New-York tribune., 1922-12-18
Young Boswell
Inter0iewS
Edward Box

ohOAUCE 10 WFO4 l4 AWoffruAt-
eotioa Of Ed,oard Bok,S
Ne built up tie most sncesssfuI pom-
cH'e ssooaSkne fn America
Ne sstablishsd the PhiiadslpAis Aussrd,
ke prevented tks Mstorio Academy ef
hHste from bseosalse motion picture
house,
!. pas "A. PAlsdslphia OseAssrs o.
s0uNd fHoneiai bosis,
ne sstablishsd tie PhilddelpAls ForvnL.
Mr.. B0KS sHes N sls AeaAsny Of
Musto 70 Qifist room, hurHo t0isA grtnts
from Abbsys lriess Of tAs Holy Gydn
On ths other eide Of . tabis, lighted bt
a pottery lamp. EDWARD BOX sat
smoking eiedreties ~ long holder, as
h talked. He iroa gydy Aair. oad
lirdiy foes, dsep-fErTos0ed, and ths
lareensss Of ths mas, sEpressed strength
and fneshcastibis Hssrt6I snsrcv. Hss
deep Coics. (orcslul and yet gentle, So
jtisted ttseD 20 The capaoitv Of tAs
rooni end oraksasd Young BossDsH 70
the possibIitiss Of on fntervfs,0 tDfth q
maa Vho had trittcf Suck az GbsorbfRg
book obout hnssY.
Young Boswell-I should Hike 10 have
you talk about yourself, but since I am
informed, sir, that you won't, perhaps
you might suggest your biggest interest
at the moment
EDWARD BoK-At present Il Is the
Philadelphia Forum. You probably
don't know what II Is, 90 I shall explain
II to you. We tried Il a. an experiment
last year. There Is a certain class Of
professional people, Ike the professor,
the teacher and the clerk. who have been
caught between two economic wheels.
Such a chap makes, for instance, $500
20 $4,000 y year, has q wife and Q
couple OF children. After be has paid
out his money for food, rent, clothes
and ooal-not forgetting eoal-he hasn't
much left for the beautiful things Of
life. Yet he wants them. His naturs
Graves them, and he, Of all men, should
have them. That man is a tremendous
factor in the world and is too often lost
sight Of. So last spring We started a
Forum, using that word In It's broad
est sense. We made II a human forum,
not at all diseursive. We gave the
people seyenty-hve events, each the best
Of Us Kind, for $40 year. We gave
them, for example, Josef Hofmann, Olga
samaroH, the Philadelphia Orehestra,
the Bach Choir. We had Vice
President Coolidge % explain cur
rent events. We went through the
whole eAmut Of literature, art and sci
enee, and besides We gave them six
dances. on the theory that it Is Just as
civic and needful for young people 10
dance in the right surroundings as IL
is for them 10 know about the latest
question in Europe. Then We are going
10 have William Lyon Phelps talk 10
them about books next month. After
bis talks the book shops can't keep sup
piled with the ones he mentions.
Young Boswell-It is a kind Of uni
versjty extension idea.
EDWARD B0K-Tes, and when such
a forum was suggested they said IL
couldn't be done, because Il had not
been done before. But In three weeks
we had 70 close down the membership
with 1000 members and had 70 refuse
members for the rest Of the year. This
year We raised the price 10 Sl5, and
again closed the membership list with
4,700 members. This Is one OF the rules.
At $50 the doors are closed and late
eomers are not admitted. The lecturer
talks for an hour. and then It turns
into q questionnaIre. Ushers go through
the audience to gather up the written
questions, which the lecturer answers,
and there Is hardly a man who comes
before the Forum who can answer all
the questions asked In the half hour
allotted. At 10 precisely the meeting is
closed. The Forum really worksl
Young BoBwell--Think Of I'll Seventy
FIVE events for 20 cents each.
EDWARD BoK-There's the civic
lesson, and, above all, a verifcation Of
thing often said, but seldom really
carried out-that IL you give the public
the very best at a price within its reach
il Is only too willing 10 take advan-
tage OF IT, The public wants something
other than the motion picture and jazz.
II we'd only stop talking against bad
amusements and give them good enter
tainment, using our energy to put
something good in place Of the bsdl
Something eonstruetivei The Forum Is
now attracting attention all over the
country, and we are going 20 start a
second one. The president Is the gov
ernor Of the Federal Reserve Bank Of
this district, Geonge ". Norris. The
best criticism OF the Forum I know Is
this: A girl stenographer here In Phila-
delphia was offered S1b more a week 10
20 TO New York. She said; "No, I won't
20. because l would miss the Philadel-
phia Forum. IL Is my education" That
makes a man feel that he is working
for something worth while. The main
thing is that II gives the public a chance
70 ask questions. You know We are all
walking question marks
Young Bost0eu agreed. but he didn's
oct % dsk Mr.. BOX any Of ne qusS.
HoTs hs hdd tDritteH on ne eu1,