New York Times
WHITE SLAVE STORY FALSE,
SAYS GUIDE.
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Man Who Showed Turner Through East Side Dance Halls Attacks His Veracity.
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TELLS WHAT THEY SAW
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Magazine Writer Reiterates His Charges and Give Some Authorities He Based Them
On.
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One man who conducted George Kibbe Turner through the east side last Winger declares that the magazine writer did not find, on that trip, at least, anything to warrant him in painting in such black colors the east side dancing academies in his story, "A Play Story of the White Slave Trade Under Tammany Rule," in the current number of McClure’s.
Mr. Turner, on the other hand, complained that an effort is being made to less the influence of his story by attacking him. He says the evidence on which his story was based is easily accessible and cites some of it.
The east side guide of Mr. Turner for one night, who is now attacking the Turner story, is Thomas J. Long, Secretary of the Dancing Masters’ Protective Association of Greater New York. He has an academy at Third Avenue and 145th Street. His name and address were easily obtained, he says, because a committee appointed to look into the amusements and vacation resources of working girls investigated 204 dancing academies in the city, and reported that his was a model. This report was sent to Gov. Hughes, and by him was referred to the New York State Immigration Commission.
Mr. Long says in a long affidavit that on Dec. 20, 1908, Mr. Turner appeared at his academy, introduce himself as an investigator representing McClure’s, and made an appointment for Mr. Long to show him around among the east side dancing academies on Saturday night, Dec. 26.
That night they met, according to appointment, at a Fourteenth Street Subway exit, and went on east. The first academy they visited, says Mr. Long, was at 36 Forsyth Street, where twenty couples were dancing.
Clothing and Morals.
"I observed," says Mr. Long, "that Mr. Turner at first seemed to mistake their poor clothes and lack of knowledge of social forms as an indication that they were immoral."
On leaving that place Mr. Turner said, according to his guide:
"These seem to be poor people enjoying themselves, and not immoral, as I thought at first. Take me some place where I can get stronger conditions.
"At 106 Forsyth Street, where fifty couples were on the floor, Mr. Long says, the magazine writer seemed to be annoyed because the dancers were not moving around improperly. At 309 Grand Street, where the celebrants of a Jewish wedding were enjoying themselves, ten aged couples were dancing. This seemed to amuse Mr. Turner, the model dancing master says.
Mr. Turner fled from the academy at 319 Grand Street, where 100 couples were on the floor because, as reported by Mr. Long, he detected an odor therein. The writer and the model dancing master then went to 345 Grand Street, where fifty couples were on the floor. Mr. Long swears that one of the proprietors of that academy told him that several days after their first visit Mr. Turner had returned and asked that some of his pupils be pose in improper postures. This was refused by the dancing master.
Mr. Turner and Mr. Long then visited six or seven more academies in the neighborhood of Grand Street, according to the affidavit, but the worst the writer saw was some young men dancing with their collars and coats off. Mr. Long talked with some of the girls. Mr. Long says there were no evil thoughts in their heads, in spite of their lack of fine clothes and elegant manners.
In a Dancing Academy
The guide and the guided went to a dancing academy in East Fourth Street which runs a bar, and there Mr. Turner was introduced to the proprietor. He talked with some of the dancers also, and according to Mr. Long, remarked on leaving;
"This doesn’t make good material for my story. I am learning something, however.
All through the trip Mr. Turner kept saying, declares Mr. Long, "Let’s get to Tammany Hall; I am sure I will get what I want there."
But on reaching Tammany Hall, about 1 A. M., says Mr. Long, they found a thousand couples attending a masque ball in honor of a Jewish festival.
"This seems to be quite a family gathering," Mr. Long quotes Mr. Turner as saying, "I appear to have hit Tammany Hall on the wrong night."
Later, at a restaurant in Fourteenth Street, where the model dancing master and the writer had something to eat, Mr. Turner said, according to the Long affidavit:
"We seem to have had our night’s work for nothing,"
Outside of his affidavit, Mr. Long says the Turner article is untrue to the core, and that the writer invented the name of "Castle Gardens" as he invented all the rest of the article."
Mr. Turner, in a statement reiterating his charges, said that the attack on him was being made to deflect attention from the facts of the case.
"If a man votes for Gaynor," he said, "he will vote for a government of philosophical platitudes set up as a mask and front for a charming structure whose foundation is laid upon a variety of crime, the choicest among which is the sale of unfortunate women."
Mr. Turner said that neither Mr. Gaynor’s, Mr. Murphy’s, nor his own personal character, was the important thing at this time. The only question of consequence was"
"Has or has not the present white slave trade, so called in America, developed out of Tammany’s political control in New York City, as stated in my article?"
Gives His Authorities
"Neither Mr. Murphy nor Mr. Gaynor has discussed this question," continued Mr. Turner, "consequently there is nothing for me to say in answer to them. I can only reiterate that every statement I made is easily susceptible of proof from sources of information within reach of every newspaper or of any interested individual. Here are a few of the many available sources, stated in consecutive order:
The public exposure of Tammany’s connection with the red-light district in 1901.
The trials and convictions in 1903, 1904, and 1905 of the "white slave traffic" in Philadelphia, and the exposure of their connection back to New York.
The public exposures and trials of the political procurers and members of the New York Independent Benevolent Association in Newwark, N. J. in 1906 and 1907, and the disclosure of their political aid to Tammany Hall at election time.
The testimony before the New York State Board of Immigration concerning this Independent Benevolent Association in 1909.
The notable trials of white slave traders by the United States Government, conducted in Chicago this year by District Attorney Sims and his assistant, Harry Parkin.
The current court trials over the white slave trade in Chicago, in which the most prominent figure has been on of the old workers in the Tammany gang in the Essex market district.
The information obtained in the present campaign against the white slave traffic in Chicago conducted by Clifford G. Row, as attorney for the New Association of Citizens, headed by the Hebrew Society, B’nai B’rith, which has been formed to break up this traffic.
The present personnel of the district Captains or active workers in the Tammany machine in such critical political centres of New York as the Third, Eighth, and Tenth Assembly districts or in the districts on the east side of Harlem.
"The facts from each and every one of these sources and from the investigation of the Federal Government (which will soon be available to the public) point in one direction. Taken together they trace with absolute certainty the growth of the procuring trade of the City of New York, where it has developed from there all over this country, and beyond this country to every continent on the globe."
Jews Brand It False
The Jewish community of New York City, a central body of some 300 Jewish congregations and societies, at a meeting on Tuesday night, adopted resolutions protesting against the statements concerning the Jewish people contained in the recently published magazine article on the white slave traffic. The community states that an investigation of this question has been under way for some time and, although not completed, shows that the magazine statements are "exaggerated and libellous."
