What is the meaning of 「ほうが」in this sentence?


It is a situation about bringing 2 troubled teenagers into a reform school.
The following dialogue was said by 2 officers who brought those kids.

A: おい とんでもない ばかがはいってきたものだぜ。

B：こういうところはかえっていくじのない **ほうが** 安全だということを知らんらしい。

I'm not sure if it would mean 'would be better'. However, I try to translate
the dialogue B as following:

"It would be better if coward guys coming to the place, I think there is no
one informing other people (in the place) about the safety".

**Extra question** : Does it lose the meaning as much if I omit the 「もの」in the
dialogue A?




You should parse the sentence this way:

> 『(こういうところは)(かえって)いくじのないほうが安全だ。』ということを知らんらしい。 Literally: They don't seem to
> know that in a place like this, on the contrary, it would be safer to be
> timid/a coward.

The subject of 「知らんらしい」 is the two teenagers (=「とんでもないばか」) who just entered
the place.

「～ほうが安全だ」 means "It is safer to ~~" "It is safer if ~~".

The かえって means "on the contrary", implying "on the contrary to what these two
kids actually are / the way they behave".

* * *

> おい とんでもない ばかがはいってきた **もの** だぜ

The もの is ＃㊃-② in [大辞林
第三版](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E7%89%A9-142633#E3.83.87.E3.82.B8.E3.82.BF.E3.83.AB.E5.A4.A7.E8.BE.9E.E6.B3.89):

> （「…ものだ」の形で）感動・詠嘆を表す。…なあ。 「あの難関をよくくぐり抜けた **もの** だ」 「故郷とはいい **もの** だ」
> 「あの男にも困った **もの** だ」

It's used to indicate/emphasize the speaker's amazement, surprise, admiration,
etc. The practical meaning of your sentence wouldn't change without the ものだ,
but the nuance would be different. The もの(だ) here indicates the speaker's
amazement at how とんでもないバカ these kids are, since the sentence wouldn't make
sense if you replaced the phrase とんでもないバカ with something like:

> *おい 少年が二人 入ってきた **もの** だぜ (← sounds strange)

