Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1910-10-04
PICTURES STIR PROTEST.


the opera house, caused his bill post
ers to paste bills on his bill boards,
advertising moving picture views of
the Jeffries-Johnson unfriendliness in
Reno, New, the Fourth of July last.
The pictures are advertised to be
shown in the opera house tonight and
tomorrow night. The fact that the
pictures were to be shown here stirred
five of the ministers of the city to ac-
tion, resulting in conference be-
tween themselves and the manager of
the opera house. Mr.. Cone was asked
to cancel the attraction, which he re-
fused to do. The ministers then pre-
pared the following petition TO Mayor
John f. Lamont:
To the Honorable Mayor:
We, the undersigned pastors, repre-
Senting the protest of our respective
churches, against the proposed prize
fight pictures exhibit at the opera
house on Tuesday and Wednesday
evenings of this week, respectfully
but earnestly urge you to use your
authority to prevent their appearance
here. Owing to the undoubted bfut-
alizing influence of such pictures and
the fact that the moral sense of nearly
all our large cities has prohibited
them, their appearance here would be
a disgrace and calamity to the city
of Wausau. G. G. CRIPPEN.
T. B. L. FISHER.
f. HI. BRIGHAM.
JAMES M. DUER.
G. III. ELsKE.
This was handed to the mayor yes
terday, and he at once made an inves-
tigation. He informs US that he con-
suited the law and found no statute
giving him any right to act as the
preachers asked him. After due con-
sideration, and summing up both
sides of the question, he dictated the
following to his stenographer, and
copy Of the same was this morning
delivered to each minister who signed
the petition:
Rev. G. c. Crippen,
Reu. T. b. Fisher,
Req. T. II. Brigham,
Reu. James NJ. Duer,
ReU. G.. H. Elske.
GENTLEMEN have your request
of even date wherein you protest
against the proposed prize fight
picture exhibit at the opera house on
Tuesday and Wednesday evenings of
this week." and wherein you ask me
to use my authority las mayor to
prevent their appearance here"
In reply desire to say:
lst. You neglect to state under
what section of the statutes of the
laws of Wisconsin | am expected to
act. AS matter of fact / do not
find any provision whereby / have
authority to censor any pictures that
NAV be shown in moving picture
unless they be immoral. l am not an
attorney but | am tolerably familiar
with the laws governing cities of the
state, and after due search l am I'M
able to name to you the provision
under which / am supposed to act in
case / accede to your request.
End. | find upon inquiry that these
self same pictures have been shown
in Madison, Oshkosh, Green Bay,
GAINESVILLE, Beloit, Merrill and other
cities of Wisconsin without trouble.
3rd. l agree with you in a greater
part of what you say respecting the
''brutalizing influence of such pic
lures" but / want to call your atten-
ton to the practice of moving picture
shows in presenting cowboys, Indians,
trainrobbing, White Cap and like
shows that come to our city every
day. / have heard no protest from
you on these kind of shows and yet
they are more demoralizing to our
youth than the pictures in question.
| do not believe in prize fights. l
never saw one. / would not go across
the street to see the pictures you OBJ
ject to in your communication with
me. There is no race question in this
town. Had the white man defeated
the negro perhaps this question would
not have come before me.
Your request to stop the exhibition
of the fight pictures is denied. If
you wish to stop them you must pro-
test to other and to higher authority.
JOHN +. LAMONT.
TIE above reply to their petition
was forwarded to the ministers at an
early hour, so as to give them an
opportunity to apply for an injunc-
tional order, it having been rumored
that such action had been threatened.
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