WHITE SLAVE TRAFFIC.

White Ribbon, Volume 19, Issue 225, 18 March 1914, Page 21

WHITE SLAVE TRAFFIC.

(Read by Mrs Field at Convention.) May i I) * allowed to take it tor granted that all here present have at least read the rerent articles in the “White Hibl> n.” and therefore know something ot what this traffic isr'

1 wonder din*s the history of the world hold anything woise, in all we read ot its savagery and cannibalism, its brutalities and inhumanities!' Can anything equal the white slave traffic of this 20th century? After two thousand years of Christianity in the most C hristian country of the \v< rid thousands and thousands of young girls are bought and sold into the most awful slavery of which the world has ever heard. Voting, and often refined, delicately-nurtured gills entrapped and held in a bondage so In ruble and so degrading that they can never again hold up their heads. Think what it must mean to be compell<*d to n*eeivc any and every visitor, to suffer namelos indignities; and we Christian wo* n en have never lost a night’s, sleep as we thought of them.' We read and hear, and we fear that it may happen to those we know and love; hut of the ethers, those we do not know, lmw e'lieh do we care? If we women of the British Dominion truly cared, these tilings need not he; they exist 1m cause of our indifference. How many of us have raised our voice against even the double standard of morality? I hope there is not <ne person present who believes that “man’s neeessity” demands the degradation of woman.

The traffic is a regular business : th'* merchants keep their hooks, in which the various items are entered. One syndicate alone reckons on a yearly pn fit < f 1*40,000. There an* huge organisation: all working together and supporting one another with both wealth and influence behind them. Their methods are so various and so cunning that not one of us would Im* safe if they wanted us. But it is y ung gills that are wanted, and they are being entrapped by tin* thousands, imprisoned, and broken in to tin* will of their owners. When the late W. J. St *:ul was interviewed by Mrs Jofcnhine Butler and Mrs Catherine Booth h“ was incredulous; but Mr Howard Vincent confirmed all that thev .sa*d. Discussing the methods with him, Mr St *a 1 asked if these girls when they were entrapped in some den of infamy did not sometimes cry cut * r scream. “CYrtninlv they do,” replied Mr Vincent. “And no assistance comes?” asked Mr Stead. “None,” was the 'Mini reply. ‘‘lt is enough to raire hell,” Mr Stead cried “It dims not cn n raise tin* neighbours,” said Mr Vincent. That was 28 years ago, and still there are educated, thinking women who believe it is better not to sp ak of these things. It has net yet raised the neighbours. Fyerv year in every large eitv of the civilised world thousands of girls are forced unwillingly into this life—a life so awful that in some eases they only

live a year, in others two years or more, but seldom as much as seven years ; and yet the price of an English girl is frt m £3O to £2OO. Do you wonder how it pays? Bead the pug* from an account-book kept In a woman who used to give credit to the inmates of her den. Tim page hears the names of eight girls, and a stroke is placed against their names for every man who visited them each day. On five successive days !i)l men visited this place. On one of the days <ne of the girls was called 4o times, on Another 23 times, on two smecssive da vs 21 times, on another 20 times the same girl. In five since ;sne daya 130 men subjects! this girl to iiuleseiibp.hlc brutalities. To those who do net know what tins life is to the girls win ai * drugged int > it, and are not afiaid to share a little of their sufferings, I would ncoinnienii Reginald Krauffman’- “A Daughter of Ishmael.” It is the storv <1 one gill and her successful struggle.' to g< t out of the life into which she had been ensnared'. If you are afraid of suffering don’t read it. But what < tin ts have t i ruffer, surely you can bear to read. As an indication of tin* extent to which the traffic is organised, 1 nn\ state that a small hook is published in Baris cr ntaining a directory of all houses of this sort in France, Belgium. Holland, the French colonies, and South America. It is intended for tin* information of traffickers in the life and honour of women. Ft m its pages they can learn where they can most profitably dispose of their victims, and where also they can get in touch with other agents.

It savs something for the purity of womanhood that in spite of the fact that tin* women of the civilised world largely outnumber tin* men, in spite also of the extreme poverty of millions, and the economic dependence of an even larger number, so few willinglv take to this life that such meth Is have to Im* adopted to supply the demand; for it is a question of supplv and demand. The demand f great, the simply limited; and if thi* awful traffic is to he stopped it must In* done bv decreasing the demand Nothing ebe will do it ; all the laws of the world will not do it while the demand continues l.aws without public opinion behind them arc of little effect. They are not enforced. We have quite recently had an instance of this. At the end of D)l2. after a big agitation, the Criminal Law Amendment Bill was passed to suppress this trail: :\ ee.d b*» 1 some fairly stringent clauses. In .July of last year, only eight months later. Queen ie Gera hi was arrested, chai **<l with keeping a disorderly house; but though even tin* Dcnutv-Chairman who tried the ease said that there were strong indications of procuration, it was not in the indictment, so sip* could net he convicted. It was or *nlv stated that the names of some of the leading peers of Fngland were in her hooks, but no one was arrested, nor were any of the men who were known to be }mr customers. The man who

was responsible for this case was Mr McKenna, who is also responsible for the torture of forcible feeding, and the vindictive enforcement of the Coercion Act. The question is In w to create the necessary public opinion. 1 think the fii.si step is to make known as widely as possible tin* character and extent ot tin* traffic. It is with this aim that the recent articles in the “White Ribh n” have been written and published, l id -ss tli * men and women ot our Dominion know of the existence of this traffic very little can Ik* d me. They must first he made t realise that it is ; fact that girls and young men too arc being entrapped drugged —stolen, and forced into this trade; that the men and women who do this are net doing it for their own gratification, but to make money out ot it. It is simply a cave ot pi curing their goods in the cheapest market and selling them in the dearest. Enough women v. ill not tak * up this life of their ow n frt e will, so they are procured by guiic. (hoof the latest methods is a hypo.de mil* syringe. A girl in a crowd who appears to he alone may feel a prick in her arm, in a litt! - wlnl • >|i.* mav tain, or begin to stagger; a man will i me forward and claim her as his wife, cr sister —subject to these attacks or given to drink. She disappeais, and her friends search in vain. It does not cost much; a eal) and rlu* is landed in some den of infamy, and from there sold in th"* best market. Her purchasers’ oik* aim is to make monev ' ut of her Nothing else matters; she is simply a bundle of merchandise, out of which lit* or sin* will make as much as possible while -lie lasts, and when worn out to Im* thrown on tin* streets, a physical and moral vvitck, to die in the iivi r or a lock hospital, a mass of loathsome disease. This is a plain state!. ,*nt ; thi: thing is no nightmare, hut an awful, hideous reality. It is lilt* a hla< k shadow King all over the civilised world —or i huge octopus whose tentacles reach < ut and vize one here and another there a tew thousand in this town, a few more for another. It is stated by a district attorney of New York that at a very low estimat * 10.000 fresh girls are imported into that city every year. That is only 'in* city, and 1 believe rot the worst. When we have made tho e whom we can reach realise the need, we mav do a httle by legislation. But if we <an do anything to lessen the den ai d we shall get the quickest results. Is it i sible to in some wav appeal to tli * e n? Can we find some way to i arh them and to make them realise Cm hideousness of the traffic which they are supporting? I believe it is perfect I v hopeless t app*sl to the traders; thev are determined to nv»ke iron *y. and they do net care at what <ost ; their hearts and consciences are utterly seared, or thev could never he in the trade; and many of their cus4«»m#»is are probably not much better. But 1 think they cannot all Im* utterly depraved. There must he manv men among them who have still mine sense

of right and justice, who are probably thou litlcss and indifferent, but not liojH'bsslv bad; and it is possible to in sonio way roach tlioso; to toll thorn what terrible consequences tboir actions are bringing on tlieso helpless girls; to rouse in thorn some finer toolings, and to bring them over to our side.

A suggestion will ooine Indore us in the form of a resolution from tbe Nels n I’nion, asking us to consider the advis»bilit\ of appointing a superintendent for this subject, to gather information, and also to suggest preventive

measures. Whatever is doouh'd on, I hope no woman will go from this Convention fooling that this is a thing that does not concern her. It concerns us all. Wo have it on fairly good authority that already this traffic has reach «*d mir shores; that over 20 girls have disappeared recently. I wrote tor information. May 1 here give you an extract from the letter 1 received. The w riter says : -Yes. girls are being sti'len from Y>w Zealand in connection with this infamous traffic. One of their agents, purporting to he with a “company, m i M 1 a girl reeoiitlv in the Hay of Islands, and that is the last that has been seen or heard of her. Frankton .1 unction seems to be the hot place. A n an and his wife in that district are n the track of girls. One girl worktor a lady I met in Te Aroha narrowly eseajHHl their clutches. They were in correspondence with her, offering better work, lietter wages, etc., an 1 th«> girl was ready to accept. But tin* lady her mistress saw one of the I 11" r" and suspect'd evil. She immediately sent the girl hack to her parents, and when the man and his wife called to see “their little friend.” r daughter, who was at home, to put them off the scent, said the girl had me to work for another family in the town, lmt she had forgotten the address; if they would call tin* next morning, when her mother was in, |>erhaps she might be able to get it Her moth* ris a very firm woman, and she wanted to meet them, hut they never returned. The girl is still sandy at heim*; hut as her h: me is near Frankton .Junction, there is no telling how long she may remain so. Then* have Im*ei) oases in Auckland that leave scarcely a shadow of d übt, hut it is extremely difficult to trace tin* cadets, and s > < lie can do hut little publicly.” The writer of this letter is doing what she can t warn parents and girU, hut is not able to give as much time to it ns she would wish. I lieliove wo are the largest and most influential woman s organisation in the Dominion, as we are in the world. What are wo going to do as an organisation, and what as individ miK? Id > hope you w ill each do something, not from selfish motives, not to save those you love, not to add a "tnr to your crown; hut that you ma\ have the inestimable privilege of bavin.' helm'd to raise a brother a lit 11“ higher, of having helped to save ;» sister from falling.