Carolina watchman. [volume] (Salisbury, N.C.) 1871-1937, 1936-07-17

There is no doubt in my mind
hat the moral tone of the movies
has been greatly elevated in the past
few years. There is also no doubt
that there is room for improvement.
In these beliefs l am in complete
agreement with His Holiness Plus
XII, Supreme Pontiff of the Roman
Catholic Church. The Pope's re-
cent encyclical letter to all prelates
of the church on the subject of mo-
ton pictures is the most compre-
hensive and truthful analysis Of the
evil effects of vicious films upon
immature minds l have ever read.
The Pope calls on all bishops to
take steps to pass upon all new pic
lures, and upon all "right-minded
persons" to stay away from, and
keep their families away from films
that do not pass the church's tests
of decency and good influence. As
a Protestant l applaud this renewed
effort to clean up the films. 1t
seems to me that every good Chris
tan ought to cooperate.
CENSORSHIP :. for truth
! have no sympathy with CEN
sorship, insofar as it implies any at
tempt to dictate what l or any
other adult person may read or
hear or see. But until a child is
mature enough to have some under
standing of the world of reality, I
am heartily for every effort to
prevent his exposure to the world
of unrealiry.
The child mind cannot be ex-
pected to understand that what it
sees on the stage or screen Or reads
in novels is not life as it actually
is. Instead children too often get
the idea that everybody-except
themselves and their immediate cir
cles-lives in an atmosphere of
glamorous romance and pcrpetually
exeiting adventure.
lam not at all sure that many
of the books and films commonly
regarded as good, or at least harm
less, do not do more damage than
some which are frankly vicious.
am more concerned with truth
fulness, in the movies and else
kefethanI am wirh what is
usually meant BY decency.
TONGUES translated
The Bible tells of the confusion
of tongues" at the building of the
Tower of Babel. There would be
equal confusion in the Assembly OF
the League of Nations at Geneva.
if it were not for an ingeniou:
Yankee device which enables every
member to understand what any
speaker is saying in any language.
When Halle Selassie, Ethiopia.
ex-emperor, addressed the League
the other day in the Amharie
tongue, probably no N there could
understand a word Of it. But or
each members desk is a box with
earphones attached, and push-but.
tons labelled with the names Of the
worlds principal languages. Back
of a screen behind the speaker are
expert translators who understand
and speak every known language
They translated into microphone'
while the Abyssinian King was
speaking.
All any member had to do was te
set his receiving apparatus for hi
own tongue, English, French, Po-
lish, Chinese or what have you, ane
listen to the voice of the translator
who was repeating Halle Selassie''
words in the listeners own Ian
guage.
That, it seems to me, is a rea|
triumph of modern science. I don't
know the name Of the engineer who
devised the apparat Is, but Edward
A. Filene, the great Boston mer-
chant, told me about it before i,
was ever installed. 1t was Mr.. Filene
who paid for it as a contribution
toward better international under
standing.
always slow
read and hear about many mar
Vicious new things that are going
to be done, but l notice that
usually have to wait a few years
before they come into reality.
have been waiting ten years now
for television, but it hasn't got out
of the laboratory yet. l read of