Evening star., 1932-02-21
Children on the Stage.

At the instance Of some of the theater
people and with the Endorsement Of
some Of the leaders in the community,
Senator Capper has proposed an amend
lnent to the District child labor law to
permit the employment of children in
theatrical performances. The amend
Snent Is quoted here in part:
The Board of Education of the Dis
trict of Columbia, or a duly authorized
agent thereof, is authorized to issue
work permit to any female person under
eighteen years of age and to any male
person under sixteen years of age, said
permit authorizing and permitting the
appearance of such person on the stage.
of a duly licensed theater within the
District of Columbia, in any profess
sional travelling theatrical production
not considered offensive to public de-
cency: Provided, That such person shall
not appear on said stage after the hour
OF eleven o'clock in the evening OF any
day Application for such permit shall
be made by the parent or guardian OF
such minor to the Board of Education
of the District of Columbia, or a duly
authorized agent thereof at least forty
eight hours in advance of the scheduled
theatrical performance. The board or
Its agent shall issue permit when salts
fled that the minor is receiving educa-
tional instructions and that the health
and morals of the minor are properly
safeguardeo.
The tendency Is to regard the pro-
posed amendment as a reasonable pro-
posal to permit the appearance of child
characters in The Blue Bird Peter
Pan" Little EyoH," The Wild Duck"
Little Women" Poor Little Rich
Girl" "Allegiance," LAS Husbands Go"
and other stage works Of outstanding
merit; to remember the Barrymores,
Mrs. Fiske, Maude Adams, George
Conan, Sarah Bernhardt. Mrs. Siddons
and a number Of other great artists who
began as children the development of
valuable stage careers that brought en-
joyment to millions. And with these
thoughts in mind as arguments in favor
OF the amendment, opposition may seem
to be relegated to abstract theories as to
whether this and that are good or
'fbad'' for children.
But the amendment raises a number
Of very practical questions which should
receive thorough consideration. In the
first place, Is the demand for the meas
ure coming from the stage or from the
box Office? Is the amendment sought
IN behalf of the careers of future art
lists, or in behalf Of those who stand
10 gain financially from their employ
ment? Is the Board of Education
dition, the educational training and the
moral background of child actor with
in a period Of forty-eight hours-or
even a week? Is the Board Of Educa-
ton, in addition to its duties to the
school children OF Washington, to un-
dertake the censorship involved in
deciding whether or not a travelling
performance Is considered offensive to
public decency"? Attend some Of the
stage performances in Washington thea
ters-sorne Of them all of the time and
all Of them some Of the time-and try
to figure out what constitutes ofense
''to public decency" and what public
decency is. Then conceive such respon-
sibility as resting with the Board Of
Education-or its agent"
The White House Conference on Child
Welfare decided that the limitations in
the District upon children In theatrical
performances should not be lowered as
to age limit. Only seventeen States and
the District impose these limitations.
This amendment not only lowers the
age limit, but removes it altogether.
Consideration Of the legislation should
not be approached from the viewpoint
Of allowing some future George Cohan
or Maude Adams to receive the profes-
sional training of debatable value re-
eulting from public appearance on the
commercial stage, but from the view
point OF protecting some seven or eight
year old child who could be hired,
through parent or guardian, to regale
the first row at burlesque show with
q cute" dance or song. If the amend
ment can be Worded to prevent theatri-
cal exploitation and commercialization
Of childhood, 1t should be studied on its
merits. It Is believed that. as now
worded, it only encourages and permits
such exploitation.
During the George WASHINGTON cele-