Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1911-03-31
THE CHILDREN
 OF THE STAGE Marc Klaw, Great Theatrl cal Man Says They Are
 Well Cared For ALL GET GOOD PAY Not Exposed to Evil Influences and Are SchOOIed in the Art of
 Acting.
ALL GET GOOD PAY
(By Mare klaw).

! II There are certain other worthy peo-
 pie who, with nothing else on t5eir
 minds turn their thoughts to the theater. It was just such interference as this that led to the application of
 factory laws in Illinois, Massachu-
 setts and Louisiana to the children that went there to play. Of course
 there is no relation whatever ba- tween the work child on the stage has to do and that imposed On chil- dren working in factories unless there is legislation to protect them. | Managers here in New York are entirely satisfied with the situation. Children under 16 who want to act ! must every week obtain a permit from the Mayor. No permit is good 1 for more than a week. That gives the Gerry Society plenty of time to ,, investigate and see what the nature of the ch'lds employment is. We are
 perfectly satisfied with any sucl law It will be acceptable in any city. Here in New York children under 16 are not allowed to sing or dance. Personally I think there are certain objections to that. It will always be impossible, for instance, as long as such law is allowed to exist, ever to train adequate ballet dancers for the American stage, be- cause they must begin young, whan their muscles are pliant. That law
 was passed, I presume, to make t l,impossible for children to appear under any circumstances ill dance halls of such character as would in l terfere with their morals. It does l not affect the drama anyhow, and for that reason is not important.
 ''But the prohibition of acting by children in dramatic plays would be fatal in many cases. Think of King John,' for instance, and all the eminent actors who made their first appearance in that play. Then of course, 'The Blind Pird.' The Piper,' and other recent dramas requfring the presence of children would be impossible. When rlays in which l. is indispensable to have children go to Boston now it is necessary to employ dwarfs When Mrs. Fiske was playing Salvation Nelr in New Orleans she fought the rule, and her manager was arrested every night ; for allowing a child to appear.
 Nobody with any knowledge of
 the theater could ever believe that any harm could come to child. l would like to know what the fate of any man would be who attempted in any way to harm a stage child an1
 was found out Children are invari-
 ably beloved by all the company. ! They get much more for their work in proportion to what they do than
 adults. It is by no means uncom- mon for them to receive as much as
 s75 week and the travelling expense
 of an adult to look after them, which
 may be the child's mother or any body selected to guard it.
 | "One of the most vigorous oppo-
 nents of child actors is Felix Adler who places his objection wholly on
 educatiomal grounds. He says he has
 . theater connected with liis Socia-
 ty for Ethical Culture where chii- drer can act if they want to and m
 the meantime be educated Every
 hodv knows that the ability to read and write is condition precedent 'e the \actor's profession So cniidreu are certain to be taught to read aho write and after that it lies thlf , their own power to acquire as mucn more education IS they want
 "Of course there is no school fol the actor so good as the stage. MACK lvn. Master Betty, Siddons, the kem halls. Salvini. R'stori, Helen Fauclt
 Edwin Forrest, Joe Jefferson, Mag gie Mitchell, I.otta and Ellen Terr9
 ere some of the noted actors Of the
 stage who began as children. Henry
 Irving did not. but Ellen Terry has always told in her remin scences nov
 deerly he regretted always the los of that discipline which he woui' have had as a child actor. Miss Ter ; ry also said that many of his de fects sprang from the fact that n' he had not been trasned wen ne "s'
 r,. stic in bodv and receptive in mint
 to the secrets of his art.
 "r have never known a single cas-