Motion Picture Commission : hearings before the Committee on Education, House of Representatives, Sixty-third Congress, second session, on bills to establish a Federal Motion Picture Commission (1978)

14 MOTION PICTURE COMMISSION. improper for the copyright office to grant a copyright to auy immoral picture, for an illegal article can have no property value nor existence in law. Con- gress ought to act effectively to prevent interstate traffic in illegal articles. Some States, such as Ohio, California, and Kansas, have already inaugurated State boards of censorship. These and other States should cooperate with the Federal censorship, when inugurated. in such a way as properly to safeguard the development of the life of their children. Pictures which make robbery attractive and show clever ways of eluding detectives, which ridicule teachers and policemen, which convey the impression that married people are seldom faithful to their marriage vows, that sexual sins are universal and harmless, which depict cruelty and make the details of crime attractive, should be declared by the law of the State to be unlawful to be shown in any licensed place of amusement—at least during hours when young children attend. It is claimed, however, that many pictures which are harmless for adults are dangerous for children, and that it is unreasonable to refuse to let pictures be shown merely because they are bad for children, and thus rob adults of their rightful amusement. The truth is that it is better that adults should be restrained in their amuse- ments rather than that the children of the Nation should be demoralized and corrupted. But this difficulty can be remedied in each State by arranging that films suitable for adults but not for children may only be shown after 8 o'clock in the evening, when children should be forbidden to attend, except with the parents or guardian. But when I speak of censorship I dp not use the word censor in the Roman sense, as inaugurated in the Roman Republic in the fifth century before Christ and restored in the most degenerate days of the empire in a vain attempt to stop a flood of vice. In the Roman sense, the two censors, acting together, had an arbitrary power from which there was no appeal, I use the word " censoring " in the English sense of " licensing." The censor is the licenser. The licensing power of the Government is exercised where ordinary persons are liable to be deceived and misled in the purchase or use of articles of mer- chandise, especially where there is danger to life and morals in the use of the illegal articles. After an official inspection, those articles, places, or persons which are found to conform to a legally fixed standard are granted a license. But the refusal to grant a license can not be aibitrary, for there is always a right to appeal from the decision of the inspector or licenser. The growth of the license system has been a very noticeable feature of recent years to meet the new social conditions and to take the place of special legislation. As society becomes more complex and expert knowledge upon a vast number of intricate subjects becomes more difficult, there is an increasing need that the public shall be protected from counterfeits, quacks, charlatans, and impostors, and this can not be effectively accomplished in any other way than by the wise exercise of honest governmental power. Physicians, dentists, engineers, lawyers, teachers, and chauffers need to be examined and licensed by the proper authority. The selling of drugs, of intoxi- cating liquor, and ex])losives, the selling or carrying of arms, can only be done by persons duly licensed. Along with such new legislation as the forbidding of spitting in public places and the use of public drinking cui)s it has been necessary to enact pure-food laws and those requiring the inspection of the slaughtering of animals and their preparation for sale as canned goods for food. New occasions teach new duties. Time makes ancient good uncouth. The coming of the telephone, the automobile, and wireless telegraphy has made new laws necessary for the protection of property rights. Yet there are those who object to any new legislation to deal with the largest factor con- cerning child welfare which has arisen for centuries. It is claimed that we do not license newspapers or books, but allow a bad publication to be circulated, and then punish the author after it has been proved in the courts to be immoral. The answer is that I am advocating that the very same procedure shall hold concerning motion pictures as books, except in the case of those films which want the privilege of being carried from State to State or of being shown for pay in licensed places of amusement.