The Express.
London, England, 1852-05-05 00:00:00

THE DISPUTE IN THE BOOKSELLING

• TRADE.
YeeMAI 11.1814 Silii MOM of Mr. Jobe
==4 seekeestms&Padrekeekor. a Ie
mini wen sub as esponaint et spike en the epeekien
eat thodlepete In Yee beebeelling kninee "as may beak
the assessed et the peek* trade sendellene en the sew
sank of Ilteeetnee." Tbre drenkr bre* ikkusted thee
the enkillimeg of tbentremites of • tree trade in books
esekinsvilinterview with Lord thimpbell, Mr. Grote and
Dr. Mi the "arbitrators" mby sainted the opposing
parties, be submitted to residerstion.
Mr. CHAffiLffill DICKENS (who was called upon to net
as cheinnem, and who was very warmly received), said
that's being reins** to take the chair, be had in the
first Wake deelbrd, on the ground that they had met
to disease what wee • bookseller's question, and not an I
author's quirks. Bat eariderstion suggested that he
might on that wiry eseennt be better ynalided to act as
dram % oaths neusently keputl J in a contention
berleare Moist armee a lIIMIIMIOMPII and publishers.
' I (Hear, liser.) He was, on principle, most strongly
opposed 'to any system, in any commercial di-
, meths, of .-elates or restriction. He held that
every man, whatever his calling, must be left
to the fair end bee nerds' of his own honest
thrift and enterprise. Holding that opinion, ha was
ism tonight to make a protest against a particular system
of enthisticei • and ho treated that a satisfactory result
month be WAN& (Cheers.)
LOAM went seed, excusing the absence of the writers,
and erpekekg appewval in the peepers of the meeting,
hem Mr Cl don, Mr. Thomas Carlyle, Mr. John Stuart
Mill, Pregame De Keegan, Mr. Henry Cole, Mr. James
Wilson, Mr.W. J. Fez, Kr. George Combs, Mr. J. M'Cul-
loch Of thie ), Mr.W.E.Gisdstone, Mr. Ro-
bert Membeni, Kr. Rent, Mr. Wm. Weir, Mr. Wm.
Hewitt, Mr. Robert ant, Mr. A. B. Reach, and other
gentimenn.
Mr. JOILN CHAPMAN then rose to make a statement
upiestalleey a the circumstances which had led to the
meethig. end descriptive of the position of the controversy.
He, Wiles Mt place, entered into the reasons which had
indnesd Idle to decline an informal invitation to be present
at the depilation of the Booksellers' Association to Lord
Campbell. Ohre then he had read a letter from Mr. Low,
the seeretny of the Booksellers' Association, informing
him that Levi Campbell and his coadjutors bad fixed a day
for meth* seedurenee, and asking if he could attend.
This we. ke weaken which the present meeting had been
called to deelik The following was the correspondence
which had tare between himself (Mr. Chapman)
and Lord
"142, Strand, April 24, 1152.
"To the Right Honourable Lord Campbell.
"My Lord,—lt is intended to hold a meeting at my
Mme sleet ten days hence, for the promotion of free trade
In beak Bearing in mind the expressed willingness of
your heirdship, Mr. °vote, and the Dean of St. Paul's, to
lea •Is any explanations which I and those who concur
with me may be prepared to offer, and with the understand
Mg that an interview with your lordship will not commit
us to any ulterior course, it is probable that at the meeting
about to take pboe„ a deputation will be appointed to wait
ea your lordshipfor the purpose of stating the views we
eatertalm end to furnish each arguments as we believe will
peeve their eisereetness, in order that your lordship and the
predated with you may be in possession of all
Cdfliernesteasery for the formation of a just opinion
Win ebbing the representatives of the Booksellers' Moo!
elation, who leave bound themselves to abide by your lord-
ship's decision. I shall be glad to know whether, in the
event alma a deputation being appointed, it will be con-
venient to year lordship to favour us with an audienee,
apart from the 'gentlemen who represent the Booksellers'
liseon They have already adduced such evidence as
We? ambler 'sufficient to ensure your lordship's judgment
Amour ; and as we have no desire to enter into a
discussion with them on the subject, a separate
ltdmslew would be more accordant with our views. 1
Malin to write before the meeting above referred to
%bit in order to prevent inconvenience to your loni-
a*, Il that your lordship has already consented to
theeethilitepreentatives of the Booksellers' Association on
Ms Ma el Kay.—l em, my lord, your lordship's obedient
sermeit, • " JOHN Cnarman."
" Stratheden House, April 28, 1152.
" Sir' —I myself would be meet happy—and so I am sure
would the Dean of St. Paul's and Mr. Grote—to confer
with the deputation you mention, upon the terms you
propose. But, instead of your coming to us separately, I
strongly advise you to attend here on the 17th of May. W
appointed that day expressly to afford you an opportunity
of meeting us, and by no means exclusively for the anode-
tier Yon may depend upon it, that from the proposed
arrangement nothing unpleasant to any of the parties eon
001111 f. " I remain, your obedient servant,
" John Chapman, Esq." " C AAAAA LL.
Lord Campbell fully understanding that while his opinion
would be respected, his arbitration:was not to be accepted
ea find or decisive. The "statement" of Mr. Chapman
was, in effect, a reproduction of the documents and argu-
ments with which the math is already familiar. It was
listened to throughout with great interest.
Mr. BABBAGE moved*. ant resolution: "The pin-
elples of free trade hadafp:or been established by ex-
perience as well as by ant, it is the opinion of this
meeting ,that they ought te be applied to books, as to
other articles of ecurneree." The principles el:re-
aligned ha this nest rim be had held all his life,
!VIIMIon to SW ebiegmese of literature as to
_._ROBERT BELL esessebei the resolution. Re re-
garded this indirsee2 as anirdlies question, the sale of
as ingther's t upon the price of
thekoh. lbisrsited • =llll=irthe expression " free
both" twee disteredy need he the resolution. The phrase
might leave some wrong quad-political impressions, and
might deter the alliance of some friends; and, further than
that, he gqairtiesed if competition, properly considered as
oempsWfw k the ordinary commercial sense, would
be mated m applying to the book trade. For
irgessee, be meld not see how Mr. Macaulay's
'Mist ,' * any similar distinctly eminent book, could be
as helm exposed to competition. In the main
in the resolution he entirely agreed.
nealli= tne absolute proprietor of the copy which
he purchased ; and it was obviously his right to sell that
property at whatever price he pleased. Perhaps there
might be unfair underselling, if all restrictions were re-
moved; and this was to be avoided by the publisher dimi-
nishing the margin of allowance between the advertised
and the trade price.
Mr. T. SAUNDERS (bookseller, of Charing-cross), ad-
dressed the meeting. The gist of his observations was that
the Booksellers' Association was proceeding upon the fairest
prbriples of trade, and that the restrictions which were kept
up were necessary for the protection of the dealer. " Free
trade" bad nothing m do with the question.
Mr. GEORGE WILLIS took the same view as Mr.
Saunders, and altogether denied the right of such a meet-
iag to meddle in trade arrangementa.
Mr. SOTHERON followed on the same side • and an
angry discussion arose as to the precise point; at issue.
(An amendment directly opposed to the resolution was
proposed by Mews. Willis and Sahara, and afterwards
withdrawn ; and. supplementary dissuasion was then pro-
voked as to the right of Messrs. flounders, Willis, and So-
thane Wei present Mr. Chapman said the meeting had
been convened foe a specific object, gentlemen holding •
set of opinions only on the question
•Larittalg &peon invited • and he explained that on
banding one of the deciders to Mr. Saunders,
be bed tikes for granted that that gentleman
would not oar to take part in the proceedings. He was
surprised, therefore, that Mr. Saunders and his friends
should have not oily spoken, but moved an amendment
Hesempoe. Mous. Saamises, Willis, and Sotheron offered
is withdraw • but Mr. Chapman banged that they would
not de so; aid the eheisems, with the evident approbation
of tbe ameting, experedi his determination, disientients
bag present, to beer ail that they had to say, and fairly
to pmt whatever peepseitiene they might think fit to make.
The reedatheic efter some they
conversation, was
married k three bands esly being held up against it.
Me. CRAM* MINIMS proposed, and Mr. TOY TAYLOR
Millaislo dreamt Posibilia:— . That the principles (lithe
Meekselisn' Assashathsa en not only opposed to those et
free trade, but ere exinonsly tyrannical and vexatious in
their application, and result in keeping the prices of books
much higher than they would otherwise be, thus restrict.
ing their sale, to the great injury of authors, the public,
and of all connected with literature."
Mr. RUSH (of the Arm of Bickers and Bush) spoke to
the resolution. In his opinion, the association which came
to him to dictate the terms on which he should deal with
his customers might be properly heeded over to the police.
(Laughter.)
The resolution was carried unanimously, the three dis-
sentients ceasing to offer further opposition.
The third resolution, which was carried, was proposed by
Profiteer NRWMAN, and seconded by Professor ANSTED
" This meeting considers the peculiarity of the book trade—.
vie., that the publisher fixes and advertise+ the retail pries
of his publiestions—no valid argument fm the maintenance
of the present restrictive system, and that the leas the office
of promoting the retail ale is centralised in the publisher,
and the more it devolves on the local bookseller, the better
for the commerce of literature."
Professor OWEN proposed the neat resolution—" That
the lade metrictioes,falling as they do with peculiar severity
of
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