Moving Picture World (April 1912 - June 1912)

THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD 119 Ohio Motion Picture Exhibitors' League Convention. THE' DAYTON MEETING ECLIPSED ALL FORMER MEETINGS OF THE LEAGUE, NATIONAL OR OTHERWISE. THE convention held at Dayton by the Motion Picture Exhibitors' League of the State of Ohio, on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 26th and 27th, easily eclipsed all previous gatherings of the League in numbers and impressiveness, not excepting even the first national convention at Cleveland, in August last year. The visiting delegates numbered over 180, and including their wives, sisters and friends, who accompanied them, the figures were raised to 350. The city was attired in handsome holiday dress, some of the finest buildings being decked with flags, from basement to fourteenth story. The streets were thronged with sightseers during the parades of the visitors and, at the Union Depot, the arrival of the delegations from Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo was witnessed by a throng of residents. More especially was this noticeable at the arrival of the Cincinnati delegation, headed by Mayer's fine band and bearing a large American flag and a handsome banner of that organization. It must be remembered that delegates from nearly all the smaller towns throughout the State were also present. The importance of the Dayton Meeting had been anticipated by film manufacturers, for there were on the spot veteran camera men from the Pathe Freres and Gaumont forces, Ralph Radnor Earle representing the former company for Pathe's Weekly, and A. Richards, the Gaumont Company. Moving pictures were taken showing the arrival of the Cincinnati delegates and of the grand parade by all the visitors, from the Court House to the Post Office. The latter took place about 2:00 p. m., Tuesday and was viewed by thousands of people. The delegates, on arrival, assembled at the Hippodrome, in the Auditorium, about 11 o'clock, where the convention was called to order by M. A. Neff, president of the National League. After a few remarks dwelling on the objects of the League, Mr. Neff appointed several committees to attend to business of the convention and report at the executive meeting, to be held in the Industrial and Educational Hall of the National Cash Register Company, Wednesday. In this hall the convention reconvened at 2:30 p. m. Tuesday, and Mayor Phillips, of Dayton, delivered the following address of welcome: Mayor Phillips' Welcome. "I am most assuredly gratified to be called upon to welcome your organization to our city. Your association is recognized to-day as one of the leading educational institutions of our country and the interest manifested by all classes of our people demonstrates the fact that your efforts for their entertainment are being appreciated by them. "Not very many of us have had opportunity for travel not only in our own country, but abroad. One can go to almost any of the motion picture theaters to-day and see possibly ancient Egyptian ruins, scenes in the jungles of Africa, actual occurrences in the land of the midnight sun, or, coming to our own United States, life in New York, Chicago or any of the larger cities; the beauties of Yellowstone Park, or life on the Mississippi. Aside from scenes of travel, or those connected with historical events, one may see comedy, tragedy or some pleasing episode of daily happenings almost anywhere. The people are also interested in your performances from a standpoint of recreation and a relief from the toils and struggles of everyday life. "Again I desire to say that you have come to stay. Therefore, on behalf of the citizens of Dayton and in my position as its chief executive, I bid you a sincere and hearty welcome. May your deliberations and councils be harmonious and profitable, and when you return to your own homes and firesides, I trust that you will look back with much pleasure to your visit to Dayton, the best city in the best State in the best country on the globe." President Neff's Reply. "I am sure we all have reason to thank the city of Dayton for the generous reception that has been given us by the mayor and citizens." said Mr. Neff. "I know the Gem City well and feel sure that no man who has partaken of its hospitality, seen its industry, and come into close contact with its citizens can go away without feeling that he has been instructed and entertained. "Our organization was primarily established for the purpose of uplifting the motion picture business and to eliminate certain phases that were proving to be distasteful to the bet ter classes of people throughout the land. That purpose has been strictly, constantly and religiously adhered to. No man, or interest, can gain admission to this league who is known to be out of sympathy with its aims and purposes. We are, of course, in the business to make money. But we do not want to make money, if in so doing we offend against chastity or degrade the character of our shows. "Cinematography is educating the people of this country. It is performing a high and lofty mission. The time will come when through its aid the surgeon who,now takes four years to graduate will be able to begin to practice in less than a year. It is a marvelous aid to science; it is a splendid ally of the schools and a powerful means of disseminating knowledge that, but for its agency, would require that the seeker after such a blessing would have to wade through hundreds of books and travel over thousands of miles of territory. "Some persons think the science has reached its zenith and has accomplished all that it is capable of performing. But let me tell you that no bounds can be put to its achievements. You motion picture men are doing a work for humanity that is really not apparent even to yourselves. You are doing something more than merely tickling the fancies of a flippant audience composed of immature maids and swains. You are disseminating knowledge that is of inestimable value to all classes. "It is all right to enjoy minutes of surcease from toil in a moving picture theater. It is extremely pleasant to have the senses enthralled and the imagination entranced with beautiful and realistic scenes.' But when you add to these things the educational value of the motion picture enterprise, you will readily see that you are engaged in a mission that cannot fail to be productive of the most beneficial results to the human race." Speech of Vice-President of the N. C. R. Co. Mr. Deeds, vice-president and general superintendent of the National Cash Register Company, was next introduced, and delivered a meaty speech that was received with loud applause at its many telling points. Following is the speech verbatim: I appreciate very much the hearty response you have given after an introduction of this sort; I appreciate it and will take it for those men that have helped entertain you people and will do so in the next day. We are interested in your work. We are interested for two reasons: one is because you are an organization. There has been one thing that we have tried to advocate — if there is one thing more than anything else, it has been organization. We have spent more time, probably, in our business along that one line than any other one line — that of bringing our organization closer together and bringing it up to the highest state of perfection that we possibly can, and what little success we as a company have attained has been on account of our organization. And I want to congratulate vou people — you merrrbers of this convention on having goVten together in an organization. I want to congratulate your president, Mr. Neff. on having been able to get together such a body as this. I believe that I am in a position to appreciate more than some of you gentlemen here the amount of work that it has taken on his part to bring about this assemblage and bring about an organization of people whose interests at first seemed diversified, but after all who are all interested in one common thing. And I want to congratulate him on his work and you on the work that you are doing in trying to get together and help push ahead your business, and that is what you are here for — to talk things over. We are glad to have you here and extend to you a most cordial welcome, so that you can come here with your deliberations. This is a new hall. It has only been used for the conventions of our own people so far, and your convention is the first convention, except the cash register convention, that has ever met in this hall, and I feel as though it couldn't be better dedicated to-day than to the motion picture people. (Great applause.) • . , . The second reason why we are interested in this thing — first because you are organized and get together, and we are in sympathy with any movement along that line — and in the second place we have always believed in the education by pictures. Years ago, before the motion picture was developed, we had, in order to better instruct our people, to get the old-fashioned stereopticon lantern slide, and in our school work, teaching our own people here, we found it a most invaluable thing; in other words, we couldn't run our business to-day if it wasn't for the stereopticon and the lantern slides. It has become a vital part of our organization. The motion picture goes still farther along this same line, and this hall was designed primarily as a place where we can properly exhibit our motion pictures and other pictures before our conventions and the different schools and agents and factory people, so that we could build up our organization. We are interested in the picture business. We want to see what the latest things are so that we can have them and keep our people up to date. It is an educational process, and you people have the grandest opportunity in the world along that line. It won't be five years — it is to-day, but people don't realize it, but it won'.t be five years until the whole public is going to realize that the motion picture exhibitors are the most powerful educational factor we have in this country. (Applause.) You have the opportunity of getting hold of the people and bringing them together here concentrating the advanced ideas from all over the world. There isn't anything so broadening as travel, and the people who cannot travel you are able to bring the thing and lay it down in front of them, just as it actually is, and we want to congratulate you upon your work. At first you had to start out to entertain the people. And we are glad to see that educational films are being run, and in most 01 our picture