The Government and the Arts
Next Tuesday the Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts will meet to consider the programme now made possible by the Government's grant—£25,000 to balance the sum already given by the Pilgrim Trust, and another £25,000 against an equal amount expected from the Carnegie Trustees, making £roo,000 in all. With this substantial sum behind it the Council can now launch out with boldness and with deliberation. It proposes to provide orchestral concerts in factory canteens and workshops and at Teachers' Training Colleges in industrial regions ; to send exhibitions of original paintings to industrial regions whose inhabitants have at present no access to good pictures; and to facilitate visits of first-class touring companies to give plays in towns to which serious drama seldom penetrates. The last part, of the programme is the most ambitious and the most difficult. Several courses are open to the Council. It might run its own company under expert advice. Or it might entrust the task to some existing institution, such as the Old Vic, on the understanding that this function would be distinct from its normal function. Or, again, it might offer grants to existing repertory companies playing in suitable areas in respect of good plays in which they might incur loss. Its measures will be watched with interest and, of course, not without criticism. But the Council, which has Lord Macmillan as chairman and Dr. Thomas Jones as vice- chairman, is one whose personnel inspires confidence. Nothing should be left undone to help its efforts to success.
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