Though the backers of the Bill for the abolition of
the Lord Chamberlain's censorship of plays, or indeed any censorship of plays, got their measure by an unexpectedly large majority it is not very likely to find its way into law. Half a dozen Private Members' Bills have to get through committee in front of it, and the whole process has to be finished by June 24th. And- though the Government, represented by the Home Secretary, was scrupulously neutral it cannot be expected to become benevolently neutral, for Mr. Ede himself went into the lobby against the Bill. Emphasis was inevitably laid by the Bill's supporters on the plays the Lord Chamberlain has stopped, which had amounted in the last twenty years to if per cent., rather than on the 981- per cent. which he has passed—figures which show that whatever grievance exists is not of great magnitude. For the opposition it was argued that some plays ought to be stopped— maxima debetur pueris reverentia—and that, whereas now a play once licensed is safe anywhere, the abolition of licensing would leave the theatre at the mercy of the caprice of local councils in different towns. Appeals to the injustice done by the censorship to " great creative writing" would have been more impressive if great creative writing were more conspicuous in dramatic circles in this country than it is. Sir Alan Herbert, significantly, opposed the Bill with his usual vigour and all his usual humour.
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