ot in point, since they concern works ultimately
licked into shape, which, but for the adverse notices, would have
remained unchanged till early death ended them.

Real mistakes are made by us in this respect, but generally the mistake
is in believing that a piece will be successful which, however, proves
to be a failure; we overrate the public taste, or fail to take into
account matters quite foreign to the qualities of an entertainment which
nevertheless determine its fate.

Of the more important aspect of the critic's mission, his duty in trying
to aid in the development of art, the luckless angler was not thinking.
Certainly, few, even of those who denounce the critics, will, if they
think the matter over, refuse to admit that to the public, the players,
and even authors, the humble craftsmen render useful services, quite
apart from the value of the work they do for art, by their power of
giving voice to the public, whom they study carefully and under
favourable circumstances, and by exercising to some extent the function
of censor in addition to those of beefeater and guide.

The Threatened Theatrical Trust

Somebody has forwarded from America a newspaper article called "The
Theatrical Syndicate's Reply to Its Critics," to which is given the
signature of Mr Marc Klaw, partner of Messrs Klaw & Erlanger,
well-known American managers. During the last few years _The Referee_
has been uttering a note of warning about the danger of the
establishment in London or England of a theatrical trust. Other papers
have handled the subject, and in particular an interview with Mr David
Belasco has appeared, in which he explained and vehemently defended his
attitude towards the theatrical trust in the United States.

Mr Klaw's article is amusing in its unconscious humour. In one part he
denies the existence of certain facts, whilst in another he attempts to
show that their existence is beneficial to everybody. The important
feature of it is a candid admission that the aims of the syndicate are
entirely commercial and that he, one of its principal members, looks
upon the theatre from no other point of view than that of business.

"The theatre," he says, "is governed by the rules and observances of all
other commercial enterprises. It is not out to dictate to public taste.
It is out to satisfy the public demand. While even such a purely
business undertaking must be hedged about with essential suggestions of
artistic refinement