came, or of which he is a subject or a citizen, in the manner provided in sections twenty and twenty-one of this act. In all prosecutions under this section the testimony of a husband or wife shall be admissible and competent evidence against a wife or husband.

The agitation of the subject also resulted in the enactment of a law prohibiting the transportation of persons from one State to another for purposes of prostitution."

METHODS OF INVESTIGATION.

The investigation was begun in November, 1907, under the active supervision of a special committee of the Commission; the work was conducted by a special agent in charge, with numerous assistants. Too much credit can not be given to the agents who independently planned details and with cheerful courage, even at the risk of their lives at times, secured information relative to this traffic. Several of the agents under various pretexts had to associate on friendly terms with the criminal procurers, importers, and pimps, and their unfortunate or degraded victims, when a discovery of the agents' purposes might have resulted in their murder. One woman agent was attacked and beaten, escaping serious injury, if not murder, only with the greatest difficulty, and yet the next day she went cheerfully back to her work, though, of course, in another locality where she was not known. Special information was secured from men who had themselves acted as keepers of disorderly houses; from women who were managing houses; from physicians who had practiced in them; from women who had formerly been prostitutes; and from some of the unfortunate women who under false pretenses had been brought into the country for immoral purposes. These persons in some cases continue their friendly relations with those engaged in prostitution and the importation of women, although they themselves have abandoned the life. Credit should also be given to the police, court officials, and business men whose circumstances were such that their cooperation was especially helpful.

The investigation covered New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Salt Lake City, Ogden, Butte, Denver, Buffalo, Boston, and New Orleans. In some of these cities months were given to making a thorough investigation; in others, only time enough to gain a general knowledge of conditions. The work was also supplemented at times by arrests and prosecution in the courts.

In order to insure accuracy much care was taken in the selection of agents and witnesses, and, beyond that, statements were invariably checked by placing the work of one agent against that of another,

Public act No. 277, 61st Cong., 2d sess., approved June 25, 1910. See pp. 744-747.

Procurer: A man or woman who induces another, by whatever means, to enter a house of prostitution or to subject herself to another in prostitution. Importer: A man or woman who brings women or girls into the country for immoral purposes.

Pimp: A man who wholly or in part lives upon the earnings of a girl or woman who practices prostitution. Usually he is supposed to give some protection and care in return.

by testing the reports through arrests and trials, and by documentary material. In certain cases, naturally, the Commission relied upon the statements of the agents and others, based upon their personal observations and knowledge.

The nature of the business precludes, of course, exact statistics regarding the extent of the traffic as to the number of women imported or the number of importers. The investigation covered only those known as public prostitutes, not those practicing prostitution clandestinely. In the opinion of practically everyone who has had an opportunity for careful judgment, the numbers imported run well into the thousands each year.

For the purpose of guiding legislation, however, of more importance than statistical numbering is the collection of information regarding individual cases which show the methods of recruiting women for importation, the skill employed in evading detection by officers of the law, the measures used in exploiting to the utmost the beauty and charm of the victims, and the results of the traffic upon the women themselves and upon the community. Enough individual cases have been examined to form a basis for accurate judgment.

EXTENT OF VIOLATIONS OF THE LAW.

As before intimated, it is obviously impossible to secure figures showing the exact extent of the exploitation of women and girls in violation of the immigration act.

The annual reports of the Commissioner-General of Immigration give some indication of the extent of this illegal importation, although of course only a small percentage of the women and girls illegally entering the country are discovered and debarred at the port of entry or are afterwards apprehended and deported. These reports, however, show that during the five fiscal years, 1904 to 1908, 205 alien women were prevented from entering the United States on the ground. that they were prostitutes; 9 of these women were debarred in 1904, 24 in 1905, 30 in 1906, 18 in 1907, 124 in 1908.

During the same five years 53 persons were debarred because of their connection with the business of importing women for immoral purposes; 3 were debarred in 1904, 4 in 1905, 2 in 1906, 1 in 1907, 43 in 1908. The great increase in the number of those rejected in 1908 is doubtless due to the more stringent provisions of the new law of February 20, 1907, and particularly to the greater care of the immigration officials.

According to the reports of the Commissioner-General of Immigration, 124 aliens recorded as "prostitutes and females coming for any immoral purpose," and 43 persons recorded as "aliens who procure or attempt to bring in prostitutes or females for any immoral purpose," were debarred at United States ports during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1908. During the same period 44 aliens classed as prostitutes and females coming for any immoral purpose," and 2 "procurers," were deported under the provision of immigration law which authorizes the deportation, within three years, of persons who have entered the country in violation of law," while 21 were deported under section 3 of the immigration act of 1907, which provides for

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the deportation of aliens found practicing prostitution within three years after their admission to the United States.

In 1909 a more rigorous policy was adopted by the bureau. Under an order of March 18, 1908, immigration officials, selected because of their specific qualifications for this work, were assigned to different sections of the country, with instructions to canvass actively their respective districts for aliens subject to arrest and deportation for this cause. Notwithstanding the fact that it took these officials some time to get into touch with the situation, the results were very noticeable, and in the fiscal year 1909, 128 aliens classed as "prostitutes and females coming for any immoral purpose were deported as having entered the country in violation of law, and 133 were deported because found practicing prostitution within three years after entry, while the number of procurers deported was increased to 30.

The number of arrests made in the crusade of the immigration officials was considerably greater than the number of deportations effected, as will be noted from the following table, which covers the period January 1 to June 30, 1909:

TABLE 1.--Arrests and deportations during six months of 1909.

The number of deportations is much smaller than that of arrests, because the effectiveness of the law, so far as deportation is concerned, has been very greatly lessened by the decision of the United States Supreme Court in the Keller case," in which the court declared unconstitutional that part of the law under which persons were prosecuted for "harboring" alien women for immoral purposes. Naturally it is much more difficult to weave a chain of evidence about an importer or procurer than to convict a person of "harboring."

The records of the Bureau of Immigration show that more prostitutes and procurers are arrested and deported from New York than from any other port. Next in importance comes Montreal, representing the port of entry of Quebec, and then, in order, Seattle, San Francisco, San Antonio, Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, and others.

a 213 U. S. Supreme Court, 138.

NATIONALITY.

The races or peoples most largely represented among prostitutes and procurers deported from the United States during the fiscal years 1908 and 1909 are shown in the table next presented:

TABLE 2.-Aliens deported as prostitutes or procurers, fiscal years 1908 and 1909.

[Compiled from reports of the United States Commissioner-General of Immigration.]

During the period from November 15, 1908, to March 15, 1909, an agent of the Immigration Commission examined all alien women convicted in the night court of the city of New York of soliciting on the streets and of being inmates of disorderly houses. During that time 2,093 persons, of whom 581 were foreign-born, were convicted of these offenses. The following table shows the general nativity and race of those convicted:

TABLE 3.-Disorderly house and soliciting cases in the night court of New York from November 15, 1908, to March 15, 1909.

[This table includes those fined, held, sent to workhouse, or reprimanded.]

In the case of each foreign-born person convicted an attempt was made to ascertain in what year such person came to the United States. The result of this inquiry is as follows:

It will be noted that very few of those convicted acknowledge that they have arrived in this country within a period of three years. Such acknowledgment would of course subject them to deportation. Most of them apparently find it safer to name a period of from five to ten years. The figures are not to be looked upon as exact, but rather as indicating the knowledge of the law and of means adopted to evade it.

These figures clearly represent but a small percentage of the number of persons engaged in violating the law. This would be presumed by anyone at all familiar with the conditions, and from the nature of the business itself. The police and the social workers in the various cities all agree with this opinion.

The figures probably do indicate somewhat the nationality and race of those engaged in the business. It is also probable that they give a fairly accurate indication of the proportion of natives and aliens. They afford, therefore, some indication of the relative numbers of the nationalities and races of persons practicing prostitution on the streets of New York City; but even in this respect they are likely to be misleading, inasmuch as the number of persons brought to the court would doubtless depend somewhat upon the section of the city in which the arrests were made, and somewhat upon the skill of the persons concerned in evading arrest or in dealing with the police.

No indication is found in the data under consideration as to whether the women convicted began the practice of prostitution after they had arrived in this country or whether they were already professional street walkers before arrival.

If, however, there may be taken the opinions of the Commission's agents, secured by talking with the women, with the police, and with others familiar with the situation, it seems probable that the percentage of French women who practiced prostitution before arrival in this country is decidedly larger than the percentage of Hebrews who have engaged in that business before coming. Apparently the activity of the Jewish procurers and pimps in seducing young girls into this life in this country is greater than that of the French, whereas the French are somewhat more willing to adopt the bolder and perhaps on the whole more profitable plan of importing women who are already familiar with the life.