Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-06-05
immortality CHARGE BY
PASTOR AGAINST ATLANTA
DENOUNCED AS ISLANDER
Chief and Noted Ministers Refuse to
Believe DR.. S. Z. Batten Was So
llclted by Nineteen Women in a
Stroll Down Main Thoronghfare.

Statements credited to DR. Samuel
Zane Batten. chairman of the Phila-
delphia Baptist Social Service Com
mission, that during a recent visit to
Atlanta he had been solicited by WON
en- nineteen times on a single street
and a companion p times, and that
Atlanta is more immoral and wicked
than San Francisco in its wickedest
days. drew forth vigorous denials from
city officials and ministers Wednes-
day
The statements credited TO Dr. Bat
ten are characterized as lies and q
Islander on the city by ministers who
claim they have made personal
investigations Of the conditions
since the Tenderloin district was
abolished They declare that his as
sertions are absurd, and that Atlanta
is more free from the street evil than
any city its size in the United States.
Chief Of Police James /. Beavers.
whose vice crusade eliminating in
the exodus of the scarlet women. at
tracted the attention OF the entire
country Indignantly declared that. if
DR. Batten made the statements, he
said something that was nottrue.
Beavers Offers $500 Prize.
Il will give six months salary
$500, Chief Beavers said, TO any
reliable man who win 60 out on the
streets Of Atlanta and be solicited 10
times by women in a night, whether
it be the same woman or 10 different
women. as Or. Batten said he was.
The assertion is absurd and prepos-
ferrous, as any fair-minded man
knows
Ministers of Dr. Battens own de-
nomination are as indignant over his
assertions as are the city officials,
declaring that the statements are lies
and a SANDER on the city
My opinion is that Dr. Batteu IS
talking through his hat" declared DR.
John f. White pastor Of the Sec
ond Baptist Church Il heard him
make practically the same statements
in St Louis last week and took him
sharply to task rtold him I did nor
believe word ne was saying think
Dr. Batten is afflicted with an over
vivid Imagination He probably saw
one woman on the streets at a COM
paratively late hour and imagined
that because she was on the street,
she was soliciting
Dr.. White Has Investigated.
Il have personally investigated va
riouS reports of soliciting that have
come 10 my attention and have not
been able TO find that any of them
are based on actual occurrences.
have walked the streets of Atlanta a.
an hours of the day and the night
and i'm an portions of the city. trying
to determine whether the scarlet
women had really left the city.
Il find that, although they may stlI
be here in small numbers, they are
certainly not roaming the streets. ]
have never yet been solicited Tor mn
moral purpOss, i'm all my WanderluEs
a hout the city such statements AS
Or Batten makes are absurd
DR.. Charles w Daniel, pastor Of the
First Baptist Church, characterized
the statements credited to DR.. Batten
az mart of a systematic effort To dis
credit the work Of the men who have
driven vice out OF Atlanta, and de
cIare6 the statements are lies ana
SANDER
Could Not Happen Here.
81 can not believe that DIT. Batten
made such statements Dr. DAME.
said but II De did make them, or e
snyore else made them, they are lies
and a sIand,- on the city. such things
as he asserts happened could not
happen i'm Atlanta. The city to-day
is more moral and there is less vice
than in any other city in the coun-
try"
If the Methodist Church. also charac-
rarfzed the statements made by Df.
Batten as lies.
.sThe assertions Of DIT Batten that