St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1889-10-26
the EDITORIAL INFLUENCE.

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eputation of Alphonse Daudet and what
ver | write will be taken at my own
rice by the publishers
''That's true" said Sunday editor,
Rulling at very long iron gray mustache,
&E but you must first earn that reputation"
earn it, rejoined the fctionist, learn
#t indeed It's matter of mere accident
pr favoritism."
The editor gazed steadily at the author
for moment, then ia tone indicative of
something like piteous contempt, re-
marked:
swell, l thought you had better sense
4 han to credit such miserable romance as
that Your bump of business must be
depression. Publishing is not a senti-
nentaay amateurish, eleemosynary occu-
patton; it's a bread-and butter, up and
s. down business"
| sis it ? 1t looks like it, l must say"
fetorted the story writer his face growing
+ red Doubtless editors are paid to talk
nonsense of that sort; but I know better,
III don't you see. I've tested the matter "
# 'fOh, you have, have you, and how,
pray?"
Haven't l sent them my very best arti-
lies? And haven't they declined them in
order to make room for Stockton's and Ca
ble's and Stevenson's and James stuff ?"
The editor made no reply, but put his
hands on his sides, swelled up, gave
preliminary snort, and then fell into fit
of uproarious laughter.
ooh, laugh, laugh" sneered the fiction
II list, curling his lip, laugh as much as
you like; but you know it's true"
''True-I should say it is true and quite
proper too. Pick up an editor for a fool,
and you'll drop him very suddenly"
u Eyes, and stamp my foot on him p fair
Il ly>shrieked the furious author. grabbing
his hat and cane and making for the door.
"Look here, now" said the editor,
'tdon't go off in that style; I've little
commission for you"
'tGive it to some favorite. /"
J mo, no, that won't do you are the
a very person"
"But-"
ooh, come, be civil Business is bust
Z ness, and time is precious
n "Well, what is IL" inquired the au
thor, in calmer voice, but yet hesltating,
II with his hand on the knob of the door.
stHave cigar, and we'll talk it over"
said the editor, very benign}y,
Back came the story writer and sat down
with maduro between his lips and 8 fam
ing match in his hand.
ST'Pretty good Cuba filing" suggested
the editor.
"Imported2 p
eyes q present from lchabod Snore
the rising young poet.
s"Umph !"
eyes sent him to the Antilles, you
know, to write me poem of tropical life,
to be called Cancer"
''Umph> p
s'It's pl, Asant to be able to reward and
encourage genius"
at is good of you"
t'No, it's duty. The commission that l
shall offer you is one that, in my opinion,
you are eminently qualified for"
THANK you"
They smoked awhile in silence.
'.It's not hard, and it is a short job, but
| I'll pay you the highest market price"
( 's1hat's very kind
"No, feel that you richly deserve it. +"
The editor arose with his cigar clamped
between his teeth and went to a closet.
: After some little fumbling around he
/ drew forth a pair of muddy boots and said
stBlack them, please"
A convenient veil must be drawn over
the scene that followed, and the whole af-
fair may be treated as fable if the reader
like; but the moral must be respected. 10
my mind the editor did exactly right The
man who sets himself up for an author
and vet has no mo, steommon sense than to
believe that the editor of magazine is in
the conscious habit of buying trash from
favorites and rejecting literature of higher
order from strangers, is low sort OF per-
son intellectually. But there is another
side of the question. Editors are not nee
). essarily infallible, nor are they, in virtue
of their function. even the safest judges
of what is good literature. Judges of ap 3
peliate courts declare the law, but they
do not necessarily correctly declare it. Ed
itors. like other men, are affected, by heir
surroundings.
J Boston editor has his Boston color, he
| views q MS. from the Boston chair and
| with the Boston visual skew The New
York editor is controlled by New York
yogues. and the Chicago editor cannot get
clear of the Influences that are locally the
strongest. [ think could tell with my
ewes shut which one of the three great
cities had nodded the literature OF given
magazine if read to me. The same could
have been said of London and Edinburgh
fifty years ago. So strong is the Partisan
influence that to-day Paris is France in
literature At first glance this may appear
all right but in America we are begin
ming to feel this editorial control as g
tbraI1. It is doing infinite harm. The
editor is right We have the most COM
netent editors in the world; but the lach
of the international copyright is forcing
all our genius to seek the magazines anc
other periodicals as their vehicles of liter
ary utterance. The best writers no Longer
make books they cannot afford it. Here
comes the harm: A strong and origlna
Young genius desires to be heard. Ht
sends his first born MS. to New ork,
Boston, or Chicago editor. Ii is declined
because it is not in sympathy with the edl
tors art notions, or because it is not com
nstible with the local current vogue. Bu
IF the young author turn to the book pub
fishers he will find them too busy with re
prints of foreign books to have any tim
or money to risk on him. The consequence
n i that unless the tyro has brazen fac
sssr and total lack of sensitiveness, he retire
from the fiowery but fruitless field OF lit
arstnre to become something better
Svorsa than q bootblack. Some grea
American humorist may remark that thl
ID the very best thing that could happen
the country and to the aspirant; but ms
torv contradicts the humorists.
The highest and best civilization AWAY
hos had and always will have It's root L
culture, the flower of which is literary ar
II is well enough for US to have some !o
at the expense of S.the exuberant sprlnl
meet. but it is q very serious truth thai III
holds no impulse Of finer influence ina
the poetic sentiment which to-day
.thraafened with extinguishment in Amel
lea. Nor is there greater mls9ake ops
AZ human laundering than that Whlcn on
congress has made regarding the copy
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