be wanted pretty bad

[shootingstar]

Black Tom's (public-house), to the front, presented the appearance of a fourth-rate saloon, devoted to Kanaka seamen, dirt, negro-head tobacco, bad cigars, worse gin, and guitars and banjos in a state of decline. The proprietor, a powerful coloured man, was at once a publican, a ward politician, leader of some brigade of "lambs" or "smashers," at the wind of whose clubs the party bosses and mayor were supposed to tremble, . . . I have seen worse-frequented saloons where there were fewer scandals; for Tom was often drunk himself: and there is no doubt the Lambs must have been a useful body, or the place would have been closed. I remember one day, not long before an election, seeing a blind man, very well dressed, led up to the counter and remain a long while in consultation with the negro. The pair looked so ill-assorted, and the awe with which the drinkers fell back and left them in the midst of an impromptu privacy was so unusual in such a place, that I turned to my next neighbour with a question. He told me the blind man was a distinguished party boss, called by some the King of San Francisco, but perhaps better known by his picturesque Chinese nickname of the Blind White Devil. "The Lambs must be wanted pretty bad, I guess," my informant added.
(The Wrecker by R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, chapter viii, Faces On The City Front, published 1892)

I much appreciate your help.
Please, what do you take be wanted pretty bad to mean in this context? Is it jargonised speech or slang? Is there a synonym for be wanted pretty bad? I suppose it could mean something like be wanted by the police etc.

 

[jutfrank]

Does it not mention who these 'lambs' are in the wider context? I would guess they may be some kind of political group of some kind whose influence is in demand by the blind man. I doubt that they're a criminal gang wanted by the police, if that's what you're asking, since they have their own "clubs".

 

[shootingstar]

Alas, the Lamps aren't mentioned furthermore. Yes, you are right - indeed, I see them as a gang; they are also called smashers and have clubs. But, maybe, I'm wrong. At any rate, what could be meant by be wanted pretty bad? The combination of be wanted and pretty bad troubles me.

 

[jutfrank]

I see them as a gang; they are also called smashers and have clubs.

Ah, I didn't think of that sense of 'clubs'. Perhaps you're right.

 

[shootingstar]

Nevertheless, the adverb (pretty) bad in combination with be wanted troubles me. What does bad mean there? Maybe it means something like pressing or intense, serious or desperate there. Please help.

 

[jutfrank]

pretty bad is usually similar to 'urgently' or 'desperately' or 'pressingly'.

 

[SoothingDave]

Seems pretty clear that the "Lambs" are political thugs. Goons.