New-York tribune., 1908-01-19

or 4 IllllGF one, III dlttldll wal, nON"i VI III
CuStrial development, science or art has reached
the point where it rivals the novel in the favor
of the public.
Philosophically considered. the vogue Of the
biography to-day is due to that lone touch or
nature which has caused it to be priced il all
ages But it is also trGCeable to developments
in the educational world and in the business of
publishing. The universities are no doubt re-
SponSible for many dull thesis on lfeleSS
points of learning but they have also trained
writer's to take up a biographical task in work
marlike manner That, indeed, is the great gain
which we have to recognize in this matter.
Though the biographies which swarm from the
prpSs may not be works OF genius they are apt
to be accurate and well put together. and, more
and more often, they are made entertaining; the
authors endeayOr to draw a clever portrait, not
simply to pile up quantity of Ill assorted facts
1t is worth noting. by the way, that in this field
women are particularly active and are doing
excellent work. AS for the publishers. they
have risen 10 the occasion with something like
enthusiasm. They that their biographies
are we'll illustrated, they pint and bind them
with dignity, and they make them, on the whole,
inexpensive Authors and publishers would
stem to be having their reward. Our statistical
friend might perhaps prove that specific book
of merit had not brought positive riches to those
responsible for its appearance, but ex-
pects to make a fortune out Of a biography.
The main point is that a competently written
life of an interesting parsonage seems to be sure
of q respectable number Of readers and the
financial return cannot Be contemptihle. II that
were the case we would not be witnessing so
extraordinary an increase in the mass Of bio
graphical literature. The situation as 1t stands
is full Of promise for the multiplication Of really
od books.
Spropos Of the worlds reading there is some
thing rather droll about the fears which are
periodically expressed lest the novelist should
quite break down the contemporary mind. In
a long and solemn letter to THE London Out
look" troubled reader protests against what
he calls '"The Curse Of Modern Fiction" In the
opinion OF this alarmist "the effect on the com
munity Of reading fiction is worse than the eff
feet Of drunkenness" Z ne reason Is thus con-
vincingly set forth: "TTpplng kills or sterilizes
its victims in the end. We can do with large
number Of dead dipsomaniacs but not with a
vast horde of living incompetents whose wills
have been added and whose fancy (not imag-
ination) has been mOrbidly developed by the
incessant reading of novels. The results of a
few decades of this already painfully appar-
ent People are not cOatent to make q life of
their own, good or bad, great or small, and live
it. They take what Genes along and spend their
moral force in dreaming and pretending and
play acting" The outlook is indeed tragic and
we hope that the. novelist Will take to heart
the crushing charges brought against him.
Hitherto he has been blamed for nothing worse
than the enfeeblement of the taste of Il certain
number Of readers, but now, it appears, are
to hold him responsible for practically every
thing that goes wrong with mankind.