NEW ORLEANS STATE Editorial, October 1, 1941

THE SOUTHERN REVIEW for a me years has been a distinguished publication by Louisiana State university, a quarterly devoted to the best literature of the South, and an eager host to offerings from other parts of the country as well. It has not attempted the popular field, in which there is already an elegant sufficiency--to take the kindest attitude--but it has been a constructive force in the world of letters, reflecting credit upon Louisiana's great state university, and upon its editorial staff, which included Cleanth Brooks, Jr., Charles W. Pipkin and Robert Penn Warren, with J.E. Palmer as managing editor.

The articles and authors in the 218-page September issue illustrate the depth of it's messge and the breadth of its reach: Serious articles by Donald Davidson, professor of English in Vanderbilt university, an analysis of the book"Mind of the South;" Joseph Frank, doing graduate work at the University of Wisconsin, "An Economic Basis for Liberal Values;" Rushton Colborn, of the history department of the University of Atlanta, "Historian's Consolation in Philosophy;" Joe Horrell of the English department of University of North Carolina, "Conversion in Poetry;" R. W. Short, assistant professor of English in Sweet Biar College, "The Tower Beyond Tragedy;" Delmore Schwartz, Fellow in English at Harvard University, "The Fiction of William Faulkner;" Carlos Lynes, Jr., instructor in English at Princeton university, "The Problem Form of the Novel;" Theodore Spencer, associate professor of English at Harvard university, "Stephen Hero;" and R. P. Blackmur, "Twelve Poets' fiction by Euda Welty, Jackson, Miss.; Peter Taylor, L.S.U. graduate now serving in the army; J.R. Shuman of the faculty of the Coast Guard Academy, New London, Conn; and poems by Randall Jarrell, instructor in English at the University of Texas; Josephine Miles of California; and C.A. Millspaugh of Mount Carroll, Ill.

Each issue is equally well-rounded. We bring up the subject because of a report that for reasons of economy, the publication may be discontinued.

It is well that LaS.U. study how it can stretch its dollars as far as possible. It is well that city and state governments, in every phase of their operations, do what they can to reduce operating expenses. It is well that every individual in the land cut his cloth to the increasing demands of these times. The government needs money, it needs material, it needs service in the present all-out world-fight for democratic principles.

But it would be a mistake to drop The Southern Review; just as it would be a mistake to close the art galleries and the libraries; just as it would be a mistake not to seek individual enlightenment and inspiration and courage in such appeals to the higher self as the Symphony Orchestra.

No university pays its way, but who would suggest that Louisiana close its institutions of learning? There are some things which, while they are not necessary for the mechanical processes of living, are more important than the things which support life, and more necessary. The app oaches to culture are among them, for this striving is the highway to the better life of the future, it is the foundation of religion itself. The things of the spirit always transcend the things of the flesh.

They are the great realities of life.

The Southern Review is fine in purpose, fine in execution. What though a publication of this kind can not hope for the circulation--and the advertising--of the thrillers which escape from the printing press? There is a large element, an important element, an increasing element which needs mental food of this kind.

If the only purpose of life is to administer laws, support poverty and win a war, there are many things we can cut out, in the interest of economy.

Let there be no weakening in our spiritual lines, no matter what the demands of our material. Our physical and our national life is longer than this war; longer than any war that has ever been fought or can be fought. The greater preparation must be made for life as a whole, not for one of its episodes. We will begin to lose grip on the higher values if we drop such efforts as The Southern Review.

1707 Cloverdale Ave.,
Baton Rouge, La.

Jan. 10, 1942

Dear Dean Stephenson,

The New Orleans representative of *Time* magazine called on me and Warren today to get material on the demise of *The Southern Review*. I do not know whether *Time* will use his story, nor does he, so he tells us. Certainly, neither Warren nor I know what his story will be: he said that his mission here was to interview people, get data, etc. which is to be sent into the *Time* editors. The *Time* editors, it seems, always do the actually writing up, and shaping of, the story themselves.

Since *Time* has the reputation for being one of the sharpest and most acid publications in America in the kind of comments which it often gives, it occurs to me that it might not be a bad idea to write out the facts of the situation, now that they are fresh in my mind, and send them on to you -- just in case my action or Mr. Warren's in giving the interview should ever be questioned.

I think that that possibility is very remote, but I think that I shall write you this letter just the same. The publication of an editorial in the New Orleans *States* protesting against the shutting down of the *Southern Review* a number of weeks ago was, I have been told, laid at our door. We had no knowledge that it was to appear and still do not know what editor wrote it and under what auspices. Remembering this incident, I do not feel that I am being overcautious in deciding to write you this letter. Should *Time* deliver itself of a stinging comment, and should we be charged with "instigating" it, I should

like to know that this account was in your files in the interests of keeping the record straight.

I was told that after I got over to my office this morning that Mr. Kintsev of the New Orleans States wished to see

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to see me. I remembered him from an earlier trip which he made up
here in the summer of 1940 which when he came up to get data for *Time*
on the Hardy Centennial Issue of the *Review* -- data which eventuated
in a very handsome story on the *Review* in *Time* a few weeks later.

Mr. Kintsey indicated that he had seen references to the
impending suspension of the *Review* in the newspapers and had wired
*Time* to ask whether they wished him to check up. He said that he
received in answer a long wire which indicated that they were much
which to be checked
interested and/suggested *unauthorized* a number of facts/and specific
questions
*授权* to be answered.

(I may say that Warren, Palmer, and myself had had and
have had only the following communication with *Time*. [Carbon of letter
enclosed.] This letter is self-explanatory.)

Mr. Kintsey wanted to know whether there was faculty
opposition to the *Review*. I told him that I was hardly the person
to know or say. There may have been -- perhaps still was, but whether
it was trivial or more than trivial I did not know. I did know that
the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences had, two nights before,
voted unanimously in favor of resolutions deploring the loss of the
university publications and urging the administration to explore every
possibility before deciding to let them go. This evidence, in so far
as it went, would argue that there was not any strong faculty opposition.
I indicated also that the rumors which had prompted the
*States* editorial were rumors about which we knew nothing specifically.
Certainly, the reasons given by the administration for withdrawing
the subsidy were considerations of economy.

I indicated that I hoped that he would see General Hodges;

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that Warren and I had discussed each step of our action this fall
with General Hodges and had met with a straight-forward and sympathetic
hearing from him; that I thought that the General felt a genuine
regret for the passing of the Review.

Mr. Kintsey said that he would like to have a statement
from me on the subject of the Review's suspension. I told him that I
would like to think over the matter before giving it. I finally suggest
ed that Palmer and I drive out and pick up Warren who was at his home;
that we would prepare him a joint statement. (It was necessary to drive
to Warren's since he has not yet had a phone installed.) Mr. Kintsey
indicated that he wanted to see a number of people on the campus,
university officials, students, perhaps faculty members. He agreed to
come back by our office for the statement.

Palmer and I drove out to Warren's and explained the situation.
On the way back we talked over the form that our statement ought to
take, and after returning to the office revised it into the following
form:

It is always difficult to put a commercial value upon
intangibles, and the pressure of economy probably always
prejudges the case against intangibles. The Editors of the
Southern Review, as interested parties, are scarcely in a po-
sition to appraise the value of the services rendered by the
magazine to the Louisiana State University. The Budget Com-
mittee of the University has made such an appraisal. But what-
ever the value of the magazine's achievements may have been,
the Editors, as individuals, cannot help but feel that the
ends to which the magazine was dedicated are valid and important
at any time, and may be especially valid and important at the
present time.

When Mr. Kintsey returned for the statement, he indi cated
that he had seen General Hodges, and that he had attempted to see
Dean Frey | whom we had also suggested that he might want to see).
I also mention that we suggested that he
In this connection, m

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might want to talk with you as the representative of the Arts College
and as the Editor of one of the magazines concerned. I don't know
whether or not he got in touch with you.

Mr. Kintsey asked a number of further questions, most of them
factual, having to do with the budget of the *Review*, the foundation
of the *Review*, the sequence of events which led up to our announcement
of its suspension, etc., etc. I shall not attempt to reproduce our
conversation in detail. Suffice it to say, that we attempted to handle
the whole situation with honesty but also with all due circumspection.
To seem to evade questions, most of all to appear unwilling to answer
would certainly suggest furtiveness and a need for secrecy which, of
course, does not exist.

Let me repeat: I think that the possibility that our conduct
will be questioned in this matter is most remote. But, to repeat again,
the fact that the *Time* editors in New York will actually write whatever
story may appear, and second, the known reputation which *Time* has
for the sharp epithet and the ironic phrase, make me want to take
this precaution. *Time's* treatment of I.S.U. in the past ten years
has on occasion been pretty rough and the notices which *Time* has given
the S.R. have been most flattering. I do not (and I am sure, the other
editors do not) want to accept responsibility for whatever *Time* may
decide to say about the University's action in closing the *Review*.

For all these reasons, I would appreciate it if you would
note the date of reception and preserve this letter among your files.

THE H. W. WILSON COMPANY

PUBLISHERS OF INDEXES AND REFERENCE WORKS
950-972 UNIVERSITY AVENUE
NEW YORK, N. Y.

July 7, 1942

Southern Review
Louisiana State University
University, La.

Dear Sirs:

So far we have not received the April issue (7:4) of the *Southern Review* for analyzing and indexing in the *INTERNATIONAL INDEX*.

Will you please send us a copy of this number as soon as possible so that we can bring the indexing of the Review up-to-date?

Your courtesy and cooperation will be greatly appreciated.

JK/HM

Johanna Kramm
Editorial Correspondence

P.S. We understand from a notice in Faxon's Bulletin of Bibliography that your Review suspended publication with the April number. Will you please confirm this so that we can correct our records accordingly.

Editorial Board:

ELLIOTT BLACKISTON
SARGENT COLLIER
ARNOLD GINGRICH
HINDA TEAGUE HILL
SAMUEL G. HOUGHTON
E. PHILLIPS OPPENHEIM
LOWELL THOMAS
BEN AMES WILLIAMS

The Writer

The Pioneer Magazine For Literary Workers

8 ARLINGTON STREET
BOSTON

February 5, 1942

The Southern Review,
Louisiana State University,
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Gentlemen:

We have recently heard that THE SOUTHERN REVIEW was being suspended or discontinued. As we have listed your magazine in our market columns from time to time, we should very much like to know whether or not the report heard is true.

A business reply envelope is enclosed
for your convenience in sending us this information.

FOUNDED IN BOSTON
IN 1887

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It is no exaggeration to say that we could use for more personal
purposes all available time. But we must admit that after
having devoted six years to the Review, we feel ourselves
definitely committed to it. Certainly, there is a sentimental
attachment, and there is the hope that it has been of some
general service.

As we have indicated above, we are appealing to you
informally for advice, and not to you in your capacity as
Secretary of the Guggenheim Foundation. In fact, so far as
we know, such a project as ours falls entirely outside the
field of activity of the Foundation. But we are imposing upon
your good nature to ask whether you think help might be
available elsewhere and whether you can advise us as to the
best procedure. We can understand that your duties are
numerous and pressing, and it is with some sense of embarrassment
that we make our request.

If, before committing yourself to an opinion, you wish
any information about the financial status of the Review or
about its record, we can give you a full statement.

Thank you very much.

October 17, 1941

Mr. Henry Allen Moe
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
551 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York

Dear Mr. Moe:

We are appealing to you for advice in a matter which concerns us deeply and on which we feel your advice would be most helpful. The matter is this: We have reason to believe that the University may have difficulty in continuing to finance the Southern Review, which is now in its seventh year. We are obviously not in a position to predict precisely what will happen. Presumably, the Board of Supervisors will take into account whatever services it feels the Review has rendered the University, but it will have to balance such considerations against other demands made upon it and against what appears to be an increasing pressure for economy. General Hodges, the President of the University, has been very sympathetic toward the Review, and has been quite candid in laying before us the situation which he confronts. We must face, consequently, the very real possibility that the Review may find itself in the future without funds or with funds so seriously curtailed that it will be impossible to carry on a reasonable program.

In fact, under the present conditions of uncertainty it is impossible for us to formulate a general program for the magazine. For instance, the success of the special issue on Thomas Hardy has led us to project a number of such special issues, the second of which, on William Butler Yeats, will appear in December; but such issues may easily take a year or a year and a half to prepare properly, and we cannot with justice to our contributors or subscribers make commitments on a future which is so uncertain. This is only one instance of the general problem before us.

We shall be frank to say that, in one sense, the continuance of the Review is not of strict selfish concern to us. The amount of time and energy which the Review demands has not been, up to the present, compensated for by the relief from other duties which the University has seen fit to grant us. As a matter of fact, as the Review has developed, the manuscript load has become increasingly heavy, and the war, which has brought to an end so many British and Continental magazines, has pushed on to us numerous manuscripts which have sharpened our sense of editorial responsibility. As a result, our private projects of writing and research have suffered. For example, one of us is engaged in finishing a novel which is now overdue; the other of us is a joint editor with David Niven Smith of the Percy Letters; and both of us are trying to find time to fulfill a contract for a text book which is being done in collaboration.

Thank you very much.

HENRY ALLEN MOE

551 FIFTH AVENUE · NEW YORK

October 21, 1941.

Gentlemen!

Which is not meant to be formal but just to address both of you at once.

No advice I can give you can be worth very much. The considerations you state with reference to support from the Louisiana State University, apply also pretty exactly to the foundations at this time. But that is no reason, as I see it, for not asking the foundations and there are only two that I know about which could consider your request. They are with the names and addresses of the persons to whom I suggest you write:

Rockefeller Foundation
Dr. David H. Stevens, Director for the Humanities
49 West 49 Street
New York City

Carnegie Corporation of New York
Dr. Charles Dollard, Assistant to the President
522 Fifth Avenue
New York City

I suggest you try them in that order. There is no formula for presentation. Tell your story in any form to get the facts in a couple of pages, say that that letter is a preliminary inquiry to ask whether or not the Foundation is in a position to consider the matter and if so that you will give details and figures.

Further, remember that no foundation is going to take on the *Review* as a permanent obligation and the more basis you can show for thinking that if the foundation will tie you over an emergency you will be able to float without foundation assistance later on, the better your request will look.

All the best to you and to *The Southern Review*.

Mr. Robert Penn Warren
Mr. Cleanth Brooks, Jr.
THE SOUTHERN REVIEW
University Station
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

M:GK

October 27, 1941

Dr. David H. Stevens
Director for the Humanities
Rockefeller Foundation
49 West 49th Street
New York City

Dear Dr. Stevens:

We are writing you, in our capacity as editors of The Southern Review and after consultation with General Campbell B. Hodges, the President of the Louisiana State University, to make a preliminary inquiry in regard to the possibility of securing from the Rockefeller Foundation help for the magazine during the difficult period which it appears to be facing. We have reason to believe that the University may have difficulty in continuing to finance The Southern Review, which is now in its seventh year. We are not in a position to predict precisely what will happen. Presumably, the Board of Supervisors of the University will take into account whatever services it feels the Review has rendered the University, but it will no doubt balance such considerations against other demands made upon it and against what appears to be an increasing pressure for economy. The President of the University has been very sympathetic toward the Review, and has been quite candid in discussing with us the situation which he confronts. We must consider, consequently, the very real possibility that the Review may find itself in the near future without funds or with funds so seriously curtailed that it will be impossible to carry on a reasonable program.

In fact, under the present conditions of uncertainty, it is impossible for us to formulate a general program for the magazine. For instance, the success of the special issue on Thomas Hardy has led us to project a number of such special issues, the second of which, on William Butler Yeats, will appear in December;

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but such special issues may easily take a year or a year
and a half to prepare properly, and we cannot with
justice to our contributors or subscribers make com-
mitments on a future which is so uncertain. This is
only one instance of the general problem before us.

Even in this preliminary inquiry, we wish to
dissociate quite clearly this appeal from any personal
issues involving us as individuals. We shall be frank
to say that, in one sense, the continuance of the
Review is not of strict selfish concern to any one
of the three editors: that is, the amount of time
and energy which the Review demands has not been, up
to the present, compensated for by the relief from
other duties which the University has been able to
grant us. If the Review should be suspended, we could
all use the extra time in projects which we have laid
down for execution in the next five years. But we must
admit that after having devoted some years to the
Review, we feel a definite attachment to it.

We know, of course, that your decision to aid
the Review would be conditioned, in part at least, by
these two factors: the record of the magazine, and
the general financial situation and budget policy of
the University. In regard to the first, we can provide
you with full information upon request; meanwhile we
are attaching a list of persons to whom we refer you.
In regard to the second, the Foundation will probably
wish to communicate directly with the head of the
University.

Even in this preliminary inquiry, we wish to dissociate
quite clearly this appeal from any personal issues involving
us as individuals. We shall be frank to say that, in one
sense, the continuance of the Review is not of strict
selfish concern to any one of the three editors: that is,
the amount of time and energy which the Review demands has
not been up to the present, compensated for by the relief
from other duties which the University has been able to grant
us. If the Review should be suspended, we could all use the
extra time in projects which we have laid down for execution
in the next five years. But we must admit that after having
devoted some years to the Review, we feel a definite attachment
to it.

We know, of course, that your decision to aid the
Review would be conditioned, in part at least, by two factors:
the record of the magazine, and the general financial situation
and budget policy of the University. In regard to the first,
we can provide you with full information upon request; meanwhile
we are attaching a list of persons to whom we refer you. In
regard to the second, the Foundation will probably wish to
communicate directly with the head of the University.

Enc.
rpw/1s

CARNEGIE CORPORATION

OF NEW YORK
522 FIFTH AVENUE
NEW YORK

ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT

December 3, 1941

Mr. Cleanth Brooks, Jr.
The Southern Review
University Station
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Dear Mr. Brooks:

Your informal inquiry of November 21
was discussed at a staff meeting yesterday.
While all of those present who were familiar
with The Southern Review spoke warmly of it,
the consensus was that the Corporation was not
in a position to be of assistance to you at
this time.

We hope that you will find the necessary
funds elsewhere.

CDgmp

November 27, 1941

Dr. Benjamin B. Kendrick
Department of History and Political Science
The Woman's College
The University of North Carolina
Greensboro, North Carolina

Dear Dr. Kendrick:

Since my return to Baton Rouge I have thought a good
deal about the talk which I was fortunate enough to get
with you in Atlanta, and have discussed the matter with
Brooks and Palmer. Yesterday we had a conference with
President Hodges concerning the fate of the Southern Review.
He is, I feel assured, rather anxious to save the magazine,
but it seems that he does not feel prepared to make an
issue of it with his board if they put on any great pressure.
Certainly, he is now more pessimistic than before. The
board has not yet taken up the matter, but things do seem
to be moving rapidly to a crisis.

We have heard from the Rockefeller people. They say
that their regulations preclude their giving any subsidy to
a journal or magazine. That, of course, settles that. We
have not yet heard from the Carnegie people. We are
writing now to the Rosenwald Foundation, and are using,
as you kindly suggested, your name. In connection with
this we are imposing on your good nature by enclosing here
a little record of the Southern Review--comments from
periodicals and individuals. If you wish any other information
please let us know. Since you have been kind enough to say
that you would support our application to the Rosenwald
Fund, and would think about other possibilities, this
material may be useful.

In regard to the whole question, I wish to reiterate
one thing I said at Atlanta. None of us feels that he has,
in one sense, any personal stake in the Southern Review.
That is, the amount of time and energy required by the
magazine has never been compensated for by such relief from

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other duties as the University has seen fit to give us. And we have constantly sacrificed personal projects to the magazine work. For example, Brooks and I have contracts for two books in collaboration which are now long overdue, and we have individual projects which are hanging fire. I say this simply to indicate that our application for subsidy is not motivated by personal considerations. However, it is only fair to say that after we have put some years of effort into the magazine, we do feel a sentimental attachment to it.

If the magazine is to be discontinued at the end of this volume--that is, with the spring issue--we are inclined to feel that the accoutrement of impending dissolution might appropriately be made in the special Yeats issue, which will appear in December. If we are to judge from the fate of the special issue on Thomas Hardy, which had double the usual circulation and which received a good deal of flattering attention from the press, the use of the Yeats issue for the accoutrement would assure us of more dignified obsequies than would the use of the spring issue, which, naturally, would have to be a sort of miscellany for the odds and ends of manuscript left in the locker.

Note

In the light of this situation, may we ask the privilege of holding your son's paper for a few days longer? We ought to know fairly soon what our chances of survival are.

Many thanks to you. I wish that we could have had a longer and more leisurely conversation at Atlanta. Are you coming this way soon?

Very sincerely yours,

Robert Penn Warren

P. S. *We mention this not to rush you. We are going to use the Winter issue because, in addition to the reason given above, an early announcement might have a beneficial local effect.

Julius Rosenwald Fund

4901 Ellis Avenue
CHICAGO

Edwin R. Embree
President

Will W. Alexander
Vice-President

Dorothy A. Elvidge
Comptroller

M. O. Bousfield, M.D.
Director for Negro Health

Fred G. Wale
Director for Rural Education

William C. Haygood
Director for Fellowships

December 4, 1941

Dear Mr. Warren and Mr. Brooks: I have read your letter of November 27 with a great deal of interest, and with concern over the uncertain future of the *Southern Review*. I only wish there were some way in which the Julius Rosenwald Fund could be of assistance. I am afraid, however, that any sort of subsidy to a periodical would fall completely outside the scope of our work. As of course you know, our resources are limited, and it is the inclination of our Trustees to narrow our activities, rather than to enter into any new fields. Since we have never before made the type of grant you request, I do not see any way in which it could even be considered now.

I am very sorry indeed to have to send you a negative reply, and I hope that some other means will be found for putting the *Southern Review* on a firmer financial basis.

ERE*McK

Mr. Robert Penn Warren
Mr. Cleanth Brooks, Jr.
*The Southern Review*
Louisiana State University
University, Louisiana

The New Republic

Jan 19, 1942

The Southern Review

The current issue of the Southern Review carries a series of essays by various *WRITERS* authors on William Butler Yeats and his work. It is the kind of series that only the quarterly publications can find space for and it gives an admirable idea of the importance these magazines have in our cultural life. So it is with deep regret that one finds this series prefaced by a note from the editors announcing that the next issue will be the last. Apparently the budget committee of Louisiana State University has concluded that current events make a literary quarterly superfluous.

If this is a sign of the times we hold it to be an unfortunate one. Throughout the country weekly magazines and newspapers will inevitably make a similar move in cutting down the space formerly given over to literary discussion; before long we shall find ourselves in the process of being cut off from the bulk of our daily and weekly literary needs. It is then that we shall need the literary quarterlies more than ever. This view has been well supported in a letter to the president of Louisiana State University signed by 231 members of the Modern Language Association. We are happy to join with them in urging the authorities to revise their decision.

THE NEW REPUBLIC

January 19, 1942

The Southern Review

The current issue of the Southern Review carries a series of essays by various authors on William Butler Yeats and his work. It is the kind of series that only the quarterly publications can find space for and it gives an admirable idea of the importance these magazines have in our cultural life. So it is with deep regret that one finds this series prefaced by a note from the editors announcing that the next issue will be the last. Apparently the budget committee of Louisiana State University has concluded that current events make a literary quarterly superfluous.

THE NEW REPUBLIC

January 19, 1942

The Southern Review

The editors of the Southern Review regret to announce
that the magazine will suspend publication with the
spring issue of 1942 unless arrangements now not fore-
seen can be made before that date. The editors wish
to express their appreciation to the Louisiana State
University and the officers of its administration for
the generous support accorded to the Southern Review
during the past seven years, not only in financial
matters but in an understanding of the ends to which
the Review has attempted to dedicate itself. The
editors are confident that the magazine's contributors
and readers will share with them this feeling of
gratitude, but they are also confident that the
contributors and readers will agree with the administration
and with the editors that the pursuit of these ends must,
in times such as these, be the first luxury to go.

The editors of the Southern Review regret to announce that the magazine
will suspend publication with the spring issue of 1942 unless arrangements
now not foreseen can be made before that date. The editors wish to express

to the Louisiana State University and the officers of its administration
their appreciation for the generous support accorded to the Southern

Review during the past seven years, not only in financial matters but in
an understanding of the ends to which the Review has attempted to
be confident
dedicate itself. The editors ensure that the magazine's contributors and
readers will share with them this feeling of gratitude, but they are also
confident that the readers and contributors will agree with the administration
of the Louisiana State University and with the editors that the pursuit
these
of such ends must, in times such as these, be the first luxury to go.

It is always difficult to put a commercial value upon intangibles, and the pressure for economy probably always prejudices the case against intangibles. The Editors of the Southern Review, as interested parties, are scarcely in a position to appraise the value of the services rendered by the magazine to the Louisiana

The duty of making such an appraisal has fallen upon the Budget Committee of the University, but whatever the value of the magazine's achievements may have been, the Editors, as individuals, cannot help but feel that the ends to which the magazine was dedicated are valid and important at any time, and, perhaps, especially at the present time.

It is always difficult to put a commercial value upon intangibles, and the pressure for economy probably always prejudices the case against intangibles. The Editors of *The Southern Review*, as interested parties, are scarcely in a position to appraise the value of the services rendered by the magazine to the Louisiana State University. The Budget Committee of the University has made such an appraisal. But whatever the value of the magazine's achievements may have been, the Editors, as individuals, cannot help but feel that the ends to which the magazine was dedicated are valid and important at any time, and may be especially valid and important at the present time.

extent upon their writing for income, this would not
apply. The best that can be hoped for in this
connection, is the situation which already prevails;
that is, certain writers are willing to have their
work appear in the Southern Review instead of seeking
higher prices elsewhere. (See Porter case and
Welty case.)

5. Reducing basic expenses. The editors cannot see how any economy whatsoever could be effected in this bracket. As far as evidence can be gathered, the Southern Review already operates on less than any of its competitors. Furthermore, even if the size of the magazine were reduced, the manuscript load and the correspondence would remain the same.

Economy:

1. Reducing number of pages. Page cost is approximately $6.50. To reduce sixteen pages (one form) would not radically alter the maga ine, perhaps, but would save only $500 per year. To cut further would, we feel, definitely alter the magazine, for the following reasons: (1) It would completely disorganize the fiction policy, for the Southern Review has emphasized this field far more than any of its competitors (See O'Brien year books of the short story, O. Henry Memorial collections, and number of reprints from the Southern Review in various forms.) (2) If it did not wreck fiction policy, it would change policy in regard to the "long" review, which is really a discussion and not a mere commentary (See Matthiessen letter.)

2. Raising price of magazine. Editors candidly think that this policy would not increase net income, and would definitely reduce number of subscribers. The editors, however, will be glad to make the experiment if the administration feels that they should. (See prices of competing reviews, however.) Editors do intend, in any case, to raise price of individual issues from $.75 to $1.00.

3. The editors plan production of more special issues, which, in the one case tried, have raised sales very considerable. (The special Thomas Hardy issue has had to be reprinted to give adequate reserve, and is still moving. Originally 2000 copies, 600 above usual printing, were prepared, and a reprint of 500 was made later. Of this reprint only 390 remain, and these are selling steadily. The winter number, 1941, is to be a special Yeats issue, and other special issues are to be announced. We are already receiving special orders for the Yeats issue, which is selling at $1.00.

4. Reducing pay to contributors. The present rate is 12 cents a word for prose, and 35 cents a line for verse. This rate competes with other reviews (See rate sheet). Small economies might be made without putting the Southern Review to a great disadvantage, but the amount saved would not be substantial. For instance, if the page rate were cut from $6.50 to $6.00, we might save approximately $400 a year. It has been suggested that the prestige of the Southern Review is such that many writers might be willing to contribute for a very low rate or for nothing; this might be true of certain writers who have sources of income from activities other than their writing and of very young writers who have no established reputations; but for truly professional writers, who depend to a considerable

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extent upon their writing for income, this would not apply. The best that can be hoped for in this connection, is the situation which already prevails; that is, certain writers are willing to have their work appear in the Southern Review instead of seeking higher prices elsewhere. (See Porter's case and Welty case.)

Economy:

1. Economies which will not radically alter nature and function of them magazine:

a. Reducing number of pages. Page cost is approximately 9.50. To reduce sixteen pages (one form) would not radically alter the magazine, perhaps, but would save only $500 per year. To cut further would, we feel definitely alter the magazine, for the following reasons:(1) It would completely disorganize the fiction policy, for the SR has emphasized this field far more than any of its competitors (See O'Brien year books of the short story, O. Harry Memorial collections, and number of reprints from SR in various forms). (2) If it did not wreck fiction policy, it would change policy in regard to the "long" review, which is really a discussion and not a mere commentary (See Matthissen letter).

b. Raising price of magazine. Editors candidly think that this policy would not increase net income, and would definitely reduce number of subscribers. The editors, however, will be glad to make the experiment if the administration feels that they should. (See prices of competing reviews, however.) Editors do intend, in any case, to raise price of individual issues from .75 to $1.00.

c. Editors plan production of more special issues, which, in the one case tried, have raised sales very considerably. (The special Thomas Hardy issue has had to be reprinted to give adequate reserve, and is still moving. In the future, some of the money gained from sales of the magazine should be used to prepare and publish a number of other special issues.)

d. Reducing pay to contributors. The present rate is 1½ cents a word for prose, and 35 cents a line for verse. This rate competes with other reviews (See rate sheet). Small economies might be made without putting the SR to a great disadvantage, but the amount saved would not be substantial. For instance, if the page rate were cut from $6.50 to $6.00, we might save, approximately $400 a year. It has been suggested that the prestige of the SR is such that many writers might be willing to contribute for a very low rate or for nothing; this might be true of certain writers who have sources of income from sources other than their writing and of very young writers who have no established reputations; but for truly professional writers, who depend to a considerable extent upon their writing for income, this would not apply. The best that can be hoped for in this connection, is the situation which already prevails; that is, certain writers are willing to have their work appear in the SR instead of seeking higher prices elsewhere. (See Porter

In asking that the Budget Committee reconsider its recommendation on The
Southern Review, the editors would like to make *two* general points:

(1) The editors would like to reduce their original budget request by $750. This, it is felt, can be accomplished by the elimination of one printer's form, a reduction which would probably not seriously impair the program of the magazine.

(2) The editors feel justified in reopening the question of the value of The Southern Review to the University, for they are fully aware of how difficult it is to assess such a contribution, a contribution which by its very nature cannot be easily expressed in tangible terms. This contribution to the University may be said to be two-fold. First, the Review has gained favorable publicity for the University and has helped to offset the extremely unfavorable publicity which the University has received. Thus far as possible, on this point we are offered some typical notices:

copy in all marked (1)

Second, the Review has gained recognition for the University as a center of intellectual activity. On this point are offered some typical notices which do not make reference to the unlikely background from which the magazine arises.

copy in all marked (2)

(3) The editors observe in the memorandum sent by the Committee the following statement: " The Committee does not feel that the University can continue to support so heavily an activity which relatively reaches so small a number of people regardless of the fact that the Committee is fully cognizant of the high standing of this magazine in literary circles. " The editors wish to all the attention of the Committee to the fact that the influence of the magazine is not to be determined by the number of subscriptions. A substantial

percentage of the circulation of the magazine is with libraries, and the editors have received a good deal of evidence to indicate how heavily such copies are read. For instance, one library has a triple subscription, by one correspondent and it has been reported from A Harvard that the copy of the magazine was worn out before he had the opportunity of using it. This is very probable. A second point may be made in this connection: it concerns the character of the audience which the Review reaches. It is an audience which is vocal and influential. It reaching such an audience, the Review, it may be maintained, does not merely render a service to the University but also renders it a worthy contribution to society at large.

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Time; June 10, 1940:

...And they prove, if any proof was necessary, that there exists in the U.S. a national community of scholars and artists, alive to their own time and country, and capable of preserving the traditions of the West.

More exacting than the Yale Review, less staid than the Virginia Quarterly, richer than Ohio's new Kenyon Review, the Southern Review has applied no standards save excellence, has been subject to no political pressure whatever...

June 2. was the 100th birthday of the English novelist Thomas Hardy. Neither in the little old town of Dorchester, where he lived, worked and died, nor in London, where his ashes rest in Westminster Abbey, was this anniversary marked so impressively as it was in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. There *The Southern Review* solidest and most accomplished of U.S. literary quarterlies, devoted its summer issue entirely to essays on the work of Thomas Hardy.

*Etudes Anglaises; April-June, 1938:*

Cette revue continue à être aussi soignée dans sa présentation
que dans son contenu, et l'une des plus litteraires des Etats-
Unis.

*The English Journal* (College Edition); January, 1939:

...the Southern Review of Baton Rouge, at the moment the foremost critical journal in the United States.

*The Criterion* (London), Spring, 1938

The Southern Review is published by the Louisiana State
University...Already the best literary periodical of all the
American publications...

*Writer's Digest; November, 1935:*

In Harper's, Scribner's, Southern Review we find today
the best writing.

*Poetry: A Magazine of Verse; April, 1936:*

...an object lesson to other journals advocating social
or literary causes (including the *Review*'s direct opponents,
who have yet to produce an organ a shade as good), and likewise
should shed light on the defects which have brought quarterlies
like the *Yale Review* and the *Virginia Quarterly* to miss their
serious opportunities.

In asking that the Budget Committee reconsider its
recommendation on The Southern Review, the editors would like
to make three general points:

(2) The editors feel justified in re opening the question of
the value of The Southern Review to the University, for they
are fully aware of how difficult it is to assess fully such
a contribution, a contribution which by its very nature
cannot be easily expressed in tangible terms. This contribution
to the University may be said to be two-fold. First, the
Review has helped to offset the extremely unfavorable publicity
which the University has received. On this point are offered
some typical notices:

Montgomery, Alabama, Advertiser; July 26, 1935:

...those Southerners who appreciate good literature will
soon forget that it emanates from a college which bears the
stained fingerprints of Huey P. Long.

Norfolk, Virginia, Virginia-Pilot; August 2, 1935:

The most curious thing about The Southern Review, the most
recent addition to the list of serious quarterlies published in
the South, is that it should come out of what is popularly
believed to be Huey Long's university. Louisiana State University
is obviously Huey's so far as the football team is concerned,
and the band, and the student newspaper; and it seems, after a
recent episode, to be Huey's in administration. It has appeared
to be his in its new financial development. But there is a catch
in this theory. The new Journal of Southern History, which
was born on its campus, has no greater spiritual affinity with

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Huey than Thomas Jefferson with Thomas Heflin. And now *The Southern Review* CONFIRMS THE SUGGESTION THAT LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY HAS SCHOLARS OF ENERGY, INITIATIVE, IDEAS, AND INDEPENDENCE.

New York *Times*, August 6, 1935; John Chamberlain in "Books of the Times," reviewing John L. Spivak's *America Faces the Barricades*:

> When Huey didn't like the way the football team at Louisiana State was being run, he made things hot for the head coach, Howard Jones. It is all the more amazing, therefore, to find an extremely liberal magazine in *The Southern Review*.

*The New Republic*, August 10, 1935

Here is a magazine, published at Louisiana State University, with funds made available by Huey Long, that promises to become one of the distinguished publications of this country. (It may be hard to believe, but it's true.)

*Yale Review*, Autumn, 1939

...*The Southern Review*--a Baton Rouge offset to James Monroe Smith.

*Highschool* (National secondary education journal); Feb. 8, 1936:

*The Southern Review*, published by Louisiana State University, IS AN ELOQUENT REPLY TO THOSE WHO THINK OF THE COTTON COUNTRY AS A MORASS OF ILLITERACY. It is a scholarly and literary quarterly that stands to the fore of its contemporaries with its concern for democratic culture.

*Poetry: A Magazine of Verse*, April, 1936:

> It is a matter for general congratulation that this gloom has been relieved by *The Southern Review*, and a cause for special rejoicing that relief has come, not in the form of such feeble compromises with popularity as are usually put up in luring public support, BUT THROUGH A QUARTERLY OF UNQUESTIONABLE INTEGRITY IN ITS EDITORIAL AND LITERARY AIMS... This fear may be greatly reduced, and even eliminated, if one keeps an eye on the object, for the *Review* has announced and maintained a distinction that immediately makes it superior to political affiliations...

Second, the Review has gained recognition for the University as a center of intellectual activity. On this point are offered some typical notices which do not make reference to the unlikely background from which the magazine arises:

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Time; June 10, 1940:

June 2 was the 100th birthday of the English novelist Thomas Hardy. Neither in the little old town of Dorchester, where he lived, worked and died, nor in London, where his ashes rest in Westminster Abbey, was this anniversary marked so impressively as it was in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. There The Southern Review, solidest and most accomplished of U.S. literary quarterlies, devoted its summer issue entirely to essays on the work of Thomas Hardy.

### Etudes Anglaises; April-June, 1938:

Cette revue continue à être aussi soignée dans sa présentation que dans son contenu, et l'une des plus litteraires des Etats-Unis.

### The English Journal (College Edition); January, 1939:

### The Criterion (London), Spring, 1938

The Southern Review is published by the Louisiana State University... Already the best literary periodical of all the American publications...

### Writers Digest; November, 1935:

### Poetry: A Magazine of Verse; April, 1936:

...an object lesson to other journals advocating social or literary causes (including the Review's direct opponents, who have yet to produce an organ a shade as good), and likewise should shed light on the defects which have brought quarterlies like the Yale Review and the Virginia Quarterly to miss their serious opportunities.