Motography (Jan-Jun 1918)

DON R. EGBERT, Managing Editor NEW YORK OFFICE: 506 LONCACRE BUILDING. Forty-second Street and Broadway Telephone Bryant 7030 LOS ANGELES OFFICE: 6035 HOLLYWOOD BLVD. MABEL CONDON. Western Representative NOTICE TO ADVERTISERS Changes of advertising copy should reach the office of publication not less than fifteen days in advance of date of issue. Regular date of issi"» every Saturday MiK THE MOTION PICTURE TRADE JOURNAL PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY ELECTRICITY MAGAZINE CORPORATION FRED W. SCHWAMB President and Treasurer PAUL H. WOODRUFF, Secretary and Editor in Chief MONADNOCK BUILDING CHICAGO. ILL. MERRITT CRAWFORD, Managing Director 1476 Broadway, New York Entered at Chicago Post Office as Second Class Mail Matter. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE Per Year $2.00 Canada Foreign Single copy Per year $3.00 Per year 4.00 • .15 NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS Remittances — Remittances should be made by check. New York draft n money order In favor of Motographt. Foreign subscriptions may be remitted direct by International Postal Money Order. Change of Address— The old address should be given as well as the new, and notice should be received two weeks In advance of the desired change. This publication is free and independent of all business or house connections or control. No manufacturer or supply dealer, or their stockholders or representatives, have any financial interest in Motography or any voice in its management or policy. Volume XIX CHICAGO, JUNE 29, 1918 Number 26 Out with the Vermin! OUT with the vermin that infest this industry. This is no time for mincing words. Bad enough in times of peace, these squirming creatures are insufferable now. Their unclean words and disloyal motives are fast bringing the whole industry into disrepute. The very great and very important services which the motion picture has rendered the nation thus far in the war are minimized and to an extent nullified as far as proper credit is concerned, by the attention which this scum attracts. To the man outside the motion picture field they are representative of the industry and the industry suffers accordingly. It is these parasites, who feed upon our good name, that keep the motion picture eternally on the defensive. It is largely because of them that the film business has come to be regarded by the lawmakers and the public as an industry requiring punitory regulation. And whose fault is it? It is yours, Mr. Decent Manufacturer. It is yours, Mr. Decent Distributor. It is yours, Mr. Decent Exhibitor. You are indignant at the idea ? Stop a moment and think ! Have you not until now cultivated these undesirables, instead of driving them out of the field? You employ them. You buy from them and sell to them. You lower your own standards in order to do business with or compete with them. You make it easy for them to flourish and grow fat. Is it any wonder that you and the other decent men in the industry get slimed with the filth, the greed, the disloyalty, which form the guiding principles of these scavengers? Is it any wonder that the industry bears the burden of the stigma which attaches to those who in the past were permitted to prostitute it for the benefit of their pockets and now — even worse — to do so often for the aid and comfort of our enemies? Before this time — before the nation was at war — perhaps it was not possible to find a sufficiently compelling unity of interest among the decent elements in motion pictures to drive out this filthy crew. That is not so now. Today, the man who is not one hundred per cent American is a menace or a disgrace. For the slacker, the poltroon, whose patriotism is measured from his lips to the outside of his pocket, the American-born traitor and secret Hun, there should be no place in this industry. They must be dealt with in a fashion which will leave possible no misunderstanding as to where the rest of the industry stands. To this assertion no one will attempt to maintain the contrary. Yet practically every reader of this editorial knows some, to whom the foregoing description applies, but has taken