New-York tribune., 1919-09-13
CHRISTOPHER MORLEY
BART HALEY.

FROM the Author of "Of Duty"
May tell you that Oscar Wilde was
always one of the mems favor;te au-
thors at camp, and it seemed we'll to
include his story of finest merit in
my volume for the reason that our
enlisted men have too little of the best
IN literature in their menu?
Unfortunately the "Dere Mable" and
Casey at the Bat' type of story is
too readily dealt out to our boys, the
minority of whom l find really de-
sire books of finer merit. O. Henrv's
story, "The Furnished Room which
you recommend, would not use in q
BOOK which will perhaps be used in
the army hospital wards as much Cor
more) as elsewhere. 1t seems best
10 include the more cheerful type of
story for this purpose, as the sick
men have little desire for the other.
You wonder why 1 have not included
Irvin Cobb and Charles Van Loan
Inc use of stories by these authors
was denied, though l made every eff
fort to secure them.
The general public seems entirely
unaware Of the splendid books our
enlisted men call for. 1t has never
ceased to be marvel to me to find
even the roughest men asking for the
pest books IN print. War stories are
the least popular with them. My aim
was to furnish collection of the best
authors IN order to lead the men on
to the worthwhile story and away
from the cheaper ones which food the
market. WlLHELMINA HARPER.
This serial pursuit of me by des-
perate Richard Desmond has got to
stop l surrender on all points and
apologize for existing, writing, reading
and thinking. If l don't, shall have
even my vote taken away from me, and
election day is coming near.
When | made my first sighting allu-
sion to Francois Villon as "a great
poet but yellow dog" never dreamed
that | was offending a personal friend
of his. l thought it was safe to pick
on Nillon since he had been dead for
several hundred years.
But, 10 and behold, Mr. Desmond
arose and demanded that The Tribune
quit annoying its readers by printing
my maunderings on 'moyen age psv-
chology" because l was enormously
popular" and therefore could not know
anything, and had doubtless taken my
opinion of Nillon from Stevenson 5
priggish remarks and not from the
clean wind of thought of John Payne
and Stacpoole.
If l am Enormously popular" I
don't know it, and neither does the
enormous populace. | wish it were
true, and I should not consider enor-
nous popularity an enormity. Further
more, it would by no means debar me
from the privilege Of study or argu-
ment.
In answer to my patient alignment
of the facts about Nillon, who is the
real subject of debate, Mr.. Desmond
comes back with a ferocious attack
on me, and swats me with a resounding
bladder all over the place.
1et the fact that he dislikes my
work so intensely has nothing to do
with Vlllon. 1t is no luxury and no
novelty to me to be lambasted in book
renewing columns, yet | know of no.
body on earth who is so bitterly dis
appointed in my work as | am. l am
very nice man, an honest blacksmith
and awfully goodhearted, yet I can't
seem to get on paper what l want to
say as | ought to say it. AS the piper
said, Il blow it in so sweet and it
comes out so sour"
He-Mr. Desmond-speaks of nv
customary genial wrong -headedness. "
1t is something to be genial. Mr.. Des-
mond is not even that And he has
me at a frightful disadvantage. be-
cause when | quote fact about Villon
and he retorts with a contemptuous
opinion of some work of mine cant
vi !
Furthermore, | am utterly bewil-
dered with my inability to understand
his point of view, which seems to be
this: If l express disapproval of Vii
lon for beating prostitute because
she did not bring home a client with
money for Nillon, that action of Vii
Ions becomes at once a sweet and
beautiful deed if Mr. Desmond alleges
that wrote a farce called Excuse
Me or that my novel, The Unpardon
able Sim is "the Justification of life
by art
Excuse Me" was an attempt to por-
tray the peculiarities of American
sleeping-car life realistically and hu-
morously. 1t happened to achieve
financial success and to make multi
tudes of people laugh. | wish to God
could do another one
But wherein does that accidental
success debar me from criticising any
body's literary work?
Arlstophanes wrote number Of
knockabout farces attacking ward
heelers, street preachers. sutfragettes
and others. Yet he criticised Euripides
both as a man and as an author.
Charles Lamb wrote a farce about a
man who tried to conceal the fact that
his real name was "Hogfesh." 1t ran
one night, and he helped the audience
hiss it off the stage
If it had succeeded, would il have
debarred him from commenting on
Shakespeare and other playwrights? -?
Or was it its failure that gave him the
privilege Of literary discussion?
Well, my first dramatic production
ran one night in New York, and have
had some OF the worst failure, in dra-
matte record. Doesn't that convince
Mr.. Desmond that | have the inalien-
able privilege of free speech? is Mr..
Desmond one of those numerous pests
that use the word success" as q
synonym for demerit, and "unpopular-
l-y' as proof Of genius?
Mr.. Desmond won't even permit me
to praise Villon's poetic achievements.
He says that, since Nillon wrote in set
forms, | am idiotic to speak of him as
a marvellous technician" had fool
ishly supposed that the ability TO man
age set forms was one OF the primary
tests OF technic. Even his gospel,
Stacpooe, says that the grand testa-
ment must always live by virtue OF