Kipling said in one of his poems, describing the doings of lawless people in the camps of one of the Northern countries, that, "There is never a law of God or man runs north of Forty-nine." That and more too might be said of the districts where the white slaver grows rich from his traffic in girls. The men and the women who engage in this traffic are more unspeakably low and vile than any other class of criminals. The burglar and holdup man are high-minded gentlemen by comparison. There is no more depraved class of people in the world than those human vultures who fatten on the shame of innocent young girls. Many of these white slave traders are recruited from the scum of the criminal classes of Europe.
And in this lies the revolting side of the situation. On the one hand the victims, pure, innocent, unsuspecting, trusting young girls—not a few of them mere children. On the other hand, the white slave trader, low, vile, depraved and cunning,—organically a criminal.
In the prosecutions which I have officially conducted against this class of criminals the fact has developed that when caught they generally are willing to arrange to pay heavy fines. These offers have, of course, been refused and we have taken the position that we will in no case accept merely a fine. In all these cases already tried we have asked the court to impose jail sentences and we expect to continue that policy. Men and women who make a living and fatten off the shame, the disgrace and the ruin of innocent young girls are a menace to the community, to whom no quarter should be given.
The rule in my office with reference to this class of cases is to show no quarter—to extend no consideration of any kind. We are requiring heavy bail and asking for imprisonment in the penitentiary in case of conviction. And I may add that no criminal convictions secured as a result of my efforts have yielded me a personal satisfaction to be compared with that afforded by the conviction of those engaged in the white slave trade.
One word more: I hope soon to see the time when the laws of the land will as carefully protect the daughters of the United States from the destroying hand of the white slave trader as the international treaty agreements now protect the girl who is brought in from foreign shores.
Respectfully,
EDWIN W. SIMS.
AT WORK IN THE VICE DISTRICT—AT THE VERY DOOR OF A DEN
In some cities the charitable organizations have missionaries whose work is among the denizens of the vice districts. This picture shows one of them pleading with a lost one to give up her sinful life.
