The Wichita daily eagle., 1892-11-29
love of the ideal sIumbering In every
so,,l and which when awakened

love of the ideal sIumbering In every
soul. and which. when awakened,
raises man above the level Of the brute.
have heard two Of the most eminent
divines of this age declare that next to
the pulpit the stage can have tho
greatest influence for good. And yet
there is no art which is 30 much
abused. Controlled by sorcid influence,
it descends slowly but surely to de-
graded position. Its influence certainly
grows, but not for good. Instead of
being itself guide in matters of re-
finement and art, the stage OF to-day is
guided merely by the question of at
tractiveness, and knows no higher aim
than the receipts of the box Office: in
stead Of trying to improve the public
taste it panders to the tastes Of the
majority. And who can deny that the
lower the taste is the moro general It
is? do not speak here Of the great
public, but Of that portion Of It which
is most eager in its search for excite
ment. Is there anything more notice
able than the increasing vulgarity,
falsely called realism, Of the plays that
nowadays achieve the greatest success?
In old Europe, where many things
are in decay, but where also many other
things remain as the outgrowth Of
centuries of civilization, the theater
has preserved to . great degree the
character Of . public institution Al
most every large city. every town Of
some Importance possesses one or more
theaters endowed either by the state or
the city or by private donations The
foremost Of them. liko the Theater
Francais in Paris, and the Berg thcater
in Vienna, have exerted an exceedingly
salutary influence. not only on the im-
provement of dramatic art, hut equally
on the development Of literature. the |
refinement of public taste and msnneB |
and in q great measure on the preservs- |
ton Of the purity and elegance of the |
language. Conservative In their ten
denotes. they have been barrier |
against the encroaehmentso Of vulgarity. |
and they have not been Indifferent 10 1
genuine improvement and progress |
Similar TO them was the action Of many /
others: those in Berlin. Dresden, Mu-
mich. St Petersburg. Copenhagen. War
saw. Pesth, Prague. etc. etc Strange
TO say. England. the home Of Shake
speare. does not possess . national
theater. Germany, Ia fact. takes the
front rank in regard 70 the respect it
pays 70 dramatic art.
An endowed theater il conducted on
the basis Of . stock company selected
from the foremost talent of the coun-
try. The actor remains there for the
greatest part of his life; 1T the end Of Il
his services, when old age or infrnity
iisables him for further work. he Il :
granted pension The manager Is mot
j specuiator. but . responsible empsoye, i
.hoaen on sccount Of fitness for his d1- 4
hes In many Of those institutions the
plays are accepted or refused By Q com
nistee composed Of the most prominent
OF the company. sometimes IN
with . few select literary
Idvisers- Runs of plays night after
aight are practically unknOwn- A SUE
,~ssfui piece is placed in the permanent
'epertory. 70 be repeated several times
weekly or monthly. The rule IL . con-
.inuai change Of bill The companies
Lre numerous, therefore there Is no
aecesAsty for an actor To play every
sight The regulations - tAe en6ow-
nen: usually prescribe sh~ prpiuctson
n standard works AZ certain intervals
There 10. for instance 30 week IN the
Ihea,er Frsneais without q peytornr
knce of Earine Corneiiie or NoiS~re. n
sAak u the Bsrs skezaSs ssthna4