Speech #610081498

I know there are those who are well informed and virtuous. living remote from the cities. who question the gravity of the evil under consideration. and well they may. for in human history it has hardly a parallel. In the country districts. the villages and towns. they have never had the experience. and I pray they may never know what it is to have in their midst men and women who are so degraded as to be willing. for money or any other consideration. to put into practice the appalling trade which during the past ten years has grown up in New York and radiated to the large cities of the country. That the traffic is thoroughly organized is clearly shown by an investigation which was made by the Immigration Commission last year and presented to the Senate of the United States on the 10th day of December last. This report shows clearly that the only object of the traffic is money making. and that it has been reduced to a science. Women and young girls are imported in large numbers specifically for immoral purposes.