The Fish Investigation Committee
The Fish Investigation Committee, appointed by the State Legislature, at this writing operating in San Francisco, is unfolding an extraordinary condition of things. Right in the heart of a great city the most nefarious system of slavery is existent, carried on, if not with the connivance of the police, certainly with their indifference. In African slavery, sometimes, frequently the lot of the slave was bettered physically, but innocent Chinese girls are sold into slavery solely for immoral purposes. Three of these rescued girls told their story before the committee. One was sold for $1,780, another for $2,200, the third for $2,800. And all this, with a good profit, must be gotten back by the buyer at the price of female virtue and all that true women hold dear. Chinese female infants are purchased at prices varying from $100 to $150. The condition is beyond adjectives. The facts speak louder. Certainly the civilization that will permit such a condition of things is not Christian; it is not even human.