Evening journal., 1894-04-26
The RIGHT TREATMENT.

Tue society play actors, Mrs. and Mf.
kendall, were in Philadelphia last week.
They presented the notorious play Of
''The Second Mrs. Tanqueray."
All intelligent people know the char
acter Of that play 1t is French play.
translated into English with little ex-
purgation. To the bad qualities Of
Frenchiness IL adds coarseness Of Eng
lish society. Thus the play Is thoroughly
bad in its suggestiveness and not eleva-
ting for any intrinsic merit or Bny art
required Of the actors who present It.
While the play was in Philadelphia
many efforts were made to induoe par
ties Of fashionable girls to attend it,
These efforts we're not successful.
That Is commendable. While the
fashionable young girls could not be in.
duced to attend the play, they, neverthe-
less, read It, discussed 1t, and became
thoroughly familiar with IL and
we're more or less under the bane of its
influence without the discredit Of the en-
tertainment they would have obtained by
seeing It.
The mothers Of the girls properly re-
fused to allow the girls to attend the
play. One well known club man declared
approvingly that mo unmarried woman
under 10 should be allowed to see the
piece" This, il representing the senti.
ments Of the club men rightly, and If
sincere in its effort to preserve the
modesty and dignity of young girls, is
proper and commendable. But there is
a doubt of its sincerity. The club man
may have had other reasons for say
ing that no young girl should at
tend the play. Those other reasons may
have been desire for self.protection aud
a pricking conscience. There is evidence
that IL may have been the latter; for, a
woman Of fashion retorts, that, "all club
men should be compelled to see the play
and be tied in their seats so as to hear II
out, including the terrible climax"
Whatever may have been the motives
Of the critics among the men, or the
condemnation among the women, it was
well that both the men and the women
Of Philadelphia stayed away from the
play, and that the Kendals' season with
THE Second Mrs. Tanqueray" was not a
success II ought not to be successful.
1t is not play which is attractive be-
cause Of its literary merit, because Of the
skill required to portray the characters
in it, and much less because Of the lesson
which those characters teach, that out
people ought to see. IL Is In every way
the very opposite in all these respects,
Of the kind Of play that the people OF
this country ought to see, or that they
wish to see, It is French vice, trans
lated with English coarseness.
The intelligent and refined people OF
this country have lao more interest in
French vice than they have in ths
English coarseness The sentiment
against both in this country was credit
ably manifested in Philadelphia, and Mrs
Kendsl, her husband and her company
gained an experience there that will
prevent them-and other companies, too
from presenting such another play
This IS the right sort Of treatment fol
the play. 10 Is the treatment that will
always be more effective In preventing bad
plays than al The denunoiations that th'
adjective hur.ing societies Of short
haired women could invent IN a century
The best way 70 cure any bad thing that
depends On the pstronags Of the people
for success, certainly the best way Z,
XIII bad play or a bad book, Is TO let &
, rest severely alone.