The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1895-09-07
The Profession of Literature In the uni
ted States.

teu StateSs
There is probably no country in the
world where literature Is held in great
er esteem than in America. Many cir
cumstances contribute to this result;
leisure and opportunity for reading and
study are secured by the climatic con-
ditions, which enforce a period of COM
parative idleness in the cities during
the summer heat, and in the country
during the rigors of winter. The isola-
ted life of the well-to-do farmers, the
limited social amenities in the villages
and small towns tend equally to re-
cognition of books as the best of COM
pany; while the natural intelligence
and alertness of the whole people find
an agreeable stimulus in the lighter
forms of literature and promote an
| easy perception of the material advan-
tages to be derived from more serious
application. Thus the soil is well pre-
pared for the American author; he can
appeal to a population of more than
sixty million, almost all able to read,
eager to learn, anxious to be amused
and possessing to an unusual degree
the means of gratifying their tastes.
AT first glance it might be supposed
that with so fair a field 10 work in, the
profession of authorship must be
crowded to excess. But this is not the
case, and the reasons are not hard to
| find.
The immense size of the country and
the high prices of labor and material
| make the production and circulation of
books a much more expensive affair
| than in England, so that the publishers
| are more chary about undertaking
| risks unless a large sale can be- antici-
pated. Many a work which would
readily find a publisher in England if
| 1T We're thought that thousand or
even a few hundred copies could be
sold, would be declined without hesita-
| ton in America, and thus a young au-
thor finds it extremely difficult to get a
! chance of distinguishing himself. Nor
| do the magazines and periodicals,
which pay so important a part in
American literature, afford an easier
introduction to the public, for the vast
scale of their operations necessitates
the utmost vigilance on the part of
| the editors to maintain an enormous
circulation, and with this object the
safest course is to give the public their
| favorite authors at any cost.
The young American author, then,
| finds his career blocked in every direc-
| ton, whether he aspires to be a novel
| list, an essayist or a writer on politics
or science; if he can leap into fame 1t
will be well with him, but the ring
fence he has to surmount is stiff and
forbidding; probably only under stress
of circumstances will he face it, in de-
fault of an opening elsewhere. And
this brings us to the principal cause Of
i emptiness In the ranks Of literature.
1t Is notoriously hard to recruit an
army in prosperous times, when better
Ipaid work Is to be had for the asking;
in the United States, in spite of bad
years, there has been no such pressure
of competition, no such overcrowding
| in more remunerative occupations as
drives men and women in this country
to accept the hard labor and small re-
wards of literary work There is still
an Ell Dorado across the Atlantic for
the man of brains who chooses to en-
ploy them in commerce, manufactures
or finance; every day witnesses some
fresh development of industrial re-
sources, involving boundless possibili-
ties Of wealth and work; what wonder
If literature Is less attractive as g pro-
fession than avocations which breed
millionaires?- London Times.