When it was suggested that, having engagements in and about Chicago,
under the auspices of the Redpath Lyceum Bureau, having its main
offices here, I might be of service in presenting my views on
censorship at this meeting, I said I would prefer to do so under the
auspices of some disinterested group. As a result of this preference,
you have heard read the request of Mrs. Virginia Palmer, Chairman
of the Motion Picture Division of our Colorado State Parent-Teacher
Association, requesting that I be heard here.
However, I wish to assure you that this is not by way of any apology
whatever in presenting these views under any auspices, interested or
disinterested. There can be no crime in any event for a man to do that
when his sincere views are as well known as mine are and as, in recent
years, they have been expressed literally hundreds of times.
=In nearly every public lecture I have given on childhood and crime
during recent years, I have stated over and over again my opposition
to governmental censorship of the movies as a remedy for evil.=
In our recent book, THE REVOLT OF MODERN YOUTH, we took a firm stand
against Censorship, and within a few days, it will be exactly five
years ago that, in the City of Detroit, I delivered an address dealing
with censorship and crime in the movies. That address was very widely
circulated. Part of it was printed and thousands of copies were
distributed. And so, when I left Denver with the request of Mrs.
Virginia Palmer, the State Chairman of Motion Pictures of our State
Parent-Teacher Association, that I take part in this conference, I
redictated an old address of five years ago and brought it with me. To
this I have added some more extended observations in confirmation of
the conclusions there expressed after much thought, much study and much
experience.