New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-03-10
4 CONGRESS- OE AUTHORS.

There is a futter Of pleased anticipation among
the authors Of the West the Congress Of
Authors which rs 10 begin its sessions In Mil
yaukce Wis this morning. 1t Is true
II is 10 be a Congress Of Wisconsin Authors
simply with the cooperation OF seven other
states and II is. therefore, open to the charge
Of provincialism that Mr.. IIamlil Garland has so
often made against the institutions OF the effete
East But DO not: believe that this charge
can be sustained: and. without being In the con-
nsence Of the gentlemen who are getting up the
Congress. We venture TO repe II with indignation.
milwaukee, is a fine city. and has ample hotel
and hail accommodations but everybody knows
tha, even Milwaukee cannot begin 10 hold all
the authors Il the country. The school OF Long
Island Poets alone. OF wnom Bloodgood H. Gutter
is the DISTINGUISHED dean. would pretty nearly
mn the hall IN which the Congress is to be held
Then there are the Central New-fork authors,
whose literary output reaches market through
Batavia junction. y. Y; the Enosburg Vt)
school II County Historians. the Shamoken
1Pcnnl School Of Lyric Poetry, whose most Ia
NOUS singer. The Bard Of shanty Ill.," was so
much talked OF a few years ago. and TO go back
- the bonding West. the Bad Lands School Of
Dakota Poets, the Lake poets OF Northern MIN
rcsoia. and the Chicago River poets of the West
uose that all these gifted opponents Of thoughts
that breathe and words that burn could get
into the biggest hall on the continent? We trow
ROT and until convinced of our mistake. We shall
continue 10 trow not.
NO IL was necessary for the managers or the
Congress to limit It TO one State. and even then
there IL a possibility that the number Of authors
will be too great 70 handle with ease. We may
say I'm passing that some publishers have not
fot.nd II easy to handle even one author; but
that suggests the chronic feud which Is ever
raging between author and publisher. into the
me rlts OF which we will not enter here. As we
were saying. Milwaukee Is going to have a big
and successful Congress OF Authors. differing rom
the American Congress In the fact That II VIII
consist Of only one house which. OF course, will
be upper II, indeed. II Is not upmost. The city
of Milwaukee is proud OF the honor conferred
upon It in being chosen as the place OF meeting;
and yet as THE Sentinel reminds us, MIL
waukee has an interesting experience In such
gatherings for II gave the first big cat show In
the United states. We believe IT has also had
several successful dog shows. With such a
record for cat and dog shows, who shall say that
the Congress of Authors will be failure, far re-
moved though II Will be- from anything suggest
ing a cat and dog show?
as successful as Its projectors hope 1t will be,
and we are sure Its members will not be provin-
cial enough to get mad at a little goodnatured
chatting Ii Is true It will mark no epoch In the
history of literature and those who take part In
II may never reach the topmost niche In the
temple OF fame. But that Is no reason why they
should not write II they desire. and gather
together 10 hear and be heard. This is Il free
country and every citizen who has ever written
anything Is entitled to call himself an author.
Some OF the compositions sent In to Chairman
John Il. Powell can hardly be said to stand on
the plane OF Milton and Shakespeare. In one
poem for instance. the writer describes himself
as sailing down the river Of Friendship" while
at the same time he meets many "barques."
which cheer him along" until he the
lighthouse beyond the bright clearing" when
dear old friends I'm grandeur rise and stand on
the shore, my (hs) fral boat steering. direct to
a hon. In Paradise" Carping critics might OBJ
tectNo the literary form OF this. and are not
sure but that Mr.. Hamlln Garland would con-
denim It for Ito entire lack of rough Western
vigor But II only men AID women OF real
genius were to speak. what a silent world 1t
| would be- These Wisconsin writer's come from
| tie ranks OF the plain people. and in their writ
| ngs they express with more or less grace and
| power the thoughts and aspirations OF the plain
| people whose representatives they are. Instead,
| therefore, OF lamenting because they not
| heaven ordained genIuses. we ought rather to
| rejoice because 30 many average Americans In
| an average American State have enough intelli-
renee and ambition to express their thoughts In
| at least passable prose and verse 1t la well to
| have great literary stars. and our country al
| ready has her share Of them. But II liz az i'm
portant that literary culture should be widely
| diffused possible. and gatherings like this
| Congress do much toward bringing literature
| into close touch with the common people.
| To-day's proceedings in Ottawa will determine