The evening light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1881-1883, 1882-03-18
Saturday, March IS. ~.
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS..

A statement IN the LOnuoh HliiSh
eum that negotiations for copy
right convention between Great Britain
and the United States had been sus-
pended by President Arthur and Mr..
FreInghuysen, is incorrect. The state
of the negotiations is this: The pro-
iect for convention, which had been
approved by the leading publishers
was submitted to Great Britain, and
counter project has been submitted by
Great Britain to the United States.
Both projects are now in the hands OF
the public printer, and as soon as they
can be obtained they will be submitted
to the parties interested, with a view
to concluding negotiations. wash
ington, March -.
international copyright is a ghost
that is never going to be laid. For
nearly half a century the literary men
of England and France have been en-
gagged in fighting down the resistance
of the American government to inter-
national copyright. There is no toun-
dation for international copyright, ex-
excepting in cheek. Our government
heretofore has not fallen into the trap
Of foreign authors, and is not likely to
now. Forty-fve years ago Charles
Dickens hammered at the door OF the
government with persistence which
it was the privilege of Horace Greeley
to admire I'D praise, and which was
worthy of better cause. Had he sue
ceeded in obtaining copyright, taxing
that class of the American people who
could have paid under it an extortlon-
ate price for his books, and denying to
the millions, who could not, the priv
ilege OF reading them, he would nave
died worth a million or two OF dol
lars. and would now be as unknown
to the mass of the American people as
he is to the mass of his own country
men. Only our literary chuckle-heads
would to-day know anything of Dick
ems and his works. But great authors
have as great mercenary instincts as
smaller minds; and are as blind to the
Justice that stays their rapaclty as
,oeaner men. Mr.. Dickens did not
see that there could be no right Of
property in genius, but in the exercise
of it alone. When an author writes a
book it is his, like any other property,
and he does with it what he chooses.
He has no more right to call upon
the government to help HIM dispose of
it than government has to interfere
with his doing so. He has no right to
require government to tax the people
in his behalf, and especially no right to
call upon a foreign government to tax
a foreign people. Mr.. Dickens, blind
ed by interest, could not see that the
American government had no right
to tax the American people tor the
benefit of foreigners; nor that patent
right and copyright are bestowed upon
the American author and inventor fol
the benefit of the American people and
not for their benefit; nor that the
American government has no right to
do any act excepting for the benefit o.
the American people. Patent right
and copyright in America are bountle:
bestowed upon American authors anc
inventors, in order that American au
thors and inventors may increase ant
multiply and the people, who pay the
bounty, be benefited by it. 1t is no
the right of the patentee or author
who has no rights but to be let alone
but is bestowed upon hiNt upon TIT
theory that it is for thei universe