| Show beneficial TO THE DRAMA DRADIA THE inter interstate state commerce liw law is being very generally regarded as an ions us uncertain impracticable piece piece of legislation too crude and incomplete to accomplish more good than evil and on tile the whole a law that ought not to have been enacted but it I 1 is 8 not wholly unproductive of good and unquestionably the drama will be bene fitted by atthe following observations ions by the auto american loan convey much truth and good sense among the collateral advantages of we the interstate interstate commerce law will be the suppression sap of the tramp theatre V under the old system of low charges under contract the local theatre has almost disappeared in the united states traveling companies carr carrying mg their costumes scenery and averyt everything ing else in special cars care have perambulated the country with no benefit to either public morals or the wholesome cultivation ti of the dramatic art all this comes to an end with the enforcement of the long 1 on g and short haul clause if the commission can be brought to th the e point of enforcing it it no longer will pay to transport the ibe whole paraphernalia and personality of a troupe if the star actors can afford to go that will be all we regard this as a gain to public morals because we think very much of the evil which attaches to the profession of the actor grows out of the homelessness bome of liis ills position he has no local public opinion to which he is amenable for his conduct because he severally generally rally is localized DO nowhere where he has Sene as not the wholesome and restraining influence of bf home life as the support of his bis personal persona I 1 good konduct ton conduct duct from the first almost he has been the st strolling roNing player I 1 and recent railroad and theatre methods in this country have tended to aggravate tae evils of his position and dramatic art has suffered from this system it has prevented the rise at any point of a school of native talent commending com itself to permanent patronage by means less sensational than the tramp theatre must employ to attract the attention of strangers we ha hope e that the day will come when eairy every city of the country will have its I 1 local al staff of homebred home bred and home bome sip liay ay ing actors whose lives will be an answer to the oft reiterated charge that actors necessarily are an immoral crew and to this end the interstate inter state commerce law will operate twenty five years ago we had in this city a good stock company which played regularly regul ariy and gave us the legitimate drama in a manner that made the stage not only a source of wholesome relaxation from toll toil but an invaluable public educator for many years and during a period when the city contained scarcely half the population or wealth that it now does from one to three or even more performances were gi ep en every week to good houses rome talent was encourage dand in return it served the public with earnest fidelity unquestionably those were the palmy days ol of the drama in this c community an and our theatre goers today to day experience nothing like the enjoyment they did then but the era of traveling troupes dawned upon us home talent was neglected and discouraged our local dramatic stage upon which the daughters of amr best citizens ventured with their parents full consent and with ith no more fear of evil influences than they would have in appearing at a school exhibition became clouded with the ibe unsavory suspicions with which it is else elsewhere cherk regarded until the reluctance of lady home talent to appear upon it is the greatest difficulty now in the way of frequent performances by home companies if the interstate inter state commerce law shall have the effect to give back to salt lake the good old times when her cit cozens zens derived so much enjoyment and wholesome relaxation from the performances of home dramatic companies it will have wrought for us one great advantage the fact that salt lake city possesses the talent necessary sary to constitute a first class stock company is 18 ati llyl evinced by the be occasional per of the home Dramatic Club which fai is one of the very best organizations of the kind on the continent |
