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to come . forward-to take the remainder , but tp to the present time , although , the shareholders have done their part , and thus prevented an actual collapse , the public have manifested little inclination to . follow the example . Now , if we consider the low rate of interest that has prevailed for some time past , it is certainly a discourag ing circumstance , and not very readily to be accounted for , that the public should stand aioof from a preference stock offering six per cent , interest . If the whole of the Debenture Stock were issued , the preference claims oil the Company ' s property would stand thus : 6 per cent . Debenture Stock ... £ 250 , 000 7 per cent . Preference Shares 150 , 000 £ 400 , 000 To secure this there is property which cost about 1 , 400 , 000 / ., but it is easy to see that the causes which operated to reduce a , 5 / . share to 25 s . do not , in the estimation of cautious investors , make the security as good as could be devised . The belief of those who have , carefully investigated the concern is , that with good management the security would be ample , hut that , with tlic leaven of the old system of management , -it is . sufficiently open to doubt to-justify the neglect of the public . This opinion must be . strengthened by the facts which came out at the . late meeting , from which it appears that the most intelligent members of the board find great difficulty in getting their colleagues to consent to ' ¦ tlif'se' improvements of the management which are indispensable to success . The past failure has arisen from intelligible causes : extravagance , total want of rational supervision , and entering- upon a variety of contracts that offered no chance of being profitable . The Directors , until recently , had no stoic committee , exercised no supervision over purchases , and took no steps to prevent waste . Some of the worst evils of the old system have now been removed , but a negative improvement will not convince the public that buying the Debenture Stock / will be a prudent step , and there is still a debt , on account of the land , to the amount of 65 , 000 / . hanging over the concern . This debt is due next July , secured , we believe , by a mortgage , which the holder ( Mr-. Wythes ) would' have the power to foreclose . Leaving out the question of management , to which ¦ we shall return , our statement contains all the unfavourable chcnmstanccs that we have Leen able to discover , and . when it is remembered that the accounts "up to April , 1 S 5 S , show a . profit upon the year of nearly ] -l , 000 / ., after deducting ail expenses and interest on preferential debts , the depression of the , shares seems greater than can be accounted for , oceept on the supposition that the public distrust the progress of the concern . Sincerely desiring the success of this great enterprise , we should recommend the large shareholders—who will be culled upon to contribute that portion of the deficiency which the public may not supply by taking the Debenture Stock—to . consider seriously whether a sullicient change has been made in the old system of management to render it probable that conlidencc will'be revived . Judging from the aspects of the present season , it is an improvement upon 1 lie last , but not equal to tlic most fortunate of former years , and many line days have occurred on which the receipts have not equalled their proportion of expenditure . The only ideas yet apparent in the management arc llowrr-shows and concerts ; the hi gher purposes of the undertaking seem for the tune to be in abeyance . Eor the flower-shows the palace is admirably adapted , while , for the concerts , its capabilities are limited , and , as it appears to most musical crit . ics , not rightly understood by the Directors . If the Crystal Palace consisted onl y of the great transept , there would be little fault to find with the present system ; but when we observe no efforts made to utilize the immense collections it contains , no cndcavouis to make the place of use for Art , Education , Science , Invention , and Trade , we cannot wonder at the depressing views which the public take , that the shares arc at 25 s ., and that the Debenture Stock hangs lire . The enterprise is too large and too costly to pay as a mere place of amusement , chiefly worked on specialty days , and the shareholders may depend upon it ,, ' tlie public will not believe in its success until they have witnessed for some time a very different process from what has hitherto appeared , ami until they ace one large class after another made to feel "( hut the Crystal Palace is really a national institution of substantial value to enduring ; interests and to the community at large . The Palace would gain , not lose , in its attrao-Mons lor purposes of reeix-ation hy the
comprehensive system which we hope one day to see carried out . The shareholders have evinced their desire to support such a plan . It is known to be the wish of the chairman and other able men that it should be adopted , but " how not to do it , " is unfortunately the way of the " Board . "
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THE SOCIAL EVIL —ITS FOREIGN ELEMENT . Whoever , has walked through Regent-street , diiy or night , or passed along- Slicrrard-streefc , Quecustreet , and other offshoots from the Quadrant , must have observed a great number of boldlooking , over-dressed women , unmistakably foreign , displaying- a profusion of showy jewellery , and wearing indescribable bonnets—which exist only in name . Who , then , arc these strangers' whose
cheeks appear to bloom , with rude health , who seem , from their leering- looks and indiscriminate smiles of invitation , to be so happy—who apparently possess such large stores of gold and jewels , and who array themselves in velvet and satin ? They are a portion of the fallen daughters of Eve , for which we are indebted to our continental neighbours ; The outward seeming , however , will not bear the test of examination . Their diamonds are false , their gold is neither that of Australia nor California—it is manufactured at
Birmingham ; the roses on their checks vanish . the visitation of a few drops of rain , the healthy colour disappears , and a cadaverous complexion with repulsive features present themselves to the beholder . Their genial spirits are also assumed . They have long ago lost the sense of shame or modesty , they do not even , think their impure calling is against . the " morals ' .. of society or opposed to ^ laws ofvirtiie , they have descended to that depth of degradation at which they regard their profession somewhat in the same light the tradesman regards his retail business . How do these women come
here ? to the vices of . what particular class do they minister ? The answer presents itself without difficulty . They arc not found in the eastern districts of the metropolis—or the City—they are found only at the West-end , congregated in the localities we have indicated , and in some other streets abutting on the residences of the aristocracy and the haunts of fashionable roue ' s . This fact affords pregnant insight into the cause and the continuation of this social blot .
The foreign element of the great " social .. evil " has only made its appearance publicly in our streets within the last twenty years . Before that time foreign impurcs contented themselves with the privacy of reception houses , the knowledge of whose whereabouts was confined to certain of the noble and wealthy . Now , they have increased to such a degree in some localities , that like the Norway lat which has well-nigh extirpated the British rat / they have driven away native rivalry , and have set up an absolute monopoly in particular walks . The " social evil" is now attracting much
attention . Philanthropists and moralists are busied hi the solution of the difficult problem . Let us help them to tlic proper mode of dealing with the mischief by a lew facts . We will begin by showinghow these foreign women come to England , and the causes of their rapid increase . There exists in this metropolis established agents , mostly foreigners , both men and women , whose special and only business , for years past , has been , and is , to visit periodically Paris , Belgium . Hamburg , and
Holland , to entrap well-looking young g irls where the princi p les of virtue yet exist , by false pretences of highly paid employment , and , where the dictates of virtue present no obstacle , by equally false pretences of inducing ricli English lords and dukes to take tlicin into keeping , and to supply them with all Lhe luxuries at the command of boundless wealth . The inexperience of the majority of thc 3 c young creatures is the foundation of sure success on the
part of the agents in this vile traffic . When inveigled to this country , and taken to what is called the foreign " reception' * houses , the mission of the agent is ended as soon as the victims arc delivered to the principals , and the commission paid . The virtue of tlio unsuspecting and unwilling—though these form the , smallest part of the number brought over here — is kooii overcome by tho position in which the victim * liud themselves placed . At first a semblance of honest labour iy preserved . The girls are supplied wilh work lor a few days . The ;/ are tj » ei \ required to discharge an extortionate bill for board , maintenance , and clothing . They arc of course without funds , they mo friendless and unacquainted with the language of lhe country , and the catastrophe
need not be detailed . This traffic is carried ou solely for and with the pecuniary support o £ the titled , and wealthy . As soon as a fresh importation of girls takes place , cards of invitation are issued to clubs and mansions , perhaps from Newman-street , or Queen-street , or Norton-street , or Jennyn-street , or Charlotte-street , or Golden-square ., or from some one of the foreign houses which has a noble and affluent connexion on their books . Here we find the true principle of demand aud supply practically carried out . If the wealth of the rich , did not create the demand , the supply would , cease . Here is the root of one portion of the " social evil : " not ,
however , that portion which , is now extending itself so widely and audaciously as almost to form an integral part of our social institutions . There is yet another class of foreign women on -whose presence some light can also be thrown . These are the gaudily dressed women we see parading with unblushing hardihood , night and day , ia our public streets . These foreigners are mere professional nnpures . They require neither bribery nor solicitation to come to this country . They come because their company is acceptable to a certain class of " fast" men and worn-out debauchees , whose continental experience has infused into- them a morbid
taste for special continental vices . These are the foreign women whose presence is most to be deprecateu , whose location here is accompanied by other social evils not inferior in magnitude , and who with most effect can be dealt with if proper means arcput in motion . These women bring with them their muquereaux , or bullies—foreigners , Erench or German—who live on the wages of . their immorality , and who may be seen daily in . scores lounging about Coventry-street , and frequenting 'various cafes and hotels in Leicester-square . It is to the presence of this vile class , male and female , that our West-end streets in . that locality are not to te used without feelings of shame and indignation on the
part of English matrons . " It is mainly owing to the congregation of these foreign prostitutes and their bullies that Coventry-street , the .-Haymarket , and Leicester-square , from about eleveu o ' clock to two iii the morning , present a scene of open profligacy unmatched in any city of the world . We have purposel y indicated two great divisions of foreign prostitution , because no effort in one direction only , however energetic , would reach them both . Here is the stumbling-block of the moralists and philanthropists now at work , but all astray—a stumbling-block that will prove , we fear , an insuperable obstacle to the accomplishment of
tne good work they have in hand . How can any society for the purification . ' public morals , however high the names and large its means , expect to do ' . anything effectual when personages in Ingh life arc the mam props of the system ? The very peer and the very -parliamentary commoner likely to be heard loudest in condemnation of the system , and likely to subscribe the largest sum to suppress it , would be found among the steadiest and most munilicent supporters of foreign " reception" houses . What , for instance , would that elderl y M . P ., the patron of a well-known foreign house in Gerrardstreet , familiarly known among the inmates as " Papa , " who pays ungrudgingly immense sums to the procuress lor special privileges , sav . if anv
parochial or legislative attempt were made to interfere with his costlv debaucheries ? What would certain hereditary legislators say at any direct interference with their peculiar fancies , l ' or which they pay so profusely ? How wrathful would be Lord A , who widely opens his wcll-iUlcd purse , on condition that his pactdictt' fancy is respected , and that all introductions to him are made only in the costume of a shepherdess ; or the Marquis Z , who insists ou the adoption of the costume of the fifteenth century , with powdered hair , the expense of which he annually defrays , or a third nobleman , who supplies the establishment with white kid gloves on conditions to which we sliall not further allude . These arc not matters ol
imagination , they arc sober facts : the reception houses are in the streets we have indicated—the names of the habitues arc at the service of the parishes whenever they dare and honestly deterniiuo to prosecute , regardless of influence , whether it be exercised by an c . i ' - /\ -c / j / irr who has interfered on behalf of more than one foreign Jille da joir , or l ) y some venerable judge whoso predilections and practices are not altogether of a judicial chu ,-weter . Then , aiguin , how can the other not so highly patronized class be dealt with so jib to hold out reasonable linpe of seeing an intolerable nuisance abated , when both |> olicc and magistrates arc openly obstructed in the just exercise of 1 heir
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^^ 434 , July 17 , 1858 / j T H E L E A D E R . 687
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 17, 1858, page 687, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2251/page/15/
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