§ MR. JAMES STUART (Shoreditch, Hoxton)asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether it has come under his notice that "The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885," is evaded by the keepers of cafés chantants in Rotterdam and other places, who engage English girls as singers, and then force them into practices leading to prostitution; and, whether he will request the British Consuls in foreign ports to furnish such evidence as they can obtain with respect to this allegation?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Mr. MATTHEWS) (Birmingham, E.)No, Sir; the allegations in question have not been brought to the notice of the Government, and I am informed by the Metropolitan Police that no case has come to their knowledge. If the police learn that any girls are going to the Continent under suspicious circumstances, immediate inquiries are made to ascertain if the law has been broken and to warn the girls of the danger of going abroad, unless they are fully satisfied that the engagement is of a genuine character. I will ask the Foreign Office to communicate with the Consul at Rotterdam, and at any other port at which the hon. Member may think inquiry useful, in order to ascertain whether any evidence in respect of these allegations can be obtained.