The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-18

he evening and o'clock in the morning" The theatrical managers of London, see ing the passage of such a bill meant the bsnishment of all children from the stage, appealed to the standing committee on trade, to whom the bill was referred, and ashed that amendments be made so that the provisions of the existing act may be retained. The committee rejected this appeal, and reported the bill favcrably to the house of commons, where 1t will be discussed and put to vote.
 he theate- managers of Lopdon held a meeting on May 15 at Drury Lane the ater to protest against the passage of the LII. Sir Henry Irving presided, and in the course oe che meeting delivered an address which contained, among other Iercible statements, the following:
 q see that MT. W. T. Russell said it was monstrous that children of ! and $ years should appear On the stage for the amusement of the public. What Is really mcnstrous Is that rooted hostility to the tkeater and a gross ignorance of theatri- cal conditions should be permitted to dis tort the Judgment of a parliamentary committee. We, who are familiar with those conditions, know that a theater kears no manner of resemblance to a fac tory. Child hfe in a theater Is not child labor In a theater children are not sweated; they are petted. Life for them Is both an education and a recreation. To MT. Russell it Is a shocking thing for cbi1d Of to be a fairy in Shakespeare; but the child of would not exchange that dream of joy for all the gloomy pleasures that appeal 70 Mr. Russell.
 Moreover, 10 naay a caild, that fairy lare is ihe beginning of a professional career. l need not give you the names of all the great artists who nave been born on the stage. cradlsd on the stage who shc eked the ". r. Russelfs of an earlier oay by pres snting to delightful public the spectacle Of irresponsible childhood tripping gayly on the boards Ask Marie Wilton Madge Robertson, and Ellen Ter ry whether they had a terrible time dur ing their infant appre entieeshIp-wbe they yearned for a Perseus like MT. BrCadhurst to save these title And. one- des from a dragon of a stage manager.
 These great artists will tell you that Hey trace back to their earliest years the impressi )ns which have been mo% valuable to their artistic development. Not that this alone would not be a suffi- oient argument for the employment Of children in theaters If that employment intereferred r any degi ee with their gem erel education, If It staunted their phy sical g.owth, if 1t cast the gloom of un- congenial ard 3nhealthy toll upon their yoI ng souls.
 "But every body who has any knowl- edge Of the iheator, and whose mind Is free iron. cant and intolerance, knows that the employment of children produces nore of these dire results. The bill be- fore p1rliamtnt Ignores the real issue; It proceeds upon the assumption that child of or 8 suffers positive harm from work in a theater, whereas any eyperi- enee shows the reverse to be the truth And. if for the sake of cast-iron uniform ity, this absurd interdict is put upon such employment, a large number of poor lit- tie children will be cut off from the joy of their lives-banshed from their fairy land to the street. and many a humble home will be impoverished by the loss of the saiaries so chcerfully, so benefi- cia.ly earned by the smali breadwinners. Against fuch blum 1erlng leEisla tion we enter an emphatic protest It will do no manner of good to the children to the chiidren it can not give them any oppor- tunities of education they do not already possess So far from securing to them a measure of comfort and happiness 1t win destroy both, and instead of protecting their tender age against hardships. 1t will deprive many of them of the only friends they have Tn the world. To such children the theater is truly home, a school and benevolent institution all in one, and the measure will deprive 1t of that char acter will certainly be the most egregi- ous and callous piece of folly that ever called itself an act of parliament.