In March 1927, the committee of experts presented the report of their investigations into the extent of the traffic in women and children to the Council. This report shows that a traffic in women and children exists beyond a doubt. They name those countries which appear to them to be the chief countries of demand or supply. The report lays special stress on the necessity for closer international co-operation and a more widespread knowl edge of the position with the idea of creating a sound and vigilant public opinion. It recommends that increased penalties should be enforced for the person making a profit out of the moral degrada tion of another and it closes with a statement to the effect that "the difficulty of eliminating the third party element becomes greater in countries where the keeping of brothels is legal, where licensed houses exist and where the system of registering prostitutes is maintained." "The existence of licensed houses," say the experts,
"is undoubtedly an incentive to traffic, both national and inter national." "It behoves all governments," the report goes on to say, "which place reliance on the older system of preventing the spread of venereal diseases to examine the question thoroughly in the light of the latest medical knowledge and practice and to consider the possibility of abandoning a system which is fraught with such dangers from the point of view of international traffic." (See also PROSTITUTION.) of the International Conference on Traffic in Women and Children (Geneva 1921) ; the Reports of the League of Nations Advisory Committee on Traffic in Women and Children (6 sessions, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927) ; J. Butler, Personal Reminiscences of a Great Crusade; Reports of the International Bureau for the Suppression of Traffic in Women; Report of Experts on Traffic in Women and Children (Geneva 1927). (R. E. C.)