Arizona republican., 1917-05-02


 house and the bringing to our city of first class attractions.
 The Cily of Phoenix, the County of Maricopa, and the |. s. exact license fees from the Elks' theater aggregating the sum of four hundred (s400.0O dol lars yearly. This together with heavy l insurance rates. taxes, special appl- ances for electrical equipment, and many other expenditures made neces- sarv to comply with city ordinances, pertaining particularly to theaters, new war taxes which double the present federal tax, make the operating ex- penses of first class theater very high. Now to come sharply to the point. is it right and just to permit the Phoenix Union High School to operate theater for commercial purposes in competition with the regularly licensed theaters?
 Was this the purpose far which the i high school auditorium was built and l is the auditorium being conducted in i conformity with the high principles of educational advancement which that 1 worthy institution so well represents? ! l herewith call your particular attention l to Rotary vaudeville performance i produced at the high school auditorium. 1 by the Rotary club of the city of l Phoenix, last Friday night, April 21, ! 1917 and l submit for your investiga 1 tion that this performance was a the atrical attraction staged for the pur- poses of making money and was a com mercial business transaction in direct competition with the regular licensed theaters, and particularly the Elks the i ater And also, that this performance, given under the direction of the Rotary | club, and with the knowledge and con- sent of the trustees of the school, was not only iR competition with the theater but actually did cause financial loss to the theater, and has placed me, as man. ager of the Elks, in very embarrass-
 in~ and exceedingly unpleasant posi-
 tion. For it has now become my imper-
 ative duty to seek enlightenment as to
 the questions of right and wrong in
 such practices. and also to direct to the
 attention of those whose authority is
 to regulate these conditions the true
 state of affairs concerning same.
 I would be lacking indeed in my du-
 ties as manager of the citys only the
 ater capable of handling first class
 road attractions, if l further neglect to
 call to the attention of all whom it may
 concern, the conditions of affairs which tend to make it absolutely impossible
 to maintain q well regulated playhouse
 and to bring real standard productions
 to Phoenix, unless at a financial Sacri-
 flee.
 Through careful observation and ; knowledge gained from long practice in
 dealing with the public, 1 am sure that the citizens of Phoenix and the great
 Salt River Valley want to maintain a
 standard theater and will support such
 an institution if the way is made clear
 for it's establishment and progression
 Now, if this be true is not the encour-
 agement of it's growth by our citizens
 not only a necessary asset but of most vital importance to it's development and
 even it's very existence?
 And here let me state that a first class playhouse can never be estab-
 lished or maintained in the city ol
 Phoenix or any other city without the support and hearty cooperation of just
 such honorable and worthy citizens as
 those who compose the membership Oi the Rotary club and those worthy gen. tlemen the board of trustees of the 1 Phoenix Union High School.
 I must submit, therefore, to public
 opinion and to the press, whose duty il i is to analyZe all things with painstak- 7 ing patience, and absolute fairness, anC . to stamp them with their true worth , the questions as to whether the Rotary
 club and the high school authorities I have acted in conformity with the 3 standard of professional ethics, 1T ! booking and producing this vaudeville at the auditorium as above stated. { am reliabl informed that the regular e theater orchestra was engaged at tn, l regular union scale of salaries ant I that professional talent outside tho f club was hired to perform and tha
 talent was brought from San Fran ! cisco especially for this engagement
 Also that the entertainment was giyel ! to raise money to send delegates [, i the Rotary convention at Atlanta, an(
 their only reason for using the audi
 torium instead of the theater regular
 iy maintained for these purposes wa z to save on the rent.
 1 respectfully submit for your inves ! tigation that the price which I quote, \ to the Rotary club for rent of tn Elks theater would not return suffi
 cient revenue to pay the actual oper
 ating expenses of the theater, and ye Ii the auditorium could be had at ': = much lower rental" Why? Space vii = not permit further detail or recital O e other instances, and 1 only make thi = public appeal now because private pc Q titions, appeals and remonstranceS t = all parties concerned, at great incon n venience and great waste of valuabl
 time in presenting my views and seek t ing just recognition have availed noth $ ing.
 d Herewith, q word of two concernin, = press matter and advertisements fo g this Rotary attraction and many of
 similar nature. In the beginning le = me state that the Gazette and the Re = publican have been very courteous t Il me and have done much to encourag l, and stimulate the development of tn n theater, and in all things have bee Il as fair as possible under the presen E regulations of society. 1 have no com IA plaint that the regular rate for theat ~ rical advertising is much higher tha II the commercial rate, and the theate Di uses much advertising space.
 l. But for attractions like this of tn
 Rotary and very many others, at op T position in unlicensed places o ! ! amusement both papers devote grea deal of space to free advertising an i boosting, and thus make it that muc l harder to compete, or for the theate ] to progress
 These conditions are brought abou
 believe not by design on the part o
 any department of the newspapers, bu
 by an unwise or false social concep O tion of economy on the part of worth . citizens and organizations "ho occa e Sinn9llV indnlpa in tbaa frin