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48 MOTION PICTURE COMMISSION. Mr. ToAVNEi;. And is it net also a fact that the more strenuous the contest has become on the part of the protestants. the more strongly liave the people of Great Britain adhered to and supported the censorship of the plays? Mr. Bisii. Well, censorship is a British institution rather than an American institution. T will admit that. Mr. Towner. Very well. It appeals, then, at least to the British people, you will admit? yiv. Bi'si!. Well, you will hardly l)lame the British people, which really means the liritish middle class, for not being in love Avith Mr. Shaw, because Mr. Shaw has certainly scourged all their little foibles pretty hard. I would not draw any conclusions from the attitude of the British ])ublic toward Mr. Shaw. Mr. TowxKR. Now, I want to ask you. coming down to our own country, this question: The fundamental objection, as 1 understand it. that you make to censorship is that it is un-American and tyran- nical in its nature '. ]Mr. BrsH. Yes. Mr. Towner. N«>w. are you not of the opinion that censorship in some form is bound to come in this country? Mr. Bush. Well, errors are likely to occur at any time, but I do not believe that censorship will ever strike root in American soil. Mr. Towner. Well, but it is coming now. Every day there is a censorship established in a town or city or State. Every day there is action being taken that establishes censorship in localities. Of course, you must be aware of that—you or the people that you repre- sent. It is a matter of common notoriety. We see every day that censorship has been established in a certain city. Mr. Bush. You mean censorship over motion pictures? Mr. Towner. A'es: certainly. Mr. Bi SI!. I understand that that has been one of the great indoor sports among reformers. Mr. Towner. Now. it will not do to sneer at the reformer, because you luive got to deal with them. Mr. Bx'sii. I am not sneering at them. Mr. Towner. They are a growing power in this country, as you Avill find. But if censor.ship now appears to appeal to the moral sense of the peo])le as being necessary, and if. as a matter of fact, it is being established day by day in localities, in municipalities, and in States—that is. as a subject of discussion, at least—then we are going to have censorship in some kind of form. Would it not be better for those whom you rej^resent. as a mere matter of i)olicy, leaving the [ legal question aside entirely—would it not be better for you and for everybody if a national censorshij) coidd be established rather than a miscellaneous conflicting censorship in every possible way and diverse jurisdiction that you would be subject to when you came inside the jurisdiction of one of these little nuinicipalities with a local censor- shij);' From youi- standpoint, would it not be bettei- for you and your people to have a reasonably fair national censorshi]) that woidd be uniform all over the country than to have that class of censorship? Mr. Bush. Now. there is just one thing T want to emi)hasize again, and that is this: That I do not represent any film interest. Not at all. T am not interested a dollars worth in anv film concern what-