The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1903-12-06
I no WriterS
of the Sums

augurs well for the charita BILE spirit OF
the times. perhaps il is merely pass
ing fancy and the good people who in
duIge themselves in the writing of such
literature viii leave il with a sigh and
pass on 10 new fields when the popular
taste has been satiated. True il is.
nevertheless. that at TO time in the
history OF book writing has the other
half found such ardent champions as
IL possesses right at the present time.
Within the last month there have APP
peared two more books upon the slums
Jacob a. Riis' Children Of the Tene-
ments" and Jack London's The Peo-
pie Of the Abyss" The former is a coli
lection Of short stories. the latter a
vigorous portrayal OF ugly facts. Both
are good books.
What influence II has been which
has moved so many Of the present-day
writer's 70 champion the cause Of the
hopeless poor IL is hard to determine.
is IL that the old Rousseau idea of the
brotherhood Of man has become rein
csrnate after a hundred years of dor
mant existence, or is IL that the spirit
OF socialism has crept into the channels
OF literature? Is there greater charity
IN the twentieth century peoples than
heretofore? Witness the works of
Richard Whiteing, Sir Walter Besant
and Israel Zangwill in England and of
our own slum champions, Josiah Flynt,
Jacob Riis. Edwin Townsend and the
latest fighter in the ranks. Jack London.
Each OF these writer's viii give a diff
ferent answer 10 the questions.
a.. A~~arsr-rS -r-lno have (a.rofad
their pens 10 the uplifting OF the lot
Of the poor, Jacob Riis is prominently
the leader He is the man who has
not only written things. but has actual
ly done them. Through his twenty-five
years daily contact with the sore spots
Of New York he has gained a knowl-
edge Of the things whereof he writes
such as Is possessed by no other man
who essays the literature OF the slums.
Rfis sees TO the bottom and under
stands better than any one else the
causes. inherent in the poor themselves.
which are responsible for their pitiable
condition.
When this keen-sighted Dane was
first thrown in contact with the sordid
life Of the New York tenements il was
IN the capacity Of a police reporter for
a metropolitan newspaper. He did
not 20 down into the slums with a
fore ordained determination to catch a
hurried glimpse OF the muck and the
reek and then 10 return TO the pure air.
there 70 write tones upon the shocking
lives of the poor. But IL was his daily
duty. the price Of his bread and butter.
which held Riis down 10 the Mulberry
Bend and Mott street year in and year
out until the life about him became
part Of him and its darkest corners
were disclosed to him. Then he began
TO write and to work for these people
whose every life shadow he knew
Riis did not give vent to diatribes
upon the enormities Of the existence
which these people supported; be did
not rush into print with scathing con-
formations OF government in general
and the iniquities which were suffered
as a result OF its pernicious machina-
tons. On the contrary. he wrote little
stories Of real life in the tenements-
stories which reflected conditions as
they were without any comments by
the writer. He gave TO the reading
world truthful transcripts from the
real lives Of real people.
Such a collection Of short tales is his
latest book. THE Children Of the Tene-
ments" Written originally for the
New York Sun, Riis' paper, and for
the Century Magazine, these little
stories are Of q merit well deserving
the distinction OF book covers. Some
are pathetic. some in humorous vein,
but all are told with a simplicity
which impresses the reader first and
above all OF their truth.
Since Jack London has suddenly ven
tured into the field Of slum literature
with The People of the Abyss" he
must naturally be subject 10 a COM
psrison with an acknowledged student
OF the poor such as Riis. Yet so few
points have the two in common that
comparison is almost defied-
London has attacked his subject
with an ak. He is a strong man, a
strong writer; perhaps he could not
approach any subject with whit less
energy than he used in climbing Chill
coOt Pass. But his ardor In attacking
the slums Of the East End of the great
city. his namesake, is so strong as to
color his entire book with very per-
ceptible bias. He evidently knew that
everything was all wrong in London
and he went there TO prove II TO himself
and 10 the world.
Herein lies the great difference be-
tween London, the new writer on the
slUms. and Riis, the man Of years ex-
perience- Earnestly as Mr.. London
may have sought after the truth and
diligently as he may have striven to
get 10 the bottom OF things, he betrays
too ready tendency 10 jump at con-
clusiOns and draw deductions from the
things which ct his theory. Within
the short space OF few months time,
London endeavored TO familiarize him
self with the life to which Riis h.s.J ce-
voted years Of study. Naturally, he
could not know his Whitechapel like
Rfis knows his Bleecker street and
Chatham Square, but with his insult
cient knowledge, London has gone to
the lengths Of making sweeping gener-
alizations upon social questions which
Riis has never voiced.
London approached Whitechapel with
preconceived ideas OF the rights of
man and the duties Of governments,
born Of his earlier socialistic studies.