The Washington herald., 1909-02-28
Out of the Babel.

.
Discussion OF the morality or lack ot
morality in stage representations grows
IN the press. but much OF It IS perfume
tory and Jhoughtless. says the New Yori
Dramatic Mirror. Here and there IN IN
mass OF matter now evolving on thi.
subject however. are found traces oi
understanding and wise conclusions. It
cannot be conceded that the condition
OF the American stage. admittedly the
cieanest IN the world. calls for any such
supervision as IS involved in the idea OF
a censorship. repugnant from every point
Of view, says the Kansas City Journal
and it pertinentIy adds:
Tie existing laws are ample 70 desl With the IN.
irelueslt Violations q morality OF The thousand,
o. pays new before the pubic. those may be count.
Cd on the fingers Of two hands which make direc;
aTpeal 70 the bsSeT instincts The uo5se are en.
urely Conpe5ent 70 deal with theSe offenders snd
tnis = the ooly authority that need be invoked An
lIAaru puh-sc eo1seaence I'D a rising standard @.
p'1o11 morals have been csnso-ing the stage fo-
years Bad playa may s8cueef IN the large cities
Hners there are enough depraVed demands 70 si1s
1ain them. But take tbs country over TIE public
would s,arTe any frankly indecent play 10 death In
tins cc1nsctscn sharp distinction Is 70 Be nase
between those PLAYS which are merely an aureal n
/ eezF3Eity and th0ss which teach Wholesuns truths
b. ob3ect lessons that may Be uuwholesone in thsn
selves but which have their warrant ii tbeir
waning.
The striking truth in the foregoing is
embodied in a statement that Of a great
number OF plays before the public. those
which make a direct appeal 10 baser IN
stincts are few. And another matter that
is legitimate in this discussion. though 1t
is often ignored. is well stated by the
/ Washington Star thus:
The ssge. in dealing With problems ~ lie. and
10 pTese1tlng picJ17es u various rhsSes of estens
Ilst necessarily AZ times arouse the criticism ~
those who would crufue derrlucariUs cf fu-rrrslffv
70 the pulpit and who prefer not 20 look upo, the
uiIsic sights Or hear The echoed sonds Of the -S-
W'rlo or those places in the upper World where the
a11i conTsntioEs are openly violated OF o1ly hvro-
cilla-J ooSsTTed The stage IN is kghess function
nus az tlles present unpleasant truths AID pcturss
Il nus oea4 With some very raw aspects q ltfa ia
order tc arouse rcf0rnato-y interest m -he srfrs
Fbe1 sssah snc menace sucety The test q its src-
cess les Dot, boweSe IN the trfhfansss n frs uo-
tray2l not n the force of the shock which II ad-
ministers % the audience bst IN the uosfre q the
IEesent2tioa. the Sincerity q the reform purposa
( And The Washington Herald varies the
I same idea thus:
I he plays q many worthy and capable dranstssss
l are immoral and do immoral things and rs. The
tsndenc- q the drama is IN many cas.s uu1iF.fDr
and the trend 3 toSa-d mo-zliry Thoss who b.
nere thar the stage has really vital uork 20 Do II
the seal scheme q thinEs wiz see that sca rlars
EOTthy presented nav N Eusts q thsf- rnrlesssr+
ness. work largely for the ultimate good Il VII no
90 70 coIsdsnn them simply because thsy introduce
! immoral characters. 0f S1ch so-t has trer The
drana ever since II cane into BENG as enid o.
re church.
/ The Rochester Herald assumes that the
public is 10 blame for the apparent Sue
cess Of indecent plays. IF the public
I did not want such plays. it would not 20
[ 20 see them" says the Herald. nor
! would they be produced any more than
notorious books would be published II
there were no people 10 buy them. Il
I IS simply a question OF supply and de-
mand, and the only thing to do Is TO
arouse IN the public mind a realization
I Of their harmfulness 10 society. a task
which at this time IS most discouraging. o..
The Chicago Inter Ocean considers that
the problem which cOnfr0nts the theatri-
cal manager and producer does not differ
materially in principle from the prom
lem Of the publisher Of q newspaper and
the publisher OF books. both OF whom
are equally confronted with the un-
doubted existence Of pornographIc tastes
in large part OF the public" and the
Inter Ocean adds:
We zc nor implying that neEspape- publishers
and book publishers are sgpericT IN morality 70
theatrical Managers. We think thst the larze u-o-
prtoa n entirely decent piays Ettssts the theafral
sense Of Tz08E1sty most Plainly. What we s-e s1z-
sesiEg y Simply that the theatrical ran's problem
: oy 30 means unique snd that q certain Ea-i1ce
of strictly hlsiness interest is more thz1 rsrnid
b the survival q selfrsspec
There is no doubt that theatrical man.
ayers who deliberately produce unclean
plays are as reprehensible as uewspaDer
publishers who deal with matters Of the
same sort 70 the limit of their possibgl-
tiles. and the publishers OF books who
bank upon certain element OF. pruriency
in the public 70 make suggestive publica-
tons profitable. But the percentage OF
theatrical managers who produce inde-
cent plays Is no larger than the percent
age OF newspaper publishers or of book
publishers who deal in the same classes
Of material. and self-resDecting managers.
Ike self-respecting publishers. should not
suffer for the wr0ng-doing OF Others.
Several Of the newspapers that have
discussed this matter have castizated
New York City as the naturally vile CEN
ter Of Indecent plays. which. they add,
are destined TO failure in provincial cities
because Of the higher moral character Of
the people OF those cities. II is tine that
the truth as to this matter should again
be reiterated. as the Mirror more than
once has declared IL
There IS no doubt that unclesn plavs
are patronized in New York BIZ a large
number Of persons who reside in New
York: but aside from such persons Il will
De found that the audiences at such PLAYS
here are recruited from thousands Of per
sons daily sojourning in this citv-hvpo-
critical residents Of other cities that would
be ashamed TO attend such plays at honne.
yet do so here because they imagine that
they viii not be found out. Thus New
York. which is sinful enough on its own
account, Is made TO bear an evil reputs-
ton on account Of the sneaking inclina-
ton Of a multitude Of sojourners-cIassed
as respectable at hon1e-for prurient I
things. indulgence in which here they
think carries neither moral responsibility I
nor danger 70 their local regulations
BelascO's Plans
A statement was given out By David Re-
lasco IN San Francisco last week to the
effect that he is planning for two Shakes
-,--