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Show SO THE PEOPLE MAY KNOW. Those people who think of the theatrical trust as some mythical monster concealed in the top of a New York sky-scraper, so far away that it could not stretch its tentacles to us, have only to feel them once to know its power. Since .this journal camo into existence, about 9 four years agd, many pages have been devoted to the advancement of the drama, and an effort has been made to give to each and every theatrical performnco a fair and honest criticism. But the theatrical trust seriously objects to anyone telling i the truth, particularly in regard to third-class at- tractions at star prices, and it manifests itr. objec-tions objec-tions in no uncertain tones. Hj It seems that this journal has met with its dis- pleasure for presuming to think that more is due the patrons of the paper than the theatres. Con-sequently Con-sequently Mr. Pyper of the Salt Lake Theatre has withdrawn all advertising and newspaper courte-sies, courte-sies, and Mr. Bistis of the Orpheum has done like- We naturally regret this action, but if the pur-chase pur-chase price of these favors is to wilfully mislead the public, we decline to change our course in the matter. And this with nothing but the kindest feeling toward both managers. They are men of a high order of intelligence, and cannot help but see How rotten the offerings of the season of 1905-0G 1905-0G have been. ( They can see it, but they dislike to be told 'about it, and, above all, they hate to read the story of the bunko game in print, for it interferes with their business, and naturally they resent it. We BAH appreciate their respective positions with their as- VMV sociates; favors going to a 'journal that is telling the truth about the passing attractions, cause only embarrassment when a call is made for an ex-planation, ex-planation, and besides, in the case of the Salt Lake Theatre, we suspect there is something besides the trust something which no manager of that house VMV could either combat or resist. In explanation of his action, Mr. Bistis of the Orpheum stated that there would bo "nothing more until the policy of your paper changes." Mr. Pyper thinks it "an injustice to roast medium me-dium attractions," saying that "the hoase cannot be filled constantly With the Drew, Adams, and Mansfield class of entertainment, and that the big shows will take care of themselves." " All of which seems to say that we need a )od word from everyone to make the mediocre performances a go, and if you can't help to make a monkey of the public, we'll do our best to make a monkey out of you. That is not the George Pyper way, but that is the trust way, and if anyone doubts it let him go against the decree. Nobody is narrow enough to expect that this far west we can be favored with a great eastern success every week, or every other week. The medium attractions must fill in to pay to keep the theatre open.' But they ought to play to medium prices, and come within a stone's throw of the truth regarding the production and the people. This paper, for one, will not be a party to help dramatic banditti in holding up a generous public, which already is loser thousands and thousands of dollars through their false representations. One of the managers cited a comparison of the good and bad in attractions by stating that the same thing might happen in a store where the difference dif-ference in quality of two pieces of goods might deceive a purchaser. The comparison is hardly apt, however, because there's a difference In buying buy-ing something you can examine beforehand, and buying a pair of tickets to one of the dramatic raffles similar to those inspected since the season opened. With the latter there is no redress; the money is gone, and there's nothing to compensate for the valuable time you have wasted. It is absurd to say that there are no good attractions at-tractions except in the Mansfield or Sothern class. To recall a recent example, what about "The County Chairman"? Nobody had any fault to find with that. |