The sun., 1908-01-06

No OpportmIty In u FOR neal Free I'm.
pOFtant Literature.

pOrtant Literature.
To TEE EpIToR or THE sUN-Sir. TIE suny
itself would perhaps be the last to say that
there 10 a chance for real literature In the
United States. or course there Is not. A
people living In New York and writing for
that living. we will all OF us admit that the
magazines control each generation as II rises
up and begins TO write Now. Mr. HOwells
Is a nice, amiable old man who has written In
a been eyed fashion about certain American
things. There ls no doubt that he. man and
artist. ought to be wished a long life by all
those who wish to wish him one. And also.
whatever DOsterIty may want to do about
him wO may be sure Dosterity will do.
whether THR SUNS editorials hand down
advice or not a. to what the future should
read Ia the way Of nctioh concerning the
middle classes OF the United States.
But certainly Mrs. Atherton's e meaning was
not that Mr.. Howells had not written some
good things: certainly she did not assert that
pOsterity shall not read his books. The
ingenious editorial writer. bent upon bouquet
throwing. implied these things
Mrs. Atherton meant what we all mean
when we talk about the Puritanism of this
country. TIE dean OF American literature
simply came along and staked out the narrow
limits In whoh the subsequent scriveners
were to rummage about and write-at least.
Mrs. Atherton personally lays 10 10 the dean.
bOoeAolg
HowelIs. AZ any rate il was somebody; pre-
sumably somebody OF wide enough power to
impress whole circles ana communities. u
was somebody. because the condition exists
and THE SUN knows very well that the con-
dition exists. American writer's do stick in
a narrow field. and do write and rewrite the
same dryasdust stun. Every one OF us who
reads a magazine admits this what's the use
OF arguing about it and writing editorials
about il?
nation OF villagers which must have
George Moore's memoirs expurGated for IL is
a nation that knows its own starched narrow
intellectually free as the French: and every
American that cares to know this fact knows
it.. Would any publisher in this country bring
had written IL? Could a magazine writer turn
out such tales az Maupassant's story OF the
in the % poignant beauty Of patkos, and get Il
printed in an American monthly magazine1
Why. even IA incOnseGuential a narrative as
upon as degrading And certainly Mr..
HowelIs would never have written The Luok
I think this is something nigh Mrs. Ather-
The United States IL the land Of the happy
ending; IL wOrships in its writings a stupend-
ous unimportance. The land OF the free,
freedom Of the press, the words are empty
We are free to swallow literary pudding out
conscious nausea of the good American craw
when to II IL presented such stun as that OF
ISS iIds s BsizaS ana even
Whitman and Poe
There is no doubt that we lose. We are
falsetto eunuchs in a passionate world.
Our young people are trained 70 write via
the magazines, and that is all that need be
said. Even the good red blood Of J. London
is nature faxed at fifteen cents a word Most
Of US are willing to sit and write about Mer-
cedes and her motor; and the rest Of us are
amiably content to read about her. IL we do
not mention her hips we are safe. IL we do
not mention her sOrrows, her tragedies, her
aimless life, we are safe. II we do not take
some deed OF hers and show the bitter, sar-
donic working OF the great law. from cause
to effect, We are safe. We can keep on maxi
ing a living as nice American writer's, and the
mild and happy public will swallow the goodies.
HARRIS MERTON LYON.
NEW YORK. January S.