table houses at
random, it was learned that about one-third come to Boston from Canada,
mainly Nova Scotia.

To one who has made a study of the White Slave traffic the first
question when one finds so many disorderly places is, where do they get
the girls from? Why do so many come from one locality? Is the supply
equal to the demand? Are there enough persons entering into such a life
voluntarily each year to keep the places going? The average life of one
of these girls is about five years, according to the best statistics.

Boston and the other New England cities have the "cadet system"--meaning
men and boys living from the earnings of girls engaged in this unlawful
business. Most "cadets" procure girls--and that is the question for New
England to solve.

Are the "cadets" there engaged in the business of trading in girls? It
is said that a certain Bobbie B----, a well known "cadet" in Boston,
procured about seventy girls to be sent to Panama. A certain Lena D----,
who was born in Quebec, is known to be procuring girls from Lowell,
Mass., and the country districts, for a fast life in Boston. She perhaps
is the greatest woman trader in human souls in New England. According to
her own statement she "trains them to be wise." This woman once worked
in Lowell in a shoe factory. The French, Jewish and Italian procurers
are not so much in evidence in New England as in other American cities.
The coast "cadets" there are mainly Canadians.

A new way of procuring girls has developed in Boston. Wayward girls who
have offended the law in one way or another are placed on probation. The
"cadets" go to the court records, find the girls' names who are on
probation and persuade them to run away in order to evade probation and
to secure freedom from the probation officers. There are instances where
these girls have been sent into houses of bad character at Lowell,
Portland, Worcester, the road house at Corderville, and other towns.

While the White Slave trade may not be as well developed in New England
as in other parts of the country--to a certain extent it is there; and
it is only to awaken the people to a realization of this fact that this
article is written. Over two and a half years ago Chicago was told that
there was a White Slave traffic, and the people were indignant. It
seemed romantic and unbelievable. But Chicago knows it only too well
today. Boston must be awakened in the same way. People will say it
cannot be true. Inde