Brady in One

The Senate Finance Committee was treated, in Washington last week, to an act "in one" by one of the nation's oldest and most famed actor-author-managers-- William A. Brady, 68. Not unacquainted with Washington officialdom, Mr. Brady served the Wartime propaganda organization by directing film publicity. Last week he came, with many another of his profession, to protest the 10% amusement tax passed by the House and now on its way with the rest of the tax bill to the Senate.

"You wouldn't tax a corpse, would you?" asked Showman Brady, looking sorrowfully from ator. "Well, I tell you, the legitimate stage is a corpse just about ready for the potter's field." He estimated that 70% of U. S. theatres were under foreclosure. At this point Oklahoma's Gore started to interrupt, but Showman Brady checked him. "There's not one in your State, Senator." said he. "Shakespeare's a lost art in Oklahoma."

In lieu of the theatre admissions tax, Showman Brady had a variety of proposals: a 1-c- levy on all newspapers, a 5-c- excise on magazines weighing over a pound, radio and cruise-to-nowhere taxes. "Every American, so it is said, is a born gambler," he continued, leading up dramatically to his prime suggestion. "Buying and selling stock on the market is gambling pure and simple. The only difference between that and outright gambling is that . . . you don't see the cards, you don't see the wheel go round, you don't see the dice roll. Why not a grand national lottery in which the Government can cut the kitty?"

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