The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-04-25
WORLD OF LETTERS.

WVNAU WI
A contributor to the Rochester Demo:
crat and Chronicle writes: "Mr. Richard
Harding Davis Is possessed either OF
some ingenious and persistent enemy VINO
deyotes his time TO spreading reports cal
culated to bring Mr.. Davis into contempt.
or of most remarkable capacity for
making an ass Of himself In the ordinary
course OF conversation. Every few weeks
there appears In the public press report
Of some entirely foolish or entirely cad
dish utterance alleged to have fallen from
the set and shaven lips Of Richard, son
Of Rebecca, that makes men yearn to kick
him. Here Is the latest. Mr.. Davis 10
setting forth that he is very tired Of be-
Gallagher He says: That story was
all very well. but 1t has a reportorial curt
ness and capitalization Of expression
about It that l have now scared far be-
yond. Gallagher has the thumb-marks
hack reporter on its pages. want to for
get that part OF my existence. l want to
wipe on the newspaper-shop part OF my
life. l will sacrifice Gallagher and the
that was once that scorned thing-a re-
porter"
I'VE cannot believe that the man who
wrote Gallagher could ever develop into
enough Of fool to be capable Of talking
in that fashion. The story must be con-
sidered as an invention Of the enemy.
and. viewing 1t In that light. one cannot
but admire the fiendish ability with which
1t has been shaped to accomplish Its end.
Every line of 1t casts slur on Mr.. Dasis'
reputation as y critic, as an author, as
gentleman. 1t insinuates that he IL so
utterly incapable Of Judging OF the COM
parative. merits Of literary performances
tk kaS k., a, hnf (lan In har q
best thing. II not the only really good
thing, he ever wrote In his life; that he
knows SO little about style that he regards
capitalization OF expression as fault
that he has come to write SO sloppiiy that
he is no longer capable Of 'crystallization
of expression and. Furthermore. that ne
has Joined himself unto the great army
of snobs and idiots who. because OF their
snobbishness and idiocy., look down upon
reporters who are cads. the average repor,,
what is here attributed to him he has evi-
IDENTIFY adopted the average clu6mah.s
view Of the reporter. than which there Is
only one more ridiculous thing on earth.
For while there are clubmen who are gem
tlemen and clubmen who are cads. just az
there are reporters who are gentlemen anu
reporters who are cads, the average repor-
ter Is better born, better bred and better
educated than the average clubman, a.
everybody who is well acquainted with
both sets perfectly well knows. The one
more ridiculous thing Is the attitude Of the
small literary person. the hack BOOK
reviewer Of the publishers' and book.se!i-
ers' trade-papers and his like, toward the
reporter.
1.-THE true relation of the small uteracy
person toward the reporter may be Illus
trated by the case of that rising young
genius,,' Stephen Crane: He once aspired
to be a reporter. He secured q position
on the city stan Of the New York Tribune
and proved himself unfit to fill II as soon
as he was trusted with an assignment:
of some little importance. He was told
to write up political parade and turned
in a column or two Of slop, Of the chat
ter of a death demon In tree-top' style.
the reading whereof caused Whitelaw
Reid to order the immediate discharge Of
every man on the paper who had had any
Mr.. Crane was forced to take to litera.
ture. The case Of Harding Davis himself
might also furnish u like illustration. Ru-
NOR hath 1t that, as a reporter, except
for an occasional special he was dis
tinctly not worth his salt. Indeed there
are so many such instances nowadays
that an often quoted passage In IIothatr'
might be paraphrased into truth. thus:
Who are the rising young American au.
thors? They are the men who have failed
in newspaper work. 1t Is a well-known
fact that very passable literary persons
can be made from material out Of which
it has been found impossible to mould the
poorest sort Of reporter. And II is easy
to see what would become of most Of
our rising young authors II they were
required as reporters are. to hunt up
something worth writing about before be-
ginning to write. What a host OF budding
geniuses would be relegated to their prop
er sphere Of usefulness. the rear platform
there would be in the quality Of contem-
poraneous American literature, II such a
regulation could be enforced"
1.-THE large preponderance Of foreign
literature in the American market is,"
says the Washington Post. naturally un-
pleasant to American writer's They find
that in spite Of the international copyright
law and the tariff on books the authors OF
Europe. and especially English authors.
tually gaining ground in the. United
States. Vigorous protests against the
alleged injustice Of this state of things
had little or no effect. American, writ
ers are finding 1t impossible TO- dispose
of their products, and not q few Of them
are turning away from literature to gain
a livelihood in less congenial but more
profitable fields. The latest paper on this
subject Is not the product OF an author.
but comes from the well:known publisher.
of letter to the Evening Post. Of that
city Mr.. TAFT discusses Literary matters
In the frankest manner. He refers to the
darkening fortunes Of the native novelist
are darkening he says that last year for
eign authors contributed two-thirds OF
the presentable fiction published in this
country-rciprocally our authors contribu-
ted less than per cent. OF the fiction pub
lished abroad Ten-cent magazines have.
in his opinion, cut right into the heart of
the book trade lessening the demand for
literature In more permanent form. The
newspaper press has, he says. exerted Q
similar influence. and we have no doubt
that this opinion Is correct. Many of the
best novels get their first presentation ia
the reading public through the daily pa-
pers. especially in their Sunday issues.
But the book publishers can get almos!
to bring out II they are willing to pay
the price demanded and received. ,
"Mr. TAFT thinks the American public Ia
too much Influenced by English opinion
London imprimatur,' he says, is omnip-
such conditions the majority Of our do.
mestic publishers do not care to publish
native works, because 1t Is so much easier
and more profitable to handle the foreign
article. Mr.. TAFT thinks the American
writer has as much ability end natural
aptitude as his English competitor. All
that Is needed to insure his success IL
in the opinion Of this generous critic. thai
his countrymen shall regard the novel as
an institution. and give him due enc0ur.
agement. We do not believe that anglo.
mania is an important factor of the situa.
ton. The American people read Steven.
son, Caine. Black. Barrie, Harley and q
host Of other Eng .ish writer's. not because
their works are English. but for q much
better reason. 1t happens to be flood tide
with English anti ebb tide with American
fiction just now But this Is not fixed
condition. Time has already wrough,
wonders In American literature. Prior Il
Irving's day scarcely any American book
was read In England. Now there arc
every library In Great Britain. The griev.