The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1920-12-03
Things Which
Touch Society
COMMERCIAL APPEAL POINTS
THE FINGER AT SOURCE OF
. SOME PRESENT DAY
TROUBLES

ey the able ard cour2gcCCE edlCOf OI
the Commercial, which appeared IN
that paper last Sunday under the
caption, "The Reign Of Lusts." Ii
comes as a warning to the mothers
and fathers of the present day and
the thought is shocking to think that
"the best people, will endure and
tolerate what Mr.. Mooney says exists
and what everybody almost, know to
be true:
"The lightness with which relations
between the sexes is generally re-
garded is reflected in the growing
roll of the divorce courts and other
sordid records which the press OF the
world is called upon to print. These
no longer excite more than passing
notice, but occasionally an incident
is published which attracts unusual
notice on account of the circumstanc-
es surrounding it and the unusual
character of the actors in the scene.
"A case Of the latter sort is that of
Of George Baklanoff, noted opera
singer who was depOrted from Amer
ica on account of a scandal in which
he became involved, and who was re-
Gently readmitted to this country,
where he will appear in the casts of
the Grand Opera Company. These
facts led to formal protest from DR..
Herbert L. Willett, president of the
Chicago Church Federation, and we
suppose that gentleman will derive
small comfort and little satisfaction
from the comments and attitude of
the principals in the comedy, for it
is nothing less.
|'Dr. Wil1ett ought to know that he
is tackling the job of the mnch-need-
ed reform of the theater at the
wrong. end If he and his clerical
~asscciates SA,uld S-aG,ze e besg--Ajrg
by reforming the attitude OF their
members towards indecent and I'M
moral players and plays, then they
could speak with authority, but 1t
would scarcely be necessary to speak
at all in that case. The Chicago
,enager correctly afirms that the
only effect of this clerical protest
will be to increase the receipts of
the box Office.
Eve recently witnessed a matinee
performance in a theater which we
have not visited in several years, and
we were startled by the progress of
indecency as indicated by the per-
formances Of both male and female
actors. All around US sat women,
from gray-haired matrons to school
girls with books in arms, and not one
of them exhibited any emotion but
that of interest and pleasure. The
dancing was not fit to be seen out
side a brothel.
despite the prevalence of the con-
ditions to which reference has been
made the air is filled with a perfect
clamor of voices telling of how much
better the world is growing. And
millions are being raised with which
to sweep the world into the kingdom
of heaven overnight. One of the
most distinguished, and certainly one
of the ablest and best, ministers in
the south recently told us that in his
earlier years he did not doubt that |
God could and would save the world |
through instrumentality of man, but |
that he had reached the conviction |
that it is an impossbility.
eve are familiar with Abraham's |
reply to a certain rich man: Neither |
will they be persuaded, though one |
rose from the dead
And along the same line appear
ed the following editorial in Tues
days issue of the same paper:
"The question seems to be fair
one, in the light of the mountain rec
ord of crime daily recorded by the
press. The list of such happenings |
for last Sunday published in our own
columns is staggering in its signif-
canoe. Memphis itself seems to
have reverted to its frontier status,
when bandits infest it's highways and
ply their trade in the very heart of
the city, within a stones-throw of po-
lice headquarters and the temple of
justice itself.
"It is the irony of fate that the
victim in this instance should have
been the custodian of the funds of a
moving picture show; for it cannot
be doubted that the manner in which
crime and vice are depicted upon the
film has much to do with exciting in
the youthful mind an ambition to
practice in real life what is thus so
presented upon the mimic
stage. And thoughtful men are not
heard to condemn the
manner in which vice is presented in
these popular places Of amusement
Women are carried through most de-
praved experiences of dalliance and
emerge apparently unscathed from
the encounter.
.The consensus of opinion is quite
general that the moving picture is the
most powerful educational method
now in use, and it is being extensive
" adopted for other purposes than
And it is a tragic