The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-08-10

n
 country with the sudden rise of mo- Rtfon pictures about nine years ago. The pioneer censorship of Chicago Twas established November, 1907. It Twas upheld by the supreme court of sl Illinois and has not been carried to 1.-the federal supreme court This cen Isorship is legal, compulsory and car Tried @1t before the first public exhibi- tion The Chicago ordinances specific laIly prohibits only two kinds of films, the ttImmorta1 and obscene, but: it's sIapplication has been broadened in
 practice. There is a penalty of not Hess than $50 nor more than S1 % for
 each exhibition of a condemned film
 Or part of It.
 II Work Now Under Morals Bureau.
 The censoring was at Ttlae start broadly assigned to the superintend- ent of police An appeal to fthe 1 mayor was provided for. The cen Isors, action on any given film could
 be appealed to the courts. and such sEappeals have been occasionally made but are in their aggregate negligible. i Tn January 1s1S,.s the censoI'ing sof
 films was placed under the deputy 1 1superintendents who isg not a member ,I of the uniformed force The work is
 now under the Morals Bureau, a di- j vision of the police department with
 Major Funkhauser at it's head. and 1.-the inspection work is done by ten
 
 service
 } The second censorship enactment , in this country was carried through in San Francisco in the latter part iof 1908. It authorizes the pre-cen- sorship of motion picture exhibits lThis ordinance has. been rather light Fly applied and is now carried out : : IIargely after the first public exhibi- ton of films. The inspector is cor Z lporaI of the police. f N : icensorship. the National Board of T Censorship of Motion Pictures came 2 into existence, as a work local to New Z York. in March 1909. and was ex- tended to include the whole country 3 in June, 1908. It was not a legal : tinues as purely co-operative and voluntary arrangement. :, Between the years 1909 and 191s 8 . censorship laws were passed in the < following cities: Kansas City; Port s land. Ore; Los Angeles: Atlanta
 Pittsburghs Kansas; Seattle; and g
 little later. Pasadena. These are al
 pre- publicity laws, in that they give r, statutory power to the censor in ad. U vance. of the first public exhibition
 A Pair Secretary.
 The Portland ordinance wa, 2 amended early in the present year9ee | | provide for a paid secretary z evhs " ' works with a group of about twenty. !. five censors, most of the inspection q being made after the first public ex :. hibition of films The work in Seat l-aI tie is done by group of five vol . unteers. In Los Angeles a vo1untar, e board with a paidA secretary views
 certain proportion of the films in ad
 vance of publicity. The Kansas Cit,
 Board of Public Welfare has been in
 teligently active for several years ,i viewing some films before and som ,f films after their first public exhibi , tion.I
 ..l All these boards or of1cia1s use tn sll aid of the National. Board of Censor T. ship of Motion Pictures, which. iron s it's central station in New York re = I views practically all films severa q weeks in advance or their first pub tI Lie exhibition.
 < The more important censorships = those which at present are the fight z ing issue in this field, are the stat s- ship was created in Pennsylvania i '. 1911, but became operative only las = year. During the legislative session = just closed, the Pennsy1vanfa an sa Ohio laws were amended to permi - - the delegation of censoring work t =. = ernp ployes and helpers of the board. 7a The Ohio film censorship has bee .o the storm center of controversy O ,- this subject for more than a year. ~ is of classic type, legal. compulsor7 .i- e--i S' anu ls , ,.is tl @ to Eanc5 oI the Ilrse Pupiic e@iilpieIoi i.ai @ e It became of national eihteres o- through having occasioned the fed 9n era1 supreme court decision last wir ivs ter, upholding censorship.
 d. Pay for Censors.
 The Ohio law was signed May 1;
 1g13- Under it, the State Industris
 Commission, subject to the approvs lg of the governor, appoints three cer m sors, one of them woman, to b
 paid $1.5e0 a year each. These cer
 sors are required to examine, pric a- to the first public exhibition. All ar I'd proved films are to be stamped an
 serially numbered, and before an