Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-03-01
Low LICENSE FEE
FOR MOVIES URGED
Citizens Offer Suggestions to
Council on Proposed
Ordinance.

Citizens of East Orange interested
in the new moving picture ordinance
were called in by the City Council
last night to assist in preparing the
measure. 1t seemed the general belief
that the council was imposing too
high a fee in asking $1,000 a year.
Philemon Woodruff. a lawyer said
the State law was against a tax
being imposed Councilman Marsh.
chairman of the ordinance commit
tee thought this was a good point
Principal Smith. of the Elmwood
Public School. suggested a new idea
to prevent panics at moving picture
shows and the experiment viii be
tried for the first time tonight, when
an entertainment will be given at the
school auditorium. which is on an
upper floor. Mr.. Smith believes in
telling the people there might pos
sibly be a flash. but that it would
be over in a second. The audience
should be told. he said, that a pail
of water and a pail of sand are in
the booth and that a policeman and
fireman are on duty This would
prevent a panic. he declared, as the
people would be prepared for any de .
velopments.
do you think the Elmwood School
a safe place for moving picture shows
with the auditorium on the upper
floor" asked Councilman Cotton.
II certainly do" said. Mr.. Smith.
OF course, there is always danger Of
panic anywhere. There was a fire in
the West Orange High School last
night and the auditorium was on the
third floor and all got out. If 1t had
been on the first floor they would not
have gotten out
Suggestion for Safety.
One of the suggestions made last
night, and which win be taken into
consideration by the committee, was
that a woman be placed on the COM
mission of three to censor and give
licenses. This was made by Winthrop
Waite. of the First Ward Local In
terest Club. He objected strenuously
to the ordinance as drawn, however,
and believed a license fee of $25 suffi-
Client and $40 for open-air perform
ances.
Alfred n. Holbrook outlined what
the church clubs were in favor of.
He agreed for commission of three
to handle the licenses in order that
politics would be removed from the
question. He believed the commit
tee had guarded well the interests of
the people. He favored a graded Ii
cense fee and one place for every
5000 or 10000 people, allowing Tor
about five in the entire city.
Favors Use of Schools.
DIR. Joseph Macdonald. jr., formerly
a school commissioner argued for the
use of the schools for entertainments
so long as they had the approval of
the fire chief. When pressed as to
the use of school auditoriums, DR..
Macdonald said that he had always
believed the auditoriums should be
used more for the public.
James White, who has been con-
nected with moving pictures for sew
enteen years in this country and
Europe, spoke as an expert The
danger of FIRE is removed with the
present steel booths. lined with as
bestos. he said, and all the machines
are passed by a national board, as
are the pictures. There are not many
unclean pictures today, he continued,
those in any way questionable coming
from Europe. They should be CEN
sored, he said. 1t would be impossi-
BILE for the city to censor all the pic
lures now made in America, he de-
clared. He pointed out that the work
is properly done by national board,
on which are clergymen and women.
The ordinance as presented last
night Is strict one. 1t will be gone
over again next week by the COM
mittee, and Mr.. Marsh will ask City
Counsel Whiting If the $1,000 fee can
stand. He said he knew of no rea-
son why the ordinance could not be
presented for first reading at the
next meeting of the City Council.