Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-03-22
Members of Illinois Commits
sion Assured by Wilson of
His Deep Interest.
CONGRESS TO BE ASKED
TO AID IN INVESTIGATION
Prominent Men and Women of Dis
trict Give Views 60 Crusaders,
Headed by Lieut.. Gov. 0'Hara.

Seeking to inaueurate a national move
ment to protect women and girls against
immortality. the Illinois vice commission,
headed by Lieut.. Gov. Barrett O'Hara.;
this morning called at the White House
to urge President Wilson TO call a gen
eral vice conference in Washington next
fall, and this afternoon held a public
hearing at the New Willard Hotel TO In
quire into causes OF vice.
The President assured the vice crusad-
ers he was deeply interested in the SUBJ
ject, and promised 10 give careful con-
sfderation to their request for a national
conference in Washington. 1t is expected
by the members OF the commission that
he will call the conference, and that the
entire subject will be thrashed out in a
thorough and far-reaching manner.
Congress to Be Appealed To.
Lieut.. Gov. OHars announced that
Congress will be asked to provide "A vice
commission for the District to take part
in the general conference. He said the
purpose OF this commission would be TO
investigate thoroughly vice conditions in
the District and report at the national
meeting
Conditions in the District were praised
by some and attacked by others at the
hearing before the commission this aft
ernoon. Men and women prominent In
social. official and philanthropic activities
of Washington gave their varying
opinions regarding the reasons for i'm
| morality among girls and women.
Urges National Conference.
The President received the members Of
the commission shortly before noon
Lieut.. Gov. O'Hara told him of the COM
missions work and how 1t was started
| He said that the members feel that up to
| the present they have only touched the
! surface Of the vice question, and that
national conference is necessary TO de-
| termine all the issues at stake.
Lieut. Gov. O'Hara requested that the
President issue an invitation for the con-
| ference and that all state vice commis-
| sions now in existence be asked to at
tend. and that in states where there are
no commissions the governors be re-
ouested to name a committee Of five or
mora members to attend the meeting.
Tells of Study Abroad.
/ State Senator Edmund Beall. who intro
tduced the bill creating the commission in
the Illinois senate, told the President or
a recent visit he paid abroad to study the
vice question. and of what foreign ma
Il
said that he felt that national confer
ence is badly needed.
/ A federal appropriation for homes In
different large cities for working women
was urged by State Senator Niels Juul,
another member of the commission. tie
said that women out of work Temporarily
are greatly in need of some place where
| they can live cheaply and safely.
| Wilson Listens Attentively.
! The President paid marked attention
| to the requests of the members of the
| commission, and asked that they leave
any printed matter they might have with
| him. He told them it was very i'm
portant question, and that he would give
| it his immediate and careful considera-
| ton.
Ardeen Foster. International commits
sioner of the British Federation for the
Emancipation of Sweated Women and
| Girls and White Slaves, had conference
accompanied the commission TO the
White House.
Here to Continue Inquiry.
| The commission came to Washington to
| continue its vice Investigations on a ma
| tional scale and to request the President
| to call the national conference of state
| vice commissions Because SO many na-
| tional organizations engaged in uplift
| work have their headquarters here, and
| because a number of government officials
here deal directly with various phases OF
! the subjects the commission is investigat
| ing, the members expect to unearth many
new facts and opinions.
| The men who called on President VIII
| son this morning and who held the hear
| ing this afternoon were Lieut.. Gov.
OHara of Illinois. chairman OF the COM
| mission. and State Senators Niels Juul.
Edmund Beall, T. Jeff Tossey and d. II.
| Woodward. NJ. Blair Coan, chief investi-
gator for the commission. was In general
| charge of the arrangements.
Confer With Stanley Finch.
Prior to calling on the President the
members Of the commission held a con-
ference with Stanley Finch. chief white
| slave investigator for the Department
of Justice. He informed the members
| of the commission just what the nation
al situation regarding the white slave
traffic is. in order that they might
better present their case to the Presi-
dent.
| Several hundred men and women
prominent in uplift work in Washing
ton and throughout the country as
sembled on the mezzanine floor of the
| New willard at 2 o'clock this afternoon
to hear and give testimony before the
| commission. Most Of them had received
special invitations to appear because
OF their knowledge and study of the
questions the commission is invests
eating.
Short Speeches in Order.
The schedule arranged by the COM
mission was to call on the men and
women invited and allow them to speak
for from two to five minutes. and then
for members of the commission to ask
wha tever questions they thought proper.
| why Girls Go Wrong was the general
subject of the inquiry outlined by Mr..
O'Hara. He said that the commission
wants to get at the causes for the
downfall of girls
The men and women present represent
ed every phase Of uplift work. There