlords and financial
hackers must be prosecuted "Clubs" must be broken up
There reports that Of the inmates of the
stcted districts moving into other parts Of the city
That tendency spread the evil the residence
tons carrying the contamination among unsupecng per-
and away from the eyes Of the police, should be
checked Little good is TO be gained from closing
the restricted district unless the authorities follow up that
action by preventing from locating elsewhere in
the city.
And the job viii have only partly done If the city
itself is cleaned up The county must be looked after Per
haps there places Of Ill rpute the suburbs the
county roads above below the city, whose character is
to the county attorney the justice Of the peace the
sheriff, constableS and deputies, and traffic police and
which ought TO be put out of business whether they are
called sclubs" licensed places public officials
visited these places get evidence maybe the day
already when steps viii be taken to close them
move the matter other citizens may have to act in self
defence Certainly the conditions which have persisted in
the recent past cannot be allowed to continue.
There not few business who regard the closing
up known resorts OF ed only part of the solu
ton of local problem Many who have been opposed
principle prohibition Of the liquor traffic have to
conclusion that If booze banished the other problem
viii largely take of itself In the old days, 1t was
veil understood that licensed gambling and prostu
ton together When open gambling closed here
1904 least half the public prostitutes LETT town. along
with their male associates who had been connected with the
gambling houses. It believed by many business
that FL Psso vii have to adopt prohibition Of the