(2 of 2)
The sixth woman in the patrol was Mrs. Margaret Sanger Slee. The incident was the first time since 1921 that she had been "given a ride" by the police. At that time Rt. Rev. Patrick Joseph Hayes had had her arrested for giving a birth control lecture in Manhattan. He was then Roman Catholic archbishop of New York. Now he is, besides, a cardinal, and more opposed than ever to contraception. During the past year he has preached with renewed vigor against the birth control movement. It was not at his eminent in stance that Mrs. Sanger went to court last week. She was not even arrested. She rode along to encourage the practicing protagonists in the idea which she believes a social imperative. Dr. Hannah M. Stone, 34, was the "martyr" this time. At the jail and police court, John Hogan, prosecutor, made some fuss over granting the five women prisoners bail. Magistrate Abraham Rosenbluth finally let them free for $300 each. Later in the week they appeared before his bench for trial. His chair was empty for an hour and one-half while the accused waited with two dozen notable doctors, clergymen and sociologists, who had attended to give help. Finally the judge bustled in, wearing a sack coat and a blank expression. Dr. Stone trembled, a silver pin glinting on her white waist. Policewoman McNamara testified. She described her physical condition, her sexual history, her lies and experiences at the birth control clinic. She blushed. The judge adjourned the case. And so nothing was decided, last week. Hearst Editor Arthur Brisbane, oldtime sentimentalist about Motherhood, made this comment to his prolific mass-public : "There was only one birth control clinic in New York. The police found it and closed it. On the other hand, police authorities say there are 32,000 speakeasies in New York. . . . Drunkenness is responsible for many undesirable births. The speakeasies are not raided." Editor Brisbane exaggerated. There are nine other accredited sources for contraceptive knowledge and appliances in New York City. In the U. S. there are 29 such clinics.