New-York tribune., 1921-06-08
DaaL By
ASOOITo Heypood Broun

"For the love of Heaven please lay
off Iowa." writes Joe Dickens. "Every
| time you or the low-blood -pressured
F. P. A. wishes an uncultural state to
pick on you drop down on Iowa. What
ever in the world has the state done to
| you? For one thing it has given you
F. N. Darling, the cartoonist of biggest
vision and keenest humor of the cen
tury. Can't you spend a little time in
Iowa and, seeing it first, speak more
truth plus kindliness? Most all the
persons with extremely definite ideas
| on the Middle West have never been
there. Trusting you are not the same
/ am'----
| We have been in Iowa four times,
but not very long, because Of the
speed of the trains. AS we remember
| it Iowa is green and rolls little.
'rhe houses are mostly white. with
/ green shutters. 1t has big barns and
| little rivers. Usually We can't tell
when we get into Iowa or out of it.
To the unobservant travelling eye it
differs little from Illinois or Ohio or
western Pennsylvania or upstate New
York. We don't pretend to know Iowa
nor did we single it out as an un-
cultural state. Iowa was drawn in
merely as state which magazine
editors often mention to contributors.
These editors, themselves, are not par
ticularly familiar with Iowa, as rule,
but merely use it as a symbol for
place remote from Broadway, a place
representing the national averages and
ideals. Iowa, we suppose, is selected
not rs a backward community. but as
the state which is more like all the
rest of the states than any other.
Anyhow, we met the editor Of Col
lier's the other day, and he says it
isn't true. He contended stoutly that
he and his associates never sought
tales of up from poverty to affuence
from fiction writers. To prove his
point he offered the freedom of the
files. More than that, he asserted that
it has become popular pastime to
blame editors for all the ills of writ.
ing. Every author who turns out a
sleazy piece Of work is fond of excus-
ing himself on the ground that he had
to do it at the order of somebody or
| other.
Probably there is righteousness in
this contention that editors are not
half as bad as apologetic authors
would have US believe. AS matter
OF fact, the utilitarian factor which we
think we detect in American fiction
hes good deal deeper than the al
legged influence of any group of editors.
The fact is that few people like to
write. The amount of material turned
out in this broad land of ours fgco-
graphically speaking, as Don MARQUIS
says). which represents merely the
impulse to have some fun is ever so
lsiight. Americans, generally speaking.
are too serious minded to frivol in
prints Put typewriter in front of al
most any one of us, and you can detect
stiffening of all the muscles. The
material hammered out NAV be
humorous, but here, almost more than
in any other type of composition, the
mark of conscientiousnes will be ali
over it.
System and large scale production
ARE among the handicaps. The daily
syndicated humorous stint is rather
typical OF American business methods.
We often hear it alleged of our favor
ite newspaper humorist, Frank Ward
OMalley, that he wrote witticisms into
some of his stories which were so per-
sonal that they could not possibly ap-
peal to an audience of more than two
Ier three hundred. New Mr.. 0'Malley