Heathen Slaves and Christian Rulers by Katharine Caroline Bushnell;Elizabeth Wheeler Andrew
page 48 of 238 (20%)
page 48 of 238 (20%)
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1st, Not only were keepers of unregistered houses to be fined or
sent to prison, but the women--"held in practical slavery for the purposes of prostitution"--when found in unregistered houses were also subject to fine and imprisonment. 2nd, The Registrar-General, otherwise the "Protector" of Chinese, could break into any house suspected of being a brothel, and arrest the keeper thereof without warrant. And he could authorize his underlings to do the same. 3rd, The Registrar General could exercise both judicial and executive powers in the prosecution of the duties of his office. 4th, All outdoor prostitutes could be arrested without warrant, fined and imprisoned. The new law possessed one virtue over the old. It frankly, and more honestly, employed the word "licensed," where the old law said "registered," brothels. The report of the Commission says: "Although the new Ordinance conferred such extensive and unusual powers on the Registrar General and Superintendent of Police as to breaking into and entering houses and arresting keepers without warrant, no serious difficulty whatever, so far as the records show,--and we have paid special attention to the point,--seems to have been experienced under the previous enactments in bringing the keepers of such houses before the court.... Nor can we in the second place find among the foregoing records proof of the |
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