Many efforts have been made to put a stop to this disgraceful traffic; but hitherto everything seems to have fallen short of the mark. The Italian Benevolent Society has been untiring in its efforts to stop the trade. So long ago as 1876 the Society went on a deputation to the London School Board, with the result that it was decided to compel these children to go to school in the same way as if they had been English children. But the _padrone_ was equal to the occasion. He removed his _troupe_ from Saffron Hill, to the outlying districts of Deptford, Greenwich, and Hammersmith. There the School Board takes no action, and there the children dwell in large numbers, free to ply their trade, and secure from compulsory education. The Children's Protection Act was also another step in the right direction, and it has certainly ameliorated the state of affairs; but for various reasons, chiefly because the limit of age is rather too low, it does not seem to go to the root of the evil. Several suggestions to remedy this state of affairs have been made, all worthy of consideration. One is that there should be a tightening of the compulsory action of the School Boards all over the country. It is illogical that these children should be compelled to go to school in London, and in the country allowed to roam where they please. Doubtless this would have a very good effect, and the gains of the _padroni_ would be sensibly diminished. Another suggestion is, to increase the limit of age laid down in the Children's Protection Act to eighteen years of age in the case of persons of both sexes, thus bringing the Act into accord with a drastic law which was passed in Italy in 1873,[14] and which has been found very effectual there. This course, however, is obviously open to objection, since it might press hardly upon individual cases. The most effectual remedy would be to adopt the plan followed in America, namely, to stop these children at the port of arrival, and the _padroni_, and send them all back at once to their own country. In all European countries they are expelled, or refused admission. Such a course, however, would require a special law, and that necessarily will be some time in coming. The question is:--what is to be done in the meantime? That the evil still continues to flourish there can be no manner of doubt. The _padroni_ do not confine their attentions only to children, but frequently bring over whole families as well. A case came to light in Birmingham this year,[15] of a _padrone_ named Delicato, who had brought over an Italian family--a father, a mother, and two daughters. At the end of two years the record of that unfortunate family was as follows:--The father was paid £2 for two years' work and discharged; the mother had previously been sent back to Italy, because from ill-health she had become practically useless to her master. One of the daughters Delicato had seduced, and she is still living with him; the other daughter ran away and