Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1922-07-25
MOVIE CENSOR
NOT POSSIBLE
Hays Says State or Nation
wide Supervision Sure
l.. To Fail
INDUSTRY WILL
OBVIATE NEED

LOS ANGELES, Cal, July rs
Will II. Hays. former Postmaster
General and now head of the motion
Picture Producers Distributors AS
.sociation. here for a weeks study
in the stronghold of the industry.
said in an informal statement that
1.-THE principle OF freedom upon which
this nation was founded makes pub
.lic censorship OF press. pulpit. film
or spoken word virtually an impos-
sibility."
statewide or nationwide censor
ship" he said. will fail in everything
Il undertakes. II hasn't been done
successfully and never will be. Too
many people who know nothing
about the business are named on
censorship boards. We are going
ito obvlate the necessity of censor
ship"
Mr.. Hays. speaking before business
and motion-picture men. said he had
come TO visualize the motion-picture
Industry as a great three-fold instru-
ment for good
1T can" he said, I'LL a necessity,
the necessity for entertainment
Second. it can and Will instruct
which is a most precious power.
Third. 1t can do more than any
other agency to unite the peoples OF
the world, to bring understanding
not only between man and man but
between nation and nation. than
which no greater thing can be done"
The association which he heads
hopes to establish and maintain the
highest possible moral and artistic
= standards and TO develop the educa-
tional value and the general useful
ness of the motion picture.
This plan" he said. creates no
super-court to pass upon pictures.
We have no great program OF re-
form I am a tenderfoot In the
picture business. but am
learning something every day.
while the pioneer in any business
IS always a romantic figure, his con
duct frequently does not measure up
TO the best boarding school stand
ards. Force and trickery and even
homicide were common incidents In
the opening OF yesterdays oil fields
and in the mighty struggle for
supremacy OF the railroads of-the
country. II is strongly suspected,
too, that commerce was born in
piracy. -
Tn the development OF this indus
try there has been competition OF the
finest kind. There has been no time
for adequate reflection.
But those days are gone. At the
time OF incredibly compressed ply
steal. mechanical. financial and ar
tistic development the pioneers have |
caught their second breath. They |
find themselves the responsible lead
ers and custodians OF one of the /
greatest Industries OF the world. with |
perhaps more income than all the !
public utilities OF the country COM
bined.
THE business Is seeking and find !
ing a firm anchor in the same strong |
rules which govern banking and /
manufacturing. Sober business men,
with vision clarified. old rivals now
seeking common things. know bet
ter than anybody else that the future
OF the business. as well as the future /
of society. demands better pictures"
Mr. Hayes prefaced his address by
reviewing the work of the Postoffice
Department OF which he was for
merry head and said he wanted to be-
speak for the Postoffice workers the
consideration. sympathy and cooper
alton which their importance to this
country warrants"