PRODUCER OF "IOLANTHE" ENDORSES CENSORSHIP

Winthrop Ames '95, who is the producer of the two Gilbert and Sullivan revivals, "Iolanthe" and "The Pirates of Penzance," which open at the Plymouth Theatre Saturday, emphatically upheld the need of stage censorship in its present form in New York. Mr. Ames, whose first production was "Persepina", the Hasty Pudding show of 1895, is chairman of the New York censorship Committee which is made up of nine playwrights and producers.

"Censorship of some form on other is necessary. People should not feel that there is no limit to what they can do," said Mr. Ames, "Being agreed that there needs be censorship, the question is what method is the most satisfactory."

"It is impossible to set down hard and fast rules as to what is good and what is bad. Morality is wisdom, and wisdony changes with the times. The English, system, as outlined by Cosmo Hamilton in yesterday's CRIMSON by which one man censors all manuscripts before the plays are produced would not only be impractical in New York, but it is doubtful even whether it would be the most satisfactory method. In the first place, I believe it is wrong to censor a play before it is produced, for in this way, some new yet valuable idea, might be killed before it could be brought forth upon the world. Next, to place the jurisidiction in the hands of one man would be difficult in New York.

"The jury system, if it be kept as free from politics as possible, is without doubt the best system, to my mind. The censorship is not then an immovable thing in black and white, but a living, progressive thing which changes with the times."

Mr. Ames expressed the highest opinion of the work of Gilbert and Sullivan.

"We can put on "Iolanthe" or "The Pirates of Penzance" without having to change a line to make it absolutely up-to-date. It appears to have the quality of universality. The jokes, gags, everything are just as good now as the day Gilbert and Sullivan wrote them."