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42 THE WHITE SLAVE MARKET
National Committees of Europe to investigate
the state of things so far as the white slave
traffic is concerned and to organise and
extend the work of the committees for its
suppression.
"
Egypt," said Mr. Coote, " is a flourishing
market for these traffickers. It is the gateway
to the Near East; and, owing to the
cosmopolitan character of the people, suppression
work encounters many and serious
difficulties. Indeed, criminals of all kinds
are favoured by the Capitulations and the
circumlocution of trial by the Mixed Tribunals
; and in the case of the white slave
traders, who can only be tried by their
respective Consuls, justice is particularly
slow and uncertain. If the Egyptian police
have evidence that a certain man is not only a
trader, but is in actual possession of foreign
girls, no steps can be taken without first submitting
the evidence to the Consul of the country
to which the man claims to belong, and from
this official a warrant for arrest must be
obtained. The trial then takes place at the
Consular Court. Lord Cromer, who took a
keen interest in the efforts to suppress this
traffic, called the attention of the British
Government to the legal difficulties ; and his
successor, the late Sir Eldon Gorst, went so far
in his annual report as to say that while the
Capitulations were allowed to deal with this
question successful legal action against
traffickers was almost impossible."
the
Mr. Coote is of
opinion that the evils of