MARRIAGE TO AMERICAN CITIZENS.

In certain cases where there seemed some doubt regarding admission, the immigration authorities have permitted women who may technically at least have been subject to deportation under the law to remain in this country if they married American citizens. In some instances the woman has been allowed to stay if she married the person to whom she was booked, even though the man was a foreigner. There is every reason to believe that this device is followed by professional prostitutes who have no intention whatever of giving up their practices or of making a home for the men whom they marry. Presumably in many such instances the man is himself a pimp, and is taking the risk of bigamy, having already been married.

DIFFICULTIES OF DETECTION.

It is often extremely difficult to prove the illegal entrance of either women or procurers. The inspector has to judge mainly by their appearance and the stories they tell. Two French procurers and pimps bringing girls with them were, in 1908, detained at Ellis Island because they claimed to be chauffeurs and appeared to be entering in violation of the contract-labor law. At length, however, they were allowed to land, and went direct to the French headquarters named above, telling the story to their fellow-criminals, and joking at the expense of the immigration officials.

On the Canadian border some two years ago an immigration inspector stopped by mistake the wife of a prominent citizen of one of our leading commercial cities, a woman against whose character suspicion had never been raised. The inspector was judging merely by her appearance and manner in replying to his questions. Fortunately the inspector in charge learned her name and standing before she was given the reason for her detention. An excuse was made, with a polite apology for the inconvenience caused, and she went on, not knowing why she had been stopped. If such mistakes were committed frequently, the service would soon be discredited. An inspector is not likely to run the risk. The possibility of such mistakes permits almost any reasonably well-behaved woman, with some ingenuity in framing skillful answers to the usual inquiries, to enter the United States, whatever her character. The higher the social standing the woman seems to have, the more cautious the inspector is about causing her unnecessary delay and trouble.

SYSTEM OF EXPLOITATION.

The strongest appeal to the instincts of humanity in every rightminded person is made by a consideration of the brutal system employed by these traffickers in every way to exploit their victims, the hardened prostitute as well as the innocent maiden. The methods probably are not essentially different in the houses of prostitution filled with American girls, or on the part of the pinps who are exploiting them, from those obtaining in houses filled with foreign girls lately imported, or among the foreign women on the streets whose knowledge of English is barely enough to enable them to give an invitation. It is probable that a somewhat larger proportion of the

American girls are free from the control of a master; and yet, according to the best evidence obtainable-the stories of the women themselves and the keepers of houses-nearly all the women now engaged in this business in our large cities are subject to pimps to whom they give most of their earnings, or else they are under the domination of keepers of houses, a condition which is practically the same. A rigid administration of the law, driving girls out of disorderly houses, depriving them of their earnings on the streets, seems at times to drive the girls for protection and care into the clutches of the pimps, who as the price of their care take most or all of their earnings; and thus the system of subjection to a man has become common.

As has been already intimated, the motive dominating the procurer or pimp is that of commercial profit; the first thing to be done when a woman is imported is to place her where she can make money for him quickly and plentifully. The person bringing her into the country may

Take her with him to a lodging house or boarding house where he lives, engaging another room elsewhere where she may take men.

Put her into a disorderly house. If the house is not his own, he usually shares profits with the manager and reserves the right to remove his woman.

Sell her to the keeper of a disorderly house, or to a pimp, or to some intermediary.

Turn her over to his principal, if he has been acting merely as agent.

She

In the first-named case she must walk the streets and secure her patrons, who are to be exploited, not for her own sake but for that of her owner. Often he does not tell her even his real name. knows his haunts, where she may send him word in case of arrest, and she knows the place to which she must come every night and give him all her earnings. She must deny her importation, must lie regarding her residence, her address, and the time she has been in the country. If she tries to leave her man, she is threatened with arrest. If she resists, she finds all the men about her leagued against her; she may be beaten; in some cases when she has betrayed her betrayer she has been murdered.

It is the business of the man who controls the woman to provide police protection, either by bribing the police not to arrest her, or in case of arrest to secure bail, pay the fine, etc.; to make all business arrangements; to decide what streets, restaurants, dance halls, saloons, and similar places she shall frequent. If she is a foreigner, she is taught where to solicit, what expressions to use, where to take her men, how much to charge, and other like information. Above all, she is compelled to learn that she must give all her earnings to her man, must receive neither protection nor help from anyone else, and especially must never betray him. As a precaution, he seldom tells her his real name, giving her only the name by which the police or his fellows know him-as "Red Sam" or "Blink." The French have often very expressive titles, such as "Albert le Belge," "Louis L'Escalier," "Henri le Juif," "Frederick le Voleur," "George le Tête de Veau," "Carl le Terreur des Jeunes Filles," and "Maurice le Cocher."

The woman is told where she can find her pimp in case of need, at club, saloon, or gambling room; and she knows, of course, the place which stands for her home. She is expected every night to give him all her earnings. In some instances she is placed under the care of a woman of experience who teaches her the trade. She is invariably warned of the danger of deportation and instructed what lies to tell if she is arrested, in order to avoid deportation.

When placed in a house she is, in some cases, kindly treated by her man and the madam under whom she works, provided she is submissive and attractive and profitable. Her earnings may be large-ten times as much in this country as in eastern Europe. She may at times earn in one day from two to four times as much as her washerwoman can earn in a week, but of these earnings she generally gets practically nothing. If she is docile and beautiful and makes herself a favorite with the madam, she may occasionally be allowed to ride in the parks handsomely dressed; she may wear jewelry to attract a customer. But of her earnings the madam will take one-half; she must pay twice as much for board as she would pay elsewhere; she pays three or four times the regular price for clothes that are furnished her; and when these tolls have been taken little or nothing is left. She is usually kept heavily in debt in order that she may not escape; and besides that, her exploiters keep the books and often cheat her out of her rightful dues, even under the system of extortion which she recognizes.

Frequently she is not allowed to leave the house except in company with those who will watch her; she is deprived of all street clothing; she is forced to receive any visitor who chooses her to gratify his desires, however vile or unnatural; she often contracts loathsome and dangerous diseases and lives hopelessly on, looking forward to an early death.

A young girl when first entering the life is very likely soon to become pregnant. Frequently, usually perhaps, abortion is performed. Otherwise she is usually compelled to continue her work as long as possible; then, after discharge from a hospital, to give her child to a foundling asylum." If she tries to leave her man and get legitimate work, usually he threatens her by saying that he will tell her employer what her life has been-a measure sufficient to cause the loss of her place. Sometimes he beats her. If she betrays him, sometimes he kills her. This is the history of many alien girls, some scores of whom have been interviewed by the Commission's agents in courts, in penal institutions, and in maternity hospitals.

THE CONTROL OF THE GIRL.

The control of the man over his girl is explained in part by her real affection for him (in many cases he is her first lover), by the care which he gives her, by the threats which he makes against her, by even his brutality, and often beyond that there are many things that serve to make her condition helpless and hopeless. An innocent girl often revolts bitterly against the life and refuses to submit until compulsion is used. Then for a considerable length of time the man

"The lying-in hospital in the city of New York has an average per week of six unmarried immigrant women confined.

finds it necessary to watch her carefully until at length she is " broken in "-the technical expression. After that, if she tries to escape, he may apply for aid to almost any other pimp in any city in the United States. These men are constantly traveling; they frequent the same clubs, and are in close correspondence. If she has been seen by other men they make a business of remembering her, and her photograph, in case of escape, would be sent to other places. Not only do they wish to help one another, but they wish also to impress upon their own women the difficulties and danger of attempting to escape. It frequently appears as if the police made little effort to assist the girls; for in many cases it is their business to know every prostitute who comes to town, and they doubtless would be called upon if the girl felt that they would be of assistance. Instead of being able to rely on police protection, the girls are usually threatened with the police by their pimps and sometimes they are arrested and punished on some false complaint. Not only the keepers of disorderly houses, but even saloon keepers and the keepers of the "hotels" patronized by people of this class, naturally side with the men. All the women known by the girl are either unwilling or powerless to help her. Moreover, the alien woman is ignorant of the language of the country, knows nothing beyond a few blocks of the city where she lives, has usually no money, and no knowledge of the rescue homes and institutions which might help her. If she has been here long enough and has learned, through suffering, to become resourceful, possibly how to keep secretly a little money for herself, she has often become so nervously weakened, so morally degraded, that she can not look beyond to any better life, and apparently even loses desire for any change.

According to those best informed, a very large proportion of the pimps living in the United States are foreigners. Arrests made during the investigation of men violating section 3 include the following nationalities: Egyptian, French, Chinese, Belgian, Spanish, Japanese, Greek, Slavic, Hungarian, Italian, and Russian. The French, as a rule, import women of their own nationality. The Jews often import or harbor Russian, Austrian, Hungarian, Polish, or German women, doubtless usually of their own race. The Japanese import their own women and apparently seldom harbor others, while the Chinese import their own women, but frequently harbor Americans also.

There has been much talk in the newspapers of a great monopolistic corporation whose business it is to import and exploit these unfortunate women, trafficking in them from country to country. The Commission has been unable to learn of any such corporation and does not believe in its existence. Doubtless the importers and pimps have a wide acquaintance among themselves, and doubtless in many instances they have rather close business relations one with another; and inasmuch as all are criminals anyone escaping arrest can naturally appeal to another anywhere in the country for protection. Even a pimp whom he has never seen will give him shelter if he comes with a proper introduction. There are two organizations of importance, one French, the other Jewish, although as organizations they do not import. Apparently they hate each other; but their members would naturally join forces against the common enemy.

In several cities there are French headquarters-that is, a meeting place where the French importers, procurers, and pimps congregate, receive their mail, transact business, drink, gamble, and amuse themselves in other ways. Through these mutual acquaintanceships, sustained by common interests and a knowledge of their common affairs, they assist one another in the business. Sometimes small groups of individuals are organized to assist one another for a time, each going abroad in turn to send or bring girls into the United States. One combination discovered was formed of a fugitive from justice in Paris, a man in Chicago, and another in Seattle, the man in Paris supplying girls to the Northwest through Chicago and Seattle. Six of the foreigners deported from New York for violation of section 3 of the immigration act during the period of the investigation had criminal records abroad. One had been a convict for murder in a French penal colony.

There are large numbers of Jews scattered throughout the United States, although mainly located in New York and Chicago, who seduce and keep girls. Some of them are engaged in importation, but apparently they prey rather upon young girls whom they find on the street, in the dance halls, and similar places, and whom, by the methods already indicated-love-making and pretenses of marriagethey deceive and ruin. Many of them are petty thieves, pickpockets, and gamblers. They have also various resorts where they meet and receive their mail, transact business with one another, and visit.

The procurers and pimps of other nationalities are fewer in number, and the Commission has not discovered regularly organized clubs among them, although doubtless they have their meeting places. There seem to be a number of Italian pimps scattered throughout the country who are apparently vicious and criminal, and some of them seem to be more feared by their women than are pimps of other nationalities.

THE WOMEN IN THE HOUSES.

When the alien woman does not live with her man nor solicit upon the streets, she usually becomes an inmate of a disorderly house, often being placed there by her man who himself receives her share of her earnings. In the house she undergoes, of course, the same treatment as that which the native woman receives, with even less opportunity of defending herself, because of her lack of knowledge of the language and the customs of the country. This ignorance and her lack of friends make it practically impossible for her to escape. Her street clothes are often taken from her and locked up. Her jewelry is taken and not returned. The clothes supplied her can be used only in such a house. The money received from her customers is given to the manager of the house, she receiving a check for each dollar turned in. In most of the establishments discovered the woman was allowed to believe that she was credited on the books of the house with one-half of her earnings. If she was under the control of the proprietor, that remained to her credit. If she was placed there by a pimp, her share was regularly paid to him. From her one-half of her earnings are taken: The cost of importing and procuring her, her living expenses, physician's fees and medicines, fines, and her clothing for house wear.