STAGE LIFE

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 69, 1 October 1928, Page 8

STAGE LIFE

SOME ASPECTS CONDEMNED JUDGE CRITICISES JUVENILE . EMPLOYMENT (From "The Post's" Representative.) • SYDNEY, 22nd September. Several aspects of stage life" were vigorously condemned by Judge Dethridge,. Chief Judge of tho Federal Arbitration Court, in Melbourne the other day, when.he had before him the claims of the Actors' Federation. The Judge said that the public took its pleasure j at the expense of youth. He described juvenile turns as disgusting, and claimed that they were on the same moral plane as the exhibitions of the old Roman gladiators. -' Mr. Charles- Dunn, advocate of the federation, contended that the Court, in fixing minimum rates for members of the theatrical profession, should con- ■ sider the great sacrifices made by actors and actresses. Married men, he said, had to maintain two homes. They had little real home life, and while they were on tour their expenses w§re colossal as compared with other workers. The 'federation claimed a minimum of £8 a week for members of the chorus and ballet. His Honour, howover, intimated that he would not grant that claim.- ---! Mr. Dunn pointed out that many juvenile performers never developed men--1 tally or socially, like other folk, because of the-life they led. They were therefore entitled to compensation, he said. ■ ■ His Honour: "I agree that it is bad that young girls, particularly girlsabout 16, should travel frequently from their homes without being under proper parental care and control. This is indeed a very unpleasant aspect of theatrical life. The cure is to prohibit their employment—not to make stage life more attractive,for them by raising their wages. "However, I am not: a judge of morals.'/ Mr. Dunn: "With great respect, your Honour, I dissent from your attitude." •Mr. Dunn said that in one company playing revues there was only one adult. Employment of young girls was popular because it was cheap. His Honour: "Personally I think the tribunals have the young people too much. Ido not think adult wages should be given to an unskilled • worker until he is 21. High . wages paid to 'girls and boys have led to a false standard., It is said that, youngsters of 18 can do as much as an adult, and that their engagement is as profitable to the employer, but the principle is all wrong." " Mr. Dunn: "The girls to whom I am referring cannot remain juveniles indefinitely." „,■'. His Honour: "The public takes its pleasure at the expense of youth. So long as that state of affairs continues, neither Parliament nor the Court can alter public taste. Public taste will probably remain at a low level for hundreds of years. It is extremely doubtful whether it will ever improve.' Mr. Dunn: "The girls have to pay the same hotel tariffs as .adults." His Honour: "I suppose there is no difference in the living expenses of a girl of 16 and an adult." Mr. Dunn: f'Onthe stage a girl of 16 is a woman." „. . ; . _ His Honour: "Undoubtedly; but it l give them full adult wages the industry will shortly be flooded with young girls. All the shop girls in Bourke street would rush the- theatres and the dance cabarets." „ , Mr. Dunn said that juvenile dressmakers and shop girls did not receive aduK wages, but that principle could not be applied to the theatrical occupation, because neither of these industries emplbyed children 3$ years old ; His Honour: "I agree that, if I give' juveniles a lower wage than adults, entrepreneurs will make a- bigger profit, but that does not solve the problem." Mr. Dunn started to describe some of the juvenile acts, and the Judge interposed: "You cannot outrage my feelings. I have seen some horrible spectacles." . , '• Mr Dunn: "You have also to remember that ballet girls have to attend dancing schools at their own expense." His Honour ended a general discussion by-declaring that he could not redress the grievances of mankind through the Arbitration Court.