Los Angeles herald., 1909-03-01
Coulter Dry Goods Co.

cational, it does not teacn d lesson' 10
mission is purely one OF entertain
ment' Yes. but if, in this so-called en-
tertainment there is instruction in vice
then it is teaching a lesSon-a deplor-
able and harmful lesson. If things Tor
entertainment are coarse and dehllng
then they must be denounced as debas-
ing and deyilish. Any entertainment
which vitiates and enervates the moral
energies is positively wicked and ought
to be outlawed.
1.-THE alarming result of the tainted
theater today is that so calloused has
the conscience of the frequenters or
the theater become they seem to
be insensitive to the filth of most of
the plays. This sadly appears in the
case of the working girl who attempts
to reply to my arguments. Sh1 first
acknowledges that she is "a constant
attendant of the theater, and then
proceeds to defend one of the vilest
representations which have been foisted
on the theater-going public. This re-
calls Pope's oft-used quatrain Vice is
a monster etc. OF all people in the
world a good woman ought to de-
nounce severely and forever the mod
ern theater. When any age becomes
degraded, woman has always been the
greater sufferer.
Letter of Thanks
ST have received a pathetic letter of
thanks from a mother in which she
sadly deplores the infection from the
theater which has seized her only son,
and urging me to speak in stronger
words against the theater. 1t is pity
that there are not enough mothers to
go round If there were the theaters
would not be so well patronized. The
son or daughter who attends plays to
which he would be ashamed to take his
mother is a coward and prodigal, and
has proved himself false to his dear
mothers loving confidence.
"If Christ were to come to Los An
geles would he approve any institution
which is working sad havoc among the
peoples morals? A leper is a leper
even if the dread disease has not
reached every part of his body. The
theater must be judged by what it is
as a whole, and not by what its eX-
ceptions are. Exceptions always prove
the rule, and everybody who reads
knows what the theater as an institu-
ton is today.
I'm our amusements that is safe
and sane principle to adopt not to
take any diversions which cannot be
taken in the name of the Lord Jesus.
"Self-denial always brings it's larg-
est blessings to the individual who de-
MES himself. He who lives for his own
qualification will reduce his moral
stature with the passing years. until
at the end he is a moral pigmy. The
human brotherhood requires the
stronger to care for the weaker Taste
for things spiritual and religious is de-
stroyed by the theater.
Good people cannot cleanse the
theater by attending it, 1t must be
revolutionized from the inside; until
that is done people cannot go indis-
criminately to the theater without los
ing their high moral sense. The
really good plays Rare today so yoked
UP with the atrociously wicked plays,
being frequently given in the same
houses, that If one attends the theater
at all the weight of his influence is
thrown on the side of the theater. The
theater as a whole will never be re-
formed until the good people of every
community refuse to attend any thea
ter. If tainted people want to attend
a tainted theater l suppose at present
they cannot be prevented, but until
theaters are founded where only pure
and elevating plays are presented, high
minded people cannot be sure they will
not encounter tainted plays"
Mr. Broadhurst, who in a letter to
The Herald continues to urge DR.. Locke
for proof of his statement that the
theater puts a premium on murder, is
the author of "The Man of the Hour"
''Wildfire," 1.-THE Crown Prince" "The
Wrong Mr.. Wright" '"The Fool and
His Money" and a number of other
successful plays.