The sun., 1918-08-18

CONRAD WAIPoLE
We name HARRINGTON, MARY S. WATTS
HERGEsHEIMER, ELLEN GLASGOW, EDITH WHARTON,
MARY JOHNSTON, THEODORE DRESSER, OWEN
WsTER, MARY AUSTIN, VILLA S1BERT GATHER 90
Pioneers!, HARRY LEON WILSON (Ruggles Of Bed
Cap, Poole 1.-THE Harbor), EDWARD LUCAS
WHITE (EI Supremo), JAMES BRANCH CABE11,
MARGARET DELAND 1.-THE Iron Woman, GERTRUDE
ATHERToN 1.-THE Conqueror) and might add Mr..
HowE11s if he isn't ruled out by Mr.. BATES. Is
MARK TWAIN barredf
2. Recent American poets Il admit one-AIKEN)
of equal power with MOVES, MAsEFELD or KIP
LING
We name AMY LOWELL, ROBERT Frost (approved
by the celebrated English Mr. GARNETT), EDGAR
LEE MASTERS EDWIN MARKHAM, VAcHEL LINDSAY,
of having skipped somebody.
3. Recent American dramatists fairly compar-
able with SHAW, BARKER, YEATS, SyNGE GREGORY,
DUNsANY, IRVINE, GNswoRTHY.
COP save Ireland, and Ireland will save the
British drama, The correct highbrow thing to do
would be TO answer:
1--WE name PERCY MAcKAyE PERCY MACKAYE,
PERCY MAcKAYE, PERCY MACKAYE, PERCY
MACKAYE, PERCY MACKAYE, PERCY MAcKAYE,
PERCY MACKAYE"
But we don't We don name him for more
than place
We name WILLIAM VAUGHN MOODY, who wrote
The Great Divide, and CLYDE FITCH, who wrote
The City, and EUGENE WALTER, who wrote Paid in
Full, and CHARLES KENYON, who wrote Kindling,
and BAYARD WELLER, who wrote Within the LaW,
and PERCY MACKAYE who wrote The Scarecr0w,
and ALICE BROWN, who wrote Children of Earth,
and GEORGE NJ. CONAN, who wrote Br0ddwdy Jones,
and DAVID BEIAsCo, who never wrote anything,
md 4bo hoy tba or5S
of the Zegfed Follies because there aren' t any.
Secondly-Or Is 1t Thirdly?
Having answered the challenge as well as
we have forgotten a good deal of Who's Who
along with our Greek-we pass on to the consider
alton of other matters in Mr.. BATES S letter.
We are not concerned with Mr.. BATES S patriot
ism, but with the fact that he would teach Ameri-
can school children that American poetry 'seems
almost dead, " and that American fiction is vast
in quantity, declining in quality" and that the
future of America in literature depends entirely
upon thing-its ability to take life seriously,
to care about something besides money making and
money spending, to learn that things are not gods,
that material success is not happiness"
We are concerned because Mr.. BATES would teach
American school children to dcspise American liter
allure by taking refuge in such shameful generali-
ties. When did HAROLD BELL WRIGHT teach that
material success happiness? When did GENE
STRATToN- PoRTERY Mr.. BATES may not like the
authors we name in illustration, but at least he
cannot deny that they are read
If Mr.. BATES s title is eonventionally understood
not to include writings of citizens of the United
States why did he say anything about writings of
citizens of the United States? Why should Amer
lean literature receive incidental treatment?
We are reminded of the last line that always graced
the police reporters story: IAN ambulance was
summoned and the doctor pronounced the
dead"
We are glad that Mr. BATES included a chapter
on the influence of English writer's on American
literature but this is familiar old theme. We
should like some day to see a chapter in book
on the influence of American writer's upon English
writing. We don t believe there is any. We fancy
the situation is about it is in respect of the
plates from which books are printed Plates are
made in the United States with the English spelling
of such words as labor and curb and
wagon" They become ''labour" and ''kerb"
and Wagon. If you ask the publishers why,
they tell you: "Oh, on the other side they won't