Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-07-01
BAN ON HEROES WHO DRINK
MRS. MARTIN SAYS THE w. c. T.
U. IS REFORMING PUBLISHERS
Heroines of Course Are Included In
Their Ruling, But a Soused Viii
lain Should Be q Good Example.

From the New York sun.
1t is perhaps not generally known that
in these United States OF America there
exists and fourishcs Index Expurga-
tortns that for scope. length, breadth. far
reachingness. allinclusiveness and working
overtime makes q similar institution at
Rome look like a feeble imitation.
Mrs. Emelie d. Martin. who for fifteen
years has been managing and developing
the home product. increasing the power
and adding to the influence thereof and
incidentally acting general press agent.
consented yesterday to answer a few ques-
lions concerning the origin. growth and
present condition of this potent factor in
our civilization.
OF course she isn't pushing it along Just
for her own amusement All she has done
IS under the auspices of the Woman's
Christian Temperance Union.
No, l am not chairman OF the COMMITTEES
on literature and art" she said. Il am
much more than that. The woman's Chris
ton Temperance Union have appointed mo
superintendent of that department for tho
whole United States. Every state. terri.
tory. county and city is SO thoroughly orr
ganized that I can at an instants notice,
put my finger on the work of any commit
tee. l meet my committees. however. only
once a year. I'm convention. Last year they
assembled at Hartford
But what do you do?"
Liquor in Literature.
do? Why. by our influence we arc
having excluded from the public Libraries
books in which the hero and heroine drink
or use tobacco in any form.
But why-"
"Why2 1t is strange that you should
ask such a question. As a man thinks
so he Is The young are influenced by the
books they read. We should be short
sighted. indeed. IL while working with
all our strength against the liquor traffic
We made no effort TO stop the circulation Of
literature which eXalts the Indulgence OF
the very vice which We are trying to stamp
out"
Asked whether all the characters in a
novel that escaped the Index must abstrain
from the use of alcohol and tobacco or
whether these restrictions applied only to
the hero and heroine, she smiled and re-
piled:
Now that is a good question. as It in
wolves point would like to have noticed.
II Vices are mentioned at all In a work OF
fiction we countenance they must belong 10
the villain.
Right here I would like to say that IL
brarlans have informed us that the for
eigners read much higher class of lttera-
ture than do the Americans. This is
doubtedly because in other countries litera-
ture IL censored and the people consequent
ly acquire a taste for the better sort Of
books.
ut is also true that more crime is COM
mitted In New York than anywhere else
But aren't most OF the criminals for
eignersr'
The guardian OF the Index looked puzzled
for moment. then she frightened up:
WELL at any rate. they find the debris
here" she said,
What kind Of debrsr
Why. literary debris. Of course
do you try to influence publishers not to
publish books which aliude highly to drink
ing and smoking?"
TRY to? Why. we have already done 20.
1t Is quite obvious to every thinking per-
son that the tone OF the books that are
brought out Is steadily improving"
What Censor has Done.
The censor of literature went on to ex.
plain that the Influence on publishers"
was obtained In two ways-frst by appeal
ing to them directly. and. secondly. by
training the general public sentiment to de.
mand only the best in the book line.
She and her committees were always we'll
treated and always went away from prom
inent publishers loaded down with promises
regarding the elision of liquor from the
Forthcoming best sellers"
AS for magazine editors. what she said
of them established beyond all doubt the
fact that each and every one of them had
been perfectly lovely. They had all been
the newspapers hadn't been neglected
neglectful. In addition to giving the col
umns and columns of space" seven hum
dred of them had agreed to exclude adver-
tisements of liquor and patent medicines
from their advertising columns.
"a prominent London daily which used to
be called broad and had its pages filled
with advertisements of wines and liquors
has informed that since excluding all
such matter its circulation has doubled"
How about Scott and Dickens and
Didn't their heroes and hero
ines partake Of intoxicants?
THAT is quite a different matter said
the censor with dignity. "A much higher
moral tone pervades the classics than Is
found in the light litera ture OF the day"
But If drinking is countenanced by
George Eliot and Thackeray and Bulwer
bytton, and you don't object to their works
being read, why should the mention of IL
be forbidden 10 Mrs. Humphrey Ward and
Marie Corelli and Laura Jean Libby"
The censor sighed. You don't under
stand" she murmured sadly. However, II
doesn't matter. We are not concerning our
selves about the pas. We are looking to
the future. What is printed is printed II
is for us to see that what Is printed in the
future is above reprOach."