City Hall Balances the Books on the Backs of Women
Mayor Wright’s new municipal policy involves collecting fines from the city's 'fallen women' to cover routine operating expenses.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The running expenses of the city of Tacoma are now being paid in part by the earnings of fallen women. A representative of the resort at Fifteenth and P streets paid to the clerk of the police court this afternoon $10 for each of the inmates of the house. A couple of fines were paid by other people. The following are the names of those whose fines have been paid: Barbara Holaway, Helen Smith, Nellie Smith, May Brown, Annie Howard, Rome Lee, May Moore, Pearl Howe, Jessie Smith, Lily Buik. These fines were paid in accordance with the policy outlined in Mayor Wright’s address to the council when he assumed office.
“The running expenses of the city of Tacoma are now being paid in part by the earnings of fallen women.”
This article highlights the long history of 'vice taxes' and municipal reliance on the criminalization of sex work to fill city coffers. It offers a grim, documented look at how the early 20th-century city government codified the exploitation of marginalized women as a standard fiscal policy.
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