The Washington herald., 1915-05-28
The Tango Tea Menace.

/ The sensational complaint OF a New ORR
woman against her daughter in connection with
the tango teas on Broadway. illustrates anew The
old truth that sin has particular habitat Year:
| ago New York we'll as other cities and States
enacted laws and ordinances forbidding dancing
in saloons, or the sale of liquors in dancing halls
These were wise prohibitions and they have been
strictly enforced in Washington and, Judging from
official reports, in other large cities. The police
| insist that tho law is strictly enforced in New
| York. The tango craze, the natural love for
dancing and the limited accommodations for the
indulgence OF that innocent pleasure at home has
! persuaded many rigid moraIistS to believe
| that the public dancing hall, where no liquors
are sold. arc safe places for the young people
of both sexes to meet The tea dance in the
afternoon has been encouraged, and ii one hall
the sensational revelations in connection with
Miss Kelly true, this new reform is one OF the
greatest dangers to young girls, that has been de-
vsed. Some OF the mothers OF New York say that
it is worse than the old dance hall in connection
with the saloon because it is able to cloak vice
with apparent respectability and make practically
impossible OF early detection police regulation.
The publicity of the old style dance hail. pro-
hibitcd was protection to innocence but the new
tea dance in respectable restaurants and tea caba-
rets and the so-callcd dancing schools, in respect
able localities, have flourishcd respectable re-
sorts until the revelations OF this celebrated case
of Young heircss to millions which owes its pub
licity to the complaint of her mother in Police
Court.
The women of New York arc now said to be
aroused to the need OF regulation OF the tango teas
and arc calling upon the police to rid these places
OF the men parasites who, serving partners. are
suspected of designs against young women. One
hat
cpa source of danger is the afternoon dances, for
to these flock the Young women whom parental
care would ordinarily keep at home at night 1t
is easy for such to accompany companion
10 an afternoon dance. there to meet those young
men who while they dance well, would not be
tolerated in the home They go again and
again and say at home that they going
shopping or to visit a friend, and they soon fall
under the spell of the dance and their COM
panonS. The girl OF Fifth avenue is exposed to
the same danger her humber sister in the
dance halls OF the East Side"
To this the police reply. that these conditions
can best be reformed by the mothers, the min
listers and the school teachers. The letter of the
law is enforced as a rule, and detectives in dress
suits are detailed to attend these tea dances and
try to spot the undcsirables. One OF these de-
tectivcs says: The social gangster is a result
of the present dance craze and IT is estimated that
there are between 900 and 1000 tango boys in
the city They are professional Partners and make
their living in that way. The police may go into
a place and after looking the people be salts
fed that one or more of the men are not of de-
srable class, but how are you going to prove it.
You can't arrest because he wears loud
clothes or looks though he and real work were
strangers. These men have no police records and
they are for that reason hard to prosecute. They
may seduee rob and backInail young but
the police do nothing until there is case"
The police appear to have the best of the argu-
ment. The parents cannot shift the responsibility
to the shoulders of the police. We can neither
make men and women honest, virtuous nor happy
by statute nor can we shield them from tempta-
ton by police regulations.
There is good old saying that as the twig
is bent the trees inclined, and it would not be