SLAVERY AND CESSPOOLS OF SIN.
We condense and quote the following from an article by Jessie Ackerman, a world missionary, in the Ram's Horn:— “Having spent some time here [Honolulu] twelve years ago, when a debauched despot was at the head of the monarchy, I was, naturally, deeply interested in studying the changed conditions, fully expecting to find, at the least, the moral tone of the place much higher, since these islands had become a part of the United States of America. Before I had been here a week, my attention was directed to the investigation of a form of human slavery with which the condition of the black man forty years ago in the South is not to be compared. . . .” “Men appointed by the chief executive of our republic, and heads of departments paid by the taxation of citizens to guard the best interests of the community, devised [to deal with the outcast women] the most complete diabolical system of human slavery ever recorded in history. “This was done, and was backed up, controlled, legalized, and incorporated into a company under the protection of the territory, tho the laws declare the entire system unlawful and provide punishment for all, both men and women, who are found guilty. A company of business men were allowed to launch an enterprise from which they would receive a larger revenue, that for— Downright Vileness has no Parallel in all the Heathen World—
a business that brands them with a degree of depravity hitherto unknown among men of any race, and proves them to be utterly lost to the last sense of decency. . . . “A section of the city, about a mile from the post-office, and within a hundred feet of one of the native churches, was given up for the fostering of a legalized industry in common prostitution. That the industry should be, as it is, under territorial protection, and that the heads of the health and police departments should assume the management of it, was sufficient guaranty of success. The most important matter was to select the grounds, and provide suitable premises; that is, to open— A Great Department-Store of Lust,
where a high carnival of debauches could be held nightly. Two and a half acres of ground were enclosed by a wall or fence about fifteen feet high, forming a large stockade, a number of gates providing access to the enclosure. Within these walls were erected large sheds, lettered A, B, C, etc., and divided off into pens scarcely fit for cattle stalls. These were called rooms, each being clearly marked with a number, and ranging up to about two hundred and fifty, and of sufficient size to afford necessary equipment for plying the legalized 'trade,' and for the occupancy of which slave women pay a monthly rental of fifteen dollars. The rooms are always full, and just now there is an increased demand for larger quarters. This place is not intended for homes for the women, but only a bazar in which to conduct their business, and barter their bodies. “A set of regulations was formulated by the board of health and police departments. These have been sent to the 'masters' of these women, to the women themselves, and several copies are framed, and hanging on the gates to serve as advertisements for the 'industry.'” “In reading the following, please remember that these rules have been made by the very departments paid to preserve the health and decency of the city. [These rules, which would do for a stock-yard, we will not print. Ed. S. of T.] . . . .” “Last year the grand jury made an investigation of the club, and gave the following report: ‘We find ‘the condition of the premises, and general management, which is conducted under the supervision of the board of health and police department, to be as satisfactory as could be expected, provided the shameless vocation is a necessary evil.’” “Not long since the members of the legislature made a trip to the quarters to learn if any improvements were necessary. After the general rounds, talking to the women, examining some of the stalls, and learning all there was to know, they visited the managing authorities, where, after a full and lengthy discussion of the matter, it was the opinion of all that the departments had ‘done themselves proud’ in the great amount of intelligence manifested in conducting the institution, and these foster-parents of the industry of prostitution returned with the consciousness of having well discharged a very important duty. How the Slaves are Secured.
“The most infamous part of this outrage upon the moral sentiment of all mankind is the manner in which the women, many of them innocent of what they are going to, are secured. A company of Japanese, recognized by the authorities in charge as ‘masters of the women,’ have full management of them, and also the securing of them. They have in their regular employ thirty procurers. Some of these make regular trips to Japan to reinforce the stockade with younger women with fresher charms. Others go about this group of islands, visiting the large plantations where numbers of women are employed, and surrounded by a full degree of comfort, for the plantations have made every provision for the well-being of their employees. Here the procurer gains the confidence of the women by expressions of sympathy for their hard lot in manual labor. This ends by offering them easy employment in the city, with fewer hours and more pay. “Thus, scores of innocent women are trapped, and brought to the city, where they become hopelessly involved in debt while waiting for the promised situation. Threatened by law, in fear and trembling, they are fairly driven to the stockades to barter their bodies in sin that they may meet the demands of a supposed indebtedness that is enlarged upon from time to time in order to retain them, that these human vermin may prey upon debauched womanhood. The women are divided into gangs, so many to each ‘master,’ and are conducted to and from the stockade under the supervision of a woman employed for that purpose, just as criminals are driven to and from their daily employment. At 2 o'clock in the morning, when ‘business’ must cease under territorial regulation, the ‘masters’ go to the rooms of the women to gather the blood-money made in this market-house of lust. Ofttimes, when the amount is very small, the women are subjected to all sorts of cruelty at the hands of these fiends, so lost to every sense of decency as to live and thrive upon the ill-gotten gains of bartered virtue. Under the regulations, a child must be sixteen years old before entering the stockade. It almost passes human belief that a child, who could not legally sell her doll or toys, may become the victim of hell-hound vampires, and, unwilling, make merchandise of her virtue. Here! right here! under the American flag, in the face and eyes of law set at defiance by the authorities, innocence and virtue are placed among the marketable products, and their sale fostered as a home industry. “In the name of heaven, let the voice of the American people be heard concerning this crime against helpless women! Let a wave of public sentiment sweep the land from shore to shore, until the last offender against human liberty shall meet a just fate, that will make him a hissing by-word wherever the wrath of outraged people may drive him. “It has been positively ascertained that there are girls there—children—twelve and thirteen years old. When women lose their charms, the ‘masters’ take them out to the plantations, where they find a ready market for them to men who desire wives. They receive for them from fifty to a hundred dollars, and add this sum to what they have ‘realized’ upon them in the ‘business.’” “The government gives a guarantee to all patrons of the stockades that they run no risk of infection in the pursuit of aiding this ‘industry’ by their support and presence in ‘business’ hours; for regulations provide that the officials will undertake to see that no diseased woman is permitted in the place. This probably accounts for the variety of men I saw there. The hour was early, for it was still less than ten o’clock, and the ‘rush’ had not yet set in; but even at that time I counted fifty-seven white young men, none of whom could have been more than twenty-five. I did not attempt to count the older white men. These lads apparently come from the student and clerk classes; they were by no means from the lower walks of life. It was simply revolting to behold their shameful boldness toward these half-nude, painted, flower-bedecked women, the very scum of this moral cesspool, but, after all, vastly superior to the sin-sodden, lust-eaten human vipers, whose fortunate condition of birth and larger degree of enlightenment should lead them to protect the creatures they have so criminally debased.”