100 years ago in The Record

Sunday, March 11, 1917

Rensselaer County Sheriff William P. Powers tells the Sunday Budget this weekend that his crusade against Troy’s “disreputable resorts” will continue despite efforts to discredit him and his campaign.

Powers’ latest crackdown began last month when his deputies raided “resorts” in the red-light district near Union Station and forced alleged prostitutes to buy tickets for trains out of town. In an interview with the Budget last night, Powers denied that any of the women had returned to town to resume their trade.

“The statement about the return of the women driven out is not true,” the sheriff said, “There were thirty-four of them sent out of the city by my officers, and, from reliable information, but two have returned, and they have not resumed residence – just coming here and leaving again.”

Troy’s cabarets are closed today as part of Powers’ crackdown. By law places that serve alcohol are required to close at midnight Saturday night and remain closed all day Sunday, but news reports had made clear that many places were staying open on the Christian Sabbath with no interference from the Troy police.

“In regard to the cabarets, I just want to say that all may judge for themselves whether they are obeying the law or not in regard to closing at midnight, and not opening at all on Sunday,” Powers said.

The bombshell part of the interview is Powers’ claim that unnamed “influences, political and otherwise, are active in an effort to discredit him and to defeat what he is attempting in the interest of law and order.”

Last week, the sheriff sent letters to “various organizations in the city” asking for their support. The Budget reports that in at least one of those organizations “an attack was made upon him and his motives by a man who, he said, should be found fighting on his side and in the cause of a morally clean city.”

“I was surprised when informed of the attitude of the person I refer to. I was told that he said, among other things, that many of the women driven out of the city when the crusade was begun, have returned, and that more new faces are seen in cabarets than before the order to close at midnight.”

While Powers’ critic remains anonymous, the sheriff has feuded frequently with police court magistrate James F. Byron, while others have accused him of using his crusades to further his political ambitions.

“I mean to keep at what I began, no matter what influence may work against me, or who may misrepresent my motives,” Powers vows.