The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-04-28
Hears Political Plays
BY FRANKLIN FYLEs.

low him to the polls now win hout him
when he fails-as he must-to give
them all that he leads them to. expect
in municipal betterment. But Wells
stands firm Then Hoffman corners the
mayor In the stock market, makes him
lose his last dollar and inappropriate
a charity fund, and so compels him to
save himself by signing the franchise
which ne has been elected to veto. The
ultra-exciting portion of the play is a
well-done representation Of the meet
the franchise, the betrayal OF the peO-
pies cause by the mayor. the denuncia-
ton of him by Wells, and an ensuing
riot quelled by the police.
x x X
Hoffman has thus got the franchise. 4
but Wells remains popular, powerful
and incorruptible. How to destroy
study of the problem. Every man has
his weak point" says he. land that's
the spot to get at Wells weak point
is his appetite for drink He has
strengthened it by giving a pledge of
total abstinence to the girl he loves.
She is the society reporter on the news
paper that I own. I'll have her dis
charged there, and employ her as pri-
vate secretary to my wife. Then. I'll
him to drink. Wherever he goes, day
or night. there shall be some one to
turn him back to his old habit. The
girl won't be at hand to keep him
straight, and when he goes crooked she
VIII leave him to his own destruction"
That scheme is operated. Wells goes on
a Spree The girl abandons him. He
prolongs his drunkenness, loses his po-
litical influence and is a wreck in mind
- - II l.
Wells regainS the love of the girl, vows
to her that he Will never taste rum
again, and together they go back to
drudging newspaper work. But Hoff-
mans triumph is embittered. The
daughter whom he dotes on, and for
whose Contingent reception he has
bought string of pearls costing for
tune, refuses to take them upon learn
ing how her father made his wealth.
When the final curtain falls, he is left
alone with the thought that it does
matter, sometimes. by-what means sue
cess is reached. 1t is a strong play.
Yet 1t doesn't. solve the problem of mu-
nicipal reform
A play written by negro and acted
by negroes was what the advertisement
said of 1.-THE Black Politician" and was
l foolish to expect a problem drama
ROooAOAJ
| Dixon's THE CIansman?" Anyway,
went to find out what message it
brought; and 1 got an fnkling of my err
ror at the theatre window when said,
"Give me one seat on the aisle, If you
can, and pretty well down in front"
The man inside glanced at me with
eyes that wanted to wink, and said
with n mouth that twitched with an
inward smile, Cert My, SIR" and hand
ed out q ticket marked, Albright"
That's rather close to the stage" 1
said
IT'S Albright, all right" he replied,
with a lapse from his former blithe-
some mood into profound dignity, after
the manner of ticket sellers.
Still 1 demurred. Il don't need a
front seat to study even racial dra-
ma"
'Oh, it isn't such a 'racy' show that
you'll mind sitting right up against
it," he remarked. '|rhey won't sing
a Sammy song to you in the front
row, even If you do expose bald head
when you take your hat off"
There was half an hour before the
curtain would rise at the matinee, and
/ went across the street to a cafe which
| placarded luncheon" The restaurant
was behind a barroom, and on entering
/ it 1 saw half dozen negro and muiat-
I
| toroon girls. halted in the doorway
for two clergymen have got into trou-
/ BILE lately by off-color Summing in New
York, and who knows that even jour-
nalist's profession would save him from
scandal in case of a police raid? A
waiter came forward and said: I'VE
1 don't serve ccons, sir-not usually: but
these belong to the show at the theatre
and so the boss said feed 'em. I'll set
~ l.
| want me to-"
As / lunched. watched the members
of 1.-The Black Poiitics pm company
They were not larky Or skittish. but
very sedately humdrum: ii couldn't be
that they were very bad burlesquers;
and when they had gone out without
the slightest misbehavior, I slowly
came back to the expectation that ]
would see a racial and not racy play
Three hours later I quit the theatre
still in doubt as to the ethical purpose
of the show. S. H. Dudley. author OF
the piece and actor of it's black poll
tician," played a gabby but not saucy
audacious but not impudent, New York
negro stranded in some southern town
I inhabited. so far as was seen, by all
hues of men except white. Two ne
groes were eIectioneering for the may
orally. and Dudley stumped for one OF
j them in the false guise of wonderful
| ly gifted spellbinder. Dudley was a
clever comedian, but all for fun and
nothing for his races cause; nor did
| his male comrades do anything more
for the coIored people than to demon
strate that they can sing and dance like
white performers.
| X x
Nevertheless, Mr.. Dudley may have
had a subtle, psychological purpose. 1t
may be that. besides aiming TO get
white folks money by selling a tolera-
bly, good entertainment. he had under
taken TO show in mimicry a community
made up of colored men and white wo-
men. and in reality a theatrical COM
pany of the sexes in that same con-
trast Brother Dixon's anti-negro play
has prospered on violent denunciation
/ of its exploitation of the White Caps
Can't I arouse an opposition to Dud-
/ ley's play, and so help his business, by
setting the fact forth that the salient
! feature OF his show consists of sixteen