The times., 1899-07-09

/
of almost human intelligence. Both may
be noted in the coming presentation. But
| if Children of the Ghetto has been
thrown together haphazard merely be-
cause Israel Zangwill and his book are
well known and because an adaptation of
The Christian" made money there are
shoals ahead for its enterprising mana
gers.
That erudite and most conscientious in
dividual who kept Camille" out of Eng
land for decade under the evident i'm
preston that the morals of a drama, like
the flavor of wine, improve with age, has
been at work once more in an effort 10
establish the fact that Bottom was not the
only individual theatrically inclined who
was competent to sport ass ears. This
time the rulings of the play censor-after
this description no one could be mistaken
| in the identity of the person mentioned
concern the contemplated London produc-
tion of ''Zaza, the translation of which
was seen last December at the Lafayette.
Madame Rejane. who created the title role
of the piece in Paris, had long had her eye
on the British metropolis, and had indeed
gone to some expense before submitting
her vehicle to the Lord Chamberlin. The
French have rather peculiar ideas of
chastity. and perhaps it had not occurred
to Madame Rejane that a production of
'ZaZa" near Picadilly or Leicester Square
could injure those who had safely passed
those notorious localities on their way to
the theatre. II this was the state of the
/ actress's mind her awakening must have
been very rude, for not only did the guar
dian of English morals declare the intend
ed presentation dangerously dirty. but.
what is more to the point, he prohibited
! its rendering in London. And so Madame
Reiane is to remain at home this year and
must content herself with playing to the
imperturbable and absolutely unshoekable
Parisians.
To give the censor his due, it must he
said that the original manuscript of
"Zaza" does not read as innocently and
harmlessly as did that prepared by the
ministerial David Belasco. The first act,
which tells of Zazas wager upon her
ability to captivate Dufrene, was handled
| with remarkable tact in the English. As
| given in Paris there were minor points in
| the scene that were rather calculated to
make a cold d-blooded Anglo-Saxon squirm
while he resolved to come again without
| being accompanied by the feminine por-
| tion of his family. Consequently the de-
/ cision of the Lord Chamberlain may not
prevent Mrs. Leslie Carter from fulfilling
the designs of her press agent and follow
| ing up her personal conquest of the big
| town across the water. Whether that mi
grafton takes place or not, however, those
who remember how clever Madame Re
| jane is and how she impressed Americans
upon the occasion of her visit here, will
| feel that the censor might have risked the
| characters of his innocent subjects in an
| effort y. improve their minds.
Unfortunately there are always people
| in this world who not content with being
pure and untainted themselves, must in
| sist upon all their acquaintances being
| likewise-no matter how painful. So long
| as these folk of lovely soul confine them
selves to the Ten Commandments, the
code of ethics, and THE Pilgrims Prog
ress,'' their teachings may be accepted
without complaint. But occasionally an
enthusiast goes over the mark and shoots
wildly at supposed rabbit in some tree
| top which inspection might prove to be
| only a fea-tenanted hair in his own lash
es. And this is just what has happened
in New York.
Anyone interested in theatrical matters
knows full well that nothing, with the
| possible exception of an unloaded revol-
yer, is more dangerous than a New York
| Legislature with plenty of leisure time
| on its hands. The enforcement of a
typical backwoods magistrate is like unto
| the addition of a playful man to the re-
volver in question. And all of these facts
were duly set forth, proven, and estab-
| lished the other day in Mount Vernon,
where certain justice tried a youth OF
| fourteen for the crime of attending a the
atrical performance without paternal or po-
lice escort. The future prospects of the
rising generation" this scholarly gentleman
| is quoted as having said demand that this
law be enforced. l will let you go this
time, but If you or any other boy or girl
should again be caught under similar cir
cumstances 1 will sentence you to six
months in the penitentiary.'
| 1t is not probable, despite the wording
of the sentence. that the judge meant to
| hold his prisoner responsible for the fu-
| ture conduct of the youth of Mount Yer
non. 1t is probable that his summing up
will have most salutary effect upon the
| inhabitants of the righteous burg to which
| he belongs. And to persons of the magiS-
/ trate's broad mind the lesson may prove a
valuable one. If the effect of a theatrical
performance is such that the unfortunate
| youngster who may have witnessed cne
can only be reformed by a half years con-
| tact with the convicts of New York, moth
| ers and fathers had best begin to realize
| that Washington lacks the beneticent in
| fuence of this gentleman and trim up their
| birch rods 1t might also be a good plan
| to provide at every local place of enter
| tainment notary. who might take depo-
sition of the age of every prospective seat
purchaser. brigade of special detectives
might also be organized for the purpose of
discovering criminal intent on the part of
! local kindergarten habitues. And there
are still other things that might be done.
| But a man with the energy to do. them
would be most moved to head delegation
of insanity experts who could march upon
Mount Vernon with Il jail door rampant
on teething bib for flag and "Curfew
Must Not Ring Tonight for a battle cry.