New-York tribune., 1907-10-20
Gbe Nem'Dork 9ribaars,
SUNDAY. OCTOBER 20. 1907.

protests, printed in the London Times" against
The indecent fiction which has been getting itself
produced. The subject dropped for Il time, but
1t has been vigorously taken up again in the
columns of the London "Bookman" by "A Man
of Letters and it is promised that the Opin-
ions of some leading writers will also soon
printed. 1t is high time that steps were Ianvu
10 bring about effective movement in this
III tier. The merely disgusting novel has been
Il fixing its way at n great rate in England and
Gre signs of effort to acclimate it in
itliS country The new campaign of corruption
rs the more dangerous, tOO inaSmuch as it is
developed with all manner of specious talk
About art. idealsm and what not Flat por-
geography is trcked out with highfalutin about
truth" and the soul" The puppets drawn
In these peStilential books have souls. They
are nothing more nor less than counters manu-
factured for use in the delectable game of win
ming money from the pockets OF the public
The commercial aim OF the business is OF
course, ostentatiousy repudiated by the writer
who is charged with this ignOble motive and
there are always commentators in some quar-
tiers 10 back up the deception with cant about
"fcaressness," artistic veracity" and so on.
There are always buyers for dirty books,
but no matter how wide the popularity
achieved by one of them may be- the bulk OF
mankind never wavers IN its allegiance TO what
Is right and fine We are asked to see some
thing heroic in the messy Intrlgues that are
made SO much OF in the bascr fiction Of the day.
but, as the writer in the "Bookman" asks, in
these feyers and attachments without law,
where does the heroism appearT He continues
thus:
So little Of the human is there despite pre-
tenCe and loud talk in such relations by them
selves that, were it not for the idea OF some
thing forbidden TO which we are constantly
they
be profoundly unintercsting Man is a living
soul, not a bundle of impulses He has n yri5cr
outlook than the animal seeking his mate He
rises TO philosophers he alone Of all beings
known TO US. can lapse into crime. These au-
th"rs whom l cite TO the bar OF public opin-
lon know. as surely as the Puritah whom they
uospse that TO fall deliberately below the high
est and to plead for brute instinct against law.
Is criminal. They cater to ia Bette Humaine"
In the hope OF sharing his spOis.
The answer that the latterday purveyor Of
smart ndecency makes to this argument is
that those who do not like moral anarchy are
prudcs. The rctort is fatuous enough but for
some occult reason it frequently gains a Ger
tain currency. We fear it is because the in
genious claim made by the purveyors afore-
SAID, that they are "in the van," intellectually
ntimidatcs readers who at bottom are on the
side Of the angels, but who imagine that some
thing disastrous will happen to them if they
lag behind the seIf-elected advocates of So
called advanced thought" Let them examine
the credentials of those who call them prudes
and do little thinking for themselves
An interesting contribution IS made TO this
Subject by Madame Longard de Longgarde who
as "Dorothea Gerard" has had much expert
ence in the writing of clean novels. Treating
In THE Nineteenth Century of recent French
fiction, she describes the manner in which it
has been degraded through being served I'D
with what she quotes NJ Adolf Brsson as
contemptuously calling cunning and diabolical
sauces, the spices of the Orient mingled with
the concoctions OF Europe" For while the
"Spicy' noveliStS had a certain vogue but il
Is truthfully observed that "the mass of decent
readers (fOr the mass is decent even in France)
have ended by turning away in deepening dis
gust from the fare provided" What is the
result?
The French novel, once triumphant has fallen
Into mOmentary discredit. The best hope of
raising it to it's former place-so the matter
seems to strike the better class of writer's
lies in Transforming il. Therefore il is that
they elaborate studies and vcntilate questions
The American novelist fortunately does not
need TO seek refuge in a problem in order TO |
keep his pages clean. He can tell story with !
out slipping into the mire Nevertheless both |
writers and readers in this country need to
be on their guard against the poison that |
paradOXicallV. has come he rpiertn3 in tho