The times., 1899-09-24

unlqulty OF Mr.. Zangwill's material. Then,
100, the Lleblers are not strictly syndicate
people and no one who reads the reviews
OF Leander Richardson and Franklin Fyles
VIII need to be told how much this fact
Is likely TO count in New York Altogether
the task awaiting the skilIful Mr. Bates a
lew hundred miles away looks to be of a
nature that should make THE Man With
the hoe deem himself the luckiest of
mortaIs The Times is willing to concede
tnat II Children of the Ghetto lasts any
iength OF time on Broadway the run
acnleved VIII be due to real and sterling
merit in the play itself
No fewer than thirty letters of con-
graduation received at this Office
which the verdict of The Times
was accepted by many. Eleven of
these express the idea that their writer's
had expected in the production precisely
the fault found with it, Even as none of
the dramatic efforts hitherto presented in
washington had oceasioned the after COM
ment provoked by Children of the Ghet-
TO- SO none has caused the speculation
III which theatregoers INDUCED before the
hlgnt or the premiere. Almost everyone
had announced his or her belief in the fu-
ture OF the piece, and had picked out the
features that would have 10 do with that
future glimpse at the work in ques-
ton has proven most Of this chatter to
nave been ideas might have been seen
from the fact that there was absolutely
nothing on which to base it.
some three weeks ago. for example a
jewish paper printed in Baltimore came
out with an editorial in which was fore
caStnd all IF +11.
author OF the article mentioned deftly ar
ralgned Mr.. Zangwill for having written
Children of the Ghetto and advised
MS readers TO remain away from its rem
derlng. With all this the audience of Mon
day night at the National was more than
half Semitic, and no one seemed TO find
any offensive word or action in the drama.
MI Zangwill, indeed, has treated the
Hebrew with the utmost consideration in
MS structure, dealing lightly with the
faults of the tribe and dwelling tenderiy
on its virtues. There are disagreeable
characters in all plays and there were
one or two in this Englishman's but, in
general. his subject was handled deIicately
and with reverence.
Equally unfounded was the squib pub
lished a month since in a local daily which
had assured itself that Mr. Zangwill's
creations would all use dialect in their
dialogue. This speculation was doubtless
warranted by the book, which is a poly
giotic miscellany that might puzzle the
corps of a school of languages. Between
the two yellow covers Of Children of the
Ghetto are French, Latin, Greek, German,
Hebrew, Russian, Spanish, and Yiddish.
The novel reminded one of the story of
the Partisan, who, when asked why he did
not like Ilu Maurier's ''TriIby," replied
that there was too much English in it,
Children of the Ghetto'-the play-was,
however. Surprisingly free from the in
tricaeies that came dangerously near ruin
ing The Little Minister" The Times had
ventured to suggest that audiences might
refuse to differentiate between a Wilton
Laekaye jew and a Billy Watson jew A
line regarding the beauty of a diamond
DID come within an ace of Causing a laugh
one night last week. but taken as a whole
the prophecy of this paper fell as far
snort of the mark as did those of its con-
temporaries. There were people here.
though, who believed all along with a bull
letln sheet s=sued Tuesday, and which
complained of Children of the Ghetto"
that 1t contained ttco much religion and
TOO little story-too many characters and
too Few situations" These may have been
the folk who wrote 10 say that what they
expected had come TO pass.
Net here in our London Ghetto the gates and
gaberdines OF the olden Ghetto Of the Eternal
city; yet no back of signs external By which one
may know it, and those who dwell within. Its
narrow streets have no speciality of architecture:
Its DIRT is not picturesque. 1t is no longer the
stage for the high buskined tragedy Of massacre
and martyrdcm; only for the obscurer deeper
tragedy that evolves from the pressure Of its own
inward forces. and the long-drawn-out tragi-eom-
edy OF sordid and shifty poverty. Nevertheless
this Londen Ghetto of ours is a region where
amid uncl6anness and squalor the rose Of romance
blows yet little longer in the raw air of English
reality; world which hides beneath its stony
and unlovely surface inner world of Dreams
fantastic and poetic n mirage OF the Orient
where they were woven, OF superstitions as gro
tesqte the cathedral gargoyes Of the Dark Ages
in which they had birth And all lie tender
ly some streaks OF celestial light shining from the
face Of the great Law Giver.
The folk who compose our pictures are children
of the Ghetto their faults are bred N It's hover
ing miasnla OF persecution, their virtues strait
ened and intensified by the narrowness Of its hori
z0n. And they who have won their way beyond
its boundaries must still play their parts in trag
edies and comedies-tFagedies Of spiritual strug-
-e, comedies OF material ambition-whieh the
aftermath of IFS centuries of dominance the Sc
quel of that long cruel night in JeweTy which /
comedies with the Christian era. Ii they are not
the children, they at least the grandchildren
Of the Ghetto
This is the fortunate manner in which (
Israel Zangwill began his book and this
the unfortunate spirit that permeated his /
play The difference between literature
and the drama is so wide that Mr. Zang- Z
will cannot reach both to pull them to-
gether. A novel may achieve success /
through its atmosphere and character
a stage product must find favor (
With its story The atmosphere and char /
acter sketching may have place in the Z
piece. but. at most, that place should be
, hackgrouDd against which the pot shows
more strongly This rule cannot be affected
BY newness of locale or oldness of period. I
A really creditable work for the theatre
should be as interesting in Japan as in
America-this because it's theme should be !
built on the weakness or power, not Of (
or American nature. but of hu
man nature. The familiar argument that !
Children of the Ghetto deals with peo- !
Die and forms interesting by reason of their |
,bscurity is no argument at all.
Nor does the fidelity with which atmos- |
Dhere and characters were put in position (
lelp matters in the slightest. Art is more /
han truth-art is truth selected-Otis (,
skinner says that art is life edited The 7
luthor who can present truthful subject |
hat is sti ! glamorous is genius; the au- I
hor WHO axes up truthful e'lhioof none !
$ because it is truthful is likely to be con-
;idered a bore. Everyday folk often sit and
for hours ON the latest con.cIod- !
ton 10 literature or the prospect for a |
Amy autumn. II Mr.. Zangwill had given |
the time he took for Children of the |
Ghetto to such discussion his play might /
nave been called natural, but it certainly |
would have been tiresome. There is no /
ioubt that an ordinary tramp expectorates
when and where he pleases but Walter !
Jones would never have been tolerated had I
he being he imDers0nated hOodpd tha Sfapa