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Show m Jf BUIIIC. Ul Ilia-. ,f A CORRUjrchbishop, a'rj (Montreal TfuWitlWss.) We have, time antjfagarn; sought to accentuate the uttefimceiof'our pastors pas-tors concerning the wge. It has become be-come so notorious that'bilft modern the-! the-! atre has degenerated, that very little experience is needed to establish the conviction that the stage today is a fearful menace. One of the most sensational sen-sational papers of New York, the Journal, Jour-nal, has found it necessary to come out plainly in condemnation of certain plays and of the spirit and tendencies of the stage. It heads its editorial with the truthul assertion that "A corrupt stage corrupts the people." It may be instructive, to take a couple of extracts from that article! The Journal Jour-nal says: "It is amazing to note how thoroughly thor-oughly and comprehensively the modern mod-ern stage contrives to belittle all of those things which should be respected. respect-ed. The Theatre Francais, embodying the traditions of self-respecting artists and authors, forbids on its stage even the slightest caress of a woman by a man. It credits its spectators with self-respect." On our American stage, in a play j caued Hearts Aflame, a man strikes j a woman in the face, a hard, brutal blow, with a clenched fist quite a step there, from the old-fashioned traditions tradi-tions of the Theatre Francais. In another play, "Queen Fiammetta," there is presented an interior view of a convent in which the nuns comport themselves with lack of dignity a representation rep-resentation as insulting to the feelings of millions of good men and women as it Is untruthful. On the stage today, old age is made ridiculous, religion is made contemptible, contempti-ble, virtue is thought humorous, and no part is thought worthy of tha "star" actress unless it be that of a character utterly degraded. A contrast between the great plays of great authors and these abominations abomina-tions that are today flung to the public, pub-lic, the writer says: " "This country is in sore need of playwrights play-wrights with honest convictions, and of actors and actresses unwilling to degrade de-grade themselves for" profit." Although wa rarely are enabled to quote from the sensational American press, still, when a, serious subject is treated in a proper and moral manner it would be unjust to allow the timely article to go unnoticed. A critical question is that of the responsibility. We quote again: "To what can be attributed the degradation deg-radation of the modern stage? To lay all the blame on the actor and man-ager man-ager would certainly be .unfair. The chief blame rests with the public, whose stupid, degrading applause and whose money encourage the flood of stage immorality.". r - And, in closing, we have this significant signifi-cant remark: "He (the manager) finds that the nubile taste and the public conscience have been going down hill together hence the present American stage." This Is, indeed, a sad story, but one that goes a long way to justify the attitude at-titude of the Catholic hierarchy in regard re-gard to theatres, and to silence those who are so prone to criticise the condemnations con-demnations pronounced by our episcopal episco-pal guides. A lonn and powerful sermon ser-mon m!p-ht be based upon these acknowledgments ac-knowledgments of the New York press. It is true such articles as these are presented in a sensational form, accompanied ac-companied by illustrations that savor of "yellow journalism;" but that does not take from the fact that the writers of them are beginning to perceive the dangers of the stage. |