m*- w - Clpdigital.org

138 ILLUSTRATED WORLD
CUT OUT BY THE
(Continued.
case is typical, one out of hundreds
such.
There are as many different laws covering
motion picture supervision as there
are covering divorce. There are as many
different kinds of censors as there are
religious denominations. And daily almost
a.s many people attend the silent
performances as go to shop, factory or
office.
With the whole nation interested in
the screen drama, need we wonder that
there is such a divergence of opinion as
to what should or should not be exhibited;
as to whether there should be
any interference—beyond the laws that
govern the printing press, the speaking
stage, and the mails ?—with this marvelous
power that is able to influence the
thought, feeling and action of every man,
every woman and every child in the
United States?
The motion picture film is the democratization
of art. Every one feels, therefore,
that if it is not precisely an expression
of his views it should not be a contradiction
of them. But what ten individuals
have the same views ? What ten
men would ordinarily agree that a certain
thing was immoral or subversive of
public morals ? Hence the conflict of the
censors with the motion picture producers
; of the views of both with those
of the public. As a consequence of all
this a very lively war at this moment is
being waged throughout the length and
breadth of the land.
In the city of Chicago, with its two
and a half millions of population, ten
thousand motion picture films flash
monthly before the eyes of the official
censors. In the State of Ohio, during
a year's time, eleven thousand reels are
passed upon. This is no attempt at a
comparison between the volume of business
clone by the two boards. But this
is the point we wish you to take due
notice of: The eliminations made by the
Chicago censors are few and far between.
On the other hand an official of
"MOVIE" CENSOR
f rom page 19)
the Ohio board in a letter to me says:
"During the last fiscal year, from July
1st, 1915, to June 30th, 1916, this Board
[Ohio] censored approximately thirtyone
thousand reels. Of this number approximately
eleven thousand reels were
actually screened, all others being duplicate
copies. Of the total number of reels
censored there were approximately 616
reels rejected in their entirety and 9,000
reels contained objectionable scenes
which were ordered eliminated." This
means that about ninety per cent of the
production offered in Ohio by the photoplay
producers of the country were subject
to emendation—in many instances
were bodily suppressed. And remember
practically the same offerings are made
in Chicago and Ohio.
Could there be a wider divergence of
opinion than this ?
Federal censorship has been proposed.
But Federal censorship, with general
supervision from Washington, would in
all likelihood be, on the whole, no more
satisfactory than Stale censorship seems
to be.
The remedy really rests with the public
itself. The tastes, principles, and
wishes of the patrons of motion picture
theaters will be the deciding factors in
the long run.
The simplest way to satisfy all and at
the same time to remove obstacles in the
way of the development of cinema art
would be to divide motion picture plays
into two classes. First, those which
minors were forbidden to see. Second,
those open to all classes and all ages.
This second would be those which had
passed the censors. The other would be
beyond the jurisdiction of censorship—
made for adults, and subject to no law
except the already existing police laws,
which governed our theaters long before
motion pictures were ever dreamed of.
The public would thus be made the real
judges, and rightly so, for public opinion
on matters of morals is usually safe and
sane.