, 1880-09-05

me grain that he buys on a margin to-day, hop.
ing 70 sell It at profit Tomorrow.
and the business responsibilities assumed I'M By lie
ssafs nave naturally resulted in rendering the
!Inealnca1 business a business indeed. and moth
ns more The consequeE ; Is, that, bad rs was
the state Of the stage Twelve years agp, it was
1nconpnraoly better than it Is to-day. We did
no. have then at one house Naples on's opera
troupe one week, Rentzs rninsIrels another,
John Mccullough, then a variety troupe, then
inc Union Square Theatre company, whose
weekly representations hnve been 'sandwiched
individual dog Jack. Some character for con-
slssttency, some attempt at artistic effort was
It ts all the same to Gen. John Huvorly-rhe
King pin OF them ail-whether he IL speculat-
ing On the race-track. in mining stocks in the
It Is all business, tho sole object being gain, and
quick gain at that. -.
a, A. the BEGINNING of last season we had an ar
tlcIe on this same subject, in which we reluct-
antly alluded to the effect uron the morality OF
the actors which this combination system must
say, have more than justified our fears: Almost
every actor has wife in every combination, US
sailors used to have in every port. Human
Of Rome or the sou wester Of poor Jack. Family
ties have been broken up, aud general conli-
tton 10 ofbat shs phase of tho matter had bet
:, Another curse of this combination system Is
ap inc tetnptauon It offers to mass Of young girls
anoos s'nn g a. necome IN membe5s of the profes-
mings or an Adele Delgarde to organize COM
pany, order certain amount Of printing, and
tee scarcity Of attractions will c,lnble her to
procure engagements and make up travelling
route. such women are IS innocent Of the re-
Qulrements of art as they are OF feminine mod
esty- Their vanity alone is excited, and that
alone they wish to gratify, except perhaps
In the case Of Minnie, who always h.as
a. good eye to the main chance and
thinks as much Of the dollars as she docs Of the
applause she hopes to evoke With the influx Of
these hovfces has come the trash, In one form or
another, with which We are constantly dosed.
The cure for all the perambulatfne inability,
or at least the hope Of cure, lies In the charnc
ter OF the American people. It has been often
noticed that in this country an evil or q wrong
will be allowed to go thus far and no farther,
tar ano that at the very moment when It seems to
Dsr9n Ds the good sense sen oss Of the American
the state Of the American stage shnll have
reached the point Of incapacity to which tits
fast drifting. the force Of public opinion will
compel the spectators called managers to re-
turn to the more decent methods which this
combination p}an has for time wiped out?
There is a far greater affinity between art and
morals than most men think, and with the pr1ri-
fcation of the stage would como an elevation Of
its art and al increase of its usefulness. It
seems to us that such cities as Chicago,
ST. Louis, Cincinnati, should at ieust
be a1le to maintain one theatrical Or
gnnizatlon Of even superficial deceney in its
members and Of artistic ability. They did it
before the War with profit Why should 1t not
be done now that the disorganizadon caused by
the War has died away?