The daily critic., 1890-11-03

papers not the magazines that float
the short story into the field of popular
vision
One can forgive the editor Of a great
monthly journal for imagining that his
Judgment is commensurate with the cir
culation Of the literature he insists upon
licking into shape So much is human
but the American situation agrravates
the injury resulting 10 the short story
from this censorship Of the great editors.
When five or six men almost absolutely
control the conscience that goes into the
making Of our short stories, the efficacy
Of genius is reduced almost TO the mini.
mum
When three men hold together
The Kingdoms are less bv three
Some one might suggest that the
newspapers Of America are open to the
short story writer; but this is not so.
Two or three syndicate editors" con-
troll the larger gates of approsch to our
dailics, 20 their shame, be it said, and
here again the one man power Is exerted.
The doors of forty newspapers are
opened and closed to the likes and dis
likes Of one man who absolutely con
trolls the 'stort story market for their
columns. The syndicate editor Is not
10 be blamed he is but man he does
his very best; but what can be expected
of him. His Individual taste and iudg-
ment operate In place Of the taste and
judgment Of forty editors How can
there be much freedom In such state
Of aifairs2 If the syndicate editor
chance to be fond Of Dickled cabbage,
forty newspapers will become the or
gans Of picked cabbage stories. II he
be fond Of prunes. forty newspapers
must swear by prunes
4=#
In my own experience | have had my
name, en- t0Utes bttres, as Jean Jacques
stated Il, to some fairly popular stories
written to the arbitrary dictation Of eii-
tors. One editor, in declining out Of
hand a story Of mine, which has turned
out TO be the most successful scrap
ever wrote, clinched his Judgment by
saying I'VE have had two readers ex.
anime this story. both Of whom decide
that. while It Is dramatically strong, Il
is too much aside from the popular cur
rent TO be available In other words,
II did not happen to hit the taste of an
over. worked woman and an under paid
man. who gauged my story and every
bodys story by what they dreamed was
the current fad in New York City.
Such editorial methods are quite legiti-
mate. ! do not complain, In personal
way, Of them. | speak OF such a matter
here 10 give an authentic peep at the
causes that are effectually operating
against the production of first class dra.
matte short stories In America
There Is almost no production Of
really fine dramatic short stories here,
for the simple reason that there Is al
most no market for them when pro-
duccd. The people want them; they
nose In magazines for them but the
editors will not let them have them.
| must hasten 20 say that this refusal
on the part Of the American editors Is
not a willful movement toward deca.
dtnCe; ID is In fact, but the resultant Of
two forces-the urban influence meet.
ing with the individual influence The
effect upon the short story is to make Il
a cross between a sonnet and a pastoral
done IN dialect prose.
4a
At first II would seem improbable that
this condition Of things Is due indirectly
10 foreign influence; but little scru-
tiny shows that Il ls The English
critics have seen proper to decide that
for a story TO possess the American
ilavor" It must be either a weak reilec.
tion of English thought, or a coarse,
crude, backwoods product Our great
Literary centres" have caught this as II
has been flung across the Atlantic, and
have made Il the prevailing notion.
Hence II Is that. while all of our best
critics admit that the French short story
Is the best that Is written, our magazines
will not publish short stories written on
the French model by Americans. For
example, no American magazine would
print such a story as The Ghost. by
Guy de Mauppassant or one of the
Letters From My VIII, by Alphonse
Daudet, to say nothing Of the far more
dramatic stories by other French au-
thors continually appearing In the
Partisan journals. OF course, l DO not
refer TO stories whose moral tone Is
Objectionable. | make bold 10 say that
if Poe's William Wilson, or his
Fall of the House Of Usher or his
Gold Bug were now first written aud
offered to an American magazine, there
are ten chances TO one that Il would be
declined out Of hand as being sensa-
tiOnsl. And yet. when do We see a story
comparable In value 10 one Of these In
any Of our monthly journals.
-
! believe II IS Lowell who has well
said that the judgment of the many Is
If more value than that Of the few.
For some years, during extensive travel
and intercourse with the American peO-
pie, have made It my pleasure 10 in
quiTe into the preferences Of readers on
the subject Of fiction One thing Is
certain, the literature Of high imagina-
ti0n is what the people want; no one
can doubt Il who COnyeTses With them.
They are sick and tired Of extreme
realism Of the commonplace. They
even read rank sensational stun, when
they would rather have better, but will
not take mere droning character studies
Of uninteresling people on one hand or
dialect yawp on the other.
Who Is the most popular short story
writer in American Shall ] say that Il
Is Bret HaTtet Well then. Bret Harte
has never been a fayoTite Of our maya
zine editors Who Is the most popular
short story writer Of EnglaGdg Is it
Robert Louis Stevens0ns But what
American magazine would print such
stories as bis New Arabian Nights II
offered BY an American short story
writer. There is Rudyari Kiphngi We
al read his uuc0uth bat powerfully
dramatic sketches but Wh0of us would
dare 10 that sort Of thing If he c0ulds