THE BOOK OF THE MONTH. 



THE MAIDEN TRIBUTE OF MODERN BABYLON. 



As it was in 1885, so it is in I9J2, 



\V<' mako no excuse for rlioosing as tlie most important liook of the mouth one which was published 

 years ago, and which cannot he lioiight to-dav on any iKwkstall or in any shop. We are convinced 

 that, although in this it differs from other books, yet in reality it is all the more necessary to treat 

 it as the book of the month far excellence. Tn 1885 Mr. W. T. Stead published a pamphlet at the 

 price of twopence which set England ablaze, and brought alx)ut a great and enduring change for the 

 lietter in the condition of women. To-day there is a mo\ement, a serious endeavour, to develop still 

 further the work begun then, and we, therefore, think it more desirable to review the pamphlet of 

 years ago in the irttere.sts of the work of to-day. 

 exactlv what were the real ideas of Mr. ^\' 

 Traffic. 



The most astounding, the most horrible fact to lie 

 learnt'd fnwi this f)Ook is that the greater part of its 

 iiidictmint is as applicable to-day as it was when 

 Nfr. .Stead wrote it, in 1885. We may well 1h> 

 tmipted to i-ry out : " Where is our boasted civili- 

 sation, where is our vaunted progress? " The law- 

 was altered in 1885, as a result of the pamphlet we 

 here review, but the evils which the law was sup- 

 IHised to cure continue to-day, and seem to flourish 

 most e*'<-<edi'ngly. A perusal of the book leaves us 

 with the impression that what is wanted is not so 

 much amendment of existing laws, but new laws 

 and a certaintv that any such new' laws wi'll he 

 adeqtiatelv enforced. The " Maiden Tribute of 

 Morlern IJ.ibylon " is the collected report of the .secret 

 commission, organised by Mr. Stead, when editor of 

 the I'all Mull Gazette, to ascertain the real facts of 

 the slluation. and thus to force through Parliament 

 the Criminal I,aw Amendment Act, which raiserl 

 the age of consent from thirteen to sixteen. 



HOW TIIK FACT.S WERE VERIFIED. 



For four weeks (wrote Mr. Stead), aided by two 

 or (hrc- <f)adjutors, of whose devotion and self- 

 sacrifiii-, <(/mbined with rare instinct for investi- 

 gation, anil a singular personal fearlessness, I can- 

 not six-ak too highlv, I have Iteen exploring the 

 London Inferno. It has been a .Strang*' and un- 

 exam|>led experience. For a month I have o.s<-iI- 

 lated Iwtween the noblest and the meanest of man- 

 kind, th<- saviours and the destroyers of their race. 

 For davs ami nights it is as if 1 had suffered the 

 penalties inflii-ted upon the lost souls in the Moslem 

 hell, for r sei-nied to have to drink of tlv purulent 

 matter that flows from the l>odies of the damned. 

 Hut the s<ijourn in this hell has not he<'n friiitl<-ss. 

 The facts which I and my coadjutors have verified 

 1 now plac«' on record at once, ns a revelation and a 

 warning— a revelation of the system, and a warning 

 to those who mav be its victims. Tn the stntenn^it 



Bv this means alone, also, can the world realise 

 , T. Stead on the whole question of the White Slave 



which follows I give no names, and I omit ad- 

 dresses. My purpo.se was not to secure the punish- 

 ment of criminals, but to lay bare the working of 

 a great organisation of crime. 



AN INVESTIGATOR, NOT AN INFORMER. 



Hut, as a proof of good faith, and in order to sub- 

 stantiate the accuracy of every statement contained 

 herein, I am prepared, after an assurance has been 

 given me that the information .so afforded will not be 

 made use of, either for purposes of individual ex- 

 posure or of criminal proceedings, to communicate 

 the names, dates, localities referred to, together with 

 full and detailed explanations of the way in which 

 I secured the information, in confidence, to any of 

 the following per.sons : — ^His Grace the Archbishop 

 of Canterbury, the Cardinal -Archbishop of West- 

 minster, Mr. Samuel Morley, M.P., The Earl of 

 Shaftesbury, the Karl of Dalhousie, as the author 

 of the Criminal Law Amendment Bill, and Mr. 

 Howard Vincent, ex-Din-Ktor of the Criminal In- 

 vestigation Department. 



I am an investigator ; I am not an informer. 



It is noteworthy, therefore, to quote here words 

 which the Karl of Shaftesbury used concerning the 

 work of Mr. Stead at a meeting in Exeter Hall : — ■ 



" William Thomas Stead is the noble.st man in 

 England." 



The spirit in which the mi.ssion, hideous in its 

 horror, was originated and carried out bv Mr. Stead, 

 may best lx> judged by the following lines: — 



Htr the results what they may, no nobler work 

 I'ould a man ever he privileged to take. Even a 

 huinbli- part in it is enough to make one grateful for 

 I he ])rivilege of life. 



If p«>ople can only be got to think .seriously alx)ut 

 this matter, progress will Ix! made in the right direc- 

 tion. Evils once as universal, and, apparently, as 

 ine\itable, as prostitution have disappeared. May 

 we not ho|ie, therefore?, that if we trv to do our 



