Since the beginning of the recent prosecutions in Chicago a score of keepers, realizing their guilt and fearing prosecution, have fled the country and have not yet been apprehended. If both the federal and the state governments had a law of this kind the escape of these criminals would not have involved a complete defeat of the law in their cases, for prosecution could have been brought against some person connected with their establishments, and when a conviction was secured the property occupied by them could have been closed out. A statute of this kind, wherever enacted, can scarcely fail to prove one of the most powerful and effective of all possible weaponsagainst the white slave traffic. And the smaller the city, the more effective will this weapon be found—which is only another way of saying that the larger the city the larger the toleration of the social vice.
One of the greatest weapons in the hands of the white slavers and of the keepers of houses of ill-fame to prevent the escape of fresh recruits and to submerge them into hopeless slavery is the system of indebtedness which is practiced in these places. The one object of those concerned in the subjugation of a girl who has become a victim of the wiles of the white slaver is to break down all hope of escape from the life of shame and bitterness into which she has been entrapped. Nothing has been found so effective a means to this end as the debtor system. The first thing a girl is compelled to do on being thrown into one of these houses is to buy an expensive wardrobe at from five to six times its actual value. To be more definite, I have in my possession bills rendered against certain inmates taken from the dens. In these bills stockings costing 75 cents have been charged at $3.00; shoes costing $2.50 are charged at $8.00, and kimonos costing $4.00 are charged at $15.00. As the goods themselves were seized as well as the bills for them, I am able to make this statement. In every case I have found that the girl was compelled to renew her outfit of finery whenever the keeper so dictated, without regard to her need of it. Our investigations have all shown that when a keeper imagined that a girl, an inmate, is intending to leave the place either openly or secretly, a new outfit is forced upon her at absurd figures and she is told that she cannot leave until every cent of her indebtedness has been wiped out, and that if she attempts to do so, they will "put the law on her." In the dozens of cases which I have examined there has not been a single one which has failed to show evidence of this kind. I have in my possession numerous copies of bills rendered against these wretched women in which their costumes reach as high a figure at $1,200 and even $1,500. This indebtedness system is mutually recognized and enforced between the keepers of all houses; in other words, no girl can leave one house and enter another unless she is able to show that she leaves no indebtedness behind her.
HON. CLIFFORD G. ROE
HON. CLIFFORD G. ROE
HON. HARRY A. PARKIN
HON. HARRY A. PARKIN
As this phase of business in the underworld is one of the main props of white slavery it is well to go into it with definiteness and to give examples which illustrates its operation.
In one of the recent raids a big Irish girl was taken and held as a witness. She was old enough, strong enough and wise enough, it seemed to me, to have overcome almost any kind of opposition—even physical violence. She could have put up a fight which few men, no matter how brutal, would care to meet. I asked her why she did not get out of the house, which was one of the worst in Chicago. Her answer was: "Get out—I can't. They makeus buy the cheapest rags and they are charged against us at fabulous prices; they make us change outfits at intervals of two or three weeks, until we are so deeply in debt that there is no hope of ever getting out from under. Then, to make such matters worse, we seldom get an accounting oftener than once in six months and sometimes ten months or a year will pass between settlements—and when we do get an accounting it is always to find ourselves deeper in debt than before. We've simply got to stick and that's all there is to it."
To frame an enactment which will knock this prop of indebtedness system out from under the white slave business might appear to be a most difficult matter, and yet I believe that the legislature which enacts a statute of which the following clause is the essential part will go a long way towards accomplishing this most desired result:
"And whoever shall hold, detain, restrain, or attempt to hold, detain or restrain in any house of prostitution or other place, any female for the purpose of compelling such female, directly or indirectly, by her voluntary or involuntary service or labor, to pay, liquidate or cancel any debt, dues or obligation incurred therein or said to have been incurred in such house of prostitution or other place, shall be deemed guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary at hard labor for not less than two or more than ten years."
There is only one other enactment which all legislatures should be urged to pass, and that is one which strikes directly at the white slaver, the "procurer," the owner or the "fellow." Keepers of houses of ill-fame have discovered that the hideous task of keeping the unwilling white slave in subjection is much easier if a certain ownership of her is vested in a man. In many cases this man is the one who is directly responsible for placing the girl in the house, but this is not invariably the case. When it is the case he receives not only a lump purchase price down on the delivery of his victim to the house, but he is recognized by the keeper as her owner and master, the one to whom a certain percentage of her income is paid and with whom all settlements on her account are made. What is more important in the eyes of the keeper is that this man is held absolutely responsible for the girl's subjection, and if she attempts to escape he must cajole, threaten or beat her into subjection. In one of the recent raids I chanced to come upon visual demonstration of how this peculiar phase of white slavery operates in actual practice. One of these "fellows" was disciplining a girl whom he "owned"—and doing so by the gentle process of forcing her against the wall with his hands at her throat.
Some of these "fellows" "own" two or three, or perhaps more, white slaves, and on the income of their slavery these brutes live in luxury at expensive hotels, maintain expensive automobiles and lead lives of luxury, idleness and dissipation.
While some states have statutes directly aimed at this system, it has been found extremely difficult to secure convictions against these most contemptible of all white slavers, for the reason that all of the existing statutes, so far as I am informed, make it necessary, at least by implication, for the prosecution to establish the fact that they derive their entire support from white slaves under their control—in other words, it devolves upon the state to demonstrate that the man on trial has no other visible means of support. As a consequence the defense set up is almost invariably calculated to prove that the man on trial is a solicitor for a tailoring establishment, a laundry or some other legitimate business enterprise.
In view of this fact, it seems to me an enactment drawn upon the following lines would be effective:
"Any person who shall knowingly accept or receive in whole or in part support or maintenance from the proceeds or earnings of any woman engaged in prostitution shall be deemed guilty of a felony and on conviction thereof shall be confined in the penitentiary not less than one (1) nor more than three (3) years and fined not exceeding one thousand dollars, or both, in the discretion of the court."
Not long since I was asked how many persons I supposed Chicago contained who wouldcome under a statute of this kind and who ought to receive sentence under it. My reply was this:
"Probably there are five thousand women in Chicago today following the so-called profession of prostitution, and it would seem to me, from the testimony obtained in the course of the recent white slave prosecutions here that at least one-fourth that number of male parasites are supported in whole or in part in this manner and would therefore come within the meaning of such a statute."
So much for specific legislation which ought, as a protection to the young womanhood of this country, to be passed by the legislature of every state in this country not already having statutes which adequately cover all the points involved in the clauses which I have suggested. The next practical question to be raised—and which I hope every reader of this article will ask—is this:
"How can the legislatures be induced to make these needed enactments?"
Or, to express myself a little differently, if each reader were to ask me:
"What is the quickest and most practical way by which I may get action on the legislature of my own state?"
I would suggest the following methods: Find the names of the men who represent your district in the general assembly of your state and write to each one of them a letter substantially as follows:
"Hon...................."Dear Sir:—I am in hearty sympathy with the legislation against the white slave traffic proposed by the Woman's World and urge you to secure the passage of laws which shall embody the clauses and enactments suggested in the enclosed article clipped from that journal."You surely will not question the worthiness or the need of laws of this kind and I ask the further favor of a reply from you indicating your attitude with regard to this most important matter."Yours sincerely,..............."
"Hon....................
"Dear Sir:—I am in hearty sympathy with the legislation against the white slave traffic proposed by the Woman's World and urge you to secure the passage of laws which shall embody the clauses and enactments suggested in the enclosed article clipped from that journal.
"You surely will not question the worthiness or the need of laws of this kind and I ask the further favor of a reply from you indicating your attitude with regard to this most important matter.
"Yours sincerely,
..............."
Also I would suggest that readers who are members of churches or habitual attendants upon church services, take this matter up with the pastors of their churches, each requesting his or her pastor to confer with the other pastors of his community to the end of preparing a petition to be sent to the representatives from that district in the legislature, urging the passage of the enactments above suggested. If these petitions are vigorously circulated they will receive the signatures of practically the entire citizenship of every community and will have a powerful, not to say compelling, influence upon the representatives and state senators who receive them. Women's Clubs, Law and Order Leagues, Christian Endeavor Societies, Epworth Leagues, Grangers and Farmers' Institutes, Young Men's ChristianAssociations, Young Women's Christian Associations and Women's Temperance Unions in every city, village and hamlet of the country, scan also exert a powerful and practical influence in securing such legislation as a protection against the ravages of the white slavers by passing suitable resolutions of endorsement and sending those resolutions to the men representing their several communities in the general assembly of their state. While, as I say, these memorials on the part of respected organizations will do a useful work in shaping the course of legislation, this will not take the place or do the work of the individual personal letter, and every reader who is sincerely and earnestly interested in securing such legislation as I have outlined will miss the main stroke of influence if he or she fails to write a personal letter to the men representing his or her district in the general assembly of the state.
And whenever such a letter is written the various clauses given in this article should be incorporated in the letter; this will put your request in definite and explicit terms, a result greatly to be desired.
I cannot close this article without recurring to the statement made at the outset to the effect that many persons still remain unconvinced that the white slave traffic is a thing of widespread and actual existence; that it is the established calling of hundreds of men to lure and kidnap innocent girls into a life ofshame and to sell them into houses of prostitution, where they are kept against their will in the most revolting of all human slaveries.
In my desk at this moment is a letter from which the following is taken:
"There are in that house, No. ——, two girls by the names of Annie and Edith. One has been there for two years and is not allowed to go out of the house. . . . is not even allowed to write to her own people, and whose mail is opened and read before she is allowed to look at it. The other girl has been there seven months and has never been out of the house."
This letter was written by one who knew the facts in the case.
A very few days ago this pitiful case was, in an official way, brought to my attention. A little German girl in Buffalo married a man who deserted her about the time her child was born. Her baby is now about eight or nine months old. Almost immediately after her husband ran away she formed the acquaintance of an engaging young man who claimed to take deep interest in her welfare, and in that of a certain girl friend of hers. He persuaded them both that if they would accompany him to Chicago he would immediately place them in employment which would be far more profitable than anything they could obtain in Buffalo. Supposing that the work awaiting her was entirely legitimate and respectable the little mother took her baby and, in company withthe young man and with her friend, came to Chicago. The next task of this human fiend was to persuade this "child widow" that it would be necessary for her to place her baby temporarily in a foundling's home in order that it might not interfere with her employment. This accomplished, he took the two young women at once to a notorious house and sold them into white slavery. Thenceforth this fellow has lived in luxury upon the shameful earnings of these two victims. The young mother has attempted by every means imaginable to escape from his clutches and at last has importuned him into a promise to release his hold upon her on the payment of $300. She is still "working out" the price of her release. It is scarcely too much to say that she looks twice her age.
One other example from the current history of the white slave trade as it is pursued today. Only a few nights since a physician was calling professionally at one of the houses of Chicago's "Red Light" district. Two men and a young woman entered the door just before him and took seats at a table. A glance at her fresh and innocent face was enough to convince him that she was out of her element and probably unaware of the character of her surroundings. Stepping abruptly to the table, the physician looked the young woman straight in the eye and asked:
"Madam, do you know that this is a house of prostitution?"
"No," was the trembling answer.
"Are you a woman of the street?" he persisted.
She flushed indignantly, but finally replied:
"No—I am a respectable woman and I supposed I was being taken to a ladies' cafe."
Her companions bolted for the door and made their escape. The physician then called a policeman, who escorted the young woman to her home and found her statements to be true—that she was a respectable girl and had believed her "friends" to be taking her to a respectable restaurant.
Tragedies of this kind are happening every day and all over this country. It is time for the decent people of the United States to wake up, realize what is going on in the underworld and to take strong measures to protect their daughters and their neighbors' daughters from the hands of the most despicable and inhuman of all criminals, the white slave traders.
By Harry A. Parkin, Assistant United States District Attorney, Chicago.
The war for exterminating the white slave traffic has progressed so rapidly and has attained such enormous proportions, that it is not now confined to one state or country, but people from every state in the United States, in Canada, England, and other foreign countries, have taken up the slogan and are vitally interested in assisting to curb the monstrous traffic. Laws have been enacted in several of the states during the past sessions of their respective legislatures. In other states new laws are contemplated. Reports are received by the Committee on Legislation daily which are indeed encouraging and show the need of centralizing the effort and assisting citizens of the different states who so frequently are at a loss to know exactly what to do when a white slave case comes within their observation.
To meet this need and to further the effort to secure proper legislation, the Committee has decided to publish the following digest of the laws of every state in the Union, so far as practicable, for distribution to those who are interested in this warfare.
In this connection the Committee desires to acknowledge its very deep sense of gratitude and appreciation to the governors of the respective states, their assistants and attorney generals, for the data furnished by them contained within these pages. It is indeed an encouraging sign when men in high public office stop for a time from the stress of their official duties to assist in a world-wide undertaking of this kind.
The reader will find in these pages all of the laws of each state in the United States, so far as obtainable, which affect in any way, and which may be used to throttle the white slave traffic. There will also be found simple directions to be followed by the citizen who becomes acquainted with a white slave case and who desires to have it properly prosecuted. The digest has been made as simple as possible, and technical legal terms and phrases have been avoided where possible in order that every one, be he lawyer or layman, may be able to read and act understandingly.
The Committee.
The section of the United States statutes which is the basis of the Federal prosecutions is known as Section Three of the Act of February 20, 1907. It may be found in United States Compiled Statutes, Supplement 1907, page 392.
The Congress of the United States, on February 20, 1907, passed what is known as the Immigration Act. This Act covers twenty-three printed pages affecting the immigration of all classes of peoples to the United States. Among other provisions, Section 3 of this Act attempted to prohibit the importation of alien women and girls for immoral purposes. This section was made sufficiently broad to prohibit not only the importation, but the keeping, even with the consent of the alien, of any foreign woman or girl for immoral purposes. The Act is as follows:
Sec. 3. That the importation into the United States of any alien woman or girl for the purpose of prostitution, or for any other immoral purpose, is hereby forbidden; and whoever shall, directly or indirectly, import, or attempt to import, into the United States, any alien woman or girl for the purpose of prostitution, or for any other immoral purpose, or whoever shall hold or attempt to hold any alien woman or girl for any such purpose in pursuance of such illegal importation, or whoever shall keep, maintain, control, support, or harbor in any house or other place, for the purpose of prostitution, or for any other immoral purpose, any alien woman or girl, within three years after she shall have entered the United States, shall, in every such case, be deemed guilty of a felony,and on conviction thereof be imprisoned not more than five years and pay a fine of not more than five thousand dollars; and any alien woman or girl who shall be found an inmate of a house of prostitution or practicing prostitution, at any time within three years after she shall have entered the United States, shall be deemed to be unlawfully within the United States and shall be deported as provided by sections twenty and twenty-one of this Act.
It is this section of the Act under which the prosecutions in the Northern District of Illinois were instituted by United States District Attorney Sims in June of nineteen hundred and eight, and which resulted in the imprisonment of so many procurers and keepers of houses of ill-fame. Among the cases which were tried before a jury and which resulted in a conviction of the keepers, was a case entitled United States v. Keller and Ullman. These defendants were charged with having harbored Irene Bodi, a native of Austria, within three years after she had entered the United States, and found guilty by the jury and sentenced to imprisonment in the penitentiary at Fort Leavenworth for one and one-half years each. They thereupon prosecuted an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, alleging among other things that the law under which they were convicted was unconstitutional, in that the clause "keep, maintain, control, support, or harbor," attempted to embrace powers not given by the constitution to Congress, but reserved to the respective states and to be within their police powers. This contention was upheld by the Supreme Court. The result is that so much of Section 3 of the Act of February 20, 1907, as attempted to prosecute a keeper who simply harbored or permitted to be within his house of prostitution an alien woman or girl within three years after her arrival in this country was wiped out of the statute, and the section of the Act must now be read as follows:
Sec. 3. That the importation into the United States of any alien woman or girl for the purpose of prostitution, or for any other immoral purpose, is hereby forbidden; and whoever shall, directly or indirectly, import, or attempt to import, into the United States, any alien woman or girl for the purpose of prostitution, or for any other immoral purpose, or whoever shall hold or attempt to hold any alien woman or girl for any such purpose in pursuance of such illegal importation, shall, in every such case, be deemed guilty of a felony, and on conviction thereof be imprisoned not more than five years and pay a fine of not more than five thousand dollars; and any alien woman or girl who shall be found an inmate of a house of prostitution or practicing prostitution, at any time within three years after she shall have entered the United States, shall be deemed to be unlawfully within the United States and shall be deported as provided by sections twenty and twenty-one of this Act.
It will thus be seen, by comparing the Act as originally signed by the President and the Act as it now reads, after the decision of the Supreme Court, that it is necessary in every case to show that the person who holds the alien had directly or indirectly imported the same alien into the United States for immoral purposes. In other words, the federal authorities are now restricted to cases where they are able to prove that the defendant imported the girl prior to the time she was found in his house of prostitution. This will very materially lessen the number of federal prosecutions, as it is extremely difficult in the vast majority of cases to show that the person in whose house the alien was found was in every instance responsible for her importation. It is to be hoped that Congress during its coming session shall see fit to enact remedial legislation which shall correct that clause of the Act declared unconstitutional, or if this shall be found impossible, to at least broaden the present scope of Section 3 of the Immigration Act so that it can be made more comprehensive and far-reaching.
WHERE YOUNG MEN BUY INSANITY CHEAP
WHERE YOUNG MEN BUY INSANITY CHEAPA whole row of low dives and vice resorts. It is here that the white slaves are taken; it is here where the sinful pleasures of the young men wreck their bodies and steal their manhood.
OLD GLORY AND OLDER GLORY—"THESE DIVES MUST GO"
OLD GLORY AND OLDER GLORY—"THESE DIVES MUST GO"The author, Rev. Ernest A. Bell, holding a meeting in the vice district—at the open door of a notorious resort
Another result of the action of the Supreme Court is to emphasize the great need for legislation by the respective states looking to laws which shall minimize the placing of girls in houses of prostitution within the several states, and which shall prevent the migration from one state to another of women for immoral purposes. Many of the states have already responded. The State of North Dakotahas enacted a law to hit White Slavery. South Dakota has done the same. Illinois has already passed two excellent bills drawn on the lines suggested in the March issue of the Woman's World. The State of Iowa has also enacted a law aimed at White Slavery.
Procedure.
Prosecution for violation of the Federal laws rests with the United States district attorney in the respective districts. The matter should be brought to his attention and the evidence submitted for his examination. The usual procedure is to then present the matter to the Federal grand jury, if one be sitting, or to arrest the defendant and prosecute him before a United States commissioner.
In Alabama any person who takes a female from her father, mother, guardian or other person having the legal charge of her without his or her consent, for the purpose of prostitution or concubinage, shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary not less than ten nor more than twenty years.
Alabama Code, 1852, Sec. 3095; 1871, Ch. 56, Sec. 3.
Alabama Code, 1852, Sec. 3095; 1871, Ch. 56, Sec. 3.
Any person who takes any female unlawfully, against her will, with the intent to compel her, by menace, duress or force to marry him or any other person, or be defiled, shall on conviction be imprisoned in the penitentiarynot less than ten nor more than twenty-one years.
Alabama Code, 1852, Sec. 3094; 1871, Ch. 56, Sec. 3.
Alabama Code, 1852, Sec. 3094; 1871, Ch. 56, Sec. 3.
The above section is aimed at one who takes a female with the intent to compel her to suffer the crimes enumerated. There is a further section aimed at the person who actually accomplishes the result intended and covered by the previous section. The latter section is as follows:
Any person who takes any female and by menace, duress or force compels her to marry him or any other person or be defiled, shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary not less than ten nor more than twenty-one years.
Alabama Code, 1871, Ch. 56, Sec. 3.
Alabama Code, 1871, Ch. 56, Sec. 3.
It is no defense to a charge of abduction that the elopement was with the consent of the female and at her request, and the burden of proof as to the chastity of the woman abducted, in an indictment, is upon the defendant.
Any parent or guardian or person having charge or custody of a female such as is mentioned by the preceding paragraphs, who permits or encourages or abets in the commission of the crimes above set forth can be punished the same as the person who actually seduces the girl.
Alabama Code, 1893, Ch. 129, Sec. 1.
Alabama Code, 1893, Ch. 129, Sec. 1.
Procedure.
Report any violation to the prosecuting officer of the county in which the crime was committed.
That if any person, under promise of marriage, shall seduce and have illicit connection with any unmarried female of previous chaste character, such person, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary not less than one nor more than five years; or by imprisonment in the county jail not less than three months nor more than one year, or by fine not less than five hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars. A subsequent marriage of the parties, or offer to marry in good faith, is a defense to a violation of this section.
Section 123, Ch. 7, Carter's Annotated Alaska Codes.
Section 123, Ch. 7, Carter's Annotated Alaska Codes.
Procedure.
Report violation to the District Attorney for the district in which the crime is alleged to have been committed.
Every person who inveigles or entices any female, of previous chaste character, into any house of ill-fame or assignation, or elsewhere, for the purpose of prostitution; or to have illicit carnal connection with any man; and every person who, by any false pretenses, false representations or other fraudulent means, procures any female to have illicit carnal connection with any man, is punishable by imprisonment in the territorial prison not exceeding five years, or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
Section 235, Ch. 1, Revised Statutes of Arizona, 1901.
Section 235, Ch. 1, Revised Statutes of Arizona, 1901.
Every person who takes away any female under the age of eighteen years from her father, mother, guardian, or other person having the legal charge of her person, without their consent, for the purpose of prostitution, is punishable by imprisonment in the territorial prison not exceeding five years, and a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars.
Section 236. Id.
Section 236. Id.
Procedure.
Report violation to the District Attorney for the district in which the crime is alleged to have been committed.
"Every person who, within this state, takes any female person against her will and without her consent, or with her consent procured by fraudulent inducement or misrepresentation, for the purpose of prostitution, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding five years, and a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars. 266a. Penal Code.
"Every person who takes any female person unlawfully, and against her will, and by force, menace, or duress, compels her to live with him in an illicit relation, against her consent, or to so live with any other person, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not less than two nor more than four years. 266b. Penal Code.
"Every person bringing to, or landing within this state, any female person born in the Empire of China or the Empire of Japan, or the islands adjacent thereto, with intent to place her in charge or custody of any other person, and against her will to compel her to reside with him, or for the purpose of selling her to any person whomsoever, is punishable by a fine of not less than one nor more than five thousand dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail not less than six nor more than twelve months. 266c Penal Code.
"Any person who receives any money or other valuable thing for or on account of his placing in custody any female for the purpose of causing her to cohabit with any male to whom she is not married, is guilty of a felony. 266d. Penal Code.
"Every person who purchases, or pays any money or other valuable thing for any female person for the purpose of prostitution, or for the purpose of placing her, for immoral purposes, in any house or place against her will, is guilty of a felony. 266e. Penal Code.
"Every person who sells any female person or receives any money or other valuable thingfor or on account of his placing in custody, for immoral purposes any female person, whether with or without her consent, is guilty of a felony." 266f. Penal Code.
Procedure.
Present the facts within your knowledge of the alleged crime to the District Attorney of the county in which the crime is alleged to have been committed.
"Any male or female person, over the age of eighteen years, who shall procure, encourage, persuade, induce, or prevail upon any female person of previous chaste character to have sexual intercourse for hire, with any male person other than himself shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary for not less than one year or more than five years.
"Any male person, over the age of eighteen years, who shall act as an employee or servant in or about any room, house, or place of prostitution, or who shall engage or assist in operating or managing any room, house or building for the purpose of carrying on prostitution, or any male or female person, over the age of eighteen years, who shall knowingly live on, or be supported in whole or in part by the money or other valuable consideration realized, procured or earned by any female person through the prostitution of any other female person or persons, shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary for not less than one year nor more than five years.
"In all prosecutions under this act a husband or wife shall be a competent witness against the other, and the wife may be compelled to testify on behalf of the people in any prosecution under this act wherein her husband shall be a party defendant.
"Nothing in this act shall be held to alter or in any manner affect the laws relating to incest, the infamous crime against nature, seduction, adultery, rape, fornication, or other kindred offenses against the person or the public morals, nor any prosecution for such offenses." Session Laws of 1909.
Procedure.
Present the evidence of the violation believed to have been committed to the City Attorney or District Attorney of the city or county in which the crime is alleged to have been committed.
"Any person having the care, custody, or control of any minor child under the age of eighteen years who shall in any manner, sell, apprentice, give away, or otherwise dispose of such minor, or any person who shall take, receive, or employ such child for the purpose ofprostitution, or any person who shall retain, harbor, or employ any minor child in or about any assignation house or brothel, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof before any justice of the peace or court of record shall be fined not less than twenty dollars nor more than one hundred dollars for each and every offense."
Sec. 2, Chap. 150, Vol. 16, Laws of Delaware as amended 1895.
Sec. 2, Chap. 150, Vol. 16, Laws of Delaware as amended 1895.
Procedure.
Present the matter to the prosecuting officer of the county in which the crime is alleged to have been committed.
"Whoever fraudulently and deceitfully entices or takes away an unmarried woman, of a chaste life and conversation, from her father's house, or wherever else she may be found, for the purpose of prostitution at a house of ill-fame, assignation or elsewhere, and whoever aids and assists in such abduction for such purpose, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding three years, or in the county jail not exceeding one year, or by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars."
Section 3523, Florida Stat.
Section 3523, Florida Stat.
"Whoever procures for prostitution, or causes to be prostituted, any unmarried female who is under the age of sixteen years shall bepunished by imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding ten years."
Sec. 3537, Florida Statutes.
Sec. 3537, Florida Statutes.
Procedure.
Present the facts within your knowledge of the alleged crime to the State's Attorney of the county in which the crime is alleged to have been committed.
The State of Georgia apparently has no law bearing upon the specific crimes enumerated in the various other states. The attorney general for the state writes as follows:
"Georgia has no law bearing upon the specific question in issue, but it would be in the very nature of things a crime for any person or persons to assist in inducing girls to houses of ill fame. They would at least be particeps criminis, and under the general laws on the subject which include all crimes, be punished as principals. Aside from that, as stated, we have no law bearing directly on the subject."
Every person who inveigles or entices any unmarried female, of previous chaste character, under the age of eighteen years, into any house of ill-fame, or of assignation, or elsewhere, for the purpose of prostitution, or to have illicit carnal connection with any man; and every person who aids or assists in suchinveiglement or enticement, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison, not exceeding five years, or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
Sec. 6770, Idaho Revised Code, Vol. 2, 1908.
Sec. 6770, Idaho Revised Code, Vol. 2, 1908.
Every person who takes away any female under the age of eighteen years from her father, mother, guardian, or other person having the legal charge of her person, without their consent, for the purpose of prostitution, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding five years, and a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars.
Sec. 6771. Id.
Sec. 6771. Id.
Any proprietor, keeper, manager, conductor, or person having the control, of any house of prostitution, or any house or room resorted to for the purpose of prostitution, who shall admit or keep any minor of either sex therein, or any parent or guardian of any such minor who shall admit or keep such minor, or sanction, or connive at the admission or keeping thereof, into, or in any such house or room, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
Sec. 6772. Id.
Sec. 6772. Id.
Procedure.
Present the facts in the case to the prosecuting attorney of the county in which the crime is alleged to have been committed.
It is believed that the statutes passed by the recent legislature of Illinois present model laws which may well be copied by any state. These laws are therefore published in full. They are as follows:
SESSION LAWS, 1909, P. 179.
An act to prevent the detention, by debt or otherwise, of female persons in houses of prostitution or other places where prostitution is practiced or allowed, and providing for the punishment thereof.
Section 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly. That whoever shall by any means keep, hold, detain, against her will, or restrain any female person in a house of prostitution or other place where prostitution is practiced or allowed; or whoever shall, directly or indirectly, keep, hold, detain or restrain or attempt to keep, hold, detain or restrain, in any house of prostitution or other place where prostitution is practiced or allowed, any female person, by any means, for the purpose of compelling such female person, directly or indirectly, to pay, liquidate or cancel any debt, dues or obligations incurred or said to have been incurred by such female person, shall, upon conviction for the first offense under this Act be punished by imprisonment in the county jail or House of Correction for a period of not less than sixmonths nor more than one year, and by a fine of not less than three hundred dollars and not to exceed one thousand dollars, and upon conviction for any subsequent offense under this act shall be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary for a period of not less than one year nor more than five years.
SESSION LAWS, 1909, PAGE 180.
An Act to amend an Act entitled "An Act in relation to pandering; to define and prohibit the same; to provide for punishment thereof; for the competency of certain evidence at the trial thereof, and providing what shall be a defense," approved June 1, 1908; in force July 1, 1908, and also the title of said Act.
Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly. That an Act entitled "An Act in relation to pandering; to define and prohibit the same; to provide for the punishment thereof; for the competency of certain evidence at the trial therefor, and providing what shall be a defense," approved June 1, 1908; in force July 1, 1908, including the title of said Act, be amended so as to read as follows:
Section 1. Any person who shall procure a female inmate for a house of prostitution, or who, by promises, threats, violence, or by any device or scheme shall cause, induce, persuade or encourage a female person to become an inmate of a house of prostitution; or shall procure a place as inmate in a house of prostitutionfor a female person; or any person who shall, by promises, threats, violence, or by any device or scheme cause, induce, persuade or encourage an inmate of a house of prostitution to remain therein as such inmate; or any person who shall, by fraud or artifice, or by duress of person or goods, or by abuse of any position of confidence or authority procure any female person to become an inmate of a house of ill fame, or to enter any place in which prostitution is encouraged or allowed within this State, or to come into this State or leave this State for the purpose of prostitution, or who shall procure any female person, who has not previously practiced prostitution to become an inmate of a house of ill fame within this State, or to come into this State or leave this State for the purpose of prostitution; or shall receive or give or agree to receive or give any money or thing of value for procuring or attempting to procure any female person to become an inmate of a house of ill fame within this State, or to come into this State or leave this State for the purpose of prostitution, shall be guilty of pandering, and upon a first conviction for an offense under this act shall be punished by imprisonment in the County Jail or House of Correction for a period of not less than six months nor more than one year, and by a fine of not less than three hundred dollars and not to exceed one thousand dollars, and upon conviction for any subsequent offense under this act shall be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiaryfor a period of not less than one year nor more than ten years.
Section 2. It shall not be a defense to a prosecution for any of the acts prohibited in the foregoing section that any part of such act or acts shall have been committed outside this State, and the offense shall in such case be deemed and alleged to have been committed and the offender tried and punished in any County in which the prostitution was intended to be practiced, or in which the offense was consummated, or any overt acts in furtherance of the offense should have been committed.
Section 3. Any such female person, referred to in the foregoing sections, shall be a competent witness in any prosecution under this Act, to testify for or against the accused as to any transaction or as to any conversation with the accused or by him with another person or persons in her presence, notwithstanding her having married the accused before or after the violation of any of the provisions of this Act whether called as a witness during the existence of the marriage or after its dissolution.
Section 4. The act or state of marriage shall not be a defense to any violation of this Act.
Procedure.
Report violation to the state's attorney of the county wherein the crime was committed. If the state's attorney is not accessible, present the matter to the nearest justice of the peace.
In Indiana whoever entices or takes away any female of previous chaste character to any place for the purpose of prostitution, shall be imprisoned not less than two years nor more than five, or placed in the county jail not exceeding one year and fined not exceeding five hundred dollars. Section 459, Statutes 1907.
The keeper of a house of ill fame, or a person who lets a house for the purpose of prostitution shall be punished by a fine of not less than ten dollars nor more than one hundred to which may be added imprisonment not exceeding six months in the county jail. Sec. 460, Statutes 1907.
"Whoever induces, decoys or procures or compels any female under eighteen years of age, or causes any female over eighteen years of age, against her will, to have sexual intercourse with any person other than himself; or whoever knowingly permits any other person to have sexual intercourse with any female of good repute or chastity upon premises owned or controlled by him, shall be fined not less than ten dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, to which may be added imprisonment in the county jail not less than one month nor more than six months." Section 469, Statutes 1907.
Any male person who frequents or visits a house or houses of ill fame or of assignation except as a physician or who is engaged in or about the house of prostitution, shall upon conviction be fined not less than ten dollars nor more than one hundred dollars and imprisoned in the county jail not less than ten days nor more than sixty days. Section 470, Statutes 1907.
Procedure.
Present the facts to a justice of the peace or to the prosecuting attorney of the county in which the crime was committed.
"If any person take or entice away any unmarried female under the age of eighteen years for the purpose of prostitution, he shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary not more than five years, or be fined not more than one thousand dollars and imprisoned in the county jail not more than one year."