New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-10-16
A PACIFIST PLAY
Analysed and Denounced a
Astounding in Feministic Cant.

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Beulah Dix's play "Moloch" may not
be. as the reviewer in "The Times" says
"the usual dramatic soda pop" but | find 1t
none the less sicklied DER with the same
kind Of feministc cant that caused Jane Adj
dams to make her famous edct concerning
soldiers and drink.
II NAV be true that some officers drink,
but the Colonel Of "Moloch,' gentleman
the son Of distinguished army officer and
fine heroic mother. could scarcely nave
turned out the degraded sot the author mas
most unconvincingly tried to paint him'
communicating" the TASKS Of his suoordi-
mates and lying 70 the commissary depart
mont 70 cover his own craving. To paint a
drunken colonel as typical is no more true
than it would be to paint all trained nurses
as bored young women seeking excitement.
was delighted to have the reviewer in The
Tribune frankly declare the play the work
of sentimental propagandist
II may be wise, some say, to have plays
written which portray the horrors of war
rather than the mere bugle playing and nag
fving. but while the old-fashloned war plays
may have done some slight harm yet they
never were taken seriously, as a play OF this
type is apt to be; moreover, in tearing away
something of the cockledOodleism OF gong
to the front" is il necessary TO tear away
a. the same time all reverence for valor, all
acknowledgment of logged perseverance, all
admiration of discipline? Somehow. not be-
inc feminist, the virtues of womanknd do
not seem 10 me to be the sole ones worth
saving from the scrap heap. Some OF the
traits of mere man, as eXemplihed IN war
command my highest admiration. 1t VIII DC
a bitter day for civilization when the ad-
mirabe qualities of pity, gentleness, aosti-
hence and confluence are the only ones 70
win respect Already America suffers from
a Termination of ideals Steiner stuff is
needed a willingness to inflict pain when
necessary, the power 70 place reason above
emotion and to look facts straight IN the eye
Shorn Of all sentimentality, what do we
see? The lady author seeks to show the de-
teroration wrought by war on men. The
wife. gazing at her husband, cries: "Only
two years. What two years Of war can do"
She is TOO sanity TO blame him Oh, no.
She does not blame; she only shrinks in hor-
TOR from the total ruin of his moral charac-
ter | confess that during this scene could
scarcely keep from crying aloud. For was
crimes committed by men, but TO be utterly
blind wherein the woman failed? | wonder
how many in the great audience refused to
be hypnotized and realized that the real de-
terioration was suffered by the wife, that
instead of looking down upon him she should
have gone on her knees before him? Her
husband had done his duty toward his coun-
try. Had she? Her husband had tried to
learn who were the traitors in his army, who
were in communication with the enemy. The
prisoner was tortured. He confesses 20 the
wife that in another minute he will reveal
the names. He begs TO be put out of his
misery. lie asks her 10 make il forever i'm
possible 20 learn the names of those who be-
trayed her country's army. She refuses at
first but. moved by his terrible sufrerings
yields. By her act hundreds, thousands Of
her own countrymen would continue TO be
slaughtered. Whose character went under
in the strain Of war, his or hers? The Colo
mel was absolutely justified when he said he
had done right. | wanted 10 get up and
cheer. Would he had had the courage 70 tell
the sanctimonous woman she had done
wrong But then TO an American audience
one may never tell the truth about a woman
The painful spectacle of the crippled youth
who had gone so jauntily 20 the front is elo-
queht nv against war so much as against
war without preparation. "Moloch" is not so
much peace play as a warning not 70 be
caught unprepared. In that I take off my
hat 20 the power and directness OF the mes
sage. The poor boys description Of the men
moved down, helpless under a fire they could
not return, contained the most poignant lines
In the play. Bitterly he lifts his voice against
the folly OF country that plays" at war
entering the lists against country that
makes q business Of war" By the way,