The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-01-12
DR.. Maclachlan Discusses Mod
ern Craze, and Tells People
to Keep Their Heads.

to Keep Their Heads.
/ Warning his congregation against tho
{, modcrn-day hystera which sees dam
! ger in everything, and declaring that
moving pictures arc sometimes harm
| full mainly because they exaggerate
| conditions by growing wings on heroes
and hoofs on the villains, the Rev H.
| ID. c. Maclachlan, ID. D., pastor OF the
Seventh Street Christian Church, last
| night stressed his belief that sociology
! cugenics and sex hygiene arc not, and
t VIII never be. panacea for the ele-
mental evil and its attendant dangers
f., lie Illustrated his statement that the
social evil and the white slave traffic
are exaggerated in the moving pictures
| for commercial purposes by pointing
TO the story which appeared In The
| Times Dispatch yesterday. in which 1t
was stated that the poison needle"
| episode was probably without founda-
tion In fact. and due to public hystcria.
/ Lets keep our heads" he urged.
Let's be sane. God knows the facts
are bad enough. 1t is not necessary
to eXaggeratc the evil" He said that
people didn't go to so-called educa-
tional moving picture shows for moral
uplift, but out OF idle curiosity. which
precluded the possibility of their doing
any good they might otherwise do
Put On to Make Money.
DIR. Maclachlan criticized the moving
picture play. Traffic in Souls" which
appeared last week at the Academy
OF Music, not merely because IL de-
/ picted wholly imaginary conditions and
o-called facts which were proved not
to be facts, but because the play was
staged only for vulgar and commercial
reasons. He said that 1t was for that
! reason that some OF the censors voiced
4 protest against the play.
At the outset OF his sermon DR.
Maclachlan said that no was not ad =
verse to moving plays in themselves.
Instead he had 4 high opinion of them
In that they could be turned to such
good use for entertainment and cdu-
catlonal purposes.
But there is certain danger we
have TO guard against" he said and
that Is. that the moving picture shows
hre dirt cheap. and SO lead to too much
amusement. which. in turn, adds to the
general poverty. II is marvellous how
much money IS spent in Richmond on
moving picture shows. Al tho lunch
hour the streets are filled with streams
OF people going to tho moving picture
shows. They are stealing an hour from
their rest time to satisfy their craving
for cheap entertainment. And still
moro may be said. that AFFECT poverty
Is perpetuatinB itself by spending its
nickels and dimes In cheap moving
picture shows instead OF saving them
against the day of need"
DIR. Maclachlan said that the first
question asked OF Juvenile prisoners
is as TO what lis their favorite pas
time. In nine cases out OF ten they
give moving pictures as their favorite
entertainment. They are attracted DIR.
Maclachlan said. by Wild West shows.
which are as bad AZ the yellow bach
novels once used to be. and he cited the
instance Of one juvenile prisoner, -.
after seeing Wild West show, arr ed
himself with n large knife. bunch OF
keys and pistol.
Much Like the Dime Novel.
There is a real moral danger; he
said n tines SSsnes p nlsh
proper outlet for the emotions Such
: scenes are very dangerous. as any
result in strengthening the character.
but in Weakening the will. so that a
man will weep over drowning hy and
be cmotionally immune from human
sorrow. Beware OF dollhouse forcing
of hysterical emotion: large number
OF moving picture plays are horribly
melodramatic and untrue, and the Same
accusation may he made against them
rs against tho yellow back novel. The
hero is depicted as demi-Eod, the VII
, lain as n fiend incarnate. and the
heroine as beautiful, prosecuted dam
many real heroes in the world, do not
grow wings, and the villains do not
have hoofs.
/ "one of the chief criticisms urged
. against Traffic in Souls was. not that
, 1t was bad. but that 1t was wofully
untrue TO life. No policeman. no cadet,
no bully ever acted as those police
, men. cadets and bulics did. and the
, play could not be considered n lesson
in morals or as truly depicting the
white slave traffic. When the SO called
facts turned out not to be facts. when
the play had been made morbidIy melo-
dramatic, when an attempt was made
to excite the ignorant by depicting i'm
probable and Impossible acts, when the
real inner workings of the white slave
: traffic were ignored and when the
scenes were wholly imaginary, then
the censor committee had the right to
, say that the play was not proper for
display. That explains the vote. II
was a protest against commentaries
ton of a moral Issue"
How Hystcrin Has Sprend.
DR.. Machlachlan added that the coun =
try is becoming hystericnl about the
white slave traffic, the details of which
have been exaggerated to such an cX :
tent as to be out OF proportion with
i. tho facts. He referred to the poison
= hystcria which has resulted from ex-
agGeratiOn.
He cited Damaged Goods" as an adj
mirab educational play, one OF the
few because OF Its technique and the sci
4 cntifc manner in which the problem OF
an evil was handled. But in most plays
. he said. people sat Though them with
out consciousness of the sex problem
. attracted merely by It's vulgar por-
trayal of things it were better not to
know.
, THE further question involved" he
said, sis how far to look to education
! to solve the problem Some think it &c