The evening times., 1899-09-22
somewhere.
English and American Standards.

4
An English author had not long ago
somewhat curious experience. which he
thinks good illustration of one difference
between American and English standards.
He was commissioned to write a story for
an American magazine, and did so. The
story was rejected because it contained a
reference to a fight between two boys
at school. The editor expressed himself as
much pleased with the tale but said that
he did not dare publish it, because it would
cost him more subscribers than it would
bring in. This set the English writer
thinking, and he came to the conclusion
that there was an important difference
between American and English school life,
since no English editor would have thought
Of objecting to anything of that kind.
careful examination of American
periodicals, especially those intended for
! the young, will go to corroborate this 1t
is one Of the rarest things in the world to
come across a reference to an ordinary
boyish fight in one of these, and If such
amateur pugilism is mentioned at all, it
| is generally in semi-apologetic way.
There are exceptions, but that is the rule
Contrast this with the two English school
boy epics, Tom Brown" and ''Stalky."
Both are full of combativeness, mischief,
! more or less antagonism to masters,
scrapes of all kinds-in a word, of boy
| life.
What is the basis of this difference in
standards? One main cause is undoubt-
edly the fact that women exert so great
an influence in American literature. They
have the control of the family purse when
it comes to luxuries, and it is generally
they who decide what books shall come
! into the family circle. The head of the
house may buy books of all kinds for his
own private library, and the grown-up
children may dip experimentally into any
sort of literature, but when it comes to
the magazine, the mother of the family de-
cides whY it shall be. Thus the maga-
zine editor must be remarkably careful to
weed out anything which might meet her
| disapprovaL His success depends not SO
much on what he puts in as what he
| ignores. And the mothers who will look
with any degree of complacency upon the
| first arguments which their boys have
| with other boys are few and far between
They do exist, but seldom. And they know
what an influence favorite book hero has
on the youthful mind, because they have
had experience. They have, perchance.
rescued the cat or the baby sister from the
experimental performances of Jimmy, who
was playing pirate and needed a victim.
They have come on the scene at critical
moment, when their sons. with other
youngsters OF the neighborhood, were try
ing TO initiate the operations of lynch law
They have reasoned with the sisters of
these boys, when those young maidens
began to read novels and dream dreams.
And they earnestly desire to save them
selves unnecessary trouble in this line.
In spite of all this, however, boys will
fight as long as the young human creature
remains what it is. Perhaps it would be
as we'll to recognize this fact in literature
| 1t would not be desirable to inculcate in
youngsters desire to fight for the sake
| of fighting, but il books could be written
teaching the duty of the strong to protect
the weak. stand up for justice and defend
all that is decent and civilized in life, it
might be good thing both for infant and
4 adult America There must always be
fighting of one kind. or another in the