The morning call., 1894-06-29
OUR HEREDITARY ARISTOCRACY.

| OUR HEEEDIl ARY ARISI IOCRACH.
There is a gentleman at the Palace who
may be regarded as a representative of
American hereditary aristocracy, if we
have any such institution in this country.
His name is Fletcher Harper. and he is
the great-grandson of the great Fletcher
Harper, who made the publishing house
of Harper & Brothers what it is. The
| original house was known as j. & j. Har-
per. Its first published book saw the light
in 1904. 1t was printed on hand press,
| which was worked by James Harper, the
| oldest brother, man of athletic frame.
Very shortly after the two younger broth
ers, Joseph Wesley ana Fletcher, were
taken into the firm, which then assumed
the name it still bears. 1t is, perhaps, no
exsggeration to say that in its ninety years
of life this firm has supplied the American
public with more than half its whole sup
ply Of reading.
At the death of the original four broth
ers the firm was reconstructed by the ad-
mission of a member of each Of the four
families, and as these died or retired levy
was made on the third generation to re-
place them. The young men Of the fourth
generation are now being educated and
trained to succeed in their turn. The firm
has always been run on monarchial priEci-
Piles, the ablest member of each successive
generation being elected to govern regard
less of his age. Thus the first head of the
house was Fletcher Harper. though he was
| the youngest Of the four original brothers.
The second was Joseph Wesley. who
stepped over the heads of his cousins.
The third is the present Harry Harper,
who is a young man, but is admitted by
his kith aud kin to be the abiest man
among them.
The Appletons do not date from as far
back as the Harpers, but they. too, are es-
tablishing a lineage of publishers. The
original Appleton was Daniel Appleton,
who had been dry-gonds dealer in Mas
sachusetts, but removed to New York
seventy years ago to engage in the busi-
ness of boOkselling. He succeeded, and
when he died. his eldest son, William H.,
who had been taken into partnership, con-
tnued the old firm under the same name.
with his four brothers as partners. OF
these, the most popular, and perhaps the
ablest, John A. Appleton. died in 1881;
but William II. still lives. hale veteran
of So and with three brothers, who are all
about 20, conducts the business. They
have a number OF sons who stand ready to
take their places when they retire. The
Appletons have made their reputation
and their fortune by the publication of
scientific works. They are the publishers
Of Spencer, Darwin, Tyndall and Huxley;
the Popular Science Monthly occupies in
science the position which Harper's Maga-l
zine occupies in letters. Two of the most
In 10 lu tha t,io
of their enterprises have been the Ameri-
can Cyclopedia and the Annual Cyclope-
dia.
These dynasties fll the place which ia
foreign countries is occupied by hereditary
nobility. As kings and dukes never die,
but when the breath is out of the body of
one wearer Uf the title a successor in
stantly takes the vacant place, so these
great mercantile firms enjoy perpetual
succession, with a mere change of names
among their members. AHd the firms
have the advantage over the hereditary
nobles that among the latter succession is
governed by primogeniture and direct
descent, whereas among the former the
fittest among many is chosen 20 WELD the
scepter. The result is that the firms grow
stronger with each generation. while the
noble races are apt to grow weaker.
So long as there was no International
copyright treaty the publishing business
in this country was hampered by the in
herent vice of its basis. 1t got its raw
material without paying for it. and its de-
velopment was retarded by this departure
from sound principle. Considering the
activity of the American mad, and the
wide spread of education throughout the
country. it is quite on the cards that if
American letters had been thrown on their
own resources from the first. and the peo-
pie had not been nurtured on foreign food,
we might have had a more virile and a
more truly national literature to-day. 1t is
too late to dep!oTe the past. We have got
treaty which declares that the writer is
no longer an outlaw. 1t now remains to
carry out the treaty carefully. SO that cases
like that of Miss Beatrice Harraden shall
not happen again.