Los Angeles herald., 1905-04-30
= OR the New Movement in thought

OIN NilG view movement III AlibuEiI
r. which is abroad in the land the
A stage is in no small degree re-
sponslble. Such men as Ibsen, Toll
stoi, Bernard Shaw, Sudermann, Maet-
erllnck, Pincro and other dramatsts
are entitled to greatest praise or sever
est condemnation according to ones
point of view as to the benefit or harm
of liberal thinking on the part of the
public. Philosophy has become fad
and everyone finds occasion nowadays
to make the common boast of being
"broad- minded"
1t Is becoming generally acknowl-
edged that society as It is constituted
is filled with glaring defects. Every
where are men decrying this or that
evil of our social organism and fore
most In this work stand the play
wright and the stage through which
his appeal is made.
Ibsen and Shaw maintain that our
social system is all wrong. They do
not intend you shall amuse yourself
with Ghosts" or "Widower's Houses"
or Mrs. warren's Profession" They
are endeavoring to show the ulcers on
the body polite az a demonstrating
surgeon discloses the foul sores of d
patient for the benefit of his clinic.
You may not sanction these measures
so heroic as to drag revolving diseases
and conditions before your eyes. but
that Is their method and their idea is
a regeneration of society. But whether
the people generally agree with their
methods or not there is no doubt
that they have done much to awaken
the world and are greatly responsible
for the broader lines of thought along
which it is moving.
The New Movement has spread into
all walks. In Los Angeles one of the
most popular churches in the city has
grown to it's present proportions in a
little over a year under the direction
of reformed" evangelist who discov-
cred that love and not creeds was the
way that led to salvation. All of these
teachers are striving to aid the world
in making love and forgiveness sup |
plant rancor and the general willing
ness to cast the first stone. and it is
safe to believe they are all sincere. 1t
is too true that although we may be
busy hiding our own sins we can find
time to imprison and ostracize any fell
low creature indiscreet enough to be
caught.
We have recently had the injustice of
our manners pointed out to us by one
of the greatest modern playwrights
and in a remarkable manner, for the
drama in which the lesson is given was
lived by the author. Last season in
plays was put on at a certain theater,
but instead of bearing the authors
name, as is usual on the electric thea
ter signs in front of the playhouses,
the announcement said simply "a
The name of the author
would have kept people away. If the
world is to learn its lesson from "De
Profundis." this will not happen again.
this, his last book. written in
prison, the world may get some idea
of the spirit in which the saints knelt
down to wash the feet of the poor or
stopped to kiss the leper on the cheek"
and realize how sweet and great a
thing is love.
Wilde does not attempt to excuse his
crimes. He confesses that he disgraced
name which his parents had .
made noble and honored, mot merely
In literature art and science, but in :
the public history of my own country,
In it's evolution as nation" He con- .
tinues: Il had made it low byword
among low people. l had dragged it ;
through the very mre. | had given it .
10 brutes that they might make it brut- :
A. and to foes that they might turn it .
nto synonym for folly
But plainly as he was made to see .
now bad he had been, it made him !
which 1 am convicted are wrong and
Unjust laws, and the system under !
which 1 have suffered a wrong and un- .;
ust system" In another place he .
,ays:
"Many men on their release carry I
heir prison about with them into the j
lir and hide it as a secret disgrace in
heir hearts, and at length, like poor !
poisoned things. creep into some hole
md die. 1t is wretched that they /
ihould have to do so. Society takes
lpon itself the right to infiict appall-
ng punishment on the individual, but
t also has the supreme vice of shall -
owness, and fails to realize what it ;,
las done. When the mans punish =
nent is over, it leaves him to himself; =
hat is to say, it abandons him at the :,
'ery moment when its highest duty ;,
oward him begins. 1t is really
shamed of it's own actions, and shuns l.
hose whom it has punished as people l.
hun creditor whose debt they can :
ot pay, or one on whom they have in y
.cted an irreparable. an irredeemable h
1rong. l can claim ON my side that if +
realize what / have suffered, society n
hould realize what it has inflicted on a
ne; and that there should be no bit n
erness or hate on either side" [