Kapronczay Károly szerk.: Orvostörténeti Közlemények 202-205. (Budapest, 2008)
TANULMÁNYOK — ARTICLES - FORRAI, Judit: History of the politics of prostitution in Hungary (19-20th c.). - A 19-20. századi magyar prostitúciópolitika története
Taxation of the brothels was comprised of two types of taxes. One part was the state tax which was paid to the State Treasury, and the other was the local contribution: (Amount of tax in HUF) Lipót citypart Teréz citypart József citypart Ferenc citypart Total/HUF state tax 2218,03 180,93 317,25 69,86 2786,07 local tax 443,61 36,19 63,45 13,92 557,29 Number of brothels 3 2 15 21 41 Naturally, the highest tax was paid in the Inner city, where the number of brothels was one, as opposed to Lipót citypart where there were 3officially operating. In the Ferenc citypart, where most of the brothels were found (21 of them), the tax paid was lowest. Different parts of the city met the different needs of different income categories with their services, Ferenc citypart was the cheap service. The local tax contribution was a much smaller amount than the state tax, which meant that instead of the city, it was the State that intended to profit from this activity. This way the city was by no means motivated to make sure the regulations were adequately respected. From 1870 to 1874 the brothel tax was quadrupled in the capital city as a result of the increasing and expanding sex industry. These dates contradict the fact described by Weisz in his leaflet 10 . The municipal legislation authority representative submitted a question in which he complained about the high number of permits issued, that is of brothels and prostitutes. In his response, the mayor agreed with him regarding the interpellation, and thought that their execution did not have a positive result. He discussed this with the head of police on several occasions, and the decision was that the 1867 Act should be revised and amended. According to official data on the districts, the termination of 143 of the nests of vice was called for. If there are 143 quarters of pleasure more than the 40 permitted ones and we count that each has 3, 4 or 5 prostitutes per brothel, there are three times as many as the 800 registered prostitutes working (8). What can be the reason for the incorrect statistics and the fact that the data did not reflect reality? It is the hidden, unregistered income, the black market, and secret debauchery. Interconnections of interest, so frequent in practice, can be followed up in the abuse of power. Due to their right to control, and similar to the Eastern baksheesh" system, the authorities could exercise their power on different levels and at different prices by granting or denying pennissions. It was an accepted fact that the „poor bailiff", the district constable, would be happy to have a free glass of grog or brandy and would rather take a tip of 10-15 krajcars than escort a prostitute to the station. As a result of the extra income gained by procurers, officials in positions of control did nothing to hinder the foundation of new establishments". 10 D. Weisz; A prostitúció kérdése Budapesten (The question of prostitution in Budapest). Budapest, Szerző, 1878. " Means a tip or a bribe
