The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-04-15
OUR PUBLIC 9
SAYS
DOROTHY
What Is Meant by straightforward Facing of Reali
ties?" Asks Mr.. Whitman-Miss Daviess
Is Optimistic.

II taxes u fresh young country with It's
fresh young ardOr to support what liz
rnest and most serious in literature 80
do not at all assert that there is
u "a woman writer saying such things.
But my experience with different people
ana different countries leads me to think
II not improbable.
Once l travelled in Italy with an aunt
who for years had made a practice of
proclaiining that every American, artis-
tically considered. is n barbarian, and
every Italian filled to overlooking with
art instinct. confess that ! felt "A
malicious satisfaction as l noted her
aggrieved and disillusioned Amusement
as she encountered. ono after another.
garishly colorcd middle class interiors
tquite As bad As anything In the middle
West she so a~bominatcd), sugar candi-
fed talia carvings. hectic modern 1tal-
ian monuments. l bore my aunt no i'll
will, ! yield to no one in my admiration
for the Italian genius at its best. but I
must confess that It did my heart good
to confront her with evidences of the
fact that II takes all kinds OF people
to make up a nation Of any sort, that
tho m majority OF no nation ~ n cul-
tured artistic taste and that there Is
not-and probably never has been
any nation all compact Of art in
stinct."
The complaint OF the artist against
middle class thirst for rosewater 10 not
confined to our country or time. Mat
thew Arnold spent much of his life In
voicinE II, so did Heine. Was there ever
n public OF which the great majority
did not demand cheerful stories no mat
ter how false? Voltaire's inimitable Can
dide with its satiric fling at people who
insisted that this is the best OF all pos
sibls worlds" was an open protest
against a demand for suGary OPP
timism In eighteenth century France
and eighteenth century France. whatever
else It may have been, was certainly not
new or American in any way.
I do not deny that an old. long estab-
lished civilization like that OF England
gives a background to artistic effort
which leads to a great diffusion of that
well bred quality known as "dist!nc-
tion." but that It fosters a more honest
view OF life than a new civil!zation-I
see 10 evidence OF that.
The young English school are making
an honest effort to describe life exactly
as 1t les. All honor to them. l am con-
WINGED that in doing SO they are con-
sciously sacrificing the immense popu-
larity which in every country rewards
those who cater to popular taste. But
have We not in America young writers
Just as honest. Just as sincere? Is there
any sugary optimism in the fresh mintcd.
vivid energy of II. n. webster's The
Real Adventure: Can anybody say that
Villa Sibert Gathers "The SOM of the
Lark" with It's fine strencth and splendid
artistic conviction, was written to cap
ture a public which demands diluted
rosewater?
After all. even though It IL salutary
TO realize the mediocrity Of our popular
taste. our general lack Of critical sense.
the immense circulation OF trash, there
Is no use OF binding ourselves to the
encouraging fact hat with all our short
comings even here in America there is
also a wide public for such good books
as these.
NO. If some Of our young writer's lack
literary honesty and courage. the rea-
son must be that they value these things
less than expensive motor ears and coun-
try houses. They choose what they want.
II Is their affair. The pcciliarities Of the
American reading public has nothing TO
60 with IL. So far as ] IAN see the Amer
lean reading public differs in no way
from any other reading public that ever
existed-except that there is a lot more
Of II.