A London Scandal.

Manawatu Standard, Volume X, Issue 62, 12 August 1885, Page 4

A London Scandal.

PROFLIGACY IN HIGH LIFE,

EXTRAORDINARY REVELATIONS,

Recently we pablished a cablegram which stated that there was great excitement m London owing to an article appearing m the Pall Mall Gazette regarding profligacy ia high life. It appears an attempt was made to exclude the paper m question from the Clubs and the Railway stalls, but with regard to the latter the public would not allow such a step to be carried out, and the Pall Mall Gazette was asked for more than any other paper. 1 The following from a London paper throws some light on the subject-:—.' Our readers will recollect that a few weeks ago a notorious procuress named Jeffries, who had long been carrying on her abominable calling, was convicted at Middlesex Sessions, and sentenced to: pay a fine of M'2.o'o, which, of course, was instantly forthcoming. At the same ses- ' sions a man who was convicted of a similar offence was sentenced to six months 1 imprisonment. In Parliament Professor Stuart brought the subject under the notice of the Homo Secretary, who, howover, DECLINED TO INTERFERE. We have now before us the June number of the Sentinel, a monthly penny periodical, professing to be the " organ of the Social Purity Movement," published by Dyer, Paternostor-Square, which contains the full particulars of this gross outrage on justice. From an article headed k ' Titled Criminals and their protegee " we make this extract :—'' The whole proceedings at the Middlesex Sessions on May o, m the case of the woman Jeffries, were highly, if sadly, instructive. The trial was fixed for 10.80 a.m. Arriving there at about ten minutes before that time, a member of the committee which was prosecuting, with three friends (two of whom were representatives of tho Press), only succeeded, with great ditticully, m passing the policemen who were stationed to keep out the public on varions pretexts, one policeman insisting that the court was already crowded, and another that ho had " ordors to admit no one." After such contradictory statements, tho member of tho committee was not surprised on entering to lind that he was THE ONLY SFECTATO3 m the spsce a-loted t» (he public. Tho next notable thing wan that the jury and

other persons m court were kept waiting -hut I! "an hour, "i thy absence of Mr iSdlin, Q.C., the presiding magistrate (boiucvvh'at ini'sappropriulely termed the " assistant "judge), and Mr' Besley and Mr Montagu Williams, the leading counsel ■i ospectively for thj prosecution and defence. On the latter entering the court • t half-past ten, he "at once roquestoJ Mr- Bes-ley," says the 'spucial-.rcp.ort of tho ..West London Times, "to retire 'for a private consultation." It was understood m court that the judge closeted himself with them — certainly AN EXTRAORDINARY THING, highly adapted to give colouring to the report 'mentioned m a London evening newspaper, usually well informed, that they were attempting to ' affoct soi.no method by which tho case should not be heard.' For the Judge' to hive patiently waited half an hour while the ' opposing counsel' arranged the case m the interests of the culprit aiid her clients would have been almost equally extraordinary. Certainly, the subsequent proceedings, including -the speeches of counsel and Judge, and then the verdict, fitted i:ito each other so harmoniously as to unmistakably suggest to the spectator an exact pro-arrangement. On re-outering tho court, Mr Montagu Williams' said to his client, Mrs" Jeffries, ' Say you are guilty,' which she accordingly tlid. ; The Sentinel lik wise contains tho speech at Lut<-n, of Mr Wookey, secretary of the (iospul Purify Association, wherein ho mule the following en:nmenls on the recent oscxpo of Mrs Juu:I lies : — {i We have m lSnglaud," he. said, nearly 150,000 fallen girls who gain their daily bread by leading a life of sin and shame. The grrat majority of these girls are fatherless, MANY OF THEM MiiTIIEKLKSS. Where they come from or to what place they are going few want to know. They may go to the prison or penitentiary, or die of sickening disease m a Lock Hospital, or seek their death by A plungo m the muddy river. No one is any tho wiser except the police, yet the male traitors, i»ut for whom vhese girls might still luivo bi-eu In the bright sunshine of those sunny dayt>, When not a cloud passed by to darken them, are allowed to walk m and out amongst the pure as if there was nothing hi their soul-andbody murdering life of which they need bo ashamed. Nay, more, they are oftimes found sitting- m Parliament, making laws by which we have to abide. They havu occupied the chief places m courts of justice. It is not long since one of lier Majesty's Judges died m a house of ill-fame, and soou nfler that a member of the House of Lords stood in' the dock to bo tried for an indecent assault upon a defenceless servant girl. Working men, it is your daughters that are sacrificed, and it is time you rose up m ail your strength and looked these RICH SCOUNDRELS m the face, telling them to stand back, daring to rob yourjpoor children of their character, which is their all. The proceedings at Westminister Police Court have lately been the subject of much excitement m certain quarters. An old woman of infamous character, between 60 and 70 years of age, lias been upon her trial for keeping a number of human slaughter-houses. It was my painful duty to be present and I shall never forget the sight. In front of, the dock sat the old woman (Mary Jeffries), elegantly dressed. At her back sat A LONG ROW OF FALLEN GIRI.S. Next to these stood eight or nine young men, whose fingers glistened with diamond rings, and whose feet werr. covered with patent shoes. The evidence went to prove that these houses of infamy were used exclusively by the aristocracy. George Bellcliambcrs, lute coachman to the woman Jeffries, gave the names of half a dozen clubs, amongst which were the Marlborough and Army and Navy, where he had taken notes announcing the arrival of the girls. Since then I have had the painful privilege of looking through an immense quantity of evidence collected for the London committee that prosecutes m this case, and I was not surprised to see that amongst the crowd of male debauchees the names occur of not a few of exalted rank." Here the speaker gives what he alleges is a list of several of Mrs Jeffries' " iiISTINGUISHED CUSTOMERS." It contains the names of a reigning sovereign, four noblemen, one baronet, colonels, captains, consuls, and that of a conspicuous member of the English Royal Family, at the mention of which, we are told, an " immense sensation " , was created ; also that all these names would have been mentioned m court had not the matter been got rid of m the way staled above. The list appears m tho columns of our contemporary. Indeed, the full details of the scandal are boldly published m the pages of tho Sentinel.