Legal Basis For Outlawing Prostitution

[nevergaveitathought]

san antonio's district was killed by the army

specifically Dwight Eisenhower

[I B Hankering]

Originally Posted by lustylad

So which one ran the House of the Rising Sun? Nora or Lulu?

Lulu was the one who ran her own operation. The song could very well fit her establishment. Nora was just one of the sporting girls.

Originally Posted by dilbert firestorm

hanky, army may have started it, but it was the Navy that killed it. NOLA govt. wouldn't give a 2 bits for the army, but they did give a shit about the Navy. the NOLA was a major port of call for Navy ships.

It's trivially obvious that the Draft Act of 1917 passed by Congress to beef up the U.S. Army mandated that the President could do what he needed to prepare this country for war. The Secretary of War (Army), Newton D. Baker, acting on the experiences of troops with sexually transmitted diseases during the recent Mexican Campaign (Pancho Villa, et al), determined sexual diseases were a priority that needed to be immediately addressed.

The original Draft Act of 1917 as passed by Congress didn't address the Navy. The Draft Act of 1917 was later amended to address the manpower needs of a wartime Navy.

It was the Secretary of War -- not Navy -- that declared brothels within five miles of an Army base illegal. The Navy played catch-up.

At that time, Camp Nicholls on Bayou St John (near present day NOMA on Esplanade) was right at a mile's distance from Storyville.

Secretary Baker sent Bascom Johnson to New Orleans to tell Mayor Behrman that Storyville had to be closed down.

There really was no negotiation. The historical record shows that it was the Army -- AND THEN -- the Navy that told New Orleans to shut down Storyville ... or the Federal government would do it for them.

Everything the Navy did in this regard was preceded by and copied from Army dictates.

On April 2, 1917, four days before our entry into the War, Baker wrote to the President expressing his concern"

"whether a part of the discipline of the Army ought not to be the regular provision of wholesome recreation so as pleasantly and, if possible, profitably to occupy the leisure hours of soldiers in camp. The Y. M. C. A. does some of this, but no comprehensive program on the subject has ever been regarded as a part of the regular provision for soldiers in camp. I have discussed the subject a number of times with Mr. Fosdick, and, of course, found him very intelligent in his comprehension of it." ....

Commanding officers' views on the subject [of brothels and prostitution] were so varied that Fosdick would not leave the problem of prostitution to their individual discretion. In this, too, there should be a uniform policy as a complement to military efficiency in war and of returning the soldier to his home a better man than when he left it. Temptation to sexual excess should be removed, but those who succumbed must use the prophylaxis or suffer punishment. The modern self-restraint of youth in training for athletic contests bore down the old contention that soldiers must have women to be brave. In spite of the fecundity of the rabbit which bears rabbits, the lion, which does not breed so often, bears lions. A night in a brothel is as poor a preparation for a machine-gunner going into action as for a football quarterback before a critical game.

Baker confirmed Fosdick's recommendations, and made him Chairman of the Committee on Training Camp Activities, whose authority he would support as the buffer between him and criticism as he supported that of Pershing.

The Draft Act made the presence of prostitutes and the sale of liquor illegal in the vicinity of a military camp. We had perhaps even a deeper sense of responsibility to the men we drafted than to those who had volunteered.


Newton D. Baker, America at War, "Health, Morals, Religion," pp. 296 to 310.

BTW, keep your diminutives to yourself.

[Austin Ellen]

This confuses me too. My deduction is that it's all about religion. Government should be religious free - but that's only in a make believe world. Elected government officials bring their religious upbringing with them into office. And of course, the money that religious groups gives to campaigns of individuals who support their point of view is an over riding factor. I don't think this will ever change as long as we have Southern Baptists.

Originally Posted by grean

What is the legal basis for outlawing pay for play?

Sex is legal.

It's okay to give people money.

You can even give a woman a dollar to shake her ass and tits on stage.

If you give her money for sex, that's illegal.

I don't understand what justification any government has to make that illegal.