The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1904-12-27
Philadelphia S Somber Story.

Readers of The Times are well in
formed of Philadelphia civic degra-
dation But such of them as saw last
Sundays issue of the philadelphia
Public Ledger must have been shock
ed and dismayed by the horrible story
stance and specification Of the white
Slave Pens maintained by men under
the eye of the police, and protected by
the political system which controls
the electorate
According to the Ledger, the City
of Brotherly Love- co-operates in the
maintenance of about 100 houses and
the forcible retention in those houses
of about 1 geo girls, all under sixteen
years of age, and all unpaid: The
other details Of the .Ledger's''
charges need not be reprinted. 1t viii
suffice to say that it cites the uni
formed police of Philadelphia as the
agency to prevent the escape of the
victims, the attorneys for the city as
the bar to prevent the slave masters
from being punished, and the virtual
governors of the city in the form of
machine leaders as traffickers in the
vice by trading municipal protection
for help in padding the election re-
turns.
To show the connection between the
machine and the syndicate the
Ledger narrates the story OF a spe-
cial detective named Carlos as devel-
oped by hearing in court When
Carlos asked for license as a detec-
tive he was Endorsed by David J.
Smyth. director of the department of
public safety; James L. Miles, chair
man OF the Republican city. commit
tee and high sheriff of the county:
Leslie Yates, member Of the Legisla-
ture and now magistrate, and many
officers of the police department. Yet
in few weeks the court was petit
toned to revoke the license, and 1T
was proved that at the time Director
Smyth had Endorsed Carlos as man
OF good moral character and one
worthy to be intrusted with a detec-
tive's license, the police department
had two warrants for the arrest of
Carlos, charging him with harboring
white slaves in his houses. Then.
adds the Ledger . Judge MesIichael
denounced the indorsers of Carlos
from the bench and revoked his Ii
cense."
In return for such Endorsements.
says the Ledger, the organization
reaps the benefits set forth in this
paragraph.
Up to last year the organization
used the white slave houses for pad
ding the registry list This plan was
found to be open to direct criticism.
and an order went out restricting the
registration from these houses TO four
votes each A critical examination of
the official assessors lists will she :
that this order has been carefully
beyed, and that the 100 white slave
houses in the city tutatively shelter
only 400 registered voters. As a mat
ter Of fact, there are not twenty voters
in all OF the houses
The Times need cite nothing
further. The whole disgusting and
revolving story is already in print for
those who care to read it. It is in
dorsed by the testimony of the Law
and Order League. the investigations
of many newspapers at other times.
and by many ministers who have
sought vainly TO rouse the men OF
their congregations
1t is all discouraging, shameless,
hopeless The system goes on and on
in the old way. It has its grip on the
city's men of influence. and it reaps
its nefarious harvest. lair wind or
foul.
But what of the good men of Phil
adelphia?