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Show !"WnadancE hall. i Thero has been much ado of late II .mine Mr. Gourley's dance hall. 11 Mr' IJI nw d appear from the attitude of WV ffi L daiiy Press and the activity of rail- 'm tne .... that Mr. Gourley's dancing 'llcan fi themy l's a school for the teaching Sr6S5 1 Tibless sin and lessons of Iniquity. aVM 1 ! L n does not believe in trying to 13 re" I 2d the moral wheels when revolv-prob- W mjral wclfare, nor would m I t nut a straw In the path of officials ;d t0 I Irchlng to perform their legal duty, extra I a.rC" ruth d0CB and will stand for umn- I I ??i niav This paper believes that no ween 11 farnpaAlg business should be con- con- H ?lned on an exparto hearing. It 'Ue I Ss also that the whole matter ,Tess WW ggSi"nduly exaggerated and that an,n B SJflis more smoke than Are on lower V" H ! One of the peculiarities Ittee H 5 am maUer ,s the admlssion mo,3l H hi the police, that after frequent ln-r ln-r oA MM L nns they saw no actions on the n"h P r o toe i dance hall, which would lbs M &fy arrest or interference. Now l,f hat In Itself Is a pretty good recom-nel; recom-nel; mentation of the deportment of Mr. next MM " rley.s patrons. The police depart-no depart-no EH ment gives as its warrant for lnter-ue" lnter-ue" KB (erence, not Immoral conduct or acts f i H o( Impropriety, but something quite n,nv outside the question of morals the S failure to take out a license. Mr. dvn H Gourley, therefore, It appears to Truth, is being condemned on the ? H nS count. If the Utah-na park ami mm hall was as all(JSe(1 a scene of liMl II wlld and lewd revc,ry by n,Bnt- why ri II were no arrests made; if, as alleged, am mm children of tender age crowded the ren- H dance floor' wliy weren,t tno curfew bv I laws cnforce(1; if lowd persons were , H there, why was the management not I-pt H warned of tnelr presence, by the pcllce a(, B who knew their shady reputations mm fina,,5r wliv did not tho police mako a i riff I slng' arrcst out of sucn a multitude law I ' w'iat 'ney c'aImed were immoral as I 'nfrac"on3 of tho law? The argu- her I ment seemea a weak one and that it was weak and untenable is almost i ml- Emitted in closing tho hall for otler the I and for different reasons. This Is ;ei, H cerain'y tno way It appears to Truth. enl K Since Mr. Gourley had been put on H h,s defense tho public should re-the re-the H 'raln from eivlng Its verdict until his 13t H sIde of tho story is heard. After that, 'de! Jm and then only, thoro is time for shout's! shout-'s! bI iIr" Gour,cy has been wonderfu'ly Is U s"ccesful In his amusement business. ,ay H JIe 13 hero to stay, as is shown by his is. investments of $20,000 In Improve-nM Improve-nM H ments- Tho reputation he had acids ac-ids lulred through fair and honest treated treat-ed H ment of the public, ho proposes to te- maintain. Ho tells his story with all icy H tho evidence of honest Indignation and ,at ou'raged Justice, an M , ."A11 I want," said Mr. Gourley, "Is r's W air and honest treatment." "The en M Utah-na dance hall, which has bean In- brought into such newspaper notor-id. notor-id. ! Is being unjustly criticised. "Un-ve "Un-ve ' fortunately," ho continued, "thero is he no c Ity ordinance, concerning dance ,TO naiis;I havo myself regretted this and )b- I navo gone to tho trouble of suggesting M m an ordinance which would cover tho rr. ,VT0.ub'o that might arise in tho future. I tii1 actlon of tho Pollco In closng (htatn'"a Park for tho technical reason M lat it was running without a license h ?10ro suuterfugo. Tho dance hnll fmm nmnine without a license do, u.leflret, nor was It necessary un- I IZ ?xlstlnS conditions. A great ado I mlt en matl concerning tho deport- 1 upon tho flor of tho hall that nlalaf.a broeding place for vice, a ' to vi tender years were exposed dlvni . temptation, a place whero Is ,,n s ,lmd thoir Inception." "This w unqualifiedly untrue," continued na" G"rIe. striking tho desk. "Utah- conrw C ,dailce hal1 has always been j lonrlictea along ljpes of positivo de cency and order. Thero havo always been officers of the police department n attendance, and the floor manager is under strict orders not to tolerate unseemly conduct. If tho accredited representatives of the police department depart-ment have failed to do their duty, it certainly Is their fault, not mine. But speaking of order, since Utah-na park opened, thero havo been over 200,000 admissions, and only threo arrests These arrests were not for lewd or lascivious conduct, but the result of fighting something quite beyond tho management to anticipate or guard against." "Since early In November," ho continued, still figuring, "the attendance at-tendance has exceeded thirty thousand and tho excellence of continued good order is demonstrated by no arrests having been mado. If tho chief of police saw things to shock his morai senses, why didn't ho got busy at once and enforco the law. I would gladly welcome an opportunity to put tho matter to the test of evidence in a court of justice, because I know that not a single Instance of alleged disorder disor-der could bo proved. In Ogden, opor-ated opor-ated by tho same company, is another Utah-na danco hall, running under precisely the same cond.nons as tho hall hero. But neither tno police nor tho good people of Ogden have made tho outcry that is being made in Salt Lake. "The up-shot of tho whole matter, in my opinion, is jealousy and onvy. Hero Is Gourley, they say, making good money and continually galnins in popular favor, something must bo done to stem tho tide. Then, all at onco, comes this crash out of a clear sky and the ears of tho town are suddenly sud-denly filled with stories having no foundation In fact. I know that comparisons com-parisons aro odious, but I havo nothing noth-ing to fear in comparing Utah-na dance hall with other similar halls here or elsewhere. If a man Is to be deprived of his legitimate business, if he can be mado to close up shop and quit, If after doing everything possible to mako dancing attractive without being be-ing offensive, It certainly indicates that thero Is something wrong somewhere. some-where. My business is worth something, some-thing, my reputation is worth more, and I propose, to vindicato them'both by standing upon my legal rights." Truth, bolloving ns it docs In fair play, and that every man has a right to be heard, gives Mr. Gourley's version ver-sion of tho matter In order that public opinion bo not entirely influenced by one sido of tho caso. n |