White Slave Trade

Annotation

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. It is upon the papers on the first set of questions, however, that the work of the Congress was m'ainly centred; and the results have been, (1) the creation of an International Committee to carry out the views Of the Congress in the intervals of its meetings; and (2) the presentation of a modest programme for immediate legal and diplomatic reform by the improvement Of codes and extradition treaties. The minutes and resolutions of the Congress will be found. Below. It will be seen that the Congress. In its project of imme diate legal action confines itself to cases in which force, fraud, abuse of authority, or other means of putting improper pressure upon the free will of the victims, are used to bring the girls into the immoral life or to keep them in it. This is because the juridical ideas of the different countries are not at one on the point. By the laws Of France, Belgium, and some other countries, it is not held immoral to entice a woman Of full age to take up a career of vice. England, Germany, Austria, and the Northern countries generally, also the United States, hold a different position, namely, that such doings are wrongful, and should be punished. The Congress took the View that in order to attack the traffic in women it was necessary to have as much common action as possible, and therefore insist-ed, for the present, upon a minimum proposal on which all the Govern ments will probably be willing to act.