them gave the name and address of a girl who might be secured, and the other directed the investigator to an employment agency which he said would supply the girls. One woman said she understood the applicant's "house was immoral, and that it would be on her conscience if she sent a girl to such a place. When offered $10, the woman said that her society was expected to get places for girls free of charge. The investigator then remarked that money was a good thing, whereupon the woman replied that if the money was put in the form of a present she would take it. Only two men (one of whom was a clergyman) and three women refused outright to place girls in such employment. One of the three clergymen who supplied girls, made immoral proposals to the girl supplied (an employee of the Commission, who had asked the clergyman to help her to get a situation), explained to her the bad character of the house into which he was sending her, and said that he would come to see her that night. In order to make the inquiry into this feature of the situation as complete as possible, it was found necessary, as previously explained in this report, to investigate a certain number of employment agencies, the majority of which were either operated in connection with immigrant homes or aid societies or recommended to immigrants by the representatives of homes and societies. Out of 22 employment agencies having a proper legal status, i. e., licensed under the law, only five refused to place girls in situations likely to be detrimental to their morals. Seventeen of these agencies supplied girls for work in an alleged "sporting house" or "fast house," or other establishment the description of which plainly showed its alleged immoral character. Three employment agencies which were unlicensed, but which were recommended by members of the staffs of homes and aid societies, readily supplied girls for the alleged "sporting houses," and the man who conducted one of the agencies explained to the girl supplied the immoral character of the place to which she was being sent. These unlicensed agencies violated the law by charging fees. These fees, of $1 or $2, were collected from employer or employee, and sometimes from both. It is believed that in practically every case where girls were supplied to investigators for work as servants in alleged disorderly houses the persons supplying them fully understood the alleged bad character of the places to which they were asked to send the girls. The investigators always took pains to describe their "houses" in terms that would clearly indicate the immoral character of the surroundings in which the girls would be placed, and to this end interpreters were employed whenever necessary. Of all the missionaries, representatives, and managers of homes, aid societies, and employment agencies who were asked to supply girls for this kind of work, only five persons-one woman who was a servant temporarily in charge of a home, one missionary who was not connected with a home, and three women who were in charge of institutions that sometimes housed immigrant women-apparently misunderstood the investigators' explanations with regard to the character of the "houses" which they operated. Even in these cases it is to be remarked that the persons who were asked to supply girls surely ought to have understood the representations which were made to them. It is obvious that missionaries, representatives, and managers of philanthropic institutions in large cities, whose business and duty it is to give moral protection to young women, are not fully qualified to give such protection if they do not understand the meaning of such expressions as "a fast house," "a sporting house," "a house that has never been raided," or "a house that is well protected by the police." There is one way at least in which these institutions can and should more carefully protect the morals of the young women and girls whom they send out into employment. If they do not know the character of the places to which they are asked to send girls, they ought at least to investigate carefully and find out about these places before allowing the girls to go to them. This applies not only to the case of friendless girls who go into employment, but also to the case of girls who leave the institutions to go to the addresses of supposed relatives or friends. In order to test the degree of care exercised in this regard by immigrant homes, the Commission made an investigation of the addresses of 228 immigrant girls who were discharged by the immigration authorities to the missionaries and representatives of 11 homes and reported upon by the managers of these homes as having been placed at the addresses indicated. These addresses were taken at random from the official reports of the homes, and were investigated within one to seven months from the dates on which the girls left the homes. One hundred and seventy-eight of these addresses were correct, for the girls were, or had been, at the addresses stated. Of the remaining 50 addresses, 39 were false, for the girls had evidently never been at the addresses given; 2 were houses in which there were prostitutes who were night-court cases; 1 was a house of prostitution known by the police as a "call house;" and 8 were fictitious-i. e., nonexistent addresses. Not only should immigrant homes and aid societies carefully investigate the addresses to which they are asked to send girls before complying with such requests, but they ought also to make an investigation of these addresses after the girls leave their care to go to them. If they find that some of the girls never reached the places to which they were sent, they should report this fact to the immigration authorities. Out of the total number of homes investigated by the Commission, only one adequately protected immigrant girls by investigating the addresses to which the girls were sent both before and after the girls left the institution. Since the investigation was made the Commissioner of Immigration at Ellis Island has taken vigorously in hand the question of immigrant homes and societies, has verified many of the Commission's conclusions by later independent investigations, and by vigorous action has stopped many of the most flagrant abuses. In several cases he excluded representatives of the homes from the station till complete reformation had been secured. The homes are now regularly inspected, official escorts to their destinations in the city are furnished at nominal rates to immigrants needing them, and conditions are greatly improved. ABSTRACT OF THE REPORT ON IMPORTATION AND HARBORING OF WOMEN FOR IMMORAL PURPOSES. For the complete report on importation and harboring of women for immoral purposes see Reports of the Immigration Commission, vol. 37. |