New-York tribune., 1919-11-01
A Defense of Immoral Books
Difficulties Of Making Decision on
his Perplexing Matter Set Forth

relationship between art and morals.
Ihey may not have proved that the
two cannot be combined. In fact. al
the present day the Puritan tradition
ls stlli strong, and men like Shaw and
Wells arc just AS intent upon driving
homo moral az Harold Bell Wright.
But. after all. at least a part Of the
secret of effective writing is the frank
expression of that which lies in the
heart of man. The irrcligious may hold
that this Is always high and noble, but
we of the faitn know that man is born
IN sin and that if he sets down what he
actually thinks and feels there will
be IN 1t something of the moral I'M
perfection of Adam.
We have heard II said that before
Luclfcr left Heaven there were no
such things as virtues and vices The
world was equipped with certain
number Of traits which were qualities
without either distinction or shame.
But when Lucifer and the heavenly
hosts driftcd into their eternal war
fare 1t was agreed that each side
should recruit an equal number of
hesc human and, at that time, un-
classified qualities. A coin was tossed
and. whether by fair chance or sharp
miracle. Heaven won
1 choose Ressedness," said the
captain of the Angels. 1t should be
explained that the selection was made
without previous medical examination
and Blessedness seemed at that time
much more robust recruit than he
has since turned out to be. A ten
dencY to fiat foot is always hard to
detect.
Give me Beauty said Lucifcr. And
I rom that day to this the artists of
hn Il
camps-those who wished to achieve
beauty and those who wished to achieve
blessedness. Those who wanted TO
make the world better and those who
We're indifferent to its salvation if they
could only succeed in making il a lit
tie more personable
However, the conflict is not quite a..
simple as that Late In the after
noon when the captain Of the Angels
had picked Unselfshness, and Modera-
ton and Faith and Hope and Absti-
nence and Lucifer had called to his side
frlde and Giuttony and Lust and Anger
and Iactlessness, there remained only
TWO more qualities to be apportioned
TO the contendng sides. One Of them
was Sloth. who was obviously over
weight. and the other was a furtive
httle fellow with his cap down over
his eyes
whats your name" said the cap
,&in of the Angels.
TRUTH stammered the l~le fel-
Speak up" said the captain OF the
Angels so sharply that Lucifcr remon-
strated, saying, Hold on there, Anger's
on my side
Truth" said the little fellow again.
but with The same somewhat indis-
,,b bo.
so puzzling to The world
~ don't understand you" said the
captain Of tho Angels, but II ITS
be- woen YOU and Sloth I'll take chance
with You. Stop at the locker room
and get yoNr harp and halo"
y ow to-day even Lucifer will admit
II You get him in q corner. that Truth
II thc miehtiest warrior Of them all
The only trouble is his tendency to go
\. W. .. J.. Sometimes he can't be
found for centuries. Then he will bob
up unexpectedly, break few heads and
sp away. Nothing can stand against
laa,ch for him. Truth holds every de-
cls'on. But the trouble is that he still
keeps his cap down over his eyes, and
that he still mumbles his words, and
nobody knows him until he is at least
hftY years away and moving fast. At
tnat distance he seems to grow bigger
aud he invariably reaches into his back
pocket and puts on his halo so that
people can recognize him Still, when
he comes along the next time and is
face to face with any man of this
world, the mortal says. "Your face is
familiar but can't seem 20 place
YOU
If there is any librarian in the world
who can prove TO our satisfaction that
he knows Truth when he sees him. then
We think 1T would be splendid thing
TOT nm TO censor not only all the
books Of his own library. but all the
written and spoken words of the world
Failing TO find such librarian, we ad-
wise all lovers of books to continue to
read "Thals' and "The Affairs of An
atol" and The Arabian Nights" and
not TO heed anybody clad in nothing
but authority, when he raises a warn
ing shout, This is an immoral book"