The Film Renter and Moving Picture News (May-Jun 1923)

June. 30, 1923. oe. Resentment Tax Provokes Indignation of | Industry. : LEADING EXHIBITORS. :@ Public Campaign. Last year Lord Eustace Percy said in the House that our ease had been badly presented. ‘This year, again, our case has been badly presented for the reason I have given. In future, therefore, let there be no more of these grave. mistakes. Iu diagnosing the case there must be complete agreement among the doctors. LOCKE, OF LIVERPOOL, ON M.P.s COWARDICE. Apathy of London C.E.A. M P.’s ‘* broken promises ’’ and a spirit of uncompromising e opposition towards the Government—at all events, so far as the Entertainments Tax is concerned—were the outstanding features of the outspoken utterances of F. W. Locke, hon. treasurer of the North-Western Branch of the C.E.A., and possessing substantial interests in such prosperous kinemas as the Belmont, the Savoy, the =elton, in Liverpool, and Walker’s Pictures, Ormskirk. 1 found Mr. Locke at the Kinema Exchange (writes our Liverpool correspondent), and he proceeded to tvll me how he had spent four arduous days lobbying members of the House of Commons, and had interviewed about forty M.P.’s. ‘‘And,’’ said he, ‘‘ after the statements they make and th> promises of support they give, but promptly fail to carry out when it comes to a question of the Division Lobby, well, I feel exceedingly strongly about it; indeed, so much so that at th> next monthly meeting in July of the North-Western Branch of the C.E.A. I am going out whole-heartedly to advocate a polisy of concentration with the Executive of the Association. in London, with the avowed object of opposing every Government candidate at forthcoming by-clections, and I intend to propose a resolution to that etfect. The Pledge-Breakers. “T teal,” he procecded, ‘* that we should throw all the energy ard strength of our combined resources into an effort to bring it home to the Government in such a way that they cannot be under the slightest misapprehension in the matter that we are a power in the country, and that we intend to use it to the utmost. The Government may have been lulled into a sense of false security in the past because we have not shown them how strong an influence we are. In the past we have been too mealy-mouthed. “Almost without exception, tle members I interviewed expressed themselves most sympathetically with regard to the object we have in view in seeking to obtain either the total abolition of the Entertainments Tax or its substantial reduction. They said: ‘ Weare with you, We realise that you are suffering from a great injustice in the matter, and we are out to try and THE FILM RENTER & MOVING PICTURE NEWS. y bring it home to the mind of the Chancellor of the Exchequer that something must be--done in the direction of easing the burden. At the samo time, much as we sympathise with you, if it should come to a division, well, you cannot expect us to vote against the Government.’ As far as I remember there were only three M.P.’s I interviewed: who undertook to go into the Division Lobby against the Government on the Entertainments Tax question.” : In the course of further conversation Mr. Locke narrated how one Liverpool Conservative member he ‘* lobbyed *’ even went so far as to say that we could not expect any support from him. In fact, far from being in sympathy with us, he was strongly in favour of the Entertainments Tax, and if he had his way would go the length of putting a little more on to it. Lobbying ‘‘Absolutely Useless.”’ ‘Strong resentment,”’ continued Mr. Locke, ‘thas been created amongst the ranks of members of the provincial branches of the C.F.A. who took part in the lobbying of members by the fact that during the whole of the time they were engaged in their onerous exertions on behalf of the industry not a single representative of the London Branch came near us to see how we were getting on. On the other hand, there seemed to be an absolute lack of sympathy and co-operation on the part of our London colleagues, whose attitude towards this important question seemed to be, as far as we from the provinces were able to judge, one of absolute apathy. Indeed, I think it is quite on the carpet that this apathy on the part of London members of the trade was not lost sight of by members of the House, and, having regard to that fact, they were even less inclined than they otherwise might have been to lend their support to the end of obtaining us some concession, “It seems to me that canvassing Parliamentary candidates and lobbying members is absolutely useless. The only way in which we can make the Government realise that we have a strong case is by taking action in the direction I have already indicated. Personally, I cannot sea anything else for it. I have worked and voted as a Conservative all my life, but, having regard to our most recent experiences, I am prepared to vote for a Labour or any other candidate who will give a promise, which he is prepared to fulfil when opportunity occurs, ot supporting us in this movement. The Medium of the Screen. “IT am also of the opinion that we shal) have to go in for much more extensive publicity than we have done in the past, and also enlist much greater support from the Press. We must have the Press behind us in this matter. Unless we have that we cannot get the volume of public support we require, and without an adequate measure of public support we cannot bring any effective pressure to bear upon members of the House of Commons. We can only obtain such publicity either through the Press or through the medium of the screens in our kinemas. We have so far hesitated to use our screens for this purpose, realising that whilst they constitute a very powerful weapon, it is also a dangerous instrument if used for political purposes. At the same time, this is a question of great importance both to the trade and the entertainment-patronising public, and we must do everything in our power to get this grievance redressed,"’ ARTHUR CUNNINGHAM'S VIEWS. A “ Knock-out Blow.” R. ARTHUR CUNNINGHAM, director of the New M Century Pictures, Yorkshire delegate to the General Council of the C.E.A., and a member of the Entertainments Tax Committec, than whom there is no man in the North more familiar with the condition of the business, describes the decision of the Chancellor as ua ‘* knock-out blow.”