The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-02-01
CAUST|C REPORT
 ON WHITE SLAVES Daniel J. keefe Says Treaty on Subject Is Worthless NO GOOD ACCOMPLISHED MT. keefe Declares That Women Will Continue to Come From Foreign
 Countries for Immoral
 Purposes.
NO GOOD ACCOMPLISHED

Washington, January 31.-The treaty ratified by the Senate March l. 1905, pro- viding for universal action of the powers toward the repression of the white slave traffic has been declared by Daniel J. Keefe, commissioner general of immi- grafton, to be practically worthless"
 The failure of this convention to ac- complish the good expected was explained in a report to the commissioner general which was transmitted to the Senate by President Taft in response to a Senate resolution.
 In summarizing an exhaustive report, MT. Keefe says:
 Practically no cooperation at present can be expected of the signatories as regards the enforcement of our immigra- ton laws with which some of the powers are found to be out of sympathy. The procuration of innocent women and girls for purposes of debauehery has seldom if ever come to the attention of the bureau. and it is the purpose of the treaty to prevent such procuration. The treaty's usefulness ends there.
 Even with the passage of new legisla- tion with stringent provisions. this bu- reau which has been designated by the government in the repression of this traf- fic will not be in position to properly enforce the same without specific finan- cial provision being made which will per init of an unremitting warfare against the evil throughout the country as whole and not in isolated portions alone, this welfare being restricted of course to aliens"
 After the ratification of the treaty the bureau of immigration sent letters to sound the various powers to ascertain the degree of cooperation to be expected of the signatory powers.
 The net results of the replies was that no cooperation could be looked for ex- cept in specific instances. The principal reason for this, says MT. Keefe seems to lie in the public attitude toward those women who make prostitution a business, the idea being that the government has no right to interfere with those who select such life by choice.
 An agent of the bureau who visited England. Belgium, Austria, France. Ger many. Russia and Roumania reported the
 
 as an international organization or a close cooperative corporation having for it's object the exploitation of women in various countries by means of the prac- tce of prostitution"
 The agent reported that the great bulk of the women coming in are the mis- tresses of individuals and subsequently adopt or are forced into a life of shame. Innocent victims, the report says, are selected by procurers in this country.
 Discussing conditions he found in Eu- rope the United States agent says the large cities were found to be so infested with women of immoral tendencies living in poverty and dire squalor, that they were only too eager to embrace the op- portunity of living comfortably in life of shame in this country.
 Consequently procurers who desire to procure fresh supplies of women for their resorts in the United States, says the report. are not forced to seduce and de- bauch innocent women when with much less expense, exertion and danger num- bers of foreign women can be found ready to accept their terms.
 The dance, concert and music halls, and the drinking places of the continental cities were found to be fertile fields for the operations of the procurers with their numerous groups of women not so openly lewd as to be under police control, yet who make it a practice to add to their incomes by profferng their bodies for sale.
 , Tales of licentious life and riches await ing alien prostitutes in the United States have much to do with the great increase In prostitutes in this country, says the report.