The Midnight Deadline for Local Vice
New state laws targeting gambling and the 'earnings of a fallen woman' arrive this Wednesday, leaving the city wondering if this time the crackdown will stick.
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 new law making it a felony to conduct a gambling game and another new law making it a felony for any man or semblance of a man to live off the earnings of a fallen woman will go into effect at midnight Wednesday, and there is considerable speculation as to whether or not these laws will be enforced in this city or whether, like some other laws, they will be ignored and the present wide-open, free and easy system be continued. Very likely a brass band show will be made of enforcing the new laws until after the city election, about one month, and then the present condition of affairs will be gradually resumed. The two classes affected probably number fifty or sixty and their votes may decide the result of the election.
“Very likely a brass band show will be made of enforcing the new laws until after the city election... and then the present condition of affairs will be gradually resumed.”
This reflects the recurring local tension between 'clean-up' campaigns and the political utility of keeping certain illegal economies active. Even in 1903, the paper correctly predicted the 'brass band' approach to moral enforcement—a temporary performance of order meant only to secure votes before reverting to the status quo.
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