Our President's Message By FRED STONE, President N. V. A.

HE people of the United States have a way of their own of recogmz.mg merit, of approving honest service, of appreciating the generosity of others and of rewarding good work well done. The recent celebration of National Vaudeville Artists Week with its splendid outpourings of attendance, its universal observance in over 300 cities and towns and the generous contri- butions which poured into the Sick and Benefit Fund of the N. V. A. constitute the compre- hensive and sympathetic attitude of people of all classes towards vaudeville and its people. 1 am a vaudevillian, I was a vaudevillian, [ will always be a vaudevillian and forever proud of it. Tonight's four monster benefit entertainments in the four largest and most famous theatres of the world is the splendid culmination of the eight years of activity and high endeavor which have marked the history of the National Vaudeville Artists.

The peace and good-will which prevail in our branch of the profession; the unfailing loyalty and consideration of the Vaudeville Managers Protective Association;' the solicitude of ]VIr. E. F. Albee for the ceaseless betterment of our conditions and for the sustained advance- ment of the standards of vaudeville entertainments, are foremost among the reasons why \H of vaudeville now have the strongest, happiest and most useful theatrical organization in the world. The American public knows this. We have had ample evidence in every city and town of the United States and Canada since N. V. A. Week began, and tonight in B. F. Keith's New York Hippodrome, the Metropolitan Opera House, the New Amsterdam The- atre and the Manhattan Opera House, the people of the world's greatest city, witnessing the performances of the most gifted and famous artists in the world, are giving final proof of the love and esteem in which the artists of vaudeville are held by their fellow citizens in all walks of life.

Over and above the material success, the pro-fessional triumphs and the growing favor in which the N. V. A. and the institution of vaudeville are held, there looms in my mind the need that we go further and higher in perpetuating that spirit of Christian charity, of brotherly love, of unselfish generosity which have been characteristic of vaudeville and which have won and earned for us the splendid tributes and support of which this evening's historic events are the proof. We must continue our faithful service to one another, to our associates and to the public; advancement in our mental, moral and artistic attributes; adherence to the first prin- ciples of our organization. The faithful practice of these fundamental ideals have won for us the high place we now hold, and through their continuance and extension we wil l go on to greater things and broader fields of useful ness, constructive services and artistic merit.

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