Scandalous New Orleans: Crime, Prostitution, Corruption, Loose Ladies.

New Orleans was beginning to be known as America's most interesting city. Famous for the ballrooms, cafes, coffee houses, elegant gambling halls, restaurants and Mardi Gras. Notoriously world-wide as a sin-din. Because of the wide-spread of prostitution and the tolerance with which it was regarded by the authority and the people as a whole. For many years it was the most firmly entrenched phase of underworld activity in the city. It was big business, giving employment to thousands, and many illegal dollars changing hands. Without the 'girls' it is doubtful if such districts as Gallatin Street and the Franklin Street areas, described by Mr. Bison William's, a writer, as the only locality in the city where decent people do not live, could have existed.

Prostitution early on was confined to the districts frequented by lusty river men with the exception of a few 'high class places', which operated with considerable immunity to the law, in Royal, Chartres, and other streets of the French Quarters. Later, around the middle 1800s when New Orleans began developing as an important seaport and cosmopolitan city, the Municipal government was corrupt and demoralized. It was during this period that prostitution began to leave the underworld section of town and establish itself in New Quarters above Canal Street. From this point it would later involve the Vieux Carre.

The authorities made feeble attempts to stop this march of harlots into the residential areas despite the complaints of property owners who were forced to leave those homes because of the boisterous brothels. By 1870 when New Orleans had a population of 190,000, bordellos of many descriptions, from the ten dollar parlor house to the fifteen cent crib, were operating wide open on such important streets as St. Charles, Basin, Royal, Canal, Poydras, Union, Burgandy, Iberville, Bienville, Rampart, Toulouse, St. Peter, Villere, Dauphine, Perdido, St. Louis, Gasquet (now Cleveland), Common, Franklin and many others besides. Except in the outlying part of the city, there were hardly any blocks in New Orleans which did not have at least one brothel. It was common knowledge that all paid tribute to the corrupt politicians, the police and other state and city government officials. These grafters received as much as $200.00 a week from each of the large parlor houses and $20.00 from the lowly cribs. Business was exceptionally good during Mardi Gras celebrations. However, when business was slow these politicians and officials where astute enough to not only forego their weekly take but frequently advanced money to pay the running expenses of the brothels, until business improved. In addition, many of the larger parlor houses were financed and erected by city and state officials as a prime investment.

The Cop on the beat and the precinct Officers seldom shared in big money that found its way to their superiors. They had their own methods of shakedown. They demanded twenty-five cents a week from each girl of the crib and a dollar from each girl working out of the more elegant parlor houses. Payments for officials and politicians where usually made through bartenders or civilian agents. Many officials went from house to house making their own collections. The money for the Cop on the beat was usually left on the stoop on designated nights. There are still people in New Orleans (including the writer) who recall the days when little piles of quarters and dollars could be seen on the door steps of brothels (among milk bottles) by early risers. Newspaper reporters remember when policemen assigned to the red-light district came into the station house at weekly intervals with their pockets bulging with coins.

While many New Orleans streets acquired fame as places of vice during the Civil War and reconstruction periods and successfully maintained their reputation for many years thereafter; none reached the towering height of world-wide notoriety as did Basin Street. Basin Street began at Peter Street in the French Quarter, ran southward to Canal Street and continued southward to Toledony Street. Basin Street does not exist anymore, but it is still remembered in a popular blues song which describes it as 'heaven on earth' and 'the place where the white and black folk meet'.