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Show of the decline of patronage of tbe theater,, for ehe eajs farther: . .. " VI t Is generally conceded that the centralizatfon of -wealth has been going. alozg at a more rapid gait here than it has.in'the history. of any other country. While equality was aimed at in the Constitution, Con-stitution, classes .were long since sharply 'defined, and $t the present time the aggregate wealth Is held in perhaps fewer hands than is thecase with any European nation. In America as in England it is obvious, therefore, that popular institutions, such as , the theater, really depend almost entirely for their support upon the great middle class. - "Neither intelligence, culture ncr refinement is the monopoly of wealth, and yet practically this class alone is now catered to in the management of the first-class theater. Every desirable seat that is, every seat on the lower floor and part of the balcony- costs 2, a large number $1150; in fact, the price decreases in about;exactly the inverse ratio ra-tio to the number of pocketbooks that can afford the seats. The result naturally has been to divorce the intelligent part of the middle class from these theaters almost entirely, and to lower the standard of dramatic taste of the rest by forcing it to seek a lower grade of theatrical entertainment. , , "It is obvious that a large number of these seat are occupied by those of-ordinary means who purchase pur-chase them as an unusual treat and at the cost of deprivation in other ways. 1 1 "In the theater I have in view I propose to have a scale of prices that shall suit all classes. Those who can afford it may have to pay even more than they do now. But there will be three' different prices on the lower floor, three in the balcon and there will be a large gallery, where every seat will be reserved, and there the fixed price will be twenty twen-ty five cents." . . Miss Walsh disclaims any idea of philanthropy in her teheme, and indeed it strikes one as eminently eminent-ly practical and should succeed in bringing a steady income .if not a large increase in the receipts of theaters. the-aters. . The great middle, thinking classes will hail Ler ideas as a mighty deliverance. , Striking Theatrical Ntfl oa ths Hetd. ,'Hiss Blanche Walsh has ideas, whereas most actresses are supposed to have none, but merely look tbe jpart. Miss Walsh has studied the 6tage from a practical as well as an artistic standpoint, and has taken a peep mto the public's side of the matter. ' - "I rmly believe that the prevailing arrangement arrange-ment of the schedule of prices in the first-class the-, aters is responsible for the depreciation of the aver-'age aver-'age theatrical patronage in recent years," says Miss , Walsh, "and in the plans I have in view for the theater, in which I. propose to revive the now obsolete ob-solete producing stock company, it is my purpose to make a radical. .Change in this direction." Possibly that ii merely an Ideal of Miss Walsh, but at any 'rate she has found much of the source |