Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-12-22

IN a period of Investigations, nearly
all directly provoked by war, il was
OF course inevitable that theatrical af-
fairs should not escape process of
speedy and radical readjustment. The
new conditions of S9ts will have 10 be
met by captains of footlight industries.
Revolutionary changes are certain TO
occur. Some of them are already under
way and their effect Is significantly felt
IN this city, where some of the most
influential theatrical men have had their
headquarters for many years, and in
New York the natural stage capital Of
the country. In nearly every instance
the public will he the gamer since the
"shake-up" is bound to shed pitiless
light on corrupt practices deep-rooted in
the American theatre.
Bad business" is the situations main
spring. Immediately preceding Amer
lcaS entrance in the war our stage was
enjoying period of unexampled flnan-
clal prosperity. With reckless disregard
or elemental principles of fair play pro-
ducers, great and small, mulcted the
public by ingenious and insidious
methods. 1t is true that the law was
not precisely defcd. FOR no legislation
covering the conditions was ever per-
mltted to be passed.
Ticket speculation was. of course. the
prime offense. The virtual impossible
fty OF securing good seats for Il popular
entertainment without payment Of an
excess charge was almost universal.
Notably in New York. absurdy cxtor-
tionate premiums were charged. Satur-
day nights became the hay-maliing time
par excellence Three. four and five
dollars seat were demanded by "theat-
rical agencies for productions for which
the normal price of admission was two
dollars. Protests against the enormity
of the gouge We're weakly made for our
position as a neutral nation had given
us wealth which was uugrudgngly
spent.
Then we armed for strife. Vast sums
OF money, formerly available for amuse-
ment purposes. were devoted TO war
preparations and loan investments. The
trainers of the new tax law wisely
copied the French plan of deriving reve-
nue. from imposts on theatre tickets
An attempt to make it illegal to sell a
ticket at rate higher than that ad-
vertised failed in Congress as it had
done in the Pennsylvania Legislature
some years before. But perhaps the
Federal lawmakers forGsaw the natural
death of the imposition when the pub
lie placed its pleasures on a wartime
basis Just at present the way Of the
ticket speculator is hard and 1t will
grow less rosy as the nation is adjusted
to additional economies.
TT HAS been optimistically asserted
i that the theatre tax, which went into
force on November !. has not seriously
affected shows of exceptional appeal
Entertainments Of such superior draft
are. however. rare in any season. The
average footlight offering. often meri-
torious without being especially brilliant.
has a different tale to tell. Gothams
Gay White Way" Is still further
banched by the bones Of some COM
mendable productions. which in less
trying times might have endured from
october till May. while the patronage
slump in Philadelphia has been even
more striking.
Given an all-around square deal by
the managers, it is highly unlikely that
the mere imposition of ten per cent
tax on the value of ticket could alone
have developed the disaster But the
extra charge came on top Of a system