Baraboo weekly news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1912-197?, 1921-03-17
QUESTION OF CENSORING NOV ING PlCTURESl Is
VIGOROUSLY DEBATED AT Observation-Disclosures
HASKJN Tells Of CONTROVERSY So SPECIAL ARTICLE

own good. it was argued, it is very
hard to- draw the line. Liquor nav"
ing been taken away from him there
are now robust movements afoot TO
ban tobacco, to ban amusement on Sun
dav, to ban dancing and short skirts
and high heels. And if you admit any
enc of these, you admit them all. Say
Igoodbye to one of your liberties, and
soon the whole family of them will
have left you There are just two
theories possible. Government may be
regarded as a means of organizing
society in order to secure the rights OF
the individual against the aggressions
both of other individuals and other
governments. In that case it should
impose the least possible restraint.
It should let man do as he pleases,
so long as he does not trespasson
the right of any one else to do the
same This, it is cOntended, is the
theory upon which our government is
founded.
Once you start taking away liber-
ties, you must abandon this theory
altogether. For no line can be drawn.
You must then regard government as
means of regulating every detail
of individuals life, prescribing what
each and all Of us shall eat, drink,
wears, how and what we shall read.
This latter seems to be the purpose
and ideal of the reform movement.
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by legal enactment. The proponents
of freedom say that this is dem
onstrated impossibility in the first
place. In the second place they claim
that it would thwart the development
of individuality, which is the really
valuable human quality and the source
Of all progress. 1t would tend, they
say to make of us vast aggregation
of human machines, moved not by in
dividual taste and intelligence, but by
a clockwork of law and regulation,
That is what it would do if it succeed
ed. Prohibition is pointed out by
some as an example Of what happens
if a people refuses to accept such regu-
lations of conduct.
Returning to the matter of censor
ship, it's record was attacked and de-
tended. The friends of censorship
claimed that it has done much good
in states where it has been put into
effect, by saving the youth of those
states from witnessing many scenes
of love and violence The opponents
of censorship claimed that it has been
ridiculous and arbitrary wherever it
has been tried. They cited the case of
a lady appointed to censor the movies
who prohibited all funeral scenes and
other scenes suggesting death on the
ground that she had recently suffered
a bereavement and it narrowed her
feelings to witness such scenes.
The opponents claimed that censor
ship has always been arbitrary. They
claim that the whole public must Judge
of production and that one individual
or group Of individuals cannot fail to
be moved largely by prejudices, and
other individual peculiarities. Equally
they say, it is impossible to apply
set of rules to work Of art. Thus in
England until a few years ago there
was national censorship of the stage.
Under this law it was found necessary
to suppress the work of some Of the
greatest dramatists, including Ibsen,
Shaw, and finally the great classic,
Sophocles, who had been studied by
English schoolboys for generations. i
y ~ Il l.
be inconclusive. At least the argu-
ments of both sides got good airing.
The sympathies of the crowd seemed
to be with the producers rather than
the refOrmers.