THE WHITE SLAVE TRADE IN NEW YORK CITY.
There is no longer any doubt in the minds of the well informed that
there exists a great white slave trade in the City of New York. In a
recent report by General Bingham, police commissioner, he said: "This
traffic is found to be of very large dimensions. There seems to be very
slight difficulty in getting women into the country. The requirements of
the immigration authorities are easily met by various simple
subterfuges. The men who own these women are of the lowest class and
seem to have an organization or at least an understanding, which is
national or even international in scope. We cannot get these men. If we
could the whole white slave trade would drop and the whole social evil
be intensely ameliorated, because these men work a regular trust." In
commenting on this statement of the police commissioner, Mr. George
Kibbe Turner has the following to say in the June number of McClure's
Magazine:
"If the interests of the prostitute are excellently safeguarded under
the administration of the law by the magistrates' courts, the business
of her political protector the cadet is doubly secure. At most he is
only subject to a six months penalty as a common vagrant, but
practically speaking he can never be arrested at all because the only
valid evidence against him must come from the woman who supports him,
who neither desires nor dares to protest against him. There are
thousands of these men in New York City and their convictions do not
reach a score a year. To this might be added that no local authority
ever got these men and that the only successful prosecution of them and
the only one they feared, has been that started by the federal
authorities in Chicago and New York during the past two years. The local
politician has as yet no influence with federal courts in favor of
prostitution. He delivers no important part of the votes that choose the
federal authorities."
General Bingham in an article in Hampton's Magazine for September, 1909,
says that he might have accepted bribes during his first year in office,
from gamblers, dive keepers and other criminals, amounting to $600,000
or even a million dollars. He thinks that the graft and blackmail of New
York City amount perhaps to a hundred million dollars a year. He asks
the question, Who receives the graft? and answers: "Patrolmen, police
captains and inspectors, employees in city offices, city officials,
politicians, high and low share in it. But while the uniformed policeman
is getting tens or hundreds of dollars for 'protecting' a brothel,
drinking or gambling resort, the city officials and politicians are
getting their thousands and hundreds of thousands through
graft-yielding contracts and franchises, in cash carefully conveyed, or
in other emoluments rendered them in every case for betraying the
public."
In the report of the Commission of Immigration of the State of New York,
a commission created by the legislature of New York in 1908, the
following statement is to be found regarding the white slave business in
this State:
"In the State of New York, as in other states and countries of the
world, there are organized, ramified and well-equipped associations to
secure girls for the purpose of prostitution. The recruiting of such
girls in this country is largely among those who are poor, ignorant or
friendless. The attention of the Commission has been called to one
organization incorporated under the laws of New York State as a mutual
benefit society, with alleged purpose, 'To promote the sentiment of
regard and friendship among the members and to render assistance in case
of necessity.' This society is, in reality, an association of gamblers,
procurers and keepers of disorderly houses, organized for the purpose of
mutual protection in their business. Some of the cafes, restaurants and
other places conducted by the members are meeting places for those
engaged in the business of importation. The organization includes a
membership of about one hundred residents of New York City, and has
representatives and correspondents in various cities of the country,
notably in Pittsburg, Chicago and San Francisco."
The commission has not in the report given very much of the detail of
the working of this Association, but Collier's Weekly in speaking of the
dismissal of General Bingham as police commissioner of New York, says:
"He has been police commissioner for three and a half years. Under his
strong, rough hand the disorderly houses which flourished so
prosperously three years ago, imprisoning helpless immigrant women, have
gone out of business. There were one hundred of them running at full
speed between 23rd and 69th Street and 6th and 9th Avenue. There are
scarcely twenty now and they are only operating for old time patrons.
The stranger inside the city walls will not find the easy welcome for
his licentiousness which 1906 and 1907 could have given him. The
profession of ruining, selling, and renting out girls has been reduced.
That organization known as the New York Independent Benevolent
Association has had its wings clipped. The gentlemen who run this
association have been checked from their vile trade by the strict regime
of Bingham. For two years they have had to turn to honest or semi-honest
professions instead of squeezing blood money out of little foreign
girls, raped by their agents and locked up in their chain of disorderly
houses in the old and new Tenderloin. They have almost forgotten the
dark tragedies hidden just a fathom underground in their burial lot in
Washington Cemetery--the poor murdered women, the infants one span
long."
While the immigration report and Collier's Weekly enter into little
detail concerning the ramifications of this Association, it is not
because they have no further information regarding it, but because many
of the details are so vile they could not be written.
It can be said, however, that the 126 members of this Association have
operated in Newark, N. J., Philadelphia, in Pittsburg, in Chicago, St.
Louis, New Orleans, San Francisco and other cities, that they have plied
their trade in South Africa, in Panama, and that different members of
the Association have made repeated trips to Europe. This society has
been in existence since 1896. In every large city in which an expose of
the disorderly house element of the white slave traffic has been made,
some of the members of that Association have been involved. At the
present moment the graft investigation is going on in Chicago; one of
the principal men indicted is Mike the Pike, who is well known in
Philadelphia and New York. Some years ago Mike was a prominent member of
the organization but quarreled with the officers and was expelled.
Keller and Ullman, sent to prison by the federal authorities in Chicago
for trafficking in white slaves, were members of this Association at the
time of their conviction by the government. Several others indicted
but never brought to trial were also members.
[Illustration: DISEASED CHILDREN IN THE POOR-HOUSE
Scores of children suffering from disease are to be found in the charity
hospitals. The white slave trade is to blame for this state of affairs]
[Illustration: NOBODY'S CHILDREN
No father--no mother--no name. Can you imagine anything more pitiful?
The result of the white slave traffic]
At the time of the great cleaning out of the disorderly elements in
Philadelphia many members of this Association were driven out. Some of
them went to New York, some to Newark. They plied their business in
Newark for two or three years and when conditions became so bad that the
public rose in protest and started a movement to clean out the dens of
vice, it was the members of this association who stood together and
fought the authorities. However, some of their members were convicted
and sent to prison. The chief of police and other officials were accused
of having some partnership with these men and of levying graft upon
them, much in the same way as the evidence in the present Chicago graft
proceedings alleges. The then chief of police in Newark, who was alleged
to have been one of the men who received money from these men, went out
into one of the lonely byroads outside of the city and committed suicide
by shooting himself.
It has been said that some of these men were in South Africa, and it is
an established fact that many of them went there and opened up houses of
prostitution but were finally expelled from the country by the British
Government. Some of them went to Panama (not in the Canal Zone) and
opened houses there, and some of them at the present time are still
doing business there.
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.
The same thing may be said regarding some of the immigrant homes, which
are ostensibly for the purpose of protecting foreign girls on arrival in
the city of New York. The federal authorities and the State Commission
found homes that sent women to disorderly places. The State Commission
found one home that was willing upon a donation of $5.00 to send a girl
to work in a disorderly house. This donation seems not to have been
recorded in the books of the home. Several other homes are at present
under investigation by the Commissioner of Immigration at Ellis Island.
Since 1901 the Sicilian or Southern Italian has played quite a prominent
part in the great traffic in women in New York City. At that time, after
his triumphant entry into the corrupt politics of the city, it was
estimated that Italians controlled from 750 to 1,000 women. Gangs of
Italian criminals have grown up in New York City as a great asset of the
corrupt political machines. Men like Paul Kelly, Jimmie Kelly and other
Italians masquerading under Irish names play a prominent part in Tammany
politics, supplying "strong arm" men as repeaters in the elections, whom
they recruit from the boxing and other athletic clubs with which they
are affiliated. Jimmie Kelly manages one or two high class pugilists,
but around his saloon are to be found many preliminary boxers. These men
cannot make a living as preliminary boxers and must depend on something
else to eke out a livelihood. Through their connection with men like
Kelly they are given the protection necessary to enable them to conduct
immoral resorts or to keep women soliciting on the streets, without
interference from the police. In return for this immunity they help
Kelly deliver the illegal vote necessary to keep the corrupt Tammany
machine in power. The Italian because he is more prone to crimes of
violence pays for his political protection in votes, while the Jew
largely pays cash. The Italian, unlike the Jew, very rarely puts women
of his own race into the awful life; there are relatively very few
Italian prostitutes. The Italian traders seem likely to displace the
French, as they are kinder to the women and they adapt themselves to the
political environment in a way that the French do not understand.
We quote again from Mr. George Kibbe Turner in McClure's Magazine for
June, 1909:
"The Jew makes the most alert and intelligent citizen of all the great
immigrant races that have populated New York. He was a city dweller
before the hairy Anglo-Saxon came out of the woods; and every fall the
East Side resolves itself into one great clamorous political debating
society.
"Out of the Bowery and Red Light districts have come the new development
in New York politics--the great voting power of the organized criminals.
It was a notable development not only for New York, but for the country
at large. And no part of it was more noteworthy than the appearance of
the Jewish dealer in women, a product of New York politics, who has
vitiated, more than any other single agency, the moral life of the great
cities of America in the past ten years."
It is absolute fact that corrupt Jews are now the backbone of the
loathsome traffic in New York and Chicago. The good Jews know this and
feel keenly the unspeakable shame of it. The American Hebrew says in an
editorial:
"If Jews are the chief sinners, it is appropriate that Jews should be
the chief avengers of the dishonor done to their own people, and in many
cases to their own women. We feel confident that unless something is
done, and done quickly, a scandal of the most intense character will
break forth, and only by prompt action can its worst effects be warded
off from the fair name of American Jewry."
Hon. Oscar S. Straus wrote in his report as Secretary of Commerce and
Labor, for 1908:
"It is highly necessary that this diabolical traffic, which has attained
international proportions, should be dealt with in a manner adequate to
compass its suppression. No punishment is too severe to inflict upon the
procurers in this vile traffic."
B. C.