THE MUCH-MOVING PICTURE. A CENSORSHIP PROBLEM.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 7, 9 January 1912, Page 8

THE MUCH-MOVING PICTURE. A CENSORSHIP PROBLEM.

All the world's a stage for the kinematographic camera man, and when he does not see enough to film on the stage ¦ proper, he fossicks in the wings. If facts do not present themselves for the ! all-devouring lens, fancy is never lacking for ingenious "faking." ' This magic glaes tries to enable the people of thia generation to peep into the paet^ and peer into +he future. Kothiug is too common, nor too uncommon for the marvellous film. The movements of microbes are magnified for their hoste to see, and the blushing rose ie compelled to reveal the secret of its growth. As the pictures have moved in ? some other institutions are threatened with notice to quit. It ie eaid that those young ladies known ac " serios " and " serio-comics," and other vaudeville artists look askance at that magic lantern which lures'the crowds. Tho "pictures " have also effects in other directions. The head of a department in a Wellington warehouse remarked the other day that the pictures have cut into the fancy goods trade. The children were more inclined to spend their pocket money on this nightly or daily delight than on pop-gun 6, dolls, and so on. Parents, who were constrained by their children to make up a family party for the pictures, had also less money to spare for odd 6 and ends than formerly, /i'he pictures gain at the cost of other things. They make for a readjustment of trade, comparatively slight perhaps, but appreciable. Some people cay that some of the motion pictures are commotion pictures, likely to give horrible dreams to children or adults of nervous temperament. For example, a. cable message the other day mentioned that the alleged atrocities in Tripoli had been screened for an American audience, which rightly made a hostile demonstration. Various suggestions for a censorship have been brought up in New Zealand, but nothing: definite has been done on any large scale. The Kangiora, Borough Council made an attempt to induge all the local authorities to take an interest in this question, .but the effort was not very' successful. The proposal for some form of censorship received scant notice from the Wellington City Council. In New York, as The Post explained some months ago, there is a Isational Board of Censorship, representing various civic institutions. The members work voluntarily, without any set law or bylaw at their back. It ie an understanding* with, the better-cla&s of mov-ing-picture proprietors, who have placed themselves under an obligation to obey the board's commands. This board' came I into existence as the sequel to an orgy of objectionable pictures of such a low character that the licenses of many halls were cancelled. Tho board is subsidised by the firms whose films are examined by the censors. It is now complained that the board is not courageously doing its duty, and is more inclined to avoid giving offence to picture firms than to act fearlessly in the public interest. The committee of tho Kew York Women's League, in a report in a recent iesue of the New York Tribune, stated : "Catering to trade interests is a constant temptation to the board, which meets in rooms provided by the trade, whose expenses are chiefly met by the trade, anjjj which ie frequently reminded of the heavy loss entailed in case of adverse censoring. Thi© makes lenient judgment easy, 'ihe situation just described confirms your committee in the feeling that the time has come for New. York to have a censorship with authority. The magnitude of the task confronting any board trying to be national in its scope is one outside the capability of any voluntary and informal committee. The fact that whenever the other members happen to be absent) and generally throughout the summer months the paid secretaries, whose salaries are paid in the manner I above described, are compelled to d 6 the censoring, is in itself enough to condemn the present arrangement. Moreover, no oral agreement is adequate in any matier involving such moral interests as the motion-picture business at the present time." To these charges the general secretary of the Censorship Board gave a denial. "As the motion-picture amusement at large is greatly benefited by the work of the censorship," he said, "there seems no sensible reason why the manufacturers should not be allowed to contribute toward the clerical and office expenses. The censoring of the pictures is done by the members of the board, who volunteer their time to this work, receiving no compensation, the two secretaries, who have no vote, alone, being paid. In regard to a municipal censorship, the board has at no time opposed such a' plau. It should be remembered that the work the board is doing is national in its scope and could not be legally constituted except by an Act of Congress, which action is hardly possible. The board would heartily cooperate with any municipal censorship that would be appointed."

Mr. Gascoyne Beard, 8.A., son of Dr. Spencer Beard, of Pahiatua, who has been studying at Wells Theological College (England) during the past year, with a view to talcing Holy Ordois. has passed the necessary examination, and at the Advent ordinations he will be ordained to his first curacy at Bushey, Hertfordshire, •in the diocese of St. Albans. • ' * The West Australian /Legislative Assembly accepted the council's amendment of tho Trans-Australian Railway Bill, providing that land shall be |jrant*>d to the Commonwealth to a depth of 150 ft. Mr. Scaddan stated that he had agreed with the suggestion of the Prime Minister, that no mining shall be carried gjjt under the lin».