The evening times., 1899-12-11

men who help to shape the thought Of q
people. who give to 1t histories, biogra-
phies, songs. epics, and that subtler form
of history known as fiction. should be re-
warded in full measure. They should be
secured, If possible, against want. and be
enabled to secure their families against
such contingency. Some people have an
idea that an author does better work when
he is not quite sure how he ia to pay his
grocery bill. They draw this conclusion
from the biographies of struggling authors
who, perhaps. lived ON beggarly clerks
salaries while they were giving to the
world books of unmeasured value. But it
should be understood that sometimes good
work is done not because Of hard condi-
tions, but in spite of them. At any rate.
an author is likely during the years in
which he is striving to win recognition to
have hard enough time to last him for
the rest of his life, and the greater. and
more peculiar his genius the more likely
this is to be so. The artistic temperament
in itself furnishes trials enough for any
ordinary man, and no real genius was ever
spoilt by having money or absolutely
crushed by the lack of it. 1t would not
diminish the probability Of a golden age in
literature If some way were arranged by
which successful writer could be relieved
of all anxiety for his own future and that
of his family and most writers are Bo-
hemian enough not to care for much more
than a reasonably comfortable living.
Though good work can sometimes be
done despite poverty, the world will never
know how much it may have lost by con-
demning its poets and novelists to turn
out ''pot-boilers'' for the sake of their
families. Most of Dickens artistic faults
are due to this've thing. Eugene Field.
in our own generation. might have done
twice as much as he did for the delight of
his fellow-countrymen had he not been
obliged to make his living by work which
was in great measure mere routine. Oh
course. thoroughbred horse can pull a
coal cart, but it is not very good economy
to make him do it.
However. the public has some rights in
an authors work, and perpetual copyright
might interfere with some of these. 1t is
desirable that all good literature be put on
the market for as small a price as possi-
Bile, so that people who have but little
money to spend may educate themselves
as widely as possible. 1t seems as if an
extension of the present limitation would
answer air purposes. 1t might be extend
ed to long term-a Boston publisher sug
gests that the term be fifty years, with q
provision for further extension to cover the
lifetime of the author IL he should outlive
the fifty years. This would probably be as
great a concession as anyone could ask,
and it would not interfere seriously with
the rights of the public Under such gen.
eral law most of the best literature in this
country would be outside the copyright
limitations, and after people have read the
literature of their own country from its
beginning to comparatively recent da;e,
they are usually able to select what they
want most from the literature of the cur
rent year; and that is about all which the
average citizen can expect to do The
clerk, the mechanic. and the farmer in this
country cannot own large libraries, but
they can buy some standard books and a
few good magazines. and from time to time
the best of the new books, securing the
reading of other current literature by
means of the town library.