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104 MOTION PICTURE COMMISSION. Mr. Seligsberg. I will incorporate it in my brief. I wanted to be here principally so that I could answer questions, but in reading the record I wdll be able to get the trend of your questions and an- swer them in my brief. If the committee would care to go on I will stay here until to-morrow morning. The Chairman. I will say to you this, that this committee is a very hard-worked committee, and some of us are members of a com- mission that works from 10 o'clock in the morning imtil 6 o'clock in the evening, and then frequently until 11 and 12 o'clock at night. But I am perfectly willing, if it meets with the approval of the committee, to meet here to-morrow morning at 10 o'clock. Mr. Seligsberg. I think perhaps we can serve you and ourselves just as well as if we present the remainder of our argument in writ- ing, unless there are questions. The Chair^ian. I think it would be better for you to be present at every hearing if you can, and we are willing to do everything we can to accommodate you gentlemen. We will therefore adjourn until to-morrow morning at 10 o'clock. (Thereupon, at 11.15 o'clock p. m., the committee adjourned to meet to-morrow. Saturday, May 9. 1914, at 10 oVlock a. m.) Committee on Education, House of Representatives, Washington^ Saturday^ May .9, 191 If. The committee was called to order at 10 o'clock a. m., Hon. Dudley M. Hughes (chairman) presiding. The Chairman. Mr. Seligsberg, we will be glad to have you pro- ceed with your remarks. STATEMENT OF MR. WALTER N. SELIGSBERG—Continued. Mr. Seligsberg. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, it is my purpose this morning briefly to consider the history and development of the moving-picture industry, and perhaps to make a little clearer to you some of the arrangements which have been dis- cussed here and some of the results of the method of manufacturing and distributing and exhibiting of the films. I suppose the first moving-picture exhibition was given in Xew York, and that con- sisted of a very short film. At first the moving-picture film was nothing but a curiosity. When it became more known some enterprising men thought it could be made a commercial commodity, and they began to travel around the country with little scenic pictures. They attracted people wherever they went. A man would go into a town and hire a vacant store, and in that vacant store he would instal a projecting machine and give a moving-picture show. It took like wildfire and became popular. The Chairman. How long ago was that ? Mr. Seligsberg. About 10 years ago, before I had anything to do with the business. In 10 years' time tliere has been an entire devel- opment of this business. As soon as there was competition between two shows it became impossible for an exhibitor to show the pictures