New-York tribune., 1919-09-07
BY Walter Prichard Eaton

has seemed rather simple and nat
ural (if unexpected) thing. For that
reason it is a little difficult for one
who j. now an outsider, though once
intimately connected with the theatre
and still numbering many actors as
his best friends. to understand, no. the
refusal to stand by the strike. perhaps.
but the evidently honest belief of some
players that their art and the labor
Of. let US say, the maker Of shoes or
steel rails nave nothing in common;
tha: their art is lowered in dignity By
cooperation with union labor.
Ny grandfather lived in little
town where twoscore Of his ncighbors
made shoes. each in small shop in
his respective back Cor sometimes
'ront) yard There was 70 union.
Each shoemaker was proud Of his
product. and took as much care and
pains with il as any artist with his
painting or dramatic role. Similarly
IN that town were Encreanized car
pcnters. They were good carpenters.
quite capable Of carving a delicate
Colonial rnantel as we'll as designing
and building barn. Their houses still
stand to-day and are more admired and
coried each year They were artists.
But ali that was in the days Of my
grandfather. who was born in 1909.
To-day shoes are made In Brockton
and Lynn on elaborate machinery
owned b. the United Shoe Machinery
Company, and most mantcis are made
in Crard Rarids, Mich. or Davenport,
Iowa. c.so ty machinery ard look IL
Machine industry and the economic
results thereof. ss well IS the less
tangible sp.ri.us, results e.. the in
patience Of the modern age TO wait for
hand work or the unwilhngness 20
pev for il or the inability 20 appreciate
;.-hsve forced the workman into
Dosition where he is more or less at
the mercy of the nan who owns
machine. He Is wage slave. Hence,
in selfpro.ecton he has organized 10
bargain collectively. This, Of course.
,s plati.udinous-lat some Of my actor
friends seem to have forgotten II.
In 1884. or thereabouts, old Sol
Smith. fine comedian, toured down
tie Ohio IN Fat boat, moving up 70
the banks when he reached town.
and giving a performance in any hall
or room he could hire. In the death
scene Of one play, member OF the
company used 10 have 70 be killed
near the wings, so he could fall OIL
he stage. snatch up fiddle, and play
siow music az the curtain fell. Even
- lac as the SOS, the theatres or the
country were each Rn independent III
s-i,ut.on. booking tne.r own attrac-
} ions as they saw ft and were able
, M. booked from New York and forced
% take what vas sent % them. The
leading actors, II not exactly their own
managers. arrai ged for their tours
through their managers and led
comparatively Independent life. a
crcat many Of them, even as late as
ne sos, etill had, OF course. STEADY
po,itions with established steck COM
panies. and we're quite free from the
annual (or ostener) search for en-
ployment. :,
But it requires only the most casual
troviedge ot conditions to-day 70 see
that all this has been radically
changed. The theatres Of America to-
dsv are concentrated in a very lie"
hands. and, Furthermore. for other
reasons we canno' go into here, 1t has
come abou. that the theatres IN a
few cities, and chiefly in New YORK.
are essential to success. without ap-
nearing in these theatres first, there
IS small hope OF successful appear
ance in theatres elsewhere. The few
mon therefore. who control these (as
we'll as most OF the other) theatres
are quite analogous, 20 the factory
owners who control the machinery,
without the use Of which the shoe
n,oLer cannot make shoes. The actor
is quite analogous to the wage slave
not quite. perhaps--but no. because
his acts are more dignifed; only be-
cause there is a more striking dit
eersnce IN value between two actors
than between two shoemakers.
II is easy TO talk, IS Belasco used TO
do when he was lighting" the trust
and as some Of the Equity members DO
to-day. Of giving performances in barns
and tents. Blu. The truth is that you
cannot, in the luxurious modern world,
give performances in barns and tents,
except briefly, while temporary curlosi-
- may be excited. The modern word
is world Of plush seats, electro lights
elaborate scenery, and demands al
sorts Of aids and illusion, as well as all
sorts of comforts. The actor to-day
successfully to practise his art has
rot 70 have theatre to practise 1t IN
no less than the shoemaker a factory
with machines in which TO make shoes.
The man who owns the factory, the man
who owns the theatre tthe physical
nlsnt) IL the master. TIE actors have
united. and united with labor, in strict
obedience to an iron law. Those OF
.h,rn who cannot see this, and 60 on
, pra.tl:ng Of the dignity Of their art cas-
70 there were no dignity in laborD are
,.s1 ont n