New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1906-05-21
PROVISION FOR AUTHORS
Speech of ambassador Reid at ths
LiterqrY Fund Dinner IN London.

AZ the dinner Of the Royal Literary Fund, Of
which Lord Tennyson is president. held IN Londo5
on May 10. the American Ambassador. Whitsla1,
Reid. presided, and spoke as follows:
rise now to attempt the main duty o. mn
position. in proposing the special toast 70 which
you or your predecessors have done honor. a.
successive annual dinners. Tor the last one hIlrs
dreG and fifteen years.
For at least two reasons am a palpable u1laat
| in this position. You Will remember that yo,-,
chairman last year was man Of distinction ar5
authority. the hOnOred Master Of Trinity n ~
admirable speech with which he made that dir
ner memorable he dwelt the practice go
l indeed the duty OF having Prime Ministers -,
cnairmen. lie even referred to possible ehanSs
OF government before the present meeting ~
remarked with precision and emphasis that n
that case the new Prime Minister had his vrori.
/ cut out Tor him--he was % I'LL this chair II h
| therefore only the pFematuTisy OF the COMMIT
tee, entangling itself few weeks too soon ~
% wait year for your Prime Minister Wes1-
} time you viii have 20 put up with me as q gorf
/ OF misht understudy for part that belongs tS
| Sir Henry Campbell Zimmerman.
There is another reason for the ufsft--tho-,
may be a hundred. but I'm going 70 tell Won -
only one more. 7 seems TO be de TigUeur thaE
every chairman should make prompt and u1blS|
| profession OF his undtness and Incompetence -
/ this great position. One hundred and Gffea1
| speeches. made by one hundred and fifteen c6oi-
men. one for each OF the last one hUnd-sI 80
| fifteen annual dinners. all say the same Thin
This statement in spite OF it's n1athematicaI 49,
| pearance. may not after all be mathemaficsiI,
I exact. for / haven't read the whole one huDdrs4
me the favor to send them. But IN the ty-aIv.
or fifteen I did read the chairman saws lust fEsS
ana there - some Old tag or Latin caught some-
where IN the cObwebs OF my memory that seems
to justify my mathematics.-"Ex u1o dioos
oEnneS," which means. being translated for ~
beneht OF those OF you who have forgotten az
your Latin. from twelve or fifteen Won e-|
safely guess as 20 a hundred ana ~
teen" O. z. D.
settled practice have admitted being a r,i1Fr
but viii not proclaim that am unit. Yoi
may find that out for yourselves!
BENJAMIN FRANKLLN's DOUBT.
There is one reason. however. for nv bsir,
here, good English reason; there is a precsdere
for II; in fact there are two or threa ~ t5s-,
Though this society dates back to the canfrrvs
before the last. its very beginning was under
the craftsmanship Of one Of my distinguishe4
predecessors. the first of the long line OF Amer
lean diplomatic representatives in London IA
whom you are always too good. And vet IL can
hardly be said that you were always too good
to him. for he was that agent in London ~
the American Colonies, named Benjamin Franks
I'M whom your Solicitor General OF the day a
Mr.. Wedderburn, once hailed before the Lords
in Council and lectured, as the benignant ola
man stood meezly at the bar, in terms-WeI in
terms almost undiplOmatic!
1t has been said that this first chairman Os
the Royal Literary Fund, IN spite OF his ehair-
purposes or prospects OF the society I would
like to persuade you that his attitude should be
regarded in a different light Let Us not say
that he was unsympathetic but only that he
was incredUlOuS. and mat history has shown he
had some reason. He did not believe much was
going to be done in this way for authors. Now.
however well the experiment NAV since havs
prOSpered here, it IS true that to this day in
FTanklin's own country no provision is made FOR
broken down men OF letters. There is better
provision for broken down bricklayers. As for
what we do for those men OF letters who ara
not broken down, those TO whom only
In debt, perhaps the less said the better.
The first time I ever had the honor TO meet
the late Mr.. Gladstone he asked ne, among a
multiplicity Of other things: What does your
Republic do to reward distinguished public
vices from private citizens?' After some cOgl~
tation 1 was compelled to answer: There are
only three things we can do: IF they live az
the North, we invite them to lecture: II they
live at the South We can call them Colonel OF
General; wherever they live, il they can seS
votes enough, we can send them 20 Congress ana
let them take the consequence
Franklin's estimate Of probabilities then vas
correct as to his country Happily, now"
ever, as 70 this country he was mistaken N
spite Of his forebOdings II does do good deal
for authors. / venture to count 1t lndeed a
chief distinction of the Victorian age that iC
formed the habit Of recognizing the duty OF the
state to acknowledge and reward that spiritual
Service which. after all. IS the highest Ine
Victorian age considered that men OF letters aiS9
served the state-sOme OF them almost as Het
as members OF Parliament II made the ms
uOet of his time Lord TennySOn and 1t MADE u
Dossible for the first actor or his time 70 oe
buried in Westminster Abbey as SIR HssI! -
wing Let US gratefully remember Ior Iea0sIsl-P
In this wise direction OF government TeseLu.
among Others at least two statesmen VINO We
also men Of letterS-Ben1amln DlSTdelh 10y
Peacons0eld and Archibald Primrose, LOro
Rosebery.
REWARDS OF AMERICAN AUTHORS
We have hardly vet reached that stage OF
advancement in my own country which natureAy
brings official recognition by their goVeruillelS
TO artists and men of letters as the cOAsu3nIhSto
flower OF their time and chief ornament OF ths
state. STILL one may say that II ths1t leeu-s @
land they have got on fairly Well II theT w..
without official encouragement from the , 49, 49,
Republic, they have not wholly missed lhs nv.
Ors OF even greater republic tnat repu INC -
letters Of which this society itself IS so lniPyL
tant a member. Some American names VII ~
sure to occur to yOu-MOtley ana FalALl -I-
leading a line Of historians that IS hohOIaD-s
continued even to this day BY Henry AG S
and RhOde1 and many another; win L0i'S SII,Ss
Emerson, Bryant. Poe, Whlttler anu 4- O-S
among the dill majores OF our early days, ~
with younger generation among WhoIi s $500
prominent but alas! young no IoIseI, -o. $3.50
HOWels, Henry James, CRAWFORD, ots1lI I;-1s
William Winter. and a whole army OF NV -
and essayistS, men and WOIren-but uatS $3.50 H
single out names or prolong the ns'. times
government may have seemed TO them 81 49, -
a somewhat harsh faced stepmOtnef' ILo -
titude OF their public men was certainn ~
often that OF the Senator who cOInpiaihe1 ssj,oi
being disturbed while evolving great nat-g ,iI.
policies and even-wOuld you believe II. 100,
choosing agents for their execution by tie 49,
Cisms and suggestions or the daiLllS - found
fellows Nevertheless. their country mas 1 SS
occasion to seek the services and satheL Lrs -ss
laurels from the records OF literary tellI,J.1
like washington Irving IN Spain, NatIiaHI.o-
Hawthorne az Liverpool. George BahctOtSs -
Great Britain and in Germany, JOnn L1 O-4
Motley In Austria and Great BrltalIl, - - a.
Taylor IN Germany, James russ -. IIsrfe m
Spain and Great Britain. and Bret EisAso -
Glasgow. I may, perhaps. make so uI.I - -
say OF that Senator himself. whose Sou We We 49,
VeXed within him by the damned I1eI.e. .S.I-r
lows f" that even his service will not Outwe-s-.
or his fame Outlast that of the youns Hso++r
fellow who was at that moment private seS.oI c-.
TO Abraham Lincoln. whom you knew - s---t
sadOr and whom the world viii lcng refsells.o~,s
as Secretary OF State, the lamented friehH -