of the would-be
reformer is not so much overcoming actual opposition--the passing of
time gradually does that for him--as obtaining and formulating accurate
knowledge and fitting that knowledge into the trend of his time. From
this point of view and upon the basis of what has already been
accomplished for "the protection of minors," the many recent
investigations which have revealed the extreme youth of the victims of
the white slave traffic, should make legislation on their behalf all the
more feasible. Certainly no reformer could ever more legitimately make
an emotional appeal to the higher sensibility of the public.

In the rescue homes recently opened in Chicago by the White Slave
Traffic Committee of the League of Cook County Clubs, the tender ages of
the little girls who were brought there horrified the good clubwomen
more than any other aspect of the situation. A number of the little
inmates in the home wanted to play with dolls and several of them
brought dolls of their own, which they had kept with them through all
their vicissitudes. There is something literally heart-breaking in the
thought of these little children who are ensnared and debauched when
they are still young enough to have every right to protection and care.
Quite recently I visited a home for semi-delinquent girls against each
one of whom stood a grave charge involving the loss of her chastity.
Upon each of the little white beds or on one of the stiff chairs
standing by its side was a doll belonging to a delinquent owner still
young enough to love and cherish this supreme toy of childhood. I had
come to the home prepared to "lecture to the inmates." I remained to
dress dolls with a handful of little girls who eagerly asked questions
about the dolls I had once possessed in a childhood which seemed to them
so remote. Looking at the little victims who supply the white slave
trade, one is reminded of the burning words of Dr. Howard Kelly uttered
in response to the demand that the social evil be legalized and its
victims licensed. He says: "Where shall we look to recruit the
ever-failing ranks of these poor creatures as they die yearly by the
tens of thousands? Which of the little girls of our land shall we
designate for this traffic? Mark their sweet innocence to-day as they
run about in our streets and parks prattling and playing, ever busy
about nothing; which of them shall we snatch as they approach maturity,
to supply this foul mart?"

It is