New-York tribune., 1911-12-06
ARGUE ON STAGE CHILDREN
Debaters Tell Why They Should
and Should Not Be.

called back from tfe nmpo "t 'o''
drama 10 take a conspicuous part IN the
debate on stage children-ought they 10
ba mr. not 10 be-held at the Hudson The
atre Yesterday morning under the auspices
Of the League for Political Education II
was Miss Agnes Repplier who coniured up
,bs angel child. only to treat her most un-
ceremoniously when she had her. for said
she:
..,v,,hout little Eva. Uncle loi'l :
-. ,,,1d he impossible That i me
orl,. aneltorating circumstance can
in tho exclusion Of children from the s.Sse
-. TOMS Cabin will at last be pan
,sLod Tho generations of good little Bos-
ton bows. who have been brought up on
Eva's piety and Topsys antics VIII kno"
them no more.
Aurustus Thomas. who was Miss Rep
nlier's male support in the debate. perhaps
fearful lest his partners sarcasm mlght
have overshot the intelligence OF the auhl5
euce felt called upon 10 say good ~oIu
In memory Of the angel child He said:
.Not Henry Ward Beecher, not Nlillam
IJovd Garrison, nor Wendell Phllps hda
the effect on the emotions OF the NUFli
that little Eva had before the titH WI.
lUnnOSG III 0lQ even N'EA ii'i A'r'
she had rendered "a great a service 10 T ,riT
marion as anv man who took a gun ana
went into the battlefield. .r
Miss Repplier lamented win lhe Puoi
folk OF Boston who, under Ihe Mass'S'tS ~
setts laws against stage children, she sara,
were denied the Joy OF seeing ."fhe W inter
Tale % .'Nldsummer Nights Dream Inc
pJnerr or The Bluebird," all because ol
the deliberate cruelty OF the wen l'.eli @ /,
toned VINO would rob both the stage anu
lii of opportuuities never 20 pe re-
Miss lane Adams. Of Hull House, Chi
csgo who was largely lnsuumeildl III III
having passed the Illinois law Iorpluuils
tbe rmplovment Of children on the s'sse,
answered Miss ReppleT by SAYING thd :
Boston was not being denied the Joy - ~
,The Blue Bird" and that Win acLoIs u Ii
sivteen wears the play was making suCh
a hit that It's engagement had been lehgth-
ened four times already. Then she Seiu'
A. for cbirdren.s parts, who played Peter
PAM 7 don't wish 10 go into any Iauy
age. but ! am sure Miss ADAMS Is iloi @ =
than sixteen. There were a hlhuIeu t Ot a
thousand children who might nave pay g"
Peter pan vet this grown woman, because
sbe was an artist. better than any mere
child represented the very qulhlesseHSe u
childhood. with the love or pirates anu
crocodiles and determination never 70
hIthough the stage people resent being
classed with factory owners anu sloLe-
keepers who employ children, II y uue
that these children are earning HiolSS
when others are being cared Tor at hoihe
bv their mothers. When the child WORKS
too often the father quits knew ram
ily-its just one out OF my big' laI loISs
book-Where the mother was a woman oL
thirty-eight. with two girls WOTklue IN
department stores and boarding OUT WINE
she travelled around with her little poy
Of nine, who was In theatrical Gelilpol do4
told her she mad better go back ~ Hhlu-
nerv put her little boy ia school ana thahs
home for those girls at the same time.
The applause vhich greeted Miss Adams
on every possible excuse seemed to sho"
that the sympathy OF the audience was
With her but when Mr.. Thomas looklns
rather cross. rose TO answer her arguments
he was heartily applauded, also. lie quoteu
William James the psychologist, 10 the ef-
fect that children learn by doing and con-
tiuued:
The stage child takes on an slertness, a
keenness Of perception, which makes ulm
especially apt IN other walks OF ne Wheh
he leaves the stage, and as for chlldfeh
going unwillinglv 10 the stage, never IN
all my life saw an unwilling chlld IN d
theatrical performance. You say me
mOnOtonv Is hateful 10 child-the gong
over the same tiny part time ana tlme
again at the call of the stage manager l
say there is nothing more nouceaDle dpout
children than their love for hearing the
about them 50 much the better, and II
they are acting the story, as they are on the
stage, they are very willing to take their
parts
An engagement in a good company f. as
d. sira bile for a child with dramatic talent
as a Rhodes scholarship 20 the youth with
scholarly tendencies
Neither IL his a question Which AFFECTS
all children. There Is opportunity for less
than a hundred children a season on the
New York stage.
The last speaker was owen r. Lovejoy.
secretarv Of the National child Labor Com
miftee who had a handful Of statistics
from which he gave answers TO all or MI.
Tbomas's statements tie said there were
as children on the New York stage IN lJlu'
and made the audience gasp by saving that
although the law required that "a child ap-
rlying FOR a license must be accompanied
bv some one Interested in bis welfare.
out Of ! S43 applicants In New YORK IN l9lO
six were ACCOMPANIED by their tathers'
sfXty-nine BIZ their mothers ana l,oS ny
theatrical agents. He said also tnat the
Gerry society has been overruled By Mayor
Gavuor i'm fiftv cases out of hlty-fve Mr..
Thomas I'm the rebuttal explained away an
the figures given by Mr.. LOveloy, and Miss
adams turned them up again. II was a
very serious matter 10 them, evidently, ana
"A very bewildering one 70 the audience, nut
thev all clapped heartily again when II
was over and went out telling one another
iustsv'hat they always thought any way.