New-York tribune., 1920-01-31
"The Rolling Stone" Shines
Louis Untermeyer Has
New Plan for Censors

EDITION of "A Book of Blrlesque"
(kncpfo ranges all the way from such
excellent satire as The Artist: A
Drama Without Words" to such pifflino
material as the epgrams in <he chap
ter headed The Cd Subject"
Bachelors have consciences. Mar
ried men have wives" "Husbands never
become gooa; they merely become pro-
scient." He marries best who puts it
OF until it is too late"
If anybody else set forth such banal
lties in book MIR. Mencken would.
without doubt, about "Pish posh," And
Mr.. Mencken would be quite right.
Mr. Louis Untermeyer submits Il plan
which ought to bridge the gap which
seems to be growing between publish
ers and the Society for the Suppression
o. 9roN, wee. ,, N sesard to a recent letter
co 'umns Mr.. Untermeyer writes:
There are two or three questions
which are prompted by the interchange
OF opinions which neither you nor the
secretary of the New York Society for
the Suppression Of Vice has attempted
20 answer.
"'W Would you MI Brainerd was
"skeq @s uana1 an the recent Rres case Of the People
le'he' to young girl of sixteen 2 And
Mr Brainerd's blushng negative was
accepted as confession Of guilt How
Old, then. one i prompted to ask, must
a woman be before she can be entrusted
Wit Made cine? q man? What is the
age lmi. Iot Madam. Bovury'? Jude
the Obscure? 'Memojre o. My Dead
Life? Anna Ksrenina'? We're You
Ever Child? The Psyche .ogy Of the
Unconscious
"Gr1nting the right of the Society
for the Suppression Of Vice to act as
the censorious guardian for the protec-
tion of our delicate moral sense it seems
to ma, .ch quesii rs must be an
swered AZ once Constructively, of
course. mean That it is up to the So
ciety to lay down iaws. and have the
line positively defined. for the youth of
eighteen and the docdcrer Of forty-.ve.
imagine that the average author writes
for an average audience a circle Of
readers whose composite age would be
is manifesty unfair that his product
should be Judged morally or artistical-
ly) by the effect it has on an adoles-
cent. The adult has a right to ask 4or
occasional red meat, even if such food
disagrees with the digestion Of his in
FAINT. How, then can both be satisfied
II am not competent to submit de-
tailed plan. But a nativity chart might
do. if the society would only insist on
is the way it would work You enter q
book store armed with your birth GER
titicate. You are. let me say, young
man Of twenty-tnree. You are met by
a uniformed guard who examines your
CREDENTIALS. takes your temperature and
blood pressure. and conducts you to a
section marked M ales-2o to 25' You
are free to choose anything in this sec
ton, which will include the Henty books
'anh's 'Tales rom S akesreare,' The
Young Naturalist Poems by Felicia
Hernans' and The Boy Allies Series
The next section, 'Males-25 to So Is
carefully partitioned off. and you try to
peer through the chinks in the lattice
at the forbidden titles, and rcvel in the
thought that in only two years you will
be allowed to take your pick Of those
q rather regrettabe blush, what the
female sections ut the other side of the
building reached by separate entrance,
must be like An old customer evil
IDENTIFY belonging to the 'Fathers-60 to
TO- section. brushes by you clutching
pamphlet entitled What a Young
Man Should Know You SEIZE upon
volume enticingly labeled Rough and
Ready and having satisfied the head
II
for uplifting exercise and not merely
for the pursuit OF pleasure, you are
/ allowed TO depart.
This scheme may have It's draw
backs. though should be the last to
admit it. But isnt it far more salts
( fying and methodical procedure than
/ nhazard'y pouncing or q book like
Jurgen,' whose beauty Is Its own ex-
cuse for being stopped? At least we
would know where we are"
"1n the subway to-day" writes Sgd
nov Rodger, II sat opposite young
woman who was reading your book re-
low section, with tears cotrslng down
her cheeks. She was small and help.
)e locking. and I. as the secretary OF
the Society for the Suppression OF mis-
erv and defender Of the weak, cannot
help but feel hostile toward you.
The only satisfactory explanation we
can think Of Is that the incident oc-
cnrred on the Saturday when tho book
department was limited TO q single
uage instead Of the usual two.
ia