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A STUDY IN SOCIAL LEGISLATION 65 he believes exceptionally harmful to the public welfare not- withstanding a possible license for exhibition from the state board. The board of censors only prescribes a standard below which no picture is permitted to be exhibited. Other state agencies may compel conformity to higher standards if they wish but they may not lower the standards enforced by the state authorities, excepting the courts, which may reverse cen- sorship decisions if they are unreasonable or unquestionably beyond the authority granted by the state legislature. Pennsylvania was the first state to adopt the principle of motion picture censorship through a state board, and has been followed in the adoption of this principle by Kansas, Ohio, Maryland, New York and Virginia. The first Pennsylvania Board of Censors was created by the Act of Assembly approved by the Governor, John K. Tener, June 19, 1911. This act was in effect until May 15, 1915, when it was revised by legislative action. Under the reorganization act of 1915 a board of three people, two men and one woman, "well qualified by experience and education to act as censors," and residents and citizens of Pennsylvania, are appointed by the Governor for terms of three years. l Pennsylvania was one of the pioneers in this field, and the work of the Board has always been considered well worth studying by other censors. The act itself has furnished the groundwork for the majority of censorship acts which have since been proposed by other states and by the Federal govern- ment. The second state to introduce state censorship was Ohio, which on April 16, 1913, passed the law creating the Board of Censors which consisted of three persons, appointed by the Industrial Commission, with the approval of the Governor, for terms of three years. 2 It is worthy of mention that this board, the second of its kind in the country, is reported to have been originated and backed by a number of motion picture men of the state. Pennsylvania State Board of Censors, "Rules and Standards," Harris- burg, Pa., 1918. 2 Cannon, Lucius H., op. cit. p. 132 ff.