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208 THE WHITE SLAVE MARKET
West End shops, or, better still, if you will
go about closing time to any of the large
work-rooms even in the East End, you will
see hanging about the doors in the street men
whose calling is written plainly all over their
faces and forms. These men are simply
"pimps," who are on the look-out for girls
whom they can entrap. They are not always
seeking the women for themselves, but they
are seeking them for sale in bad houses.
It is a matter of vital importance that we
should look after these girls before they get
into the grip of the white slave trader. The
conditions under which so many of them live
are so intolerably dreary and sad. If they
have to work in a shop where the living-in
system prevails there are probably a large
number herded into one dreary room. The
houses they live in are cold and barely furnished.
The food in these establishments is
generally bad ; the hours of work are long,
and the wages for young workers very small.
On Sundays many of the houses turn them
out to fend for themselves. They
are not
supposed to come in or give any trouble ; so
even if it is raining they have no place of
their own to go to. A great deal has been
done towards improving the condition of
women workers of this country, but very
much still remains to be done, and until some
sort of minimum wage is established, and
until living-in houses are all under constant
inspection of qualified women who will report
upon their conditions, and until Govern-