The' Book of the Month. 



103 



if.s.-ion. I qiping poners is contrarv to the hy-laws 

 ■if thi- r.iilwax t-ompanies, ytn it is constantly iloiif 

 >y passfn^j'TS : and tipping tlie [)olice is as con- 

 -lant a practice on the part of the women of the 

 >trr-et. Some pav with purse, otliers with person — 

 iiianv [KXjr wretches with iK'th. There are j;oo(l 

 jKjlicemen. who would not toii<h the money of a 

 larlot, or tlrink with her. lUit there are great 

 Mumlx-rs who regard these things as the perquisites 

 of their ollice. and who act on their I)elief. Tlie 

 |)Otter of a ivjliceman over a girl of the streets, 

 ilthough, theoretically very slight, is, in reality, 

 ilmiist des[totic. " If you quarrel with a policcjnan 

 vou are done for." is not far from tiie truth. The 

 I sfirit lit- ii'fps of tlic foro- is strong, and toth prf>s- 

 litutes and j)olicemen agree in this that if a girl 

 were once to tip and tell, she might just as well 

 iiM\e London at once. She would l>e harried out 



■ )t division after division, and never allowed to 

 rest until she was outside the radius of the metro- 

 ,»»lit.ni di.s-trict. 



ihl's livelihood in Tilt policeman's hand. 

 If |iolieemen can do that to avenge a breach of 

 (.nth. it need not l>e pointed out that they are alile 

 :n.iterially to affect a girl's iKtsition and prospects 

 vvithout ahsolirtely doing anything wrong. They 

 Inve onh to apjiear inconveniently in(|uisitive when 

 ;i is U'ing driven in order to scare off a 



■ 1. .md. at any time, if they choose to he 

 .iiiim.ited l>y a severe sense of puhlic iluty. they 

 ran diM'over evid«M)ce sufficient to justify at least 

 .1 threat of apprehension. A gifl's livelih<K)d is in 

 .1 iK)li<vman's hand, and in too many cases he makes 

 the most of his opjwrtunity. It we .say th.it the 

 l>oli<-<Mian is cotistantlv temjited to transmute his 

 [lower into ca.sh, we only say that he is human, and 

 ihat he is pfior. But it is too had to convert the 

 irunchiHined custodians of ])ul(lic order into a set 



■ )( "|Min'es " in luiiform. Iev\ing a ili>graceful 

 irihiite on the fallen maidens of modern H.ihylon. 



AN UNNATURAL ALLIANi E. 



If the |x>lice are constaiit'U in dang'-r of Uing 



■ Tupted bv the arbitrary jwwer which they |)Ossess 



prostitutes," the temptation presented by 



-till more insidious. The |i*>li(vman 



II. IS no |iower over houses of ill fame. 



Ikit it 111- rhu'Orf's h«' ran m.ike ii almost iin)H)ssible 



• ur any of them to d<i goo4l business. Tlie inevit- 



■ reiirlt follow*. Rvory brotlvl Ui-omhs. iiKire 

 l.-s> 1 viur<i" of revenue to the ixiliciinan on 



' The jKilioi' are the brothel k<'e|M'rs' 

 .-1 iiKiiir-*. " said an old k«"«-p<T to me, M'ulen- 



liou.sly. "Co* why? Thev ki-ep things sinig. 



Aiul the brothel kee|ier» ari' the |>olici-'s ln\«<t friend 

 nis thev p.iv 1I1C111." What is the mtural ri-sull > 



THE BLACK SHEEP OF THE FLOCK. 



( )t course, there are police and police. Some are 

 the I test of men. others very much the reverse. Hence 

 an enormous responsibility depends uiion those who 

 are charged with the maintenance of the high char- 

 acter of the force. Som'- of the suix-rintendeiit - 

 are excellent men. and many of the inspectors. 

 Others hardly deserve such praise. 



Manv of the police are unmarried men, li\in;.' in 

 barra<-ks as much as soldiers, and are no more lit 

 tt> lie inve.sted with absolute txintrol of the streets— 

 which, after all, are the drawing-room of the jjoor 

 - than are the Guards. .So.Tietimes there is a 

 thoroughly bad sheep in the fliK'k, and his presence 

 corrujits the re.st. Men, <-vt'n when helmets are 

 jil.Ked on their he.ids, are not fit to Iw trusted with 

 what is practically alisolute ]x>wer over womt-n, who 

 are e\en weaker and less protected than the rest of 

 their sex. Hcn<-e 1 regard the excision of the 

 cl.iu.ses increasing the ])ower of tJie police over 

 women in the streets as absolutely necessary. 



WHAT, THEN, ABOUT THE STATE OF THE STREETS? 



Nothing can be more alisurdly exaggerated than 

 the usual talk al)Out the .sciniialous state of the 

 streets. Of course. Regent strtvt at midnight is a 

 grim and .soul-.sadiiening sight, and so are one or 

 two other neighl>ourhoods that might be named. It 

 may Ije (wssible to legislate solely for those quar- 

 ters where \'ioe is congested, by treating them as 

 disorderly places, to be deared by exceiitional 

 |K>wers, only to lie brought into exercise by tlv 

 initiative of two or more residents in the neigh- 

 liourhood. Mut we are against excejitional jKiwers. 

 even when initiated by private citizens. Oidy in 

 one res|i<^-t would I like to see the powers of the 

 |)olice .strengthened, and that is in cx.actly a.ssimi- 

 lating the law as to man amlwoman in' molestation 

 and solicitation. Why sliould not th<' male ana- 

 logue of a prostitute the man who habitually and 

 persistently aiuioys women by solicitation — lie sub- 

 ject to th«' same punishment for amioying girls by 

 iilTensive overtures as are women who annoy men? 

 It would Ih- a real gain to get rid of one little bit, 

 however .small, of the scandalous immorality (>[ 

 having .1 s<*vi-r<' l.iw for the weak, and .1 l.ix law for 

 /he strong. 



THEATRES AM" EM PORllJM.S. 



.\ good deal h.is l»vn said in the r<.ur.si' of ihcsi- 

 articles, ,ind in tlv comments b.isi'd ujMin the re- 

 velations already made, as to the res|Kinsibility of 

 the disxilule rich for the ruin of the ilaughters of 

 the |Hior. .\o mist, ike w<iuld l>e gre.Her, iKiwever, 

 ih.iii tlw assumption <if those answer;il>le for the 

 widespread corruption of the working women of 

 London an- In U- found among the ver\ wealthy 

 .ind the immoral idlers of the " upper " leu. 'I'heir 

 share. iHi ilonbi. is great ; and greater is their 



