The Exhibitor (Jun-Oct 1939)

THE EXHIBITOR 13 “U. S. Must Serve as Civilization's Trustee" MPPDA Leader Hays Says: "Stay Out of War” Los Angeles — The United States, as custodian of the tradition of representa¬ tive government, must stay out of the European war to safeguard and strengthen this human form of living and to serve as a trustee for civilization, Will H. Hays said last week in a speech to the Regional Trust Company Conference of the Pacific Coast and Rock Mountain States. The president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America pointed out that this trusteeship is a vital responsibility of government, of busi¬ ness, and of each individual. He said: “Today when the orderly processes of society are collapsing in much of the world under the detonation of bombing planes and long-range guns, America more than ever represents a great ideal. To an unusual degree America today holds in trust for mankind the political, cultural, and spiritual heritage of the human race.” Hays urged “that through a supreme act of national will men and women of all political shades of opinion shall firmly and unitedly resolve at all costs to keep this country out of war. Thus may we best fulfill our highest duty as trustees for civilization, for human liberty, and for peace.” Emphasizing the duties of the motion picture industry in a war-mad world, Hays said: “Those of us in the motion picture artindustry do, indeed realize full well the significance of our trusteeship of this essential enterprise at this particular time. “An element of that trusteeship is the transcendent duty to society now to keep the stream of world entertainment flow¬ ing — entertainment which is effective as entertainment and which at its best is inspirational. In spite of the handicap of serious loss of markets, the motion pic¬ ture art-industry will do this iob. It is the industry’s duty, and I believe that this business and all business does well to think first of its duties and its respon¬ sibilities. The emphasis upon the protec¬ tion of rights and privileges will follow.” Further, Hays declared: “But we acquit ourselves of this trus¬ teeship for this precious and necessary form of human government in so far as we try to develop closer and more symp¬ athetic relationship between government and the people of the country. We must not fail in this trusteeship regardless of the enormous dangers with which a warmad world has surrounded us. “It is the glory of the land in which we live and the institutions of freedom which we have developed,” Hays said, “that trusteeship is the essence of our political, economic, and social relation¬ ships. “In the realm of business it has been notably true in the past quarter of a century that the principle of trusteeship has been more and more clearly recog¬ nized. It has permeated every activity in the business world.” Consolidated Book Files $300,000 Libel Action Encyclopedia Publisher Also Lists Complaint with FTC New York City — Consolidated Book Publishers, Inc., of Chicago, and its presi¬ dent, Leonard S. Davidow, last week in¬ stituted a $300,000 libel action against Laurance H. Hart, Samuel D. Goldstein and Funk and Wagnalls Company. Defendants are charged with stating falsely that Consolidated sells its Standard American Encyclopedia by “Misrepresen¬ tation” and with reporting inaccurately most of the details and particulars con¬ cerning the Consolidated encylopedia. The Standard American Encyclopedia is widely used in motion picture theatre premium campaigns. According to the complaint prepared by Consolidated’s attorneys, Phillips and Nizer, these defamatory statements appeared in a comparative chart of encyclopedias com¬ posed and published by Hart. Funk and Wagnalls and Goldstein, who does busi¬ ness as De Luxe Theatre Premiums, are charged with distributing the Hart chart to exhibitors for the purpose of diverting book premium business to themselves. A similar complaint was filed last week with the Federal Trade Commission claiming that the statements made by Hart con¬ stituted an unfair trade practice. September 27, 1939 QUAD.