The Chronicle.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 13 August 1910, Page 2

The Chronicle.

PUBLISHED DAILY

'AT'-RTWY, 13, 1010. T:iK CiHLDKKWS HOSPITAL; \.s\> A I'tMRIl) PLAY. ;':;:; ■•.•:;;■■;>;! ::..!ly Ji::o rc.'ipmso madv i.\ the people of Wellington Pro . iiiee to t!:e appeal f;.r funds in ait. I' '.'. ■: C !i i' 'rci'.'s Hospital movement • muse for hearty congratulation. .'!;.■: ;..■.:.. .-.".i T/0.-Lhily uphold ith '! :'.'E ■■ : :: this the re_):."se made nl.iea'v to the appeal. \ ;..a- ma,,oioss (.uis Gardener) at Tlrt orening, wl.ou the l>ancl .•or: i,:" 1 . 'jovs' Tni.'ning Farm plays •• I'io-l jf the Levin Post Office, !cm:) :':•; certain to be a further gooc ifc '::.'', an 1 generally speaking it ay {>■: regarded as certain that the da! contribution of this town, and i i'(;!< v..!ie.ma County, will form «: ;b.-:'.a;itial amount in the total sum ' be raised throughout tl:e wide "strict alininistei'ed by the Welling. ui Hospital Board. 'Hie claims helpless anrl suffc.ing children to .■ i caiol for l>y t>lie community are

'aims that in the past I:::re alwayt i..ot with ready response; and foi ibis reasih it is pleasing to find tliat all sections of the community are uniting to-day to make the latest appeal for deserving ciliarity preeminently successful. Tliere waj, for a whiie a danger that a large and influential section of the Wellington public would be antagonised to the movement because of the controversy that was started regarding tilie actions oi others who were assisting in raising the funds; but, happily, the good .<c;ise of the Wellington Presbytery overcame that danger. It certainly if- regrettable that anything in the ivay ol a challenge to the churches /.hould have been thrown eWn, anel

a.) theatrically too, by Mr Hugh Ward; but these matters are onlj distractions so far as the general question of the Children's Hospital is concerned. This paper's opinion is quite fixed, and on sufficient grounds for any man of the world to come to a similar decision upon, that Mr Ward's much-boomed play -ivhieh wo refuse to advertise by specifically naming it—was successful chiefly because of its immoral foundation. In the interests of common decency, this fact should not be lost sight of.

?»lr Ward's excellent contribution i ■■ the Children's Hospital is a striking and spectacular event ; but it is no justification of his play, and it forms neither proof nor disproof of t/lio allegations made against 'the play. Tf the play is innocuous as it is played in Wellington to-day,

that result springs from the ministerial and newspaper condemnations of the play as it was put on the Auckland stage. There are plenty of wholesome themes for comedies, and any stage nttoinpt to gild vice or glorify marital infidelity deserves to be scarified it. the way that it has been. Tho very name of Mr Ward's play carries tho play's condemnation; it is a futile defence for. Mr Ward's apologists to say that to the innocent tliF. name of the play conveys nothing. At the very least, it proves beyond a shadow of doubt that evil was in the mind of tho author of the play when he wrote it; and the fact remains that no pruning process can rehabilitate such a play as this one sufficiently for public presentation. As an old aphorism runs:

"It is a wise and faithful saw, Half-roasted never will be raw; Von can't turn curds to milk again, Nor now, by wishing, back to then ; And having tasted stolen .honey, Von can't buy innocence for money.'

Which latter line seems to us to indicate the crux of the whole case, in rogird to the great contribution made !'• the fund for the Children's Hospital by way of trying to reliability te the play. That all el assert of t! o communities are united in the movement to aid the Children's Flospital is a cause for satisfaction; but it cannot bo insisted upon too Ktrongly that if Mr Ward and his theatrical company contributed to this admirable fund and cause fifty times as much money and help as they actually will contribute, the position and demerits of their latest play would remain absolutely unaltered. If the commercialism of tihe Wellington City newspapers prevents them from telling the truth about this company and its impenitent repentance, tho necessary truth — however feebly and inadequately —will be uttered in Levin by one who has no desire to be mistaken for an ultra purist or for one unduly squeamish. When, however, a public glorification of vice is put upon the boards of a theatre, it is time for all decent people to speak loudly the truth that is .in them.