managers to admit the dramatic critic of Life to their theaters,
and in 1915 the dramatic critic of the New York Times was
refused admission to the Shubert theaters. In both cases, the final court of appeal ruled that the managers had a right to exclude a dramatic critic from their theaters whenever they pleased . These decisions have been rightly called “ a blow to honest dramatic criticism ,” 123 since they stand for the right of
all theatrical managers in New York State to bar from their theaters those who have criticized unfavorably their produc tions, or any one who is displeasing to them , providing the
exclusion is not on grounds of race, color, or creed. In all lawsuits attempting to exclude dramatic critics from
theaters, the real object of theater managers is obviously to attempt to control newspaper opinion and to that extent it is
a menace to the freedom of the press; wherever freedom of the press prevails, the answer to such judicial decisions is inevitably the introduction of legislative measures intended to strengthen the law on the side of freedom of expression and thus make impossible similar decisions in the future.124 But the principle is not new . L . Bamberger cites a somewhat
parallel case in Germany, prior to 1890 , where a court of law decided that a writer could be refused admission to a theater
subventioned by the public money, even though he had paid for his ticket, because he had criticized the actors so sharply that he had spoilt the pleasure of the public in the performance.125 Assuredly the effect of decisions of this character must be to leave the historian entirely in the dark as to the real merits of dramatic presentation in theaters that virtually permit the publication of only favorable criticism . “ Henceforth we shall not have independent criticism , but compulsory commendation,” and theatrical managers “ by excluding the critics who found
123 The Independent,March 6 , 1916 , 85: 329; The Outlook, March 15 , 1916 , 112: 596 ; Literary Digest, March 18, 1916 , 52 : 715 - 716 . The full text of the arguments and the decisions in the Times suit is
given in its issues of April 8, May 19, May 25, June 19 , July 10 , 1915, and February 23, 1916.
124 A bill was introduced into the New York State legislature , April, 1915, to prevent the intimidation of dramatic critics by making it a misdemeanor to exclude any person from
a theater without cause.
125 “ The German Daily Press,” Nineteenth Century, January, 1890 , 27: 24 - 37 .
