Los Angeles herald., 1909-03-01
DRAMATIST AGAIN
DEMANDS PROOF
George Broadhurst Declares DR.. Locke
Failed to Keep Promise in
Not Answering His
Letter

geles. author of "The Man of the
Hour" and other successful plays, again
takes up the cudgel in defense of his
profession in a letter to DR.. Charles
Edward Locke, who declares that the
theater puts premium on licentious-
ness and murder and should be driven
out as arson, obscenity or small pox.
Mr.. Broadhurst heard DR.. Lockes SER
mon at the First Methodist church last
evening. He declares that the doctor
fails to answer his demands for proofs.
The letter follows:
"On Wednesday last DIR. Locke said
in print that tonight he would answer
the questions 1 had put to him on the
previous day and invited me to attend
his church to hear his replies. Rely
ing on the gentleman's written prom
Use | did attend his church, but to my
utter anazement he ignored my chal-
lenges completely, did not attempt to
answer a single one of them and broke
his written word with nonchal&nce
| have never seen approached.
"Why, after promising in writing,
that he would answer me the reverend
gentleman saw fit to break his word is
more than l can imagine. But that ne
did do it there is no question.
"On Sunday last DIR. Locke said that
the theater placed a premium on MUIR
der. l challenged this statement and
called on him for the proof. He said
it would be forthcoming tonight, and
now l ask him why it was not forth
coming
"a week ago tonight DIR. Locke said
that the theater jeered at patriotism.
1 called on him for the proof and he
promised he would give 1t to me To-
night Relying on his word / went to
his church to hear what the alleged
proof would be, but he not only did not
bring forward any proof but he ignored
my challenge. l ask him now why ne
broke his word and lured me to his
church under false pretenses? 1 ask
him why after promising to answer
my questions he thought it best to
leave them so bravely alone?
CDR. Locke in his sermon confessed
| that he knew nothing of his own
knowledge about the matter he was
discussing, but the confession was SUI
perfluous. He tried to bolster up his
| position by quotations from various
sources but he knew so little about the
men he quoted that he referred to Reg
inald de Koven, the composer, as Rich
ard de Koven, the playwright, and in
forming his congregation that another
awful disaster was about to overtake
| the theater, he announced in stentorian
tones that our fellow townsman, James
l. Jeffries,' was about to go into vau-
deville.
mot one fact except the production
of 'Salome' by Oscar Hammerstein' 8
company, did the reverend gentleman
give, not one bit of real evidence, not
the least bit of proof rs l anticipated
in my letter of Saturday he contented
himself by quoting what others said,
his line of reasoning being that If he
said Jones was a thief and was called
on for the proof he would simply have
to say, Brown says Jones is a thief.
Smith SAYS Jones is thief, 'Thomp-
son says Jones is thief therefore
Jones is thief.
with great JUNCTION he repeated the
words of Charles Burnham to the eff
| feet that a manager said that anyone
who produced good play would
starve to death in New York. Attack
| ing first the truth of this statement
would call DIR. Lockes attention to the
fact that the play which has had the
longest run in New York this season
is The Man from Home the play
which has had the second longest run
is The Gentleman from Mississippi;
| two plays SO absolutely clean and
wholesome that even a Methodist Epis-
copal minister could not object to
them after he had seen them. In adj
dition to the two plays mentioned the
following good plays are running sue
cessfully in New York at the present
time: What Every Woman Knows, in
which Maude Adams is appearing;
The Battle in which Wilton Lackaye
is appearing; "A Womans Way, in
which Grace George is appearing; The
Third Degree The Dawn of a Tomor-
row. The New Lady Bantock,' The
Patriot in which William Collier is
appearing; Samson in which William
Gillette IS appearing; The Fighting
Hope in which Blanche Bates is ap-
pearing and The Music Master, in
which David Warfield is appearing.
81 ask DIR. Locke what is the value
of Mr. Burnham's statement when OPP
posed by the above facts?
Attacking the reliability of DR..
LoclSes witness / would call the rev.
erend gentleman's attention to the fact
that IT was at this same Mr.. Burn
hams theater that Sapho' was stopped
by the police and that 1t was at this
same gentleman's theater that The
Cuckoo of malodorous memory first
saw the light Did Dr. Locke know
this? OF course he did not or he would
not have been found in such company.
Again / call DR.. Locke's attention to
the fact that a little secondhand
knowledge is a dangerous thing.
81 admit without reservation that
plays are produced for the absence of
which the world and the stage would
be better off l admitted this in my
first letter. The percentage, however,
is small when compared with the total
number of plays produced. Taking DR..
Loclle's own witness let us see what
the percentage is in New York today.
Mr. Burnham said that there were five
plays in New York to which he would
not take his sister. There are, how
ever. at least thirty first-class theaters
in that city. This gives Mr.. Burnham
and DIR. Locke, allowing them, for the
sake of argument, all that they claim,
little over 16 per cent. DR.. Locke
said in his sermon that the theater
must be judged in it's entirety. | ask
him which he considers the entirety,
the 16 per cent Mr.. Burnham claims
or the SO per cent which he does not
claim? DIR. Locke says that the. un-
clean play is a tester. I agree with
him. He thinks, however, that the way
in which to cure the tester is to kill
the man who has it, That is where
we differ.
81 challenge you again, DR.. Locke.
Name the plays that are the main
cause of divorce in this country. Name
the plays which put a premium on
murder name the plays that make a