The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1890-04-25
ptAc rlCAL SIZE or FREE ART.

inHS.
The principal reason given for main.
tanning thu present tariff nnon wc.i,n 81
art is contained IN the statement that ra.
dicing tho number Of foreign nict,,.c.
imported will increase the probability Of
sales Of American pictures, ind that the
great number OF French works IN tho
market pushes out the American. Now.
this IL one of those half truths seemingly
plausiblc. but easily an.wcrcd il consid-
cred.
10 begin with. works OF art appeal TO
the aesthetic sense. the educated taste md
mtclicct; they are not. in the ordinnry.
material sense, necessary. Emincntly
necessary TO amy complete OF even mod
cratcly advanced civilization, thoy vet
are not essential to life; they arc moi
good to cat or to wear, and they would
be expensive rs fuel.
Consequently, we cannot legislate the
pictures of any especial nationality into
tho market. by putting an cxorbitant
duty upon foreign brcndstuirs, textiles,
leather, you might in any civilized
country force native bread, clothes.
shoes, upon the most enthusiastic ,dvo-
cate of foreign manufactures, because
fool and wearing apparel must be had.
Nature and climate have settled TINT
question: il is not left to taste. But lot
x DO n foreign painter, Y IN American
painter, a, B, G, d, etc. picture buyers.
Thoy admire tho works Of X and want
them; you put upon them SO high Il d,iLy
that ~, IS. I, ID cannot afford them. Will
they go and buy Us pictures? Not at
all; they do not require them. They will
say, "We will wait q while till wo cnn
afford to pay tho premium Oh KS pic
lures. Meanwhile, as far rs A, Is, T., u
arc concerned, the market lies idle until
eventually tic foreign seller profits by a
still higher price.
Again, by q commercial law, sales Of
pictures breed other sales. Perhaps tho
question may he raised. "Then would not
multiplied sales of foreign works Of art
increase tho passion for foreign pictures
alone, to the prejudice Of native ones?'
This is unlikely; picture buying Is largely
Il fashion. There arc truo lovers Of art
who appreciate ns well as admire, buy
ing the best, because they know tho best
and it gives them most pleasure. 1t is
such buyers who make The continued
creation OF good art possible; bit tho
mass buy because it is tho fashion, A
purchasing one of KS pictures because
B, G and ID have them, and he wishes to
be correct as II collector.
Fashion is, in part at least. a fictitious
thing. and by keeping up the duty on
foreign pictures we deliberately increase
this fashion by enhancing their prestige.
a very simple illustration may be use
full; go into II hattcr's and price two ar
ticles. They look equally good, but are
,,nr1.c,1 90 p,,,1 en- {Il.. ~:
expensive than the otlcr2 tho buyer
asks, and is answered that 1t is n foreign
hat. Immediately, and without realizing
that tho duty is quite enough to make
the difference, lie begins to examine tho
hat to find out why it is tho better. Ito
feels as il it must have some hidden in
trinsic value, because it costs moro. The
fashion for buying l'rencll pictures has
its excellent origin in tho fact that the
splendid contempOrancous french school
has produced most Of tho great modern
masters. But fashion naturally cxug-
Geru'ea tr8l secs eool oily il is own
p|aIEicuiar Ilircclion, and wr AID il bv
kcn2nist the Qn,G#up,
.talc On thc handicap and Sou eIl.
iiaucc che prestige Of native WORK, AMI
prcSusl At nome ~ ..i...y IL needs more
than anything else. Abroad its excel
lcncc is handsomely recognized. Tic
foreign artist can live and produce more
clicaply than the American, but works
Of art cannot be treated upon tho basis
Of simple manufactures - tho greater
must include The less, and the general
prestige and furtlicrancc Of native art is
far more important than any considcra-
ton Of The proportionntc scale of daily
expenses i'll Europe and America.
The second reason given for keeping
| mp n duty is that otherwise cheap rub
Dish would flood our market. This is
easily answered: first, no real artist
coll "etcs with rubbish. and secondly, no
dutyswill keep out cheap rubbish. Such
wol K can float any duty, except an abso-
1utcly prohibitive one, and Il prohibitivo
duty cannot he lcgislnted because, in JUS
ticc, no ono can draw the limo between
pictures which shall be admitted or OK
Guided. 1t is probable that for some tirnc
after tho abolition Of tariff OH works of
art great numbers of foreign pictures
will be imported, including many bad
ones; but rubbish. floated III. will ,i..d its
level. Tho strength of tho purchaser of
foreign pictures is in his buying good
ones; his weakness is in buying bad
ones. Tho more bad ones arc bought the
Don will mere average foreign works
depreciatc, the sooner will tho buyer
weed out his collection, and the good
American and good foreign pictures
meet upon a common ground Of sensible
commercial appreciation.
Zolns Programme.
Tho Paris correspondent Of The Dag
blad of Tho Hague states that Emilio