New-York tribune., 1918-05-31
Links Asquith
With German
Vice Bondage
Continued from page 1

pendent Theatre, which is now being
tried in the Bow Street Police Court,
arose out of the publication in Mr..
Pemberton-B Billings paper "Vigilante"
of an attack on Miss Allan such as it
was unworthy Of any man to make
upon a woman. according to the prose-
cution.
The meaning of the passage COM
planned of was that there was some
connection between nameless vice and
the performances at the Independent
Theatre. This was made clearer by a
cryptic reference suggesting that if
Scotland Yard were to seize list Of
the members subscribing to the indie
pendent Theatre there was mo doubt
they would secure the names Of several
thousands of the 47,000."
Leading Britons Named
The explanation of this reference
was discovered in an article in the pre-
vious. issue of the paper, in which the
alleged libels were directed against
whole classes of people, not excepting
Vic VCAy Hl6H 6HSSC Ill CAC AouNs HS
writer said that there had been many
persons who had been prevented from
putting their full strength into the
war by corruption and blackmail and
the fear of exposure, and that there
were reasons for supposing that the
Germans were making use of the most
productive and the cheapest methods.
The paper went on to state that
there existed in the cabinet noir" of
certain German prince book COM
piled by the secret service from the re-
ports of German agents who had in
tested England spreading vice and de-
bauchery. More than thousand pages
of the book were filled with the names
mentioned by German agents in their
reports, including the names of 1000
English men and women.
State Secrets "Threatened"
Then there was the suggestion that
the most sacred secrets of state were
threatened. 1t also declared taat Ger
man agents, by certain liaisons could
obtain information as to the DISPOSE
tion of the fleet, and that "the thoughts
that 47,000 English men and women
were held in enemy bondage through
fear calls all clean spirits to mortal
combat"
Miss Allan figured in the affair for
the reason that she had been engaged
to play the part of Salome, in a play
called "Salome," originally written by
tae late Oscar Wilde. The play, which
included dance, was to be put on at
the independent theatre under j. T.
Grein's management. The dance did
not pretend to be that danced by
Salome in the Bible story, but was
supposed to represent a vision seen
by Salome after she had given the
dance for which the head of John the
Baptist was the reward.
In the early stages of the trial Mr..
Grein, who was born in Amsterdam,
but is a British subject by naturaliza-
ton, said he had founded "the Ger
man Fair" IN London and that he held
the fourth class of the Order of the
German Eagle and the Order of the
Prussian Grown. Miss Allan had no
German associations to his knowledge.
Miss Allan has been an interpreta-
tive dancer since 1903. She studied
in Berlin and danced her way through
most of interior Europe, setting out
from Vienna. She had been presented
to the Kaiser, to Emperor Francis JOS
seph, King Leopold Of the Belgians,
Edward VII and other monarchs. Of
them all she said, soon after attaining
her London success, King Edward was
the most genuine.
He entertained her on five occasions
she said, having met her at Premier
Asquith's birthday party in May, 1908
The day after her first meeting with
the late King of England she said, she