Alfred Russel Wallace : Alfred Wallace : A. R. Wallace :
Russel Wallace : Alfred Russell Wallace (sic)
Authors and the Censorship.
For and Against New Appointment.
Professor Saintbury's Defence.
(S689b: 1911)
Editor Charles H. Smith's Note: Wallace's reply to an enquiry on censorship, printed along with those of eight other's on page five of The Morning Leader (London) issue of 7 December 1911. To link directly with this page, connect with: http://people.wku.edu/charles.smith/wallace/S689B.htm
…Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace. "I am afraid that my opinions as to the Censorship of plays and as to who is best fitted to be a Censor will be of no value to the present generation. But if Mr. Archer's synopsis of the play 'Dear Old Charlie' is fairly accurate, it is shown to be one which (in my opinion) is a degradation to the stage of any moral society, both in subject-matter and in details of composition.
"The only way to deal with such plays, by a refined or moral audience, is to hiss them down on the first presentation; but as long as they are received in silence or with applause they degrade the audience, and no Censorship of MSS. can stop them.
"Such subjects, in any form, are only moral, educational, or elevating when treated in the grand tragedy style of 'Othello' or 'Romeo and Juliet,' or the refined comedy of 'The School for Scandal.'"
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