It will seem obvious to them
that nothing is needed to remove all objections to a censorship
except the placing of its powers in better hands.
Now though the transfer of the censorship to, say, the Lord
Chancellor, or the Primate, or a Cabinet Minister, would be much
less humiliating to the persons immediately concerned, the
inherent vices of the institution would not be appreciably less
disastrous. They would even be aggravated, for reasons which do
not appear on the surface, and therefore need to be followed with
some attention.
It is often said that the public is the real censor. That this is
to some extent true is proved by the fact that plays which are
licensed and produced in London have to be expurgated for the
provinces. This does not mean that the provinces are more strait-
laced, but simply that in many provincial towns there is only one
theatre for all classes and all tastes, whereas in London there
are separate theatres for separate sections of playgoers; so
that, for example, Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree can conduct His
Majesty's Theatre without the slightest regard to the tastes of
the frequenters of the Gaiety Theatre; and Mr. George Edwardes
can conduct the Gaiety Theatre without catering in any way for
lovers of Shakespear. Thus the farcical comedy which has
scandalized the critics in London by the libertinage of its jests
is played to the respectable dress circle of Northampton
with these same jests slurred over so as to be imperceptible by
even the most prurient spectator.
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