WHITE SLAVERS' METHODS

Grey River Argus, 20 June 1910, Page 8

WHITE SLAVERS' METHODS

LUNDON, Ap^il 29

Theu pomiiaig International Ctomniission on the horrible trade in 'girls poli.eiy termed "l^h© Wln-te S.&ve Traf- Ifie," will, it is to toe devoutedly hoped, do so-ue thing tcwar<|s putting an e^di to ili& -hideout! business. Yearly scores of inoooent" English lassies are lured abroad ,tp be ruined mtraJly and physically in Ooontin.eini.al brcthel^. In some basecr 'they go with L he full consent of their parents, who fondly ibelive - that' their daughter is go^ng to take up a well-paid' post m jo^e geukemaja's estabashmeat, or as nauamaitleai to tome 'foreign iauy of n.gu ctegiee. ■• la others ithe' gwis ««upiy disappear]' leaving !no clue r <.o cxi«*V "\viiereaDoute. On© instantly 4L&6 in ,Jae Londc«i and provincial papers sJ^vertifitenients rciafbnig to, young women' who ief-tTiheJ* liojiies Lo"go for a walk, or to business, and reports of a.oti.aci,ed fathers ai^a ' nio L hera applying to poL-ce ccurj> inagistra.es fo asS^t them to find mißEa'ng daughters'. Ib is a. well-knpwja faob tha/J tihere are in England dozens of 'men. aaicl \\omoii actively engaged in ' securing ga-ls for Continental houses- of ill name. Some "of the methods of the criminals engaged in the' hideous business are ou.lineS by the well-known aiuhor Mr John Masefield d.n a lenter to the Tin.es. H e states that the procuieiv. at Avork in this co'un:ry are .mostly foreigner^. They adYeitise m coun ry newspapers foi % good-looking housemaids. Girls living in the countiy answer the advertisements, senb reference:., and perhaps photographs. The* procurers jpromise them posuj.onfi a.nd ask them to 00 me ito London. In some cases they send 'money for iihe ticket. When a girl arriyes aib the house or office of a procurer, she to 1 told that the lady who advertised has had to go abrcad, to France, Turkey, or wherever it' may be ; but (that she ha* left wor for the new servant to follow her as soon as possible. Money haei been tef : for the ticket. The procurer bids ,the girl think well before she decides to go abroad. He recommends that she should consult . he* parents and obtain their written cqngent- When this has been done he persuades her to sign a Statement that she goes abro&d of' her own will. To d&oeive the poiioa officials who watch the Continental steamboats at their ports of saving, the procurer dra.se s 'ihe girl in good clothes, and sends or ,takes her to <the Continent as a fuvt class 'passenger. He can afford a lavish expenditure. A youi g English girl will fetch £50. On her ai rival abroad the igirl is taken to a ■biothel and detained there as the slave of the keeper of the house. It is almost impossible to escape. It is said that after twelve months of existence in a brothel a girl exhibits no 1 trace of a moral mature, and that the \ majority of them only live for a few years.. • Sometimes the procurer, masquerading 'as a foreign nobleman, goes to a seaside resort in the- south of England. iHe contrives to scrape acquaintance with some good-looking .girl, and invites her to come - with him to Boulogne, or some' other. French port, on one of 'the many allday trips. When abroad with her he contrives that she shall miss the returning steamer. As a rule the girl j has little or- no money. She is in a foreign land in the care of a ruffian. It is easy for the procurer to dispose of her, as he thinks fit. . Some procurers make their living by seducing women. The victims^ often ibecome deeply devoted to them, and taking- advantage 'of s this, the ruffians persuade the igirls to go on the streets to earn money for them. Some of these unspeakable creatures have as many as half a dozen women earning money for them in various parts' of the town. These are the methods in favour among procurers 'in this countryIt is extremely difficult to- obtain conviction against the criminals who em-' ploy them. It is, as Mr'Masefield says, pitiful that the maximum punishment '-for piccuring- the swift, certain, 'bodily and spiritual ruin of girls of tender years should ibe set at two years 1 hard la/b"our, but such is the case. As I for the coming conference, the men ' who know most aibout the white slave traffic seem least hopeful of the results. A memib'er of the police force-

puts' matters in a nutshell thus bluntly, "They may hold a dozen conferences, but they'd do more good if. they'd hung a dozen ponces" — ponce being the cant term for procurer.