The sun., 1908-01-09
Mr.. HOPP EVOLVES A PAPER
TO RE DEVOTED TO BOOSTING
THE SOCIALIST THEATRE.

Hes Got an once and q Prospectus, and An
That 10 Needed II That Every Friend
OF the Cause and OthCrs shall Pay ol
Year-He'H supply Plays Too.
From some place under his hair Julius
Hopp has extracted another idea. julius.
il will be remembered. has had more to do
with filing Broadway playhouses with
plays dealing with the entertaining SUBJ
ject Of socialism than any other one man.
IL 10 strictly on account Of julius that no
theatre between Twenty-three> and Forty
two darcs put on any kind Of a show these
days without including somewhere between
CURTAIN and curtain a discussion Of the
unearned increment or the single tax.
Julius has himself written several master
pieces Of dramatic literature dealing with
socialism that have occasioned a lot OF
comment i9 Julirfs's East Side fiat
Several weeks ago Julius decoyed the
janitor up to his parlor by making some
remark about beer. The door being duly
locked. there was an authors reading Of
The Friends OF Labor an original drama
in four acts. in which it Is established that
everything is on the bum. The Friends
Of Labor" in fact, proves that there aren't
AN~AA
Broadway as IS Bowery, where Edwin
Markham. author Of The Vermin in the
Dark. and Upton Sausage Sinclair viewed
1t and pronounced it striking. How
ever that may be. Mr.. Hopp's janitor says
that the play proves that If you're a jani-
tor you never ought to go nowhere with
out your pass key.
Mr.. Hopp has had just as much trouble
in forwarding the cause as any OF the
great ones Of history ever had in pro-
noting epochmakinR ideas. He naturally
hoped that the Central Federated Union
would be attracted to any play with such
a name and would put up-for it's produo-
tion. But julius counted without his haIr.
When the subject came up for discussion
on The floor of the Central Federated Union
a delegate from the BARRIERS Union arose
and shouted
That feI!er a friend Of labor! Why.
he don't get his hair cut once year and
he shaves himself
This was surely a narrow view. but it
made some impression on the delegates,
an impression which was vastly deepened
when IL was discovered that the goat Of
The Friends Of Labor" was the president
who got stung TO a finish by the capitalists
Since then julius has been busy massaRing
his hair in an effort 10 evolve some plan
whereby The Friends OF Labor could
he made properly known to an Indifferent
world
julius has been known 10 admit in con-
fidence that his treatment Of the character
of the president Of the Central Union was
a tactical error. but he sticks by his hair
It's matter OF principle with him.
Nobody would believe that l was a
Socialist il I had my hair trimmed up like
nf fhaaa frrnnh dradaa ha IL
as saying. And. besides, what a
fooishness to say am not friend Of labor
because / don't have my hair cut every
week They might as well say | was down
on those dentists because / don't have
all my teeth pulled"
But TO get back 10 the new plan Of julius
Il is the publication Of a new magazine. 10
be called The Socialist Theatre. Julius be-
lieves that the best way to establish a
theatre is to publish a magazine. just as
the best way to start cigar store is TO go
and see the tight rope performers at the
circus. This magazine will be published
about every month for at least one month
and il will cost dollar to get IL for a whole
year.
To show that he means business Julius
has hired in Office in West Twenty-third
street, right where it will be convenient for
crowds OF commuters to drop in on their
way to the ferry and buy copies OF The
Friends OF Labor Julius intended to open
up fnOuLn ago. Out AZ JhlhI LlJne Inere was
4 barber shop on the ground door at that
IL has since moved away.
When asked yesterday for particulars
his new enterprise Mr.. Hopp
a prospectus which stated that
The stage was a powerful factor in spread
ng ideas Why not, therefore, organize
Socialist stage societies in various cities
and towns? And also why not subscribe
'or the new Socialist Theatre
Mr.. Hopp admitted that he had several
good sociahstic plays in his possession and
hat some OF them were his own. It was a
part Of his plan TO supply these PLAYS to
my socialistic stage society that wished
20 perform them.
-In connection with these performances,
he prospectus said. dances can be given
70 az to attract more people. Small towns |
,an then be covered with posters and hand
bills announcing that Socialist plays. written
)y Socialists will be given by Socialists |
or the benefit Of the Socialist party"
Turning from this picture Of Waterbury,
Ionn.. peeping timidly out from under its |
,over of handbills the author admitted |
hat his plays would have 70 be presented !
~ amateurs, because IL was hard TO get pro- /
eesiOnal actOrsfor just single performance. |
But this was the nearest he ever came to |
that he did not expect The |
friends Of Labor" to equal the record OF |
The Black Crook or The Lion and the |
douse.' On the one hand, he didn't say |
hat J. G. Phelps Stokes or Robert Hunter |
we're among the talented amateurs who |
night be expected to appear in The Friends |
4 Labor" but on the other hand he didn't |
leny Il either. So there is still hope.
Bat upon one point julius did dwell with |
much emphasis, and that was that in order
o assure the success OF the National So |
ialist Dramatic Movement now moving |
e.. III Ia. 4 a 4