Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1917-09-27

ing a constitutional amendment for pro-
hibition; voted that the social service com
mission arrange for n series of commu-
nifty social campaigns continuing through
days and commended for special
action the recommendations of the social
service commission as presented In its re-
port.
There was n somewhat heated discus
sion of a resolution that would have placed
the convention on record as %favoring, In
these stressful times of national finance.
of all church property but the
resolution was not adopted. The report
of the committee on roll showed a
total of 210 delegates, pastors. visitors,
of the board and others present.
1t was voted to have the next annual ses-
sion in Bennington. The Rev. j. w. Chess
bro of Bellows Falls was chosen as the
preacher of the annual sermon with the
Rev. ]. S. Braker. ID. D., of Burlington al
ternate.
SOCIAL SERVICE COMMISSION.
Among the reports submitted at to-
days session was an interesting sum-
mary of the work of the social service
commission submitted by the commits
sion's secretary, Guy b. Horton. 1t fol-
lows:
THE previous reports of our work have
shown. first. the relation of each Baptist
Church TO its constituency and the extent
of its community service, and second, the
needs of Vermont communities for the
service which the church should render.
Having completed this study Of the So
cial assets and liabilities Of our YER
mont churches we turned our attention
to constructive work on definite prob
lens. Few of these have been completed
bat in ali a tangible progress has been
made.
"The meeting of the Legislature last
winter gave opportunity for pressing i'm
portant reforms, like the publicity of five
days delay before the marriage ceremony
which we urged In our last report. Others
await further public education. The cir
cumstances were never so favorable for
a long forward movement in social legis-
lation in 1919.
The vacation Bible school has been a
special study Of Brother Fuller of the
commission. A definit plan will be pre-
sented during the convention and we
recommend tho starting Of this good work
in one or more favorable communities.
A Baptist i~naugurated the movement and
a Baptist city mission financed its be-
ginning. VIII not our denomination in
troduce It to Vermont?
"a great influence for social better
ment is the general public discussion of
community needs and remedies. Therefore
we ask as many churches as possible
to hold open forums. In addition to the
public service rendered, many people of
little or no religious affiliation can be
brought into contact with the church.
"A new and exceedingly influential
factor in our social life is the motion
picture. This has been the subject Of
much thought and we have awaited our
selves of the extensive study made by
Mrs. Ida B. Horton who has obtained
her information from owner and patron
in nearly every theatre in the State.
w v small conception of the mag
nitude Of the business. There are in Ver-
mont about rs theatres of which nearly
fifty have from one to four performances
daily. To these theatres come every day
nearly one-tenth Of the entire population
of the State. On each of the six days
there are attracted by this amusement
as many people as on Sunday attend all
Of the Protestant churches. In the smaller
towns this Is about the only entertain
ment available. and the larger places it
is the only recreation within the means
of the majority 1T is touching Mrs.
Horton reports. ito see the eagerness with
which whole families in remote towns
crowd to the weekly movie and the keen
enjoyment which they seem to get"
THE question of theatre going is old
in ecclesiastical circles not excluding our
own. We are not discussing that. The
fact is that the motion picture is here and
is likely to remain. In such case it is
the duty of Christian statesmen to con-
slider seriously what can be done to pre-
vent or cure its evils and apply to our
own use it's tremendous possibilities for
good.
ut must be remembered that this great
business is barely a dozen years old. an1
naturally it's worst features are manifest.
We have been for generations trying to
uplift the spoken drama. For centuries
we have sought to improve the literary
taste of the people but even now there
are some who prefer the Boston Ameri-
can to the Transcript. We must not be
discouraged If we fail to solve in a de-
cade a problem which includes all the
evils Of the spoken and written story,
presented in a far more attractive form
n suddenly placed within the reach of
the poorest and least educated people.
The sooner we grasp the size of the
problem and look at it's possibilities fol-
good instead Of it's evils, the sooner will
the silent drama emerge from the dime
novel stage.
This question must be handled in the
same way as We are learning to handle
other human problems-by constructive
rather than repressive measures. 1t is
true that clear violations of common de-
cency by the new as we'll as the old kind
of ~treatre, just as by newspapers. maya.
zines and books, must be sternly dealt
with. But these are not frequent in Yer.
mont. For these reasons those of us who
have made a study of the problem coult
not support the prosposal to the Legisla
ture for a censorship. We believe 1t rather
a matter of education and the development
of an enlightened taste exactly as IL
literature and art generally. Our con
clusion seemed Justified by the fact tina
enlightened sentiment throughout thu
country Is now turning away from cen
sorship and in the direction indicated.
I'm many places In the State there ha
been a marked improvement In the stand
ard through the work of local committee
Of teachers and parents n the effort
of the State Federation of Women
Clubs which maintains a department de
voted to this. They would welcome GU
cooperation and they need 1t. 1t mus
be remembered that the theatre owne
Ia In the business to make money an
he Is very susceptible to argument 4
that direction.
I'm no place In the State do we fin
the use of films for church and Sunda
school purposes though this ia quite com
!, mon elsewhere. and many distinctivel
) religious themes, like the life Of Christ
are available. Quite a few Of GU
churches are in position to make use @
this new and effective agent of religion
instruction and we shall BIZ very glad I