The New York herald., 1922-12-10
by A. r.. THOMAS.


TT anybody came up to you sud-
denly, without the least prepara-
= tion or warning or introduction,
and demanded Of you bluntly, not
to say brutally, why did you write
Our Nell?'" what would you re-
ply, especially IL you had done It?
Nice kind of thing to happen to a
person, isn't It? Puts you in much the
same situation occupied by the con-
victed criminal when the disagreeable
individual on the bench inquiries II
there Is anything he wishes to say be-
fore sentence Is pronounced upon
him.
Well, that is what has happened to
me at the hands of the dramatic editor
OF THE New YORK HERALD OF course
1t would be perfectly possible to reply,
"None of your business" only one
does not as a rule talk to dramatic
editors like that. There are reasons
Never mind what they are. They
exist. That's enough.
Well. then. ! had n number Of excel
lent reasons for writing "Our Nell" One
of them. and / am sure this one Will
strike sympathetic chord in every
human breast with cold winter CON-
ing on and so little coal In the house,
Is the circumstance that every three
months there arrives at my address a
long, narrow yellow envelope and UP In
the left hand corner 1t says Treasury
Department, Office OF the Collector OF
Internal Revenue" And what IL says
on the inside Is my personal business
All / feel Il necessary to add Us that II
says In effect that II something Isn't
done about Il on or before. something
disagrecable will be done about II soon
afterward.
You are all familiar with the hard
fate that. .pursues the habltual criminal
He may emerge from Sing Sing with the
best intentions in the world. He Is quite
convinced, TO quote Our Nell" that
honesty is the best policy. and that the
way OF the transgressor is hard. He IL
determined 10 lead n better life from
now on. hut nobody will give him a
job His reputation Is against him. He
cannot escape his past. And so. wher
confronted with the dilemma of more
theft or starvation. me goes back TO his
old tricks. Same with the playwright
It's not his fault. poor fellow. It's the
fault of the social system Wnich mas
produced him and until the system Is
altered our jails will be full OF thieves
and our theatere full OF playwrights.
But / have other excuses The writ.
ing OF "Our Nell' was not merely q
simple. uncompllcated case of relapse
into evil ways. ! should not have faller
as easily as that. There were other
considerations and one OF them was that
Brian Hooker thought II would be q
good idea. As 1t happened--oh. by the
way. you know OF course. that Brian
Hooker wrote the lyrics sung Cor
spoken) In "Our Nelr'--well, anyhow
now YOU do. AS I was saying when SO
rudely interrupted by myself. hooker
expressed this view of his Mt n moment
when | wasn't doing anything else and
YOU know what Satan finds for Idle
hands TO do. II you don't just go 10 the
Bayes Theater and find out. II Is q
piece of information that will come In
handy in most any kind OF life.
But wouldn't like you TO get the
idea that all my motives In this affair
we're as gnoble as these. | have men.
toned them FIRST. because there's nc
use In going into the thing II I'm not
10 be perfectly frank. ] Am going tc