Evening star., 1928-10-13

Prompt suppression by the New York
police Of play said to be far beyond
the bounds of decency and good taste,
even in a day of approved realism on
the stage, Is applauded by the press,
with reiterated warnings to the theater
that 1t Is risking rigid censorship unless
some self-restraint is exercised.
For the sake of public decency and
for the sake of the theater as valued
institution, such messes should have the
lid of the law clamped down tightly
upon them," In the opinion of the Co
lumbus Evening Dispatch, which refers
to production the actors in which
have been arrested. The Dispatch ad-
mits that political censorship of art is
highly undesirable" but maintains that
there is wide divergence between art
and common obscenity and filth" The
editor condemns mental processes which
function almost entirely along the lines
Of sex depravity' and blatant bids for
the support of those among the public
who are similarly constituted"
X X
eff playwrights and producers will not
be decent" declares the Buffalo Eve
ming News, "they assuredly will fasten
upon the theater a censorship that will
hold 1t under constant, close scrutiny
The idea Of censorship is distasteful,
but public opinion will yield to it rather
pruriency. If the people Of the theater
do not keep their house in order, the
State will undertake the task"
Drastic measures are proposed by the
Jersey City Journal, which feels that
"it is too bad the police can't arrest
an audience that patronizes such plays" :"
and that "people who will sit through
such performances are certainly no bet
ter than those who play in them" The
Journal advises, prevention is always
better than cure, but, in dealing with
such offenders, prevention which leaves
the pocketbook empty is the only cure"
The Journal derives satisfaction from
the fact that, in the recent instance,
action was taken without any delay
and without waiting for the alleged
purveyors Of indecency to make nice
profit"
"Unquestionably the best censorship
of the theater," according to the De-
troit News "is that of public opinion.
II decent people will refuse to buy
off-color entertainment, play writer's
and promoters will produce drama Of
high order But when sufficient pub
lie exists to demand the thrill of the
audacious, the community must find
means of protecting its morals by law
and police authority. y 80 Where public
opinion backs authority, decency can
be insisted upon"
"a
The idea of play jury composed
of intellectual men and women who
would pass upon the morality and SEEM
illness of dramatic offerings is recalled
by the Memphis Commercial Appeal as
remedy proposed In similar circum-
stances a year or two ago, and that
paper adds, I'VE do not know what
has become of the play Jury, but We
do know that II the writer's and pro-
ducers OF plays do not show some regard
for the normal moral sense of the
average person, they will have their
hands tied by rigid censorship" The
Memphis paper AYERS that for couple
of years now many examples OF dra-
matte art have been filled with language
that would have brought a blush TO
tenderloin saloon OF pre-Volstead
who'll labor TO uplift the theater
audienceg?" asks the Philadelphia Eve
ming Ledger. while the Trenton Times
Advertiser feels that "unquestionably TO
the prurient taste OF a considerable sec
ton OF the public Is attributable. In
the last analysis. the low standard OF
morals In the playhouse" That paper
continues: ut is only fair TO add that
the charge of indecency does not lie
wholly at the doors of the citizens
of New York II is chargeable In large
measure to the hundreds of thousands
of visitors from Wayback. who wear a
mask of virtue In their home towns,
only to cut loose when business calls
them to the metropolis"
The conditions, as viewed by the Sag
inaw News, reflect upon "all those per-
sons who were on hand to revel In o
Pay The nature q j gAsGh Yas kpaEn E's