New-York tribune., 1891-05-17


Two days Of warm weather lessened the force OF
the epidemic. The English physicians are not
alarmed by it. nor they In doubt about the
treatment Danger seldom arises except from I'M
prudence.
Copyright questions have suddenly taken rather
serious turn; but before dealing with the serious
part, will quote textually letter from Mr. dlad-
stone on the American Copyright Act:
IL am not at present prepared to say what
steps ought to be taken in the state of things
you describe but whether in relation to the In
terest of labor the dignity of authorship, or
! of States regard it highly unsatisfactory
Now. this oracular utterance Is supposed TO
refer to that benefioent section of our act which
makes the manufacture Of foreign book In
America the condition on which the foreigner may
have protection against pirates. Lord Monks
well might have quoted it In his speech to the
Peers of this realm on Monday, but he did not.
He preferred to quote Mr.. GodlIin. 1t is ever
gratifying to the British of American morals
to support his censure by testimony which ne
| can describe more less accurately as American.
1t was gratifying to Lord Monkswel He told
the Lords to find that the most scathing criticism
of the printing provisions of the American act
came from Americans themselves" and then he
adduced Mr. GOdkin, omittng to inform his
audience that Mr. Godkn is an American by adop-
ton and due process OF naturalization Lord
Monkswell, in spite of this little lapse, made a
good speech on copyright in general The Dill
| which he induced the Lords to read a second time
is bill to reduce the copyright chaos TO order, to
codify, simplify, clarity and otherwise to amend
the body Of English statutes on this subject There
are now In force eighteen acts Of Parliament, plus
sundry ill-defned common law rights Here. said
Lord Monlxswell, with pathos, are all the elements
of glorious muddle.- But the Lords, especially
the Law Lords, like muddle, and the Lord Chan
celIor only allowed Lord Monkswells useful bill to
be read second time on condition that it should
not proceed further at the present session.
Lord Monkswells interesting speech was fol-
| lowed by letter to The Times" more interesting
still With the best intentions in the world, he
has raised storm which he may not be able to
still. The point is Of equal interest to us and TO
the English Sir Frederick Pollock said some
thing about it in his now wcllknown article in
The Contemporary Review" Among many
doubtful questions in English copyright law is the
question whether American, in order to obtain
| English copyright need be on English soil at the
time of publication. The best legal opinion is, Sir
Frederick Pollock's included, that he need not be;
but Lord Monksweu admitted the present
state of the law to be uncertain, ana
said, 1T is absolutely necessary that
|
ticular before the lst of July, otherwise English
authors could not take advantage Of the American
| Act" This innocent expression 1t is which has
| brought a storm about Lord Nlonkswelrs head
| filed the breast of the British author with alarm
! and produced second deliverance on the subject
| from the author Of the Copyright bill. lie now
| thinks that he said too much, and urges that
there is no instance In which copyright has been
deemed or held invalid for want of residence
| Lord Monkswell therefore trusts that the Presi-
dent may deem that under the present law the
rights of American citizens are sufficiently safe
guarded, and will therefore give his certificate, as
| the Act requires, that English law sausiles that
reciprocity clause"
This touching appeal deserves the best attention
of the Presidents adyi,eUs. The question is not
entirely one of law, but of law and fact mixed
! Although legal opinion is divided on the
purely legal point the great preponderance is in
| favor of Lord A1onlIswelps contention. Unless
therefore some case can be cited in which English
| copyright has been refused TO an American author
for non residence it may well be held that English
reciprocity is, if not technically complete, prac-
| ticallv sufficient. The act authorizes the issue
OF the Presidents proclamation when he is salts
fed that foreign State grants American copyright
on substantially the same basis as its own cit
izcns.o This England undoubtedly does. Eng
|
books ready for publication are advertised as held
over till July to obtain American copyright. Our
position will not be graceful one if the EXecu-
tive withholds. on technical grounds. what Con
gress has granted on considerations of morality
and public advantage. In a word, it will be
nothing less than O scandal should the American
Copyright Act fail to come into force with refer
ence to England next July.
The proceedings of the Hurlbert case still hang
fire. Miss Evelyns application for new trial
has not been heard. Nobody has yet been pros
ecuted for perjury. Mr.. IIurlbert has not left
the country. The Attorney General asked
! on Thursday in the House Of Commons whether
he had directed intended TO direct the Pubic
Prosecutor to institute criminal proceedings or to
| abstain from insttuting them. The lnnuendO was
pretty obvious, since Sir Richard Webster had Deeh
Mr.. Hurlberts counsel Some perception of the diff
hculty arising out of his dual existence seems now
to have dawned on the AttOrney-General. lie
made answer that, owing to his own connection
with the case, the Public Prosecutor would be
| advised by the Solicitor-Genera He admitted,
however that he himself had in the first instance
| given directions to that sluggish functlonary.
The good faith of Sir Richard is beyond question.
So also is the awlIwardneSs of his present position
Miss Ellen Terry has added 20 her interesting
ations the part of Nance Oldfed in Charles Reades
play Of that name. She played it on Tuesday at
the Lyceum TO a house crowded with her admirers.
who received her performance with rapture. Criti-
cal opinion was however. something short of rap
turous Miss Terry nervous; her memory
at fault and her acting, in scene, slightly
deficient in force and refinement. Tie brilliancy
of it at it's best moments may justify the enthusi-
asm it evoked
Mr.. Irving reproduced the same evening The
Corsoan Brothers." playing the two parts with
some unevenness. Fabien was original, vigorous,
picturesque and Corscan to his finger tips. Louis
was much less impressive. Best Of all was Mr..
Irvng's duel in the last act, with Mr.. Terriss,
fine piece Of swordsmanship, and still finer on Mr..
Irvng's part in the fateful relentlessness of his