Variety (June 1911)

VARIETY -** The Vaudeville Managers Protective Associa- tion is composed of the principal variety man- agers and proprietors in the United States and Canada. They have associated for the con- servation of the vaudeville business, which Is of great importance to them. The many threats, rumors and reports made and circulated by or emanating from the White Rats Actors Union made this association of managers necessary, not only for their own mutual protection but for the protection of the artist against himself. These threats, rumors and reports (mostly threats) concerned first the rights and privileges of the vaudeville artist, that is to say, his freedom to contract, think and act for himself; and secondly, concerned the rights and privileges of the vaudeville manager as regards the conduct of his own business. The principal purpose of this statement Is to prove the motive of the man who Is responsible for the threats made. Time and time again he has clamored to "turn on the light," and we Intend now to turn on the light. The Vaudeville Managers Protective Asso- ciation speaks as a unit. Each member takes upon himself the responsibility of any official statement relating to the condition of the vaude- ville business, or*tie theatrical profession. This statement, and every other statement hereto- fore or which may hereafter be made by the Vaudeville Managers Protective Association is the voice of every member of that association. On the other hand, the White Rats Actors Union is an organizaion of actors, the majority of whom are engaged in appearing as public entertainers. Some are passive members, some are now agents, and still others are engaged in other pursuits. Some work, others have worked and still others expect to work. By work, we mean the playing of theatrical engage- ments. Under these circumstances, It would not be extraordinary if the statements purport- ing to be made by or in behalf of the White Rats were statements authorized by only a portion of the organization, but the White Rats neither speak as a unit nor does a considerable portion of the organization speak as a unit. The White Rats is duly organized, has a full quota of officers and a large directorate. The organization trusts its officers to safely advise and direct the destinies of the organiza- tion, and the board in turn has transferred Its great trust and power to one man, and his in- dividual whim and caprice. Who is this individual in whom rests this great power? By virtue of what great sacrifice for the actor has he come by this power? What has he accomplished? What great successful movements has he undertaken and carried on to warrant the great trust repQsed in him? Has he proven himself worthy of demanding that managers of nearly a half a century of experi- ence should listen to his plans, or that artists who have made their mark in the world and have position and family at stake should follow blindly where he leads? These are questions of the hour in the vaude- ville world. We purpose answering them with- out mincing words. Instead of speaking for the White Rats, instead of learning the sense of the great majority of the organization, in- stead of using the "Player" as the official organ of the White Rats, in short, Instead of being a servant or representative, and the White Rats his master, he speaks for himself, of himself, makes the Player his personal mouthpiece, and in a word, makes the White Rats a tool for his own selfish motives. As the proclaimed, editor of the official organ of the White Rats,' Mr. Harry Mountford in signed articles (which he believes are "editor- ials") has used the editorial "we"' often when talking only of and for Harry Mountford. Cer- tain it is that no matter how important he con- siders the White Rats, Mr. Mountford considers himself of greater importance and paramount to all else. Considering his unbroken chain of failures, his conceit is remarkable. In his signed articles, printed by what is supposed to be the official organ of the White Rats and pur- porting to have been written by Mr. Mountford, some have been about Harry Mountford, others have been concerning what Harry Mountford would do. wanted to do or has done. Other articles have mentioned the White Rats now and then; sometimes a member of the organlzatioii is mentioned, and often when the throes of agitation were hard upon the writer, he in- cluded managers, agencies and others. Now and then lie lias given space to his comrade in arms, Harry IWeaux, only for the purpose of jollying hiiu along until he thinks the time is ripe to take Harry DeVeaux bodily and throw him out of tli« . ionization. Certain it Is that Mountford dislikes anybody around who might make inquiry. The members of this association, all engaged in the vaudeville business for a longer or less term of years, have found through experience that seldom does a person attempt anything without a motive. This is especially true in the case of Mr. Mountford, who wants to set him- self up as the great "I am" and is thereby supporting himself and family. The best method of arriving at Mr. Mountford's motive is by the process of elimination.* Mr. Mountford came to this country a few years ago. First, he tried to obtain work at what had been his profession in the past—act- ing. He tried, but failed. Not only was he given an opportunity to make good once, but a second time—in the City of New York—and by many of the leading vaudeville managers in the United States who witnessed his trial per- formance, he was declared to be an absolute failure. Previously, in his native country, Mr. Mountford had found acting for him to be a dull and unprofitable calling, to say the least, so that just before his quick exit from his native land he adopted the profession or calling of trade agitator. In other words, from a failing vaudeville actor, he became a strike agitator, and as such he also made a dismal failure, and strangely enough though very well known by thousands and thousands of actors In England, ho quit his native land and came to America. Evidently, feeling that he was a failure as an agitator he started his career in this country as a peaceful law-abiding actor, with the result already noted above. Again, having failed as an actor, there was nothing left for him to do but embrace his previous calling of • agitator. As such he in- terested the White Rats who were then about to lose their leader, R. C. Mudge. After much endeavor, we are told, Mr. Mountford succeeded in borrowing the initiation fee of $25 necessary to Join the order. We do not mention this fact disparagingly,—poverty is not a crime. We only mention it to show the remarkable increase in Mountford's wealth and fortune in the short period of about three years. At any rate, Mount- ford became a White Rat and was subsequently appointed secretary to the board of directors— an office Mr. Mountford knew would be more of a permanency than an elective post. As secretary to the board of directors he shortly became the directing head of the society. The meetings of the board of directors, as many of the members of that board in good standing have told us, were farces. Mountford was then as low, the great "I am." Just as "Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast," so Mount- ford's speeches, red-fire oratory and berating of the managers, not only soothed, but charmed a horde of followers whose only grievance was that they were unemployed. Most of the employed artists were at their posts on the road, with the result that Mount- ford has held great sway with a crowd who have been living upon his promise of a great hereafter, Mountford's wonderful speeches filled them with hope. He is their great deliverer. He will give them each jobs, or better yet. he will give them an equitable contract. What a grand and glorious thing to talk about! With this situation of affairs, it has been easy sailing for Mountford. As secretary, Mr. Mountford started the Asso- ciated Actors' Company, an investing corpora- tion, which placed about $6,000 in what was then the Mozart Circuit, obligating the White Rats to take up a number of bonds amounting to about $35,000. In connection therewith Mr. Mountford organized the Independent Booking Agency, known as "The White Rats Agency." where actors could be booked by their fellows, "assured" of the treatment and salary they had always said they wanted. And this independent agency was to put the big managers, who had built great circuits of theatres after thirty years of work and amalgamation, entirely out of busi- ness. Furthermore, this organization was to rectify complaints of artists and abuse which had grown up in the profession. It was a laud- able undertaking. Here, truly, Mountford showed that he could do things as well as talk. Here was proof positiye that he would ami could keep his promise to give the actor work. The deliverer was about to make good. The hereafter had arrived, with the result that the White Rats still have those $35,000 worth of Mozart Circuit bonds in the safe. Will Mr. Mountford tell a curious public at what figure those bonds are included in the surplus fund of the White Rats, and what their market value is? The Independent Booking Agency was a beautiful dream. It became necessary immed- A NOTE C lately for Mountford to find some other scheme to agitate so as to direct attention away from this failure. These facts therefore eliminate! Mr. Mountford as a successful actor, manager! or agent in America. I For the purpose of earning his salary and! giving new hope to the artist of more work, loss ^ inequitable conditions, and Incidentally direct- \ ing attention away from his other failures, Mr. j Mountford spent two years procuring certain j legislation amending the Employment Agency | Law. This effort was such a decided failure thatv it is needless to dwell at length upon the sub- ? Ject, beyond asking Mr. Mountford (while off course we are not directly concerned, nor per- ' sonally very much interested) whether any ac- count has ever been given to the White Rats.^ of the $20,000 spent at Albany to procure this a beneficent legislation. Of course Mr. Mount-f ford may say, and truthfully so, that it is often^ necessary in matters of this kind that a cert. Uj"J degree of secrecy be maintained and names mwuti not be mentioned. Perhaps an accounting woulj' show that a great deal of this $20,000 was spent for "sundries." Sundries may cover a multi- tude of sins. About this time, according to the reports abroad then, Mr. Mountford had saved sufficient money to buy an elegantly furnished house on , Ix>ng Island, in his or his wife's name. This adds to the elimination list of actor, * manager, agent, that of legislator, in Mount- ford's American record of failures. In Mr. Mountford's role as an editor, his chief duties seem to have been the suppression . of news matters of interest to the actor, which i did not reflect credit upon Harry Mountford. f The latest is his suppression of his defeat in the Pongo and Leo case, wherein his Employment Agency Law was practically declared to be of no force or effect, in some of its most important provisions. The reprehensible practice of dis- torting reports of news events favorable to him- self which the official organ of the White Rats lias so often done, is a minor matter alongside of the suppression. If Mr. Mountford is i »c^ running the official organ to promote Harry Mountford, but for the actor, will Mr. Mount- ford tell why he did not reprint the article by W. H. Clemart headed "An Echo From The <Jrave," printed in "The Performer" (England), February 2«, 1011. That article was writteu by Mr. Clemart through the publication in Mr. Mountford's official organ of the following letter: 202 Camberwell Road. ■ London, England. I Jan. 14, 11)11 1 Dear Sir: , „ " As one interested In the variety profession and Harry Mountiord in particular, I read your splendid organ "The Player" every week. In the last nimbor received I road yet another attack on my old comrade, containing all sorts of dirty innuendos as to his conduct and his status in the profession while In England. Now, first of all who am I? you will ask and what Is my testimony worth? I thing it worth a lot because: During the music hall strike here about four years ago I think I may claim with pride to have been Mountford's right hand and staunchest adherent, my official position wa- member of Executive Committee O. A. F.. member of every sub-committee and one of the three delegates (Mountford, Frank Gerald and myself) who represented the O. A. F. on the National Alliance Committee, 1. e., the combined committee of variety artists, stage hands and musicians. In these positions I knew EVERYTHING from A to Z.. EVERYBODY AND EVERYBODY'S DOINGS, and thus I think you will admit sir my testimony must of necessity be valuable. The position now held by Mountford as an official In 'he White Rats, a friendly association affiliated to the O. A. F., unfortunately ties my tongue a lot from diplomatic rea- sons, In all probability the true history of the music hall strike In England and the early organization of the O. A. F. will never be told. Mountford himself started writing i it in the "Encore." but after the second instalment It was suppressed, the editor fearing, I suppose, that the appalling j revelations besmirching forever the reputations of some Z of our biggest men on this side, would have shaken the f very foundations of the variety business. Now what fol- lowed, the disgraceful betrayal of Mountford by those who, quaking in their shoes, feared what he minht yet say, the scandalous attempt to hound him from the pro- fession and the consternation that followed when they heard of his position in the White Rats. This position necessitated a complete hold face. Mount- ford must be appeased, Mountford the betrayed of tlic (). A. F.. and Mountford the trusted of the White Rats were two different factors. Hence the eleventh hour re pentance of many, the frantic scribbles to your side as- suring you that Mountford was such a good fellow, eic. etc. You have It from one who knows ALL, one who rould finish that history Interrupted In the "En.•ore," one who knows Mountford to be the whitest man he ever met, 'lie man who refused to be a party to the betrayal of <>ur humbler brethren, the musicians and stage hands who CAME Ol'T with us and who he always stoutly maintaiicl should have GONE RACK WITH US. I know for a fact that Mountford ALL ON HIS OWN. deficit nunaner after manaeer and refused to fulfill contract aft. r contract at hull.; where the stage hands and musicians li.ul not bo n reinstated. I accompanied Mountford In his temporary exile, with ,