the Philadelphia members of the Trust offered him $50,000 for his business, and he took it.
In due time Richard Mansfield also surrendered, and Mrs. Fiske was left alone to carry on the fight.
The Theatrical Trust, which must be described as Jewish, because it was that, was at the beginning of the new century in full control of the field. It had reduced what was essentially an art to a time-clock, cash-register system, working with the mechanical precision of a well-managed factory. It suppressed individuality and initiative, killed off competition, drove out the independent manager and star, excluded all but foreign playwrights of established reputation, fostered the popularity of inferior talent which was predominantly Jewish, sought to debase the service of the dramatic critics of the public press, foisted count¬ less “stars” of mushroom growth upon a helpless public while driving real stars into obscurity; it handled plays, theaters and actors like factory products, and now began a process of vulgarizing and commercializing everything connected with the theater.