The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1916-07-07
union OF AUTHORS
POSSIBILITY OF ORGANIZATION
Is DISCUSSED.
Philadelphia Writer Affects to Treat
the Matter Seriously and Gives
Some Reasons Why 1t Might
Be a Coed Thing.

Those who hold antiquated ideas of
the dignity of authorship who look
upon it as a profession, will doubtless
repel with horror the idea of affiliat-
ing the Authors League of America
with the American Federation of La
Ledger observes. That would be a
confession that authorship is trade.
But why not? Temporal mutantur ct
nos mutamur in ILLS. Space rates,
from the munifcent sums paid to the
Kiplings to the earnings of newspa-
per writer's, have made the pushers
of the pen (or typewriter) laborers for
hire. Should not they be unionized
like other craftsmen? Should not
they have an effective weapon to -four
ism over the heads of editors and pub
fishers? We hear much of the earn
ings of the successful novelist or
playwright. He no longer has his
address in Grub street. He rejoices
in an automobile, yacht, country
place. But that is no reason why he
should evade the debt which Bacon
said every man owed to his profess
soin, or il to modify Franklin's phrase,
should work together lest they starve
separately. 1t is gratifying to find
the great lights of the league willing
to ally themselves together with Mr..
Gompers for the sake of their lesser
brethren.
There has always been difficulty in
making brains a marketable commod-
ity. For one thing there has been
no fixed standard of payment. The
public taste is tickle, as becomes the
arbiter Of the goddess of fortune. The
inventor of best seller may seize
the skirts of happy chance. But how
often genius has to be like virtue, it's
own reward! If there had been an
authors union in Millions day he
would have got more for Paradise
Lost" than G5 down and a conditional
promise of Els more. To be sure,
he had various government appoint
ments that kept him from penury
Other English writer's have been SIM
ilarly fortunate. But the pensioning
of art and literature has never been
a favorite eXpedient with democracy.
American writer's have always had
to depend upon themselves. Do they
not owe it to themselves and to their
families to adjust their lives to a
business basis? Should not man
who writes book be as well protect
ed as man who makes a door? Doc
tor Johnson, writing "Rasselas'' to get
money to bury his mother, knew how
it was:
There mark what fills the scholars life
aSSaii-
Toll, envy. want. the patron and the jail
The distinguished men of letters
who are engineering this union project
show a generous concern for the rank
and file. For union wages mean lev
cling down as well as leveling up.
When the scale is fixed the employer
can neither go over nor go under it,
A novel will cost just so much, no
matter who writes it. Between the
carefully polished sonnet and vers
libre, as between Trojan and Tyrian,
there will be no discrimination. Ed
itors and publishers ought to jump
at the suggestion. If they can no
longer screw down the hack writer
to the limit of his necessities, on the
other hand they will not have to bid
against one another for the services
of the idol of the moment. Decidedly
this unionizing scheme will be good
thing all around. The pen pusher
should push it along.