New-York tribune., 1921-04-03
Run to Cover, Mother Goose. !.
For the Censor Man Is Loose.
Revisions for the Nurserv
By Cecil B. De Mile,
Director General Of Paramount
Pictures

Seldom in my experience nave l been
more deeply shocked than by an oc-
crrrence recently, arising from an In
cident in my own home, when + had
occasion to punish one Of my children
for stealing some candy. After ] had
administered the rebuke, the child,
through her tears, went on to say that
she had been inspired by Mother
Goose" and brought me an edition of
tie nursery classic, published, / am
grleved to say, in the home Of erudi-
ton and refnement-Boston.
She turn to the page whereon are
told the Antefactions Of "Tom, the
Piper's ScNss whose theft Of a pig has
been recited with gusto, no doubt, by
thousands Of children for a century or
more.
With Mrs. De Mile I went through
tine pages Of the volume, applying the
rules of censorship as they are applied
for motion pictures, and at each verse
vas grieved to discover that we had
been nursing viper to our bosoms-
IL the metaphor is not too mixed. Here
we had been handing our children
book which was seemingly innocent.
but which had laid the foundation for
misconduct. 1t had been suggesting
IDEAS to the youthful mind which could
hardly fail to prove deleterious. Hard
" verse escaped the censoring pen
ellis! We were astounded and could
hardly conceive that We had been SO
blind or that the world had overlooked
this source Of evil, which had its roots
IN the very basis of the home life-the
nursery.
With the publication of certain
glaring examples, it seems to US, the
eyes Of the censors who have turned
their attention exclusively to motion
pictures should be opened TO the posi-
bilities of far more iniduitous material
for their critical examination.
With the welfare of our children at
heart, Mrs. De Mile and took it upon
ourselves to censor the current edition
of this highly dangerous literature.
We were literally aghast at the mass
Of Objectionable material to be found
N this little volume. Dishonesty, i'm
sASrality, cruelty, brutality, bigamy and
dozen other equally grave qualities
were brazenly exploited.
Animated by the same spirit Of dis
interested morality that has always
been the backbone of censorship, we
proceeded to alter the well-known lines
Of the Mother Goose" rhymes to meet
what we conceive to be the accepted
standard of censorship morals as we
knew it in connection with the photo
play.
For the benefit Of other parents, we
beg to submit the following somewhat
modified examples of certain verses.
While It is true that these changes
not infrequently mar the symmetry and
rhythm and the results do not always
result in even approximate sense, we
feel perfectly justified in our efforts.
In the following outline, we have
taken the best known of these verses
and have suggested changes and elimi-
nations after the plan adopted by the
motion picture censorship organiza-
tions:
Little boy blue. come blow your horn.
The sleeps In the meadow. the cows in
the corn.
What is this tho way you mind your sheep
Under the haycock. fast asleep?
(E,Iim inc 70 rafornpro to co1,, dao<rn,,
ing corn in view of acute food shortage
in Europe.)
ia. fe, Fl. 70, funa
I smell the blood OF an Englishnan
BE he live or be he dead.
III grind his bones to make mo bread.
(Cut scene showing smelling of hu-
man blood and also that indicating
grinding Of human bones to make
bread. Eliminate specific reference to
an Englishman, which may be con-
strued as pro-German or pro-Irish.)
Baa, baa. black sheep. have you any wool?
Yes marry have I. three bags full.
One for my master; and one for my dame,
the lane,
(Change word dame" to read
"wife.")
Sing song Of s!xpence. a bag full OF RE,
-Four and twenty blackbirds baked In
pie:
When the pie was opened tho birds be-
gan TO sing:
And wasn't this dainty dish to set be-
fore the king?
The king in the parlor. counting out
his money;
The queen was in this Kitchen, eating
bread and honey:
The maid was in tho garden. hanging out
the clothes;
There came a little blackbird and nipt Off
her nose.
(Omit reference to living birds be-
imp baked in pie on cruelty grounds.
Cut scene Of bird biting off girls
nose)
When I was a little boy, I lived by r,yself.