seeming to rival the scintillations of the Kohinoor.

At the first, objections were made to moving pictures on the ground
that in many cases they had a tendency to cater to the lower instincts,
that subjects were illustrated which were repugnant to the finer
feelings and appealed to the gross and the sensual. Burglaries, murders
and wild western scenes in which the villain-heroes triumphed were
often shown and no doubt these had somewhat of a pernicious influence
on susceptible youth. But all such pictures have for the most part
been eliminated and there is a strict taboo on anything with a degrading
influence or partaking of the brutal. Prize fights are often barred.
In many large cities there is a board of censorship to which the
different manufacturing firms must submit duplicates. This board has
to pass on all the films before they are released and if the pictures
are in any way contrary to morals or decency or are in any respect
unfit to be displayed before the public, they cannot be put in
circulation. Thus are the people protected and especially the youth
who should be permitted to see nothing that is not elevating or not
of a nature to inspire them with high and noble thoughts and with
ambitions to make the world better and brighter.

Let us hope that the future mission of the moving picture will be along
educational and moral lines tending to uplift and ennoble our boys and
girls so that they may develop into a manhood and womanhood worthy the
history and best traditions of our country.

* * * * * *

The Wizard of Menlo Park has just succeeded after two years of hard
application to the experiment in giving us the talking picture, a real