PUTRID PICCADILLY PICKIL

NZ Truth, Issue 433, 11 October 1913, Page 5

PUTRID PICCADILLY PICKIL

PERI, PROCURESS, AND SUPERIOR PERSONS.

UNSAVORY SCANDAL AT CENTRE OF EMPIRE. .

Queenie Gerald's High Jinks— Patronised by Prince, Peer, and s Politicians — Give-away 'Letters m Hands of Police — A Conspiracy of Silence— Keir Hardie Holds Forth. . .

'tFrorh ' "Truth V London Correspondent]

Same old APbeezOi When will workera over learn to see through the transparent piffle preached by party i. politicians? 'When, oh,- when, willthey get i hold of -somebody with brains, pay. him well,' put bim Tinto '"< Parliament, and give ; his political ■'A' earnings; to 'help their cause 1 ■ \ V Ten thousand of ttieni cheered' the '■ Chancellor of .the Exchequer at Notts, " when he Tasked what ;rig;tft any man had- to have more than' anyone' else ? TV'.^Vljiotoererthe Dooks ? Did tbey ever see a dook with pick m! hand at the ■"'" pittfs mobth ? f Did the dooks keep ■_• the country 1 And so on; and so on. That fetched 'em. ; Wbat a sublime statesman he was'! 'In the Voar of th^> enthusiasm, they forgot that he never went to tho pitt's mouth either, wi£h pick and shovel m hand, but camae' away Ir'atA it with lots m ''■ his pocket 'for all that; But> the Chancellor knew the gag, and put it on quick enough. He asked who wero the dooks ? Quite a t large df . persons -are' asking who, were ■'the peers mentioned m the cor- ,,- respondents •■''found- m the TPiccadilly bawdy hpu^e recently raided, the dis- ; closured concerning which are unfit for ; . publication: ' Echo answers, y who? .SenUmehtaJ slosh at a 'l. , worker's' meeting is one thing; hon- *■■ est^ of pu^jpose is quito>iinothei>. The "':, Home/ Secretary replied to numerous T. inquiries, by saying m* member of the .Government, or House; was con- *. , cerned m the .-case, and that m 'if'- Quesenio Gerald's papers (she is doing ''■A- three months), tho name jof no memV ber of Parliament figureim But Mr. "A McKenna ypt& Silent : on" the subject -. :\°!'Z. -.' ':■■:■;..■■■;■ ' 7. ';. ■'- ■. y THE v HOUSE OF, LORDS. Why ? He wato't asked. Queenie's ■ papers contained hot "only the namo :> ' ofa foreign prince, but those of six '- British , pee? s, one of whom is a dook, with seats m the busted-up vgouss- of Lords. But tjiero are several* (who,by the Way, are m the Opposition) of Socialist leanings, who will not let it res 6. The Home Secretary will soOn have no option but. to disclose the contents of those ' documents, and leave- the unfortu- ; nate scions Of aristocracy concerned the unpleasant tas"k of clearing tijimse'lves* of immoral" flltht That Is, of course, always supposing the papers ..have not, Tin the meantime, been pri- »^ s /_?^at^y pinched.- ';• ** % '•"': V"- * V V v ßut tbo idea' of kdepihg books m ["■ Queenie's lino of business is somewhat now. One always had the impression that th 6 industry m question was, conducted on a. caslt basis. $ne lives and learns. It seems that th the progrepfi of _ the . ago, it has Become tlie custom' of West End ■ Queenles to give their customers cre- »•'.. dit. arjd bpok the transactions. . Tho reason, why Queenie was not prosecuted under a charge of procur- ' . ing young girls, waa because^ the '-..._ cbargo would havo exposed the names of wealthy men. This would V have been a- more 'serious matter .--..'■ than tbo accidental discovery of a Cabinet Minister m Queenie's bowor. would have, meant tbat this amiable lady bad been conducting a criminal traffic on commission, and v tbat to shield, her and her principles '-. the hand of .Tustlco had been Btayed. ! UNnER ROYAL PATOON AGE. But it is by no means unusual for august (haw l) personages to patronise tho bowers of such butterflies ac Queenie. There Is an old story about H.R.H. the lato Duko of Edinburgh, who, when on a visit to Mol- , bourne m the sixties, was a patron of tm establishment run by one . Mother Fraser. The particular riymph of tbo beauty bower who attracted the dook bolng ■% Miss Sarah Saqui, a sweet young Jowess. On ono occasion, some giddy ' Governr^iont clerks out on .the ran tan stole n board from a coachbuilder's establishment, which bore the legend, "By appointment to his Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh." This thoy nailed over tho door of Mother l^raser's business bouse m Stephenstreet (now Exhibition-street), and left it thqro. It was firmly fixed up - and remained there until lato tho folldwing nf lor noon, for dwellers* In that fairy rbowor wero never early risers. Then they tried to get it dawn, but couldn't, ond a man had to bo sent for to remove it. • They woro giddy times. Mr. Keir Hardie, tho Socialist membor, who comes forward occasionally and makes, trouble, is stirring up a stink about tho Piccadilly raid. Ito wants to know who aro the customers on Queonle Gerald's hooka, and why aho wasn't prosecuted as' a procuress by the "John Hop," who raided tho show. There v has been a good donl of dirt dashed about over it slnco Parlltvmcnt shut down, and Mr. McKcnnn gave am- ! blgloua answors to anxious inquiries. Whon Keir Hardlo brought the matter up In tho Houso of Commons ho quoted from a newspapor report, which 'stated that letters wero placed m evidence which showed that Quoenio Gerald had acted as a procurer of young girls for certain woolthy and titled clients for immoral purposes. 'Hie Home Secretary said such ovldoncc hud not beon loci. Hardie then quoted the very words from tho London "Times." Tho Homo Secretary said ho had not read the 'Times" report. Hardie then quoted tbo "Daily News," nnd Mr, McKenna. tho Home Socrotnry, said the paper he hod was the "World's New*," and no such statement appeared In the report therein, ITurdio, again rising, quoted from the "World'B Kews" tho statement he had originally made. It turned out that Hardic'a copy of the said paper was oue of thr first edition, whilst that of tho Monte Secretary was one of the second edition. Thus the plot thickens. What Herdlo wants to know now is at whoso instance the part of tho evidence he quoted was deleted from the M^cotid nnd subsequent editions of all tho London newspapers. - » Thero were somo dooks ond v prince, and Lord knowa who on

> Queenie's books, who ran a sort of DKBIT LEDGER ACCOUNT ". m child flesh,- and half, Loudon wants to know all about it. Meanwhile, lawyers. and P^D.Js are expectant of toany divorce jobs.- ' Keir Hardie will have no half measures. He wants it all. • Why, he asks, was this woman let go on a small sentence, and others who were not half '^as bac! should get a bad time of iti>?* Because of the influence, of the Dooks and Earls, and the Prince and his money. That's why. ' Queen io got .three months m the second division as a brothel keeper. The Home Secretary told the House that, so far as he was concerned, every man might rest at ease that he; would not -disclose his name unless better I evidence was forthcoming that he j was the person charged, than the mere entry m the woman's books. The. statement, that half a dozen Peers rejoice m having their names • upon the ... books as 'business custdtmeifa was? never Contradicted. So i Keir Hardie has got on" the job. He | holds that" she'' waa carrying on a • contract with ybun& girls and was ,never prosecuted for- it. Were rich j men to be allowed to debauch girls j and then turn,; them adrift on the ; streets? In his opinion, ijt ■"-, was; a huge conspiracy to huSh.it up. Mr, |Wedgw;ood agreed, and said that ' there was no occasion to punish the- '.! persons. If their names were pub- , lished, all decent persons would shun ) them, and tbey would be punished i trell enough.- '' The Home Secretary | told the House that the girls who went to -.Queenie's ''flat were not "chickens,'' but were already on the town. The House had a big argument over it, and it all wound up m froth, 1 it being generally understood that, although the woman was requested to procure girls, and very young girls,' too, yet- there was no evidence that she bad done so. She jhad, m fact, | pEFRAUDEIp HER CUSTOMERS ' ; by procuring common prostitutes for them, and being well paid, too. Mr. Hardie has now published a pamphlet on the subject. The patnphlot gives tho history of tlio case, and goes m _ bald-headed for strong do- , nunciation of the jne.thods adopted ■j to hush it up. "Queenio Gerald,'' ho writes, "is no_t to be prosecuted on : htho/Cbargo of being; a ". Jirdcurossi " ' 'Tho '.evidence, says Mr. McKenna, is inj complete. *' The letters, with ono ex-

jception, that of tbo tout, Morris, who has fled the country, are, ho says, not signed m tho hand-writing of the' writers. These letters indicated a desire on . tho part of pcr--Bons unknown that Gerald should procure innocent girls for them. But she never did. How docs Mr. »lc- • Konna know that ? Why does ho mako that bold, unqualified statement on a matter of so great importance without procuring evidence ;in its support ? None of j THF, GIRLS WERE INNOCENT 'who wero found' on tho flat. But' has : Queonio Gerald mado her thousands ond acquired her Jewellery of almost fabulous prico out of, threo or four soiled girls. Waa it for such that thp flat was decked with sixteen dozen arum lilies, that tho botEcented baths wore prepared, that ; the whips and lashes, reminiscent of j Oriental orgies, wero provided? j That looks liko a < talo that inlght be told to the marines. j " 'Oh, jbut/ said Mr. McKenna, 'the dupes of her touts wore told j that sho would procure girls for ;them, und they gavo her large sums ;of money for that purpose, but, she j never did.' j "Marvellous ! If that statement jbo true, why is the woman not being j prosf'cuted as a swindler or a thief ? Is tho law so powerless that she can not bo touched at any point? In addition to the nameless letters, tho police have m their possession ledgers, casebooks and diaries which wero found at the flat. Those contain full names, perhaps, also, nd- , dresses. 'Ah, but,' pays McKenna. 'these are In the hand-writing of tho woman, and are, therefore, valueless as evidence.' Isn't it wonderful ? Cinquovalll isn't In it with our amazing Home Secretary. Tho let- , ters nro. of no uso, because they do , not contain real names m thi< imnd- . writing of the writers. Whon tho . real names aro. found, they aro of no use as .. «>vhlcnet_, because they ore m th-.* woman's handwriting. , "Supposing this had hocn ochartro' I against a number of strike leaders, or militant suffragettes, does -any- , one doubt thnt the able men nt [ Scotland Yard would havo somehow brought (he Jotters, luwl the led- ! ge*s, and thr- diaries together, nnd. by placing the evidence bit by hit, I would hnvo discovered the identity of the writers of tho letters *» Does anyone doubt It? X don't. Hut, m „ either of lho«M» cajms«. ih<»r<* .would , | not have been any Prince ■ ■"-, -. il VoilFlGNEl). OF COURSE. • or Sandhurst endat among the latter i writer*. Mr. McKenna appears I , anxious and willing to defend any- ► \ thing done tn connection with the jeoA<\ whilo disclaiming any Interior* \ I etvco by hIH own PeputHiuent. "My i contention, having regard to aU the

facta, is that there is evidence enough m tho bands of tho police cm which to base a charge of procuration against Queenie Gerald and. those who paid her large sums af money to procure girls for t:hem. . -.."; Tho authorities havo proof that tbo woman was a professed procuress, and the trial, and th© revelations connected therewith would not only strike terror into the heart of everyone m London, young and old, but would be valuable m educating public opinion on tho moral depths of degradation which exists m London, and on tho powerful and far-reaching agencies which are at work to luro our maidens ".froftr "IW path of virtue, and would probably lead to a strengthening of tho law for dealing with tho evil. . LET THE NATION SPEAK OUT. "Three hundred and fifty thousand fallon women on the streets of Great Britain .' Antl the late Quoon Victoria told us that tho Blblo is the secret of England's greatness I Orontncss ! — 350.000 fallen women. All of them somebody's lassies I Five hundred thousand frosh cases of tho most serious forms., of nameless dlseaso ■• every year — 500,000! Thnt Is worse than tho drink evil. The medical profession is thoroughly alarmed. They know what that means, to the coming generation, Lombard Mr. McKenna with petitions and resolutions culling upon bim to m.stituto proceedings neninst Queenie Qernld. charging her with being a procuress. Forget the Prlnco —there is very likely none such m the case— and tho Duke, who everyone believes is In the case, and the Sandhurst cadet, who Is known to bo m the case. These, If they exist, must take their chance." The extracts will serve to show tho determined stand tnk^n by ib* Labor member. The pamphlet hns created a sensation In London, and thero is some talk of there being public demonstrations made. Rut It is safo to prophesy thnt all will end In smoke, for the Dook and the snoofc and the other ends nro safe onoueh m tho security of their, toffy dwellings. Vet, had it b<?«.n a low. common den. how tbe papers would have denounce! the vlli, creatures » Th<*v would bftve givftn n»mw m full, and n«e«. nnd occupations. «nd fnmily history thrown Into one mwts of bldeou!! pottage for the pontile to dig tip and sip slowly until they had awollowed It all.