The New York Times from New York, New York • Page 42

ci 2 ED LIGHT THE NEW YOUK THES, SUNDAY. SEPTZIIBER 1C 111 VUTHOR- "ctf HE- DEFENDS I i DRAMA By Bayard Veiller. i-rron telt a roan that prostitution la a horrible thin be will agree 1 with you and as If Matty i going to pitch to-day. If yon tell the same th)n to a-, woman aha ill reply that she haa always known It. and ask If you hava read Robert XVi Chamber new novel.

But when he wed on the stage house of proa-iViUon with ell it -tawdry horrors. omen became crusaders and men woke. That' a why I wrote the second act of The Fight." It needed wrlttn. 1 was time, that Qi one broke the conspiracy of el--; lence 'la regard -such places. I iild my work to the beat of my ability; i have no excuses to offer.

no apolo-' i lea to maka. -J believe that young men and worn- ca ahould know about such thlnga. 4iea Isn't a sin. It la the vital force 'ft the Thinkers demand or the coming race a freedom from cant, prudery and hypocrisy, and I proteet: with all the power that la. In km against the fettera which are new be-' fng forged around the drama of this country.

Attack en the Harrises. was hurt roost by the attack on (William Harris and Mrs. Henry B. 'Harris, who produced my play for me, Ur. Harris la the dean of American theatrical managers.

Mrs. Harris Is the widow of Henry B. Harrla, who lost lg Ufa on the Titanic, -and who In fha yeara that he served the theat redoing public never did an unworthy thins. It aeema Impossible to believe that these clean-minded. upright people would produce a play like "The flghV It they did not believe they (were honestly serving the public by go ttolng.

speaking with all humility, I do not think 4 hat there Is anything in my record as a writer of (lay which ''would lead one to think that I would 'deliberately inject Into tlay a scene such as I showed in the second act pf "The Fight" for the aole purpose of arousing a sensational Interest. TTlCearly a year ago my Lawrence Veiller, came to me with the case of a young English girl who bad answered an advertisement In a morning newspaper, which offered high salary and a good home to a trained nurse. She had gone to the address given in the advertisement, a house In the Forties, within four five doors of Firth Avenue. She found that It was a house of prostitution, and that the inmates wore the uniforms of the Red Cross nurses. 'The girl made her escape from the 'place, and reported the matter to one of the societies with which my 'brother is connected.

-eXv Couldn't Oct Evidence. -vi-Subsequently I spoke of the matter i td Magistrate Coriigan, and he told me that the police seemed never to J' be able to get evidence that "would to-atlck" against the keeper of this re- sort. ixAt that time 1 was writing "The fight" and I felt that much good tnight be accomplished If I showed "Simply and truthfully the horrors of euch places their evil effect upon so-'clety at large. The method used to trap the young girl Into the house In -my play, which many critics, professional and amateur, say Is impossible -nd absurd, was taken Incident for Incident from a warning sent out last 'year by the Travelers' Aid Society 16 'girls In all parts of the country. 'That this scene was unnecessary to the play 1 deny.

The entire structure of ray play rested upon it. I have not taken It from the play, I have not i NEW YORK ESTABLISHES A EPISCOPALIANS visiting Paris this Autumn will be able to attend a "'French church where the service and doctrines will be In accordance ''with those of own churches at home. The prayer book used will not only be that of tbe American Episcopal Church, translated Into French, b'ut Imported from New York. t-'Thia will be a surprise to those fa-r miliar with the French Protestant churches, who are aware that a Flench. Episcopal church Is practically unknown in France.

The church i tniMltllll.fl church for French people. It is situ- -a. ted at Vanves. on the outskirts of I' Parts, (for economic reasons.) 157 Rue de Paris, near the Porte Brancion. It Is In charge of the Rev.

E. Bourdery, who Is at tbe head of what la called the new Galilean movement In France. The movement has been tinder way for seme years, and there are now four churches, of which the one In Parts Vi: the most important because of its situation In the capital. The first to be started was at i Nantes, where Henry IV, granted free-r dom of religion to the Protestants; the second at Pont Audemer; ths Paris church Is the third, while a fourth is "being organized at Havre. This is the same Galilean movement of the six- teenth century and earlier, the one tor which Bossuet fought and Fenelon wrote.

It is a return to the primitive Christianity of the people, those familiar with It say. The Paris church of the Mission al-t licane la of special Interest to Ameri- cans, and to Episcopalians particular- ly. because It la to be supported by a 1 Hew Tork Episcopal Church, which -'Will do everything possible to advance the movement. This Is tbe old French -Huguenot church, the EgUse du Saint Esprit, on East Twenty-seventh Street. What prayer book used Is one translated v.tato French by the Rev.

tneyer, pastor of the Egllse du Saint Eeprtt, regularly approved by the 'Bishop ct the diocese at the time, the lata Right Rev. Henry; Polter; and Not Suggestive, but Repellant, Pictures of Vice Presented, I. Bayard The Stage Needs Virile Plays That Stir PeipleM modified It, I have not altered it in any particular. I have simply stopped showing it. Every feature of the second act ef "Th Fight," about which such a storm of protest haa been raised.

still in the play. The aud-" ience does net aee It happen, but is told what haa admit that, this Is a bad dramatic construction, but I have not been expert enough to 'find any other way to get my effect. This change In the play was made before there had been any police Interference. In common fairness to Mr. and Mrs.

Harrla. let me state that. decided upon thla change when we found to our great surprise that we bad produced art Immoral play. We all felt strongly that we had not the right to give offensex to people who, misunderstanding our motives, found offense where none waa meant, and filth where we saw none at alL Damaged Goods had been produced at the Fulton Theatre, which Is part of the Henryv-B. Harris estate.

It had been received as an educational play of the highest value, and we had every to believe that The, Fight would be received as It was offered, as a play of propaganda. We were more shocked and horrified than the publle when we found that It waa not so regarded. Had to -Picture It Horribly. 1 have no words of defense for myself for writing that act. I do not think I need any.

In spite of all that haa been said about the play I still maintain that there was nothing lewd or obscene in the act. It waa not a pleasant or an alluring act, but I know of no way in which a truthful picture of a house of ill repute can be made either alluring, amusing or attractive. Such places are horrible. and the only way to picture them la horribly. Prof.

Muensterberg, not having seen the play, was shocked at it. In The New Yoi Times of last week he writes at length of the" psychological barm wrought on young minds by the Impression on them of sex thought. Prof. Muensterberg is an authority on psychology. I am merely a playwright, and of course know nothing about It.

but I can't help thinking of tto Insane man who objected to throwing a bucket of freah water Into the ocean for fear It would turn the ocean fresh. Doesn't Prof. Muensterberg know that you can't put more aex thoughts into the minds of young men and women, because their minds -contain nothing else? Consciously and subconsciously young people think nothing but sex thoughts, thoughts put Into their minds, not by plays or by books, but by an all-wise and far-seeing Providence who knew just exactly what He-was about. But Prof. Muensterberg waa shocked.

On the other hand. Frederic C. Howe, the Director of the People's Institute, was not. I am going to quote from a letter of protest he sent to Chief Magistrate McAdoo: The National Board of Censorship of Motion Pictures, of which, aa Director of the "People's Institute, I am Chairman, passes upon nearly all of the motion picture film output of this country, and the standard to be ap- plied to the. censoring of dnamatio productions has been repeatedly before the board for consideration.

As yet. the board has found it Impossible to lay down any hard and fast rules by the Custodian of the Standard of the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church In America, The French church sends to America for all the prayer books used' in Its services. The Egllse du Saint Esprit is one of tbe most Interesting churchea In New York. Next to the Dutch churchea it Is the oldest, dating back to 1028, when its services were held with those of the Dutch In the old Dutch mllL Since those days It has passed through many vicissitudes, but with great tenacity it haa clung to the language of its native land; it Is now the only Hiigue-. not church in the country holding services In French.

Another Interesting and unusual feature of the church is its relation to Its pastor, the Rev. Mr. Wlttmeyer, or his relation to it. for Mr. Wlttmeyer, at a time when the church affairs were at a low ebb from, lack of necessary care, at the Instance of Bishop Horatio Potter, entered orders and.

was ordained for the purpose of taking charge of this particular church. He became Its rector in 1S79, snd It has been his only pastorate. The New Tork church has in addition to its other home work a unique feature of interest. At the back of the church is a gallery, in which may seen every Sunday a gathering of men ranging from a' doten to seven-' ty-f lve in number, temporary benefl-. claries of the parish.

The only requirement for admission Is a knowledge of the French language, and at the close of the service each visitor la given' a small sum of money which -will provide him with a simple meal. This Is not to be characterised as a tramp gallery, though some of Its visitors occasionally would come under that head. The gallery occupants are, as they say in French. "Ceur qui sont tombes le long da cheratn," those who- have fallen along the road. In many eases the fail having1 come through drink.

From time to time there are in the gallery lawyers, doc- tornj teachers, ex-prlcsts. member of t- Ni li i A ti which will govern all cases, but in a general way it has asserted, and producers generally accept, the correct-, ness of the standard that any production whose aim ct effect Is to make vice alluring, to encourage crime, to portray criminal or vicious acts In such a way as to condone them, should be placed under the ban. Evens portion of a play is subject to the same standards. The Fight does none of these things. The realism of the second act contains no suggestive lines, no alluring situations, no seductive treatment.

Rather, the effect of every line, of every situation, is, to arouse disgust, and to awaken a sense of chivalry and honor In every man's soul. The second act is a twenty minute sermon In its repelling qualities. To expurgate this play, to compel the producers to eliminate this act, seems a travesty jvj censorship, in view of the suggestive, alluring, ami vice-producing productions which are presented without protest night It 'Kip. as It May Seem; There Are Only Four Such Churches in France, and This One. Uses the American Prayer Book Translated Into French.

fine od French families, all now down-end-outers. In connection with this work a farm of 350 acres at Flemlngton. N. waa completely equipped a few years ago. Some of the gallery visitors have been able temporarily or permanently to reinstate themselves after a period there.

One of these men was the Archbishop." as he was always called, the nephew of a Roman Catholic functionary. He acted aa cook at the farm. The "Archbishop" did good service off and on at the farm, though now and again dismissed for cause." But whatever his condition of "drunkenness or sobriety, he never forgot his early training or his religion. It was he who saw that the men were on hand for the Sunday religious services; he himself would often be found kneeling on the floor of the kitchen murmuring his prayers In Latin. The farm waa eventually given up because its need of supervision was so great that it became a question between neglecting: tne farm or.

the -church; thus the former waa eliminated. The Is still living, still get his appellation when lie occasionally comes around to call, and Is still glad to receive 10 cents. Another resident of the farm was literally picked from the gutter near the church. Thla man, when asked what he could do, proved to be able to cook, though he belonged to one of the finest old French families. One day be got word that the French Con- sul wished to see him.

He learned he had Inherited a fortune of S0.000 francs, tbe third fortune to which he had fallen heir, and tbe smallest of the three which had come to The mm. mMmm- mm uM f- iMn I'lifl; ,4 Ud mu i Ik -mix. mm Wmm lmm -mm mmi wtlmw ImPH mt i '-Anll fell! I Bayard Veiller. arter night upon the stage of New York. The goodness or badness of a' play, motion picture, story, or piece of art' cannot be determined by a line, a phrase, an exclamation, or even av detached act.

sny more than a lawsuit can be determined by a single piece of testimony. Is a thing meretricious? That can only be determined by the whole production, or the whole act. and the net effect ef "The Fight" yea. the effect of almost every line. and situation.

Including even the censofed second act 'is for good. The play also Shows a wonderful knowledge on the part of the dramatist of the ramifications of evil In present-day politics; It shows an tonight Into social and Industrial conditions: it is an unusual portrayal of the invisible Interlocking of good people With bad people In the continued protest of the business men and respectable citlsens of the community against the threatened Inter FRENCH EPISCOPAL last proved his final undoing. When he next appeared be was In a worse "late than when found In the gutter. He finally disappeared completely. He was one of several to whom fortunes came by Inheritance, for many of the gallery visitors belong to wealthy and cultivated families by birth.

When the gallery was first opened ten years ago, the visitors were given a regular meal In the lower part of the church. The women of the eongrega- Frenzied Finance THEY Jolted along for about two blocks after the maa paid Ms fare; then. Vtth a mighty Jerk, the car came to a dead stop. Vhn had stood motionless for over half art hour, the man conceived the brilliant Idea of trying to get uptown by means of some other Una. and he approached the conductor In a friendly manner and askod him to give him his money back.

The conductor did not respond tn tike fraternal spirit. -Can't do It" be said. 1 Oh, now. see here," the linan "This Is not right, you know, rode less than two blocks In your old car, and It is bare'aced robbery to take a man's money for a little Jaunt lUse that." And then waa when the conductor cot in his deadly work. I ain't chargtn' you for the rlee.

he said. "Ain't you keen eettin hre In tbe car for the last half and aia't you wWin to pay for that? You can't ge any plaee la this town with- ut payia' rent, and yon miht as well pay It in a nice, comfortable street oar as any place elas." "Well. Ira Messed." said the man. and the Idea paying rent tn a street car struck him as being so novel and so thrilled hint with sscb appreciation of fa.vers received that fee away without even tt inking ef his nickel agala- ference with vice because It would hurt business or give the town a bad name." From a moral, sociological, and political viewpoint. It seems to me The Fight la a three hours'" sermon as well aa a remarkable searchlight on the social basis of present-day ethics.

I desire to proteet agarnat its censorship, first because of the realty merl-triclous productions that are permitted to pass second, because I do not believe the methods provided In Section 1.140 ef the Penal Code are adequate for determining the moral standard of the play. and. third, because I believe that public opinion ahould arise tn approval of Just aucb plays aa The And aow we come to the subject of police censorship. There la nothing tn the mental capacity, education or training of a policeman that flta htm to be a censor of playa. I nave no farther comment to make' than Men took charge of this and contributed toward It.

The Janl tress, a woman with a heart of gold, saw, that everything waa prepared. But meal giving became a great tax, so the practice of bestowing a small sum of money was substituted. The church has 300 members, hut In the changes of' dty life many of -these have moved uptown, thus not attending the services regularly. Of this congregation one-half are French, one-third Belgian and. Swiss, and the remainder American.

To retain the language among younger members of the congregation there is a school In French for children three time a week. There is a cercle collgny for young men. a missionary society for women, a society for-chD-dren. and a sewing school for little girls. A home for girls Is in operation.

while a home for the aged is planned. In a church where the members are not all familiar with the waya of the country the relation of pastor to people is more paternal than In other churchea. They come to him to know what la best to do in case of Illness; he is frequently their lawyer, drawing up their wtila and keeping the documents safely with the archives of the church; he is Consulted as to investments. A Mahometan member of the congregation, son of aa Algerian bishop, and blind, recently made the greatest demand upon the perspicacity of the church in asking that a wife be found for him. The Rev.

Mr. Wlttmeyer Is a student as well as a man of affairs. He Is the son of French merchant who opposed Napoleon II.Ife accession to the throne, and who left Paris for New jerk after the establishment of Says that. I am. however, going to tell of my own experiences with the critics of the police force." i I called en Commissioner Waldo.

It waa aa Interesting Interview, bemuse the' Commlaaloner aeemed to feel that I waa a great criminal, and Insisted upon treating me aa such. I waa equally aura that waa not, and resented thla treatment. I still resent it, burnlngly. I -explained to the Cesn miss loner that the second act, to which In-' spector objected, had been taken bodily from the play, and asked him If we could continue the -play in that condition. "No, you've got to throw the whole filthy thing away" ha said.

"How do you know It Is filthy? Have yea seen I asked. No," said Commissioner' Waldo, I have not- but I know-that It la." The Commlaaloner condoned with Mr. 'Harris, who v. with me, be- cause, aa Mr. Waldo so charmingly put It.

he had fallen Into bad hands when be produced thla man's play. I was this man." The Damnation of Brooklyn. Then he turned to me again, thinking I was a poisoner of a prisoner or something, and wanted to know where I waa born. He seemed horrified when I told him Brooklyn. Tm afraid that the Commissioner feels that I have put the kiboah on Brooklyn Sot all time.

I'm sorry, but I didn't select my birthplace. I took the liberty of reminding the Commissioner that play called -Any Night," in which scenes of much broader scope than anything In The Fight had been depicted, had been allowed to run ail season. That's true, said Mr. Waldo, "but wa made them modify ha play. What Mr.

Waldo did not know, however, waa that I last season closely connected with the management which had produced Any Night," and that I knew that the only change demanded by the Police Department was thej elimination of all references to police grafting from street walkers and prostitutes. That done, and the police had no fault to find with the morals or immoral of the play. Neither did the police find any fault with Damaged and they allowed Mr. Ehubert'g production of that really admirable' play; "The JLure," to run -for four weeks and made no murmur, but the minute my play appeared on 'the scene, a play written by the author Within the Law." which' certainly has not added to the good name of the PoUce Department, there was instant activity on the part of the police. Of course, these things may Je coincidences.

I wonder If they are. Inspector Schmlttberger was se-lected to act a a censor for my play. I have gone over the Inspector's police record carefully, all of it. I do not think any Incident In his entire career has escaped me. I have not been able to find anything in It that In my opinion would fit him to act aa a censor of plays.

A brief word picture of his methods toward Mr. and Mrs. Harris may be Illuminating. When we were In court, Mr. TSteuer, our attorney, was In conference' with Judge McAdoo.

Mr. and Mrs. Harrla. who had not been arrested, who had corns down of CHURCH IN PARIS the empire. Mr.

Wlttmeyer. bora In France, received bis education In the Union Theological 8emlnary here, and In the College of France and the Sor-bonne In Paris. He Is a fine linguist. In the Association Internationale des Professeurs, of which he was one of the Directors In Paris, he was able to substitute for teaching In a docen languages. He is the author of a Spanish and of a French grammar, the founder of the Huguenot Bodety of America.

He has written histories of the Huguenot colonies In this country which have been embodied In history of the Episcopal Church. During Its long life the church haa occupied five, sites in the city. Tbe first church was on Petticoat Lane "Petty-Coat tn those days, later Marketfleld Street) in 1C8S. It was rebuilt tn This was on the sita of the Produce Exchange, and a tablet on that building recalls the fact. The second church was built on King, now Pine, Street, In 1704, and waa used until -1831.

During ths Revolution the church was much Injured by being used for ordnance stores. A third structure waa on Franklin Street, the site being sold la ISM for $50,000. A church on Twenty-second Street, preceding the one now occupied, was then bunt. To the first French church In Petty-Coat Lane came the Huguenots from the country roundabout, from Long Island. Staten Island, and New Rochelle, reaching town In wagons on Saturday night.

Services were held in the middle of the day not to Interfere with the Dutch service of the morning er that of the Church of England in ths afternoon. The Revolution caused much disturbance In the French Church, and It also suffered when third and fourth generations of Its members, the younger people speaking English better than French, went over to the English church. Ths French church found It difficult to obtain a minister who could iak both French their own rolitlon. were waiting ta ga ante-room. Eteuer had tsld Mr.

Harris to answer no questions from the polios until he returned. Inspector Cchmlttberger came lato ths room, accompancd by a. poucentaa who waa not in uniform. "Take the pedigree of these gvyi was the Inspector's first remartr. The policeman came to Mr.

Hsrrta armed with- pad and pencil. and asked here was bom. Mr. Steuer told me not to answer any quesUon until ti returned from his conferenae with Judre McAdoo. explained Mr.

Harris' quietly. -He did. hey?" saoutsd the Inspector. Well, he ami rot Mtiiin. to do with it.

Tou two are prisoners. And that's all there Is to It" He then turned to his subordinate and ehoutod: "If these two gun tbe guys being William Sr and Mrs. Henry B. Harrla) dost answer your questions take 'em over. to the station and leek em up." At thla point Judge McAdoo's clerk rushed to the rescue, and told 8dunlU-' bergar that he was la court and net in a police station, and that he'd bar to keep quiet or get out.

Somehow or other they didn't seem to have much respect for the Inspector up there. This, however. Is the man selected by Commissioner Waldo to act a esa- sor of Two nights later fas came again to see Fight," ask ad for passes for himself and two friends, got them, and witnessed a perforav. ajioe which he aobeeeueatly declared did nc shock him. Waldo then antteancec that he was going to have the police keep an eye on the Hudson Theatre.

Tm glad that they did. for it enabled them to discover a disorderly house running within a few doors of the stage entrance to the theatre, which they then raided, so some good has come from the affair after alL It la interesting to note that most of the protests against that second act came from men. Women were not shocked by it; they were not horrified, because they saw only what I had shown upon the Men, on the other hand, were reminded of other scenes they had witnessed. Ur act was suggestive to men. but not' to women.

What One Play Effected. Many people have asked me what rood such scenes can do. Frankly, I do not know that they can do any good, but believe that they do have a great value. When Within the Law" was first produced It raised a storm of protest, not so bitter as that raised by The Fight," bet still a rood-sized storm. I was apltaJtkini the honest working girl for my own financial gain.

was making heroes of thieves. I wss doing everything that I should not do. A great many bankers and Wall Street operators said that I should be sent to prison. But the ract remains Within the Law made six firmi In thla city reorganise their wags scale for women, and that twelve States in this country began investigations into tbe present-day conditions of woman labor In England the stags la in a state of decay, the theatres are empty, the country has no drama. In America, we are Just waking up.

Ws have ths writers, young enthusiast lo men and women filled with virile Ideas and fast getting the knack of expressing them. The eyes of the whole world are turned on this country, because all the drama that la being written is being written by Americana. We have a free press. The newspapers print everything and anything; we have a free Journal, with our fine and fearless magazines; then why sot a free stage? and English. But for this the church would have been one of tbe strong est In the country.

New York's climate waa well spoken of in those early day a In a letter to the Company of Pastors and Professors at Geneva." to obUln a pastor for the church la X7G3. the writer, an elder of the church, said: The climate of New York is one of the finest in the world, fhe sky serene, air pure, heat and cold less extreme than in Geneva, so that per sons born in France usually attain greater age than there. The salary of the Incumbent was to be 140 per year, with expenses to New Tork. There was also aa extra sum for giving tbe sacrament at New Rochelle oqr times a year. The.

minister waa promised good society. The minister of the Frenfh church," wrote the elder, "is officio one of the governors ef King's College, and the position procures him the pleasure of being In tbs company of the most distinguished society without Involving any trouble on his part- Charitable work was a feature of the church In Its early day a At the close of the service the minister would announce that there were boxes for th reception of gifts for the poor; from youngest to oldest, -all members dropped something in these, and the following Monday morning the poor rame to receive, the money. A physician was employed for 6 pistoles a year, 17.20. to visit and provide remedies for the sick. The records of the church are feted with names of prominent men of the time, some of which names are well known In the New York of to-day.

Among names which appear are Flat-ard. Qulntard. Tttard. Xselln. LortUard, Le Conte, lncent, Maynard.

De Lancy, ce Peyster, Faneull. Gal audet, Gautler, Allaire. Bayeux. A chambaud. Aymard.

Ayrault. Bayard. Larberie. Cadeau. Jay.

Desbroascs. Corr. p.eaudoiit, lan chard. Uonta-coo, anl Boudlnou.