Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-08-07
MOVIE CENSORSHIP
INSTITUTED IN 1907
Pioneer Passing Upon of Mo-
ton Pictures Upheld by H.
Iinois Supreme Court.
MORALS BUREAU NOW is
IN CONTROL IN CHICAGO
National Board Doing Effective
Work on Cooperative and
Voluntary Basis.

! WORK on cooperative anu
Voluntary Basis.
| Censorship of the "movies'-munici-
pal, state and federal schemes of con-
troll, and decision of the Supreme Court
of the United States regarding this
new procedure-is discussed in an arti-
Gle written exclusively for the Survey
Press Service by John Collier of the
Peoples Institute. New York. Regard
Ing the movies" and their "censors,"
Mr.. Collier writes as follows:
Public censorship began In this
country with the sudden rise Of motion
pictures about nine years ago. The
pioneer censorship of Chicago was es-
tablished November, 1907 1t was up
held by the supreme court Of Illinois,
and has not been carried to the fed
| eral Supreme Court. This censorship
is legal, compulsory, and carried out
before the first public exhibition. The
Chicago ordinance specifically prohibits
only two kinds of films, the immoral and
obscene but it's application has been
broadened in practice There Is pen
atty of not less than $50 nor more than
500 for each exhibition OF condemned
| film, or part of It.
THE censoring was, at the start.
broadly assigned to the superintendent
| of police. An appeal to the mayor was
provided for. The censors' action on
| any given film could be appealed TO the
courts, and such appeals occasionally
have been made, but are. in the aggre-
gate, negligible. In January, 1913, the
censoring of films was placed under the
| deputy superintendent, who is not a
| member of the uniformed force. The
| work now is under the morals bureau,
a division of the police department, with
Maj. Funkhauser at its head, and the
! inspection work is done by ten salaried
employees drawn from civil service.
The second censorship enactment in
this country was carried through in
San Francisco in the latter part OF
1908. 1t authorizes the precensorship
of motion picture exhibits. This ordi-
and is now carried out largely after
the first public exhibition of films. The
inspector is a corporal of the police :,
Fairly simultaneously with legal
sorship Of motion pictures came into
existence. as work local to New
York, in March, 1909. and was extended
to include the whole country in June.
any particular. and continues as a
purely cooperative and voluntary ar
rangement.
Between the years 1909 and 1918
| censorship laws were passed IN the FOL
lowing cities: Kansas City, Portland.
Ore; Los Angeles. Atlanta, Pittsburgh,
| Kansas, Seattle, and, q little later. Pas
adena These are all prepublicity laws,
in that they give statutory power to
the censor in advance of the first pub
lie exhibition.
Has Paid Secretary.
'The Portland ordinance was amend
ed early In the present year to pro-
vide for a paid secretary who works
with a group Of about twenty-five CEN
sors most Of the inspections being
made after the first public exhibition
of films. The work in Seattle is done
by a group of five volunteers. In Los
Angeles q voluntary board with a paid
secretary views a certain proportion or
Kansas City board of public welfare
has been intelligently active for several
years, viewing some films before and
| some films after their first public ex-
All these boards or officials use the
aid Of the national board Of censorship
Of motion pictures. which, from It's cen
trail station in New York. reviews prac-
tically all films several weeks ees;h, IN al
"The more important censorships.
| those which at present are the fighting
issue in this field, are the state censor
ships The first state censorship was
created in Pennsylvania In 1911, but
became operative only last year. Dur
ing the legislative sessions Just closed
the Pennsylvania and Ohio laws were
amended to permit the delegation OF
censoring work to employees and help
ers Of the boards.
the storm center of controversy on this
subject for more than a year. 1t Is of
classic type, legal, compulsory, all IN
elusive, and is carried out In advance
of the first public exhibition. 1t be-
Ing occasioned the federal Supreme
Court decision last winter. UNFOLDING
censorship.
Pay for Censors.
1.-THE Ohio law was signed May 10.
1913. Under it tho state industrial
commission. subject to the approval Of
the governor, appoints three censors,
one of them a woman, to be paid 1900
g. year each. These censors are required
to examine prior to the first public
exhibition. All approved films are to
be stamped and serially numbered. and
before any film is publicly exhibited
the words Passed, etc, together with
the serial number Of the film. shall be
courts have been reluctant to enforce
| this last clause, an action which has
| complicated the operation of the law.
"A charge of 81 Is made for each
1.0eO-foot real. or f1fteen-minute show.
inspected by the board. In addition,
the board requires the purchase of Its
stamp of approval at the price Of 10
cents a foot for the rider which is
attached to each certified film-a profit
Of about cents q foot on riders
kansas adopted state censorship
law two years ago. This has been held
constitutional by the federal Supreme
Court, along with the Ohio law.
Bills providing for state censorship
have been introduced and pressed In
Indiana. Minnesota, Tennessee and New
York. A similar measure now Is pend
| ing in Illinois. A bill providing for
general federal censorship Of motion
pictures has been before Congress for
| two years. In 1928 New York al
dermen enacted an ordinance providing
for compulsory legal censorship, which
| was vetoed by Mayor Gaynor.
Barring Fight Films.
THE federal Congress in its session
of 1910-11 adopted a statute prohibit
ing the Interstate shipment or importa-
ton into the United States of motion
pictures of prize fights. This law has
| recently been used to prohibit the i'm
portation of films from Havana de-
picting the Johnson Willard fight.
There Is a clause in the Underwood