The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-08-24
CHILD LABOR
 ON THE STAGE

The Survey, a magazine which rep resents the National Child Labor com mittee and other organizations for inn proving social conditions, and MT. Francis Wilson, the New York actor manager, have been engaged in a live ly tilt over what The Survey calls E"Child Labor on the Stage, but which Mr. Wilson believes is the training of dramatic genius MT. Everett W. Lord secretary for New England of the National Child Labor committee, contributed to The Survey an article explaining why the committee fought so successfully in Massachusetts to the stage. He stated that children's s parts can be successfully portrayed by adults and that early experience is not necessary for the development of great actors as evidenced by the ages at which present day stars began their few child actors attain prominence in later life and that premature appear ance on the stage is positive injury to their health and morals.
 MT. Wilson, who led campaign in Boston in favor of a revision of the Massachusetts law, believes it is nec- esSary to allow children to appear in walking and speaking parts to present properly many plays and to start the development of the actor at an age be- fore he becomes self-conscious. He showed that many of the actors men tioned appeared at ages younger than those given in the article.
 In answer The Survey asserted that there are many actors who began their work at ages ranging from sixteen to twenty-five or long nast the awkward period of adolescence and as proof that the actors calling is unhealthful show ed that life insurance companies dis criminate against the profession.
 MT. Wilson rejoined that it is im- possible to measure the effect of leg islation such as that in Massachusetts because, it is not yet general and has been in force but a short time. He offered a list of IA actors who began their careers under fourteen to dis prove that "the majority of actors be- gan their careers not as children '' The Survey suggested that the success of these actors wassin spite of their early start.
 MT. Wilson then wrote to the New York Times that the computation by the companies as to the mortality of actors includes acrobats. who risk their lives many times daily and that a new computation is being prepared. with these performers eliminated '' says the Springfield Republican, ..it may be that The Survey would have to modify its statement that the death rate of young and middle-aged actors is reported as high as that of brew CTS, distillers, railroad employees butch CTS. electrical workers, policemen and firemen-''
 And yet the conditions of an actor,s life do not seem so conducive to long elife, good health and the highest nor ality as the conditions surrounding certain other callings The Survey s main argument against child labor on the stage seems pretty sound on the whole.
 The courts in Illinois and Massachu- setts have decided that child actor Is child worker The conditions which require unnatural hours, inter ference with normal schooling, com bined with life on the road are such as to make it almost automatic that child's health. morals and education must be seriously affected There are enough undoubted cases of good actors who started after reaching maturity to make it unlikely that the future is doomed to suffer from a want of dra- matic geniuses. The enactment of the laws in the States mentioned is a sign of a growing public opinion that will probably result in similar protection in other States.