The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1886-11-24
LITEHANY LABOR.
1t, CompOnsatlous-Tho Cinss Of Literature
Ihat Pays Host.
ny JANIS PARTON.

DG JANIS fANEON'
copyrighted lssG bys, S, McOlur.l
Am asked 10 say a few words concern.
ing tho cou pcnsation Of literary labor.
The subject Ia difficult, because the
merit OF q piece 10 no guide whatever to
its value as murChapdige. A work may
DO sesa immortal worth 30 literature and
have no commercial value or II may have
no merit whatever an literature, while
commanding q great price in the literary
market. A familiar illustration 10 the
"Psrsdise Los'," Of Milton, tho fret copy
right Of which wss sold 10 y publisher for
five pounds. The value Of this poem Is
not capable Of being represented ny any
sum oil money, and 1t has, besides, an I'm
dying pathetic interest as o record Of ex.
tlnct opinion. But, yiswed Hs q piece Of
merchandise, IL has been shown by inves.
tigGtors that the publisher must have been
d bold and onterprisinG man who worked
his mind up TO tho point OF giving twenty
Ave dollars for it.
/ msy cite also the "Ptincipia" Of Sir
Isaac Newton, which We may still pro.
nounCe tho loltiest reach OF The human
understanding. Rut the copyright hos
not now, and never had, any value S. mer.
ChandiBe. lis reputation to-day 10 more
intense and universal than II ever was;
but probably it does not sell thirty copies
per annuIn in the whole civilized world,
and many educated men 1.-Two and die with.
out ever having aeen it.
Yet We can all call to mind interviews
in the Now York papers which a sharp
journalist would have given q thousand
dollars for, II he could not have got them
for lCBs. Value, too, 10 powerfully inilu-
encsd by the public feeling Of tho day.
"Unclo Toms Cabin" giving effective
Impressions to the prevalent feeling just
beyond all previous example. But the
"Fool's IIrEsnd," also, though a vastly in-
ierior work, achieved u striking CONNER
Cial BuCcesa, bgCausO IL expressed q pre-
valOnt feeling alter the war.
Let us, therefore, rule out oil this sub.
ieCt all the literature which VIC 4 truly
Ienominate classic; the literature which
money never inspires and cannot In the
least compensate. There Is o literature
which money alone calls forth and which
money adequately pays for; and this liter
Rture has q right 10 be. ltB production 10
a legitimate aud honorable pursuit. To
use the fine smile Of Goethe in the "In-
dOntute" OF civilian Meiater," there Is o
literature which is like baked bread"
savory and satisfactory Tor q single day,
but, lie adds, : flour cannot be Gown, and
seed corn ought not 10 be ground" The
seed corn Literature Of every age, Greek,
Roman, English, French, German, Amer.
lean, has been produced by men who
were not obliged to work for wages.
You except Shaketpgarep Shakespeare
was tho iartheBt possible from being q
'literary man" He wRS q man OF bust.
ness. In the transaction VI his business
he wanted plays that wOnld fill his thea.
ttO with paying spectators, and lo grAdu-
ally discovered, after many trials, hrpt,
that he could tinker, aud then that he
could write attractive playg himself. !
believe that no masterpiece that has held
undiminiBhed rank for q single century,
was ever written directly for money. For
the "viCar Of Wakefield" and the ODE
gartCd Village" wefO written by an lrish.
man, v hoae easy and Caielttgtemper was
equivalent 10 al estatt,
Passing by, then, the "sOed,cornh az
not ApperlAining 10 our GubiuUt, let uH
Oone 10 our "bAktd bread" the furnish.
Ing Of which to al inGatiRte public has
come 10 be- business 90 extensive and 80
important,
The business IL q thing Of yesterday.
The HtBt man who ever tired 10 1.-Two by
bic pen In America Was Thomas Paine, III
l716, and the fret periodical that ever
compensated writing with nm approach to
~libvfAlity, WIS the Edinburgh RcgieW,
blarted III 1902. But all the facts 90 lar 40.
OumulAled point tO one conclusion, which
ls, that tho secret Of success IN dealing
with this peculiar commodity lies
Ia paying for II; | will not cay paying
literally, but SkilyitUy. There is y myS.
terry bore which only ptlblisheis Of ttaiued
ability know how 10 penetrate. Each
separate writer, each subject, each local.
", has lie law, which iBtppllCablO only 10
that one lnOtAhCB.
II IL conceivable, for an example, that
the editor Of the Forum might like to
have an article from Qieen Victoria, ex.
pFotslVe Of her emotions concerning the
celebration OF tho coming jubilee In com.
memofation Of The fitlsth year Of her
reign. A publisher Of The requisite obi
could GET the article from her II would