Fighting the Traffic in Young Girls; Or, War on the White Slave Trade

by Unknown

Collier's Weekly has mentioned the cemetery owned by these men. It is quite a large section of what is known as the Washington Cemetery. Some of the women buried there, all of them foreigners, were murdered. One of them was found, the body covered with bruises and blood, and an iron bar about 18 inches long covered with blood was found near her body. Two others were strangled to death; another was found in an unconscious condition. A criminal operation had been performed which had not been successful. Several had died as the result of venereal disease. Some of the men died violent deaths; one was stabbed and died of blood poisoning. Another had his neck broken. The ages of the women varied, some were 22, 23, 24 and 25 years of age. Few of them were more than that. Fifteen babies are buried here, most of them only a few months old. In two cases coroner's inquests were held.

In the cafes frequented by these men and owned by them, one hears the vice question in its relation to the whole country discussed. The Chicago graft investigation is being discussed now and many guesses are made as to whether Mike really got the money or whether somebody put up a job on him, anyhow they all feel that Mike has distinguished himself by being so prominently connected with the men higher up.

The Association, unlike the French syndicate, imports very few women. They prey mostly on the ignorant immigrants who are already in this country in such large numbers. They are successful in securing nearly all the women they need in the large foreign centers here and are thus not under the necessity of paying the passage money of their victims to this country, but they do import some. Many of the members of this association are wealthy men. They own fine houses, automobiles, and some of them are credited with a great deal of political influence. When trouble comes to one of the members the record of the society is kept straight by passing a resolution expelling the man from the society. At the same time, the Association goes ahead and uses its money and influence to help the expelled member.

Most of the members of the Association come from Russian Poland and Galitzia, Austria. Very many of the women in their houses come from the same countries. It is interesting at this point to note that a prominent paper in Warsaw claims that they have discovered a white slave society which is practically a counterpart of the one in New York, with the difference that the Warsaw society exports the women, whereas the New York syndicate imports them. Some of the members of the New York Association are ex-criminals, having been convicted in their own country. Because of the strictness of the police in their native land, they have found it advisable to come to America. They still, however, have connections with men of their own class in those countries.

When word comes to New York that a certain city or state is wide open, some members of this syndicate go to these places and open up business. They either take their women along or after settling in a place send to some trustworthy member and have their women brought on. Practically the only charge that the local authorities of New York can bring against these men is that of vagrancy and no magistrate will convict on a charge of vagrancy when the alleged vagrant can show the deeds to property worth $20,000 or $30,000. An incident of this kind actually happened in New York three years ago.

The French syndicate as far as is known, is not an incorporated body like the Jewish organization, but that they have an organization is not questioned for a moment by those who have investigated conditions in New York City. The federal authorities have broken up a house which was alleged to be the headquarters of the French "macquereaux." Most of the women deported by the federal authorities in New York have been French women and most of the men arrested in this connection were also found to be of French extraction.

The report of the police department for 1908 shows that out of fifty-five applications for warrants for alien prostitutes, 41 were arrested, 30 were ordered deported, and 26 were actually deported. Seven cases are still pending; four were discharged and the others left the country or disappeared. Out of 19 warrants for the arrest of the alien men, 11 were arrested of whom four were sent to prison and ordered deported at the expiration of their sentence. Four were discharged; 2 cases are pending and one escaped. In most cases the men and women were French.

Owing to the vigilance of the Federal authorities, and co-operation of the police department, the French end of the business received a severe blow in the city of New York. Out of 400 French "macquereaux" known to have women in houses, at least 300 left the city when the Federal authorities began to secure convictions against some of their members. However, the decision given in the Keller-Ullman case by the Supreme Court, declaring the law which gave the Federal authorities power to imprison these men for harboring and maintaining women unconstitutional, the Frenchmen have taken heart and are coming back in increasing numbers to the city.

There are many angles to the white slave business in New York. Many women are enticed into houses of ill-fame by promises of marriage and by fake marriages. The cadet took a woman before a crooked notary public and went through a form of marriage but failed to file the agreement thereof, thereby suppressing the evidence of marriage, the purpose being to aid procurers who sometimes marry several girls in their vile purposes of compelling these unfortunates to live lives of shame, to enable them to profit by their villainy. The Commission of Immigration found that this practice had been largely suppressed by the new law requiring a marriage license. These notaries now advise as to the best way the law may be circumvented. As an illustration, one notary agreed to perform a real marriage between an investigator of the commission and a supposed Swedish girl, and to draw a contract transferring her property to the husband. The notary then advised the latter as to the best manner in which to make the new wife appear to have committed adultery so that the husband might be able to secure a divorce after having secured the girl's money.

That many of these houses in New York City are run under the guise of massage parlors is well known. Many of the women in these houses are French. A paper is published in New York in which the names and addresses of these houses are advertised. Innocent women are lured by advertisements for operators. The publisher of this paper is a notary public and is always willing to advise his advertisers how to carry on their immoral business. One of the difficulties that the Federal authorities have in putting a stop to the importation of these women into the country is the fact that very many of the women who have been actually intended for the disorderly houses are manifested to seemingly respectable people. These people, however, have some indirect connection with the business of prostitution. For instance, one man has what seems to be a perfectly legitimate and solid business as a manufacturer of women's clothes. However, his sole business is the supplying of that clothing to the disorderly houses throughout the country. It is said that women have come to work in his factory and have been turned over, after many glittering promises have been made to them, to some keeper of a disorderly house who made them inmates of his establishment. Some of the women go to work in restaurants where members of the Association have some interest, and thus the way is made easy for an introduction to the woman with the subsequent result of finding her way into a disorderly resort. Some of the procurers in New York work through the employment agencies. Since May, 1904, the Commissioner of Licenses has revoked 14 licenses of employment agents for sending girls to immoral places of whom 9 furnished immigrants chiefly. Nine other licenses were revoked for immoral conduct, eight furnished immigrants chiefly. The revocation of a license, however, is not an effective remedy, since in no case have fines or imprisonment been imposed for this violation of the law. Nine agents whose licenses were revoked for this reason are still acting as employment agents, or as runners for other employment agents. Investigators for the federal authorities and also of the State Commission of Immigration found agents in several sections of the city who are willing on payment of an extra fee to send girls to work in disorderly houses.