The Implet (Jan-Jun 1912)

4 "THE IMPLET" 'THE PERIL" Great Imp Drama Release of May 30th How the World's Peace Is Menaced by Spies CAST OF CHARACTERS. Lieut. Pond, U.S. A King Baggot Col. Jones, U.S. A William Shay Hokoruma W. R. Daly Clara Jones Violet Horner I. "The Peril" is the aptly chosen title of the Imp drama release of May 30th. It means, of course, the socalled Yellow Peril, from which not merely the United States, but other countries of the world, may more or less reasonably be looked upon as in danger. The Yellow Peril is the world's peril from the Caucasian point of view. That is to say, if the four hundred millions of Chinese and eighty millions or so of Japanese (which is roughly about one-third of the population of the world) arise in their might it will be a poor lookout for the rest of the world, because the Mongolian races have, it is admitted, all the potentianity of becoming clever and aggressive, while the Caucasian races — that is the white people — are suspected of becoming effete by too much civilization. The blacks do not count in this connection. The world's contest of the future, therefore, in the opinion of students of the world's politics, will be between the yellow races on the one hand and the white races on the other. II. So that when newspaper writers, magazine authors and others refer to the Yellow Peril they have in mind something not quite beyond the sphere of probability. In other words, there is a real chance in the future of a fight between Japan and the United States. No one wants it, not even the Japanese. But as there are too many Japs on their own ground, they are inclined to spill over onto "Uncle Sam's" potato patch. And as "Uncle Sam," although loving his fellowman, does not want his fellowman to be too near him to be unpleasasnt, there are all the germs of a pretty little squabble, maybe ending in a world's war, out of this race antipathy. Everybody knows that California is troubled with this matter; that the trouble does not diminish with time, and that, consequently, the Government of this country constantly has the "peril" under observation. Wars are not made by governments. Governments exist chiefly to prevent war. It is the people who make wars. The American people made war on Spain. The Japanese people made war on Russia and China. The Boers made war on the English people. The French made war on the Germans in 1871. So you will see there is a chance of the American people making war on the Japanese, or vice versa, so long as the smouldering ember of the "Yellow Peril" is there to throw out heat between the two people. III. It is around such a theme as this that the Imp drama, "The Peril," is woven. There is something more than this theme in the picture, of course. You have admirable scenes of fort life; you have a love interest between the gallant young lieutenant, played by King Baggot, and a pretty girl, played by Violet Horner. The fort scenes were actually made in a United States fort. This is not stage scenery. It is the real thing. Then you have United States troops in an early part of the picture. Everything is done to give the play verisimilitude. You will note how wonderfully well Mr. Baggot, Mr. Shay and the other Imp actors comport themselves as military men. They look military, and as if to the manner born. Then there is the inimitable William Robert Daly in the character of the Japanese spy. The Japanese spy is a butler in the family of the commandant of the fort. The lieutenant, in the person of King Baggot, discovers the butler purloining valuable papers regarding the fort, which are kept in a secret drawer. There is a terrible struggle. The Jap is defeated, and the young lieutenant, who is in disgrace with his commandant, rehabilitates himself by this act and so wins the hand, as well as the heart of the girl, with whom he was in love. Thus throughout this play, "The Peril," there is a strong sympathetic interest. IV. In this play we have a human interest and a political interest equally balanced. The human interest is true to nature and to life. So is the political interest. It is not for us to say that many Japanese spies are working as butlers in the homes of American commandants. We do not know. But it is reasonable to suppose such a thing likely. Every nation to-day has its secret service agents in foreign countries. The people of the United States do not realize the lengths to which this sort of thing is carried in the old world. Why? Because the United Sates has no enemy. It has no enemy in Europe. It is not likely to be invaded from Europe or to invade any country there. The country may have tariff and other arguments with Canada, but that is all. Canada and America are never h'kely to come to blows. And if the Japs would keep off the Pacific slope there would not be any quarrel or any likelihood of a quarrel with Japan. But the Japanese do not keep off the Pacific Coast, any more than the Americans keep out of Japan. It is just this little fact which gives "Uncle Sam" and the people of the United States generally a slight, very slight, insight into the importance of the sp)' in European international politics. V. For example, at the present time there is a whole lot of talk of the likelihood of a war between Great Britain and Germany. The Germans are building big war ships; the English are building bigger ones. Why? Because both countries have, more or less, made up their minds to a sea fight one of these days. Each country, therefore, has its own spies finding out all the time what the other is doing. It is notorious that at the present moment German spies abound in all parts of the British Isles, spying out the forts, defenses and trying to get secret information as to ships, torpedoes and other forms of marine defence. To balance matters it is undoubtedly the case that in Germany there are innumerable British spies finding out all the secrets that can be found out with regard to German ships, German army disposition and the like. Then France and Germany are none too friendly, and these two countries exchange spies. In fact, the spy system is as well recognized in Continental Europe as international commercial relations are recognized in the peaceful territories of "Uncle Sam." VI. European naval and military spying, of course, is something more than the abstraction of private documents from a military commandant's home. It means a whole lot more. There is not the slightest doubt that in each European chancellery there are photographs of every other country's forts and guns — in fact, all the data of naval and military defenses in photographic, arithmetical and tabular form. This information is obtained, of course, by elaborate spying. Suppose you are a European country and want to know what the other fellow is doing in his forts. It is not even necessary for you to send a man to the exact spot to do the job. You can send him up in a balloon, arm him with a tele-photographic apparatus— he can take clear photographs at a distance of half a mile. Or he can buy his information on the spot, just as a merchant can buy goods. Spying, therefore, becomes in the last resort a pure matter of business. There is nothing necessarily romantic or hazardous about it. The spy may be a beautiful lady of fashion, just as conceivably as he may be a butler in a private family. Nothing, therefore, need be hidden from a foreign government, provided it has the price to pay for it. VII. Of course, the spy, to be of real value, should be loyal to his employer. Now anyone may learn from history that national spies are not always loyal. A man or a woman may accept pay as a spy for one government and betray that government to the other upon whom he or she is paid to spy. In the idiom of the year 1912 this is known as "double crossing." Even your aristocratic Ambassador is nothing less than a political spy. But he plays the game according to the rules. From the European standpoint an Ambassador is the man who goes abroad to lie for the benefit of his country at home. Honest James Bryce, at Washington, does not lie for his employers, the British Government. He has no need to, because of the extreme unlikelihood of conflict occurring between these two branches of the Anglo-Saxon races. Still Mr. Bryce keeps his employers in London informed as to the exact state of things in this country. So that when there is a momentary excitement among the people of the United States Mr. Bryce is enabled to let his people at home know the real importance to be attached to such things. On the other hand, if there was anything really serious happening this side of the Atlantic it would be his duty to let his people at home know. VIII. This is not a criticism or a story; it is an article of an explanatory nature, pointing out that the Imp drama, "The Peril," is based upon actuality. It has a foundation of probable fact. It is not purely imaginary. I hope the reader won't think that every Japanese he meets is a spy. All Japanese people whom I have met are charming people of culture. But they are Japanese, and always will be. They will never assimilate with the Caucasian, or white races. We hear sometimes of mixed marriages — marriages between whites and Japanese and Chinese — these things, however, are abnormalities. They are as abnormal as marriages between blacks and whites; they are flying in the face of nature. Some time ago a film was released showing an American-Japanese conflict. This went too far, and the picture was suppressed because presumably Japanese susceptibilities would be wounded. In London a little while ago "The Mikado," a Japanese opera, was voted inadmissible. A quarter of a century ago it was received with great favor. We have advanced since then. Everybody hopes there will never be trouble between the United States and Japan. It is just as well for "Uncle Sam" to keep an eye on his Pacific seaboard, and perhaps it is just as well the lesson of danger should be kept in sight by such films as "The Peril." Above all and aside of its main motive, "The Peril" is a fine play, well written, well produced and well acted. The fight between the American lieutenant and the butler-spy is some fight. It would do the hearts of J. Johnson and J. J. Jeffries good to see how Mr. Baggot and Mr. Daly can fight. Now, Mr. Exhibitor, what I advise you to do is to reprint this story about "The Peril" in your literature and in your local papers. It will tell your audience a great deal about the subject that will interest them. IMP ADS. THE THIRST FOR GOLD A strong and romantic Imp drama of the hunt for gold by two men who in their dire distress discover they are brothers. UP AGAINST IT An Imp comedy of screams and misadventures ending in a happy marriage.