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528	https://historysoa.com/items/show/528	The Author, Vol. 23 Issue 08 (May 1913)	<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=%3Cem%3EThe+Author%3C%2Fem%3E%2C+Vol.+23+Issue+08+%28May+1913%29"><em>The Author</em>, Vol. 23 Issue 08 (May 1913)</a>											<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=51&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Publication">Publication</a>	1913-05-01-The-Author-23-8					219–248																		<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=89&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=23">23</a>											<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=76&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1913-05-01">1913-05-01</a>							8			19130501	~— The Huthor.<br /> <br /> (The Organ of the Incorporated Society of Authors. Monthly.)<br /> <br /> FOUNDED BY SIR<br /> <br /> WALTER BESANT.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Vor. X XIII.—No. 8.<br /> <br /> May 1,<br /> <br /> 1913. [PRICE SEXPENCE.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> TELEPHONE NUMBER:<br /> 374 VICTORIA.<br /> <br /> TELEGRAPHIC ADDRESS:<br /> AUTORIDAD, LONDON.<br /> <br /> —_—_—_—_—_—_—_+—_&gt;_+-—___—-<br /> <br /> NOTICES.<br /> <br /> — &gt;<br /> <br /> OR the opinions expressed in papers that<br /> are signed or initialled the authors alone<br /> are responsible. None of the papers or<br /> <br /> Tk<br /> <br /> .8q@ paragraphs must be taken as expressing the<br /> ‘6 opinion of the Committee unless such is<br /> ues especially stated to be the case.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Tur Editor begs to inform members of the<br /> <br /> «* Authors’ Society and other readers of The<br /> <br /> _ Author that the cases which are quoted in The<br /> <br /> + Author are cases that have come before the<br /> <br /> notice or to the knowledge of the Secretary of<br /> the Society, and that those members of the<br /> Society who desire to have the names of the<br /> publishers concerned can obtain them on<br /> application.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ARTICLES AND. CONTRIBUTIONS.<br /> <br /> | Tue Editor of The Author begs to remind<br /> &#039; members of the Society that, although the<br /> __ paper is sent to them free of cost, its production<br /> would be a very heavy charge on the resources<br /> of the Society if a great many members did not<br /> forward to the Secretary the modest 5s. 6d.<br /> subscription for the year.<br /> <br /> Communications for The Author should be<br /> addressed to the offices of the Society, 1, Cen-<br /> tral Buildings, Tothill Street, Westminster,<br /> S.W., and should reach the Editor not later<br /> than the 21st of each month.<br /> <br /> Communications and letters are invited by<br /> the Editor on all literary matters treated from<br /> <br /> Vou. XXIII.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> the standpoint of art or business, but on no<br /> other subjects whatever. Every effort will be<br /> made to return articles which cannot be<br /> accepted.<br /> <br /> ADVERTISEMENTS.<br /> <br /> As there seems to be an impression among<br /> readers of The Author that the Comm ttee are<br /> personally responsible for the bona fides of the<br /> advertisers, the Committee desire it to be stated<br /> that this is not, and could not possj bly be, the<br /> ease. Although care is exercised that no<br /> undesirable advertisements be inserted, they<br /> do not accept, and never have accepted, any<br /> liability.<br /> <br /> Members should apply to the Secretary for<br /> advice if special information is desired.<br /> <br /> +» +<br /> <br /> THE SOCIETY’S FUNDS.<br /> <br /> ae<br /> <br /> “¥\ROM time to time members of the Society<br /> |} desire to make donations to its funds in<br /> <br /> recognition of work that has been done<br /> for them. The Committee, acting on the<br /> suggestion of one of these members, have<br /> decided to place this permanent paragraph in<br /> The Author in order that members may be<br /> cognisant of those funds to which these con-<br /> tributions may be paid.<br /> <br /> The funds suitable for this purpose are:<br /> (1) The Capital Fund. This fund is kept in<br /> reserve in case it is necessary for the Society to<br /> incur heavy expenditure, either in fighting a<br /> question of principle, or in assisting to obtain<br /> copyright reform, or in dealing with any other<br /> matter closely connected with the work of the<br /> Society.<br /> <br /> (2) The Pension Fund. This fund is slowly<br /> increasing, and it is hoped will, in time, cover<br /> the needs of all the members of the Society.<br /> <br /> 2<br /> <br /> <br /> 220<br /> THE PENSION FUND.<br /> <br /> —— &gt;<br /> <br /> N January, the secretary of the Society<br /> I laid before the trustees of the Pension<br /> Fund the accounts for the year 1912, as<br /> settled by the accountants. After giving the<br /> matter full consideration, the trustees _in-<br /> structed the secretary to invest a sum of £300<br /> in the purchase of Buenos Ayres Great<br /> Southern Railway 4% Extension Shares, 1914,<br /> £10 fully paid. The number of shares pur-<br /> chased at the current price was twenty-five<br /> and the amount invested £296 1s. 1ld. The<br /> trustees are also purchasing three more Central<br /> Argentine Railway New Shares at par, on which<br /> as holders of the Ordinary Stock they have an<br /> option.<br /> <br /> The trustees desire to thank the members<br /> of the Society for the continued support which<br /> they have given to the Pension Fund.<br /> <br /> The nominal value of the investments held<br /> on behalf of the Pension Fund now amounts<br /> to £4,764 6s., details of which are fully set out<br /> in the following schedule :-—<br /> <br /> Nominal Value.<br /> <br /> £. 8.4.<br /> Local Loans ......----s+seeees 500 0 0<br /> Victoria Government 8% Consoli-<br /> <br /> dated Inscribed Stock ........ 291 19 11<br /> London and North-Western 3%<br /> <br /> Debenture Stock ............ 250 0 0<br /> Egyptian Government Irrigation<br /> <br /> Trust 4% Certificates ........ 200 0 0<br /> Cape of Good Hope 84% Inscribed<br /> <br /> Stock ...0......515-----.-- 200 0 0<br /> Glasgow and South-Western Rail-<br /> <br /> way 4% Preference Stock .... 228 0 0<br /> New Zealand 34% Stock........ 247 9 6<br /> Trish Land 23° Guaranteed Stock 258 0 0<br /> Corporation of London 23%<br /> <br /> Stock, 1927—57............++. 438 2 4<br /> Jamaica 84% Stock, 1919-49 1382 18 6<br /> Mauritius 4% 1937 Stock ...... 120 12 1<br /> Dominion of Canada, C.P.R. 34%<br /> <br /> Land Grant Stock, 1988 ...... 198 3 8<br /> Antofagasta and Bolivian Railway<br /> <br /> 5% Preferred Stock .......... 287 0 0<br /> Central Argentine Railway Or-<br /> <br /> dinary Stock ...........:.... 232 0 0<br /> $2,000 Consolidated Gas and<br /> <br /> Electric Company of Baltimore<br /> <br /> 44% Gold Bonds ............ 400 0 0<br /> 250 Edward Lloyd, Ltd., £1 5%<br /> <br /> Preference Shares .i........ 250 0 0<br /> 55 Buenos Ayres Great Southern<br /> <br /> Railway 4% Extension Shares,<br /> <br /> 1914 (fully paid) ............ 550 0 0<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Nominal Value,<br /> £ a da<br /> 8 Central Argentine Railway £10 :<br /> <br /> Preference Shares, NewIssue.. 30 0 0<br /> <br /> Total, .4-s «cs. £4,764 6 0<br /> <br /> —<br /> <br /> PENSION FUND.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Tue list printed below includes all fresh dona-<br /> tions and subscriptions (i.e, donations and<br /> subscriptions not hitherto acknowledged)<br /> received by, or promised to, the fund from<br /> October 1, 1912.<br /> <br /> It does not include either donations given<br /> prior to October, nor does it include sub-<br /> scriptions paid in compliance with promises<br /> made before it.<br /> <br /> Subscriptions.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 1912.<br /> <br /> Oct. 10, Escott, T. H. S. :<br /> <br /> Oct. 10, Henderson, R. W. Wright<br /> <br /> Oct. 10, Knowles, Miss M. W. :<br /> <br /> Oct. 11, Buckley, Reginald .<br /> <br /> Oct. 12, Walshe, Douglas<br /> <br /> Oct. 12, “* Penmark” . :<br /> <br /> Oct. 15, Sinclair Miss Edith .<br /> <br /> Oct. 16, Markino, Yoshio<br /> <br /> Oct. 20, Fiamingo, Carlo<br /> <br /> Oct. 29, Henley, Mrs. . :<br /> <br /> Nov. 8, Jane, L. Cecil .<br /> <br /> Nov. 14, Gibb, W.<br /> <br /> Dec. 4, De Brath, S. . :<br /> <br /> Dec. 4, Sephton, The Rev. J.<br /> <br /> Dec. 4, Cooper, Miss Marjorie<br /> <br /> Dec. 7, MacRitchie, David<br /> <br /> Dec. 11, Fagan, James B.<br /> <br /> Dec. 27, Dawson Forbes<br /> <br /> 19138.<br /> <br /> Jan. 8, Toynbee, William (in addi-<br /> tion to his present sub-<br /> scription). . : .<br /> <br /> Jan. 9, Gibson, Frank . :<br /> <br /> Jan. 29, Blackley, Miss E. L.<br /> <br /> Jan. 81, Annesley, Miss Maude<br /> <br /> Feb. 6, Rothenstein, Albert .<br /> <br /> Feb. 10, Bradshaw, Percy V.<br /> <br /> April 8, Caulfield-Stoker, T...<br /> <br /> _<br /> Oannnn?<br /> nocoooccoooonoeocee™<br /> <br /> it bt<br /> MN orH oS<br /> <br /> Cor oooooororcsoooooobm<br /> 1<br /> <br /> CO 8S Oo<br /> <br /> a<br /> <br /> coooooeo<br /> —_<br /> SCaARROSOCOS<br /> <br /> Donations.<br /> 1912.<br /> Nov. 20, Kennard, Mrs. N. H. 3<br /> Dec. 4, McEwan, Miss M. S. . ‘<br /> Dec. 4, Kennedy, E. B. “ .<br /> Dec. 11, Begarnie, George . -<br /> <br /> ~<br /> anos<br /> <br /> 0<br /> 0<br /> 0<br /> 0<br /> <br /> eoocu<br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> E&gt; fa Se<br /> Se<br /> <br /> d<br /> Als jf<br /> <br /> REAR AR<br /> <br /> k<br /> f<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> on ct tit otic ot<br /> <br /> hy<br /> :<br /> <br /> Dee.<br /> Dec.<br /> Dec.<br /> Dec.<br /> Dec.<br /> <br /> 11, Tanner, James T. . é<br /> <br /> 11, Toplis, ‘Miss Grace . i<br /> <br /> 14, Watson, Mrs. Herbert A..<br /> <br /> 14, French, Mrs. Warner j<br /> <br /> 17, Smith, Miss Sheila Kaye .<br /> <br /> Dec. 17,,Marras, Mowbray .<br /> <br /> Dec. 27, Edwards, Percy J.<br /> <br /> 19138.<br /> <br /> Jan. 1, Risque, W. H. :<br /> <br /> Jan. 1, Rankin, Mrs. F. M. .<br /> <br /> Jan. 2, Short, Miss L. M.<br /> <br /> Jan. 2, Mackenzie, Miss J. .<br /> <br /> Jan. 2, Webling, Miss Peggy<br /> <br /> Jan. 8, Harris, Mrs. E. H. .<br /> <br /> Jan. 8, Church, Sir Arthur,<br /> <br /> K.C.V.O., ete.<br /> <br /> 4, Douglas, James A.<br /> <br /> 4, Grant, Lady Sybil<br /> <br /> 6, Haultain, Arnold<br /> <br /> 6, Beveridge, Mrs. ‘<br /> <br /> 6, Clark, The Rev. Henry<br /> <br /> 6, Ralli, C. Scaramanja .<br /> <br /> 6, Lathbury, Miss Eva -<br /> <br /> 6, Pryce, Richard<br /> <br /> 7, Gibson Miss L. 8.<br /> <br /> 10, K.<br /> <br /> 10, Ford, Miss May<br /> <br /> 12, Greenstreet, W. J.<br /> <br /> 14, Anon<br /> <br /> 15, Maude Aylmer<br /> <br /> 16, Price, Miss Eleanor .<br /> <br /> 17, Blouet, Madame<br /> <br /> 20, P. H. and M. K.<br /> <br /> 22, Smith, Herbert W. .<br /> <br /> 25, Anon. . :<br /> <br /> 27, Vernede, R. E. :<br /> <br /> 29, Plowman, Miss Mary.<br /> <br /> 29, Todd, Miss Margaret, M.D.<br /> <br /> 81, Jacobs, W. W. :<br /> <br /> 1, ‘Davy, Mrs. KE. M.<br /> <br /> 3, Abraham, J. J.<br /> <br /> 4, Gibbs, F. L. A.<br /> <br /> Feb. 4, Buckrose, J. E. ‘<br /> <br /> Feb. 4, Balme, Mrs. Nettleton ;<br /> <br /> Feb. 6, Coleridge, The Hon. Gilbert<br /> <br /> Feb. 6, Machen, Arthur<br /> <br /> Feb. 6, Romane-J ames, Mrs.<br /> <br /> Feb. 6, Weston, Miss Lydia : ‘<br /> <br /> Feb. 14, Saies, Mrs. F. H. (in addi-<br /> tion to her subscription)<br /> <br /> Feb. 14, Maunsell, A. E. Lloyd<br /> <br /> Feb. 14, O&#039;Higgins, H. J. .<br /> <br /> Feb. 15, Stephens, Dr. Ricardo<br /> <br /> Feb. 15, Jones, Miss E. H.<br /> <br /> Feb. 17, Whibley, Charles<br /> <br /> Feb. 22, Probert, W. S.<br /> <br /> Feb. 24, S. F. G.<br /> <br /> Jan.<br /> Jan.<br /> Jan.<br /> Jan.<br /> Jan.<br /> Jan.<br /> Jan.<br /> Jan.<br /> Jan.<br /> <br /> Jan.<br /> <br /> Jan.<br /> Jan.<br /> Jan.<br /> Jan.<br /> Jan.<br /> Jan.<br /> Jan.<br /> Jan.<br /> Jan.<br /> Jan.<br /> Jan.<br /> Jan.<br /> Jan.<br /> Feb.<br /> <br /> Feb.<br /> Feb.<br /> <br /> SCSoSCSOSCSD CoHOSCCOoNMh<br /> <br /> Hee OOOOCSCSo COMM OR OCH ONHOOCOCOOBRH OH OCOOOOROWOORNWH<br /> <br /> bn<br /> <br /> _<br /> Or or Ot Or Ot ©<br /> <br /> _<br /> Qe OK ONE NROOBREY ON GOO oe oO &amp;® OOOH bo eH<br /> <br /> i<br /> <br /> rt<br /> <br /> |<br /> <br /> —<br /> cCrountooe. Or Gr ee<br /> <br /> —<br /> <br /> oe OOP or orc 2<br /> <br /> ecoaocaace eceoscoconoasoonmsoancocososoosooococosooocos ooooood Secesesosce pa<br /> <br /> UTHOR.<br /> <br /> 221<br /> <br /> ob<br /> p 2<br /> of<br /> <br /> Feb.<br /> Mar.<br /> <br /> 27, XX. Pen Club : .<br /> <br /> 7, Keating, Theg Rev. J.<br /> Lloyd . : i<br /> <br /> 7, Tharp, Robert C.<br /> <br /> 10, Hall, H. Fielding<br /> <br /> 13, Moffatt, Miss Beatrice<br /> <br /> 14, Bennett, Arnold.<br /> <br /> 17, Michell, The Right Hon.<br /> Sir Lewis, K.C.V.O. .<br /> <br /> Mar. 17, Travers, Miss Rosalind<br /> <br /> Mar. 26, Hinkson, H. A.<br /> <br /> Mar. 26, Anon. . 5<br /> <br /> April 2, Daniel, a J.<br /> <br /> April 2, Hain, H.M. .<br /> <br /> April 7, Taylor, Miss Susette M.<br /> <br /> April 7, Harding, Newman .<br /> <br /> April 9, Strachey, Miss Amabel<br /> <br /> Mar.<br /> Mar.<br /> Mar.<br /> Mar.<br /> Mar.<br /> <br /> TOM oo<br /> OS Or On<br /> <br /> eoeoooaceoce ooooco<br /> <br /> eoooocuror<br /> ht<br /> moO oo © = or<br /> <br /> a nm<br /> <br /> COMMITTEE NOTES.<br /> <br /> ag pg<br /> <br /> MEETING of the Committee of Manage-<br /> ment of the society was held on<br /> April 24, at No. 1, Central Buildings,<br /> Westminster. The first matter before the<br /> committee was the election of the chairman<br /> for the current year owing to the resignation<br /> of Dr. S. Squire Sprigge who has held the post<br /> now for two years. On the proposal of<br /> Mr. Arthur Rackham, seconded by Mrs. Belloc<br /> Lowndes, Mr. Hesketh Prichard was elected<br /> to the position. Mr. Prichard, in acknow-<br /> ledging the honour conferred on him, stated<br /> that he would endeavour to earry out the work<br /> of the Society on the lines laid down by his<br /> distinguished predecessors in the office. He<br /> suggested, however, that as there was a very<br /> heavy list of agenda dealing with matters<br /> current under Dr. Sprigge’s chairmanship, that<br /> Dr. Sprigge should take the chair for the<br /> present meeting. This was agreed to.<br /> <br /> The elections to the Society made at the<br /> beginning of April on the chairman’s authority<br /> were then formally confirmed, and further<br /> elections that had come in during the month<br /> were placed before the meeting. The total<br /> number of elections since the meeting on<br /> March 3 amounted to forty-eight, making the<br /> total for the year 186. The committee<br /> accepted with regret eight resignations sent<br /> in since the same date in March, making the<br /> resignations for the year fifty-six. The total<br /> number of elections is not as high as up to the<br /> same period in 1912, which was a phenomenal<br /> year, but the total number of resignations, the<br /> <br /> <br /> 222<br /> <br /> committee were glad to report, was also below<br /> the number for the corresponding period of<br /> last year.<br /> <br /> The secretary then laid before the committee<br /> a list of those members who had been struck<br /> pff for non-payment of their subscriptions<br /> during 1912 and at the beginning of 1913.<br /> Despite the increase in the membership, the<br /> number struck off is lower than that which<br /> was chronicled last year. In half-a-dozen cases<br /> it was decided to write to the members in<br /> arrears, as it appeared that the non-payment<br /> of their subscriptions was merely due to<br /> oversight.<br /> <br /> The next matter before the committee was<br /> the re-election of the sub-committees for the<br /> current year. The Dramatic Sub-Committee<br /> was, on the suggestion of the dramatist<br /> members of the Society, re-elected, except<br /> that Mr. Rudolf Besier’s place, vacated by his<br /> resignation, was filled by the election of<br /> Mr. A. E. W. Mason.<br /> <br /> The other sub-committees stand as at present,<br /> save that the committee received with regret<br /> the resignation of Mr. Herbert Sullivan, owing<br /> to ill-health, from the Composers’ Sub-Com-<br /> mittee and the Copyright Sub-Committee. It<br /> was decided to ask Mr. H. J. MacKinder, M.P.,<br /> to join the Copyright Sub-Committee.<br /> <br /> The solicitor then reported the cases that<br /> had been carried through during the past<br /> month.<br /> <br /> The first case referred to an infringement of<br /> copyright to which reference has already been<br /> made in previous issues of The Author. The<br /> solicitor reported that the action had been<br /> set down for trial, and would, most probably,<br /> come on for hearing a week or so after Whitsun-<br /> tide. Thesecond case was also one of infringe-<br /> ment, and here it was decided to take no<br /> further action, as the infringement was not<br /> very serious, and the member involved was<br /> content with the action which had already<br /> been Staken by the ociety. The third case<br /> related to a dispute over accounts, arising<br /> from the peculiar wording of the contract.<br /> In accordance with the instructions of the<br /> committee, given at their last meeting,<br /> counsel’s opinion had been taken, and as the<br /> contention of the author had been upheld by<br /> counsel, the solicitors had communicated with<br /> the publisher, and had now obtained from him<br /> a proposal for an equitable settlement which<br /> had been accepted by the author. The fourth<br /> case arose out of a dispute on an agreement<br /> between an author and a publisher as to the<br /> date of publication of certain books, and the<br /> matter was settled by the publisher surren-<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> dering all claims to delivery of other books,<br /> by returning the. MS. that he had held and by<br /> forfeiting the amount paid in advance of —<br /> royalties. The fifth case was with the same —<br /> publisher and referred also to a dispute con-<br /> cerning the delivery of further books to be<br /> published under the agreement. The matter<br /> was in the course of negotiation, and the<br /> solicitors had suggested the appointment of an<br /> arbitrator if necessary to settle the issues.<br /> <br /> In a county court case against a music<br /> publisher, the solicitors reported that the<br /> matter had been settled, but that no money<br /> would be recoverable owing to. the fact that<br /> a judgment for a large sum had been obtained<br /> against the publisher by another creditor.<br /> The next dispute arose owing to a fire which<br /> had occurred in a publisher’s warehouse, and<br /> the solicitor reported. the action taken for the<br /> members involved.<br /> <br /> The solicitor then gave a further report upon<br /> an interesting action against the editor of a<br /> paper. The editor maintained that in the<br /> absence of contract before publication he<br /> had a right to pay the author certain fixed<br /> terms, the solicitor contended, on behalf of<br /> the author, that the editor had no right<br /> whatever to make his own terms after the<br /> publication of the. work. If the terms<br /> suggested by the editor were unreasonable then<br /> it would be for the Court to set them aside.<br /> The issue will be tried. The next case was<br /> against the proprietor of a paper. The<br /> solicitor had carefully followed the course of<br /> the bankruptcy of the publication, and reported<br /> that there were claims for over £2,000, and no<br /> assets. This, he said, had been reported to<br /> the members concerned, and as there was no<br /> prospect of a dividend being paid, and as the<br /> claims were small, it was dended not to go to<br /> the useless expense of proving in the bank-<br /> ruptcy. In the matter of Stephen Swift &amp; Co.,<br /> Ltd., the solicitor reported that the liquidator<br /> had failed to sell the business as a whole, and<br /> stated that he was now realising the assets<br /> piecemeal. The solicitor thought that a<br /> dividend of 3s. in the pound would be declared.<br /> Lastly, the solicitor reported that judgment<br /> against a publisher had been obtained, and<br /> on the threat of execution, had been satisfied<br /> and the costs paid.<br /> <br /> In a case where the publisher had refused<br /> to produce vouchers for charges made under a<br /> profit-sharing agreement, the committee con-<br /> firmed the action of the chairman, who had<br /> already placed the matter in the hands of the<br /> solicitors. They were instructed to take legal<br /> action if necessary for the member concerned,<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> Go ade<br /> <br /> 1<br /> 3<br /> k<br /> st<br /> iF<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> as an important principle was involved.<br /> Another case arising out of an inadvertent<br /> breach of his contract by a member was<br /> considered, and the solicitors reported that<br /> they hoped to effect a fair compromise on his<br /> behalf.<br /> <br /> The solicitor reported the action he had<br /> taken respecting a complicated question of<br /> dramatic copyright and international law.<br /> The matter was governed, largely, by the<br /> French Convention of 1851 before the Interna-<br /> tional Copyright Act of 1886 and the Berne<br /> Convention had been formed. The solicitor<br /> had advised, and as no further action had been<br /> taken on the other side, it seemed probable<br /> that the claim would be withdrawn.<br /> <br /> The secretary then drew the attention of the<br /> committee to the infringement of dramatic<br /> copyright in India, and reported that the<br /> solicitors in India had been unable to reach<br /> the defendant. The committee instructed the<br /> secretary to report to the solicitors in India<br /> their wish that these infringements should be<br /> stopped, and that the solicitors should use<br /> their utmost endeavours to bring the suits<br /> against the defendant (who was the manager<br /> of a travelling company) on his return to<br /> India. :<br /> <br /> Infringements of dramatic copyright in<br /> Jamaica were next reported by the secretary.<br /> The committee decided to ascertain from the<br /> authorities whether steps could be taken to<br /> stop such infringements in the future, and if<br /> steps could be taken, to ascertain the nature<br /> of these steps.<br /> <br /> The secretary also reported the progress<br /> of a case in Switzerland. In the event of<br /> judgment going against the Society, it was<br /> decided that the matter should be referred<br /> back for consideration.<br /> <br /> A letter forwarded to the editor of The<br /> Author was referred to the committee, who<br /> regretted they were unable to authorise its<br /> insertion.<br /> <br /> Two important matters referring to<br /> domestic and international copyright were<br /> then mentioned to the committee. The action<br /> taken by the chairman and the secretary was<br /> reported. The committee regret that it is not<br /> possible, at the present moment, to give<br /> further details, as any premature statement<br /> might prejudice the negotiations that are<br /> proceeding.<br /> <br /> The secretary then laid before the committee<br /> an article that had been written as the result<br /> of correspondence which had passed between<br /> the Society and certain editors, and it was<br /> decided to print the article in The Author with<br /> <br /> 223<br /> <br /> a special editorial note referring to the matter.<br /> The question is one of great importance. It<br /> deals with the practice of the proprietors of<br /> certain papers and magazines of sending to<br /> their contributors receipt forms, either apart<br /> from or on the back of cheques, signature to<br /> which may mean a surrender of rights for which<br /> the editor or proprietor has made no contract.<br /> <br /> The next matter also referred to editors and<br /> their contributors. The Society has been in<br /> communication with various representatives<br /> of important journals, magazines and papers,<br /> with a view to arriving at some uniform<br /> arrangement by which accepted articles are<br /> paid for within a certain period from accept-<br /> ance whether they have or have not been<br /> published. The replies of the editors were<br /> so favourable that it was decided to hold a<br /> conference during May at which the matter<br /> might be fully discussed, and, if possible, some<br /> uniform practice accepted.<br /> <br /> The secretary was authorised to purchase<br /> the copyright laws of all countries, to be<br /> retained at the office for reference, and, if<br /> later it should appear necessary, to have<br /> English translations of the laws made. Refer-<br /> ence to the committee in regard to this matter<br /> will be made later.<br /> <br /> A letter dealing with the collection of fees<br /> by an outside company was adjourned till the<br /> next meeting, in order that the secretary might<br /> obtain further information on the matters<br /> concerned.<br /> <br /> Mr. R. C. Carton, who has for the last two<br /> years been chairman of the Dramatic Sub-<br /> Committee, was unanimously elected to the<br /> Council.<br /> <br /> Sanction was given to the secretary to sign<br /> a fresh contract for the advertisement depart-<br /> ment of The Author.<br /> <br /> The secretary reported that the registration<br /> of scenarios had grown so enormously and was<br /> still growing at the same rate, that it had<br /> become necessary to find further accommoda-<br /> tion for the plots and plays. He was instructed<br /> to make enquiries and to report to the next<br /> meeting.<br /> <br /> The committee desire to express their<br /> gratitude to the following members for dona-<br /> tions to the Society’s funds: A. Neil Lyons,<br /> Mrs. MacLiesh and Miss Jeannette Marks.<br /> <br /> ——<br /> Dramatic SuB-CoMMITTEE.<br /> I.<br /> <br /> Tue March meeting of the Dramatic Sub-<br /> Committee was held on Friday, March 28,<br /> <br /> <br /> 22:4<br /> <br /> at No. 1, Central Buildings, Tothill Street,<br /> Westminster, S.W. It was too late to admit of<br /> the publication of this report in the April<br /> issue of The Author. In consequence, it<br /> appears with the report of the April meeting of<br /> the sub-committee, in the present issue. _<br /> <br /> Following the reading of the minutes of<br /> the previous meeting, the secretary reported<br /> on the cases that had been dealt with during<br /> the past month. One case of alleged plagiarism<br /> had been satisfactorily settled, and the<br /> secretary laid before the Dramatic Sub-<br /> Committee the correspondence that had passed<br /> between the solicitors of both sides. The<br /> issues were satisfactorily explained and the<br /> charges withdrawn.<br /> <br /> The second case related to a claim for money<br /> due under a contract, against an actress. The<br /> sub-committee instructed the secretary to lay<br /> the matter before the Committee of Manage-<br /> ment with a view to taking it into Court if<br /> it was found impossible to carry it through by<br /> correspondence.<br /> <br /> A discussion then arose on the settlement of<br /> the agenda for the Conference of Dramatists,<br /> and this matter was adjourned till the next<br /> meeting.<br /> <br /> One of the members then laid before the<br /> Dramatic Sub-Committee an insurance policy<br /> he had entered into so as to cover any loss<br /> that he might sustain in the event of fire in<br /> a theatre during the run of his play. The<br /> sub-committee were very interested in the<br /> matter, and suggested that the attention of<br /> dramatists should be called to it by the publica-<br /> tion of an article in The Author, and the<br /> secretary was instructed to mention the matter<br /> to those dramatists who called at the office,<br /> and to thank the member for bringing it to<br /> the sub-committee’s notice.<br /> <br /> An informal discussion then took place as<br /> to the election of the Chairman of the Dramatic<br /> Sub-Committee for the next year, and it was<br /> decided to ask Mr. R. C. Carton to take the<br /> reins of office for a further term.<br /> <br /> The next item before the sub-committee was<br /> the question of agents’ fees, and it was decided<br /> to accept the terms put forward by Mr. A.<br /> Reyding, of Amsterdam, and that the secretary<br /> should inform all members who were entering<br /> into contracts for the performance of their<br /> plays in Holland of the arrangements made<br /> with the Society’s agent.<br /> <br /> The question of Mr. Walter Jordan’s fees<br /> in America was also discussed, and the<br /> secretary received instructions to make to<br /> Mr. Jordan a proposition for his acceptance.<br /> <br /> The draft prospectus referring to the collec-<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> as to the conditions of theatrical work in<br /> <br /> tion of dramatic fees by the Collection Bureau<br /> was finally settled in the form of a circular to<br /> be issued to the dramatist members of the<br /> Society.<br /> <br /> The question of cinematograph fees was<br /> also discussed, and adjourned to the next<br /> meeting. The sub-committee felt that the<br /> matter was of urgent importance, and asked<br /> the secretary to make every effort to obtain<br /> full information to lay before them at their<br /> next meeting.<br /> <br /> The discussion of the Dramatic Pamphlet<br /> was also adjourned to the next meeting, and<br /> it was decided to devote that meeting especially<br /> to these two matters.<br /> <br /> The secretary, having reported that the<br /> Register of Scenarios was rapidly assuming<br /> enormous proportions, it was decided to rent a<br /> special room for storage. He was instructed<br /> to obtain full information to lay before<br /> the sub-committee, and the sub-committee<br /> expressed the view that if the fee was too small<br /> to cover the cost, the question of a revision<br /> of the charges would have to be considered<br /> at the next meeting.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> II,<br /> <br /> Tue Dramatic Sub-Committee held their<br /> April meeting on the third Friday in April, the<br /> 18th ult., at No. 1, Central Buildings, Tothill<br /> Street, Westminster, S.W.<br /> <br /> After reading the minutes of the previous<br /> meeting, the sub-committee considered the<br /> question of the Scenario Register. The secre-<br /> tary reported that in accordance with the<br /> committee’s instructions he had made enquiries<br /> about hiring some extra room where the<br /> scenarios could be stored, and stated that<br /> he thought that facilities might be available<br /> in the building in which the Society’s offices<br /> were situated. The Dramatic Sub-Committee<br /> gave instructions that the Committee of<br /> Management should be notified in order that<br /> the necessary accommodation might be found.<br /> <br /> The secretary then read to the Dramatic<br /> Sub-Committee a report received from the<br /> Society’s agent in Holland, giving information<br /> <br /> Holland, and the figures of certain of the chief<br /> theatres in that country. The secretary was<br /> requested to thank the agent for his report.<br /> <br /> A further discussion followed as to the possi-<br /> bility of working with the German Society of<br /> Authors, and the appointment of agents in<br /> Germany was also considered. The secretary<br /> was instructed to obtain further information<br /> and to report to the next meeting.<br />  <br /> <br /> ue<br /> <br /> N<br /> ce<br /> “at<br /> oF<br /> <br /> J<br /> <br /> SP! Seas Saag<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Mr. Cecil Raleigh then submitted to the<br /> sub-committee his report on Moving Pictures,<br /> which is printed in full on another page of<br /> The Author. The matter is one of the greatest<br /> importance, equally to the writers of books and<br /> to dramatie authors, and all members of the<br /> Society are asked to give careful attention to<br /> the information contained in the report.<br /> <br /> The secretary reported that a section had<br /> been added to the Bankruptcy Bill, as it passed<br /> through Committee, which would cover<br /> dramatists as well as writers of books, in the<br /> case of the bankruptcy of a manager to whom<br /> copyright had been assigned subject to the<br /> future payment of fees on the performances.<br /> It is hoped that this section may become law.<br /> It is of importance to dramatists, though not<br /> of such pressing importance as to authors<br /> of books.<br /> <br /> The consideration of the dramatic pamphlet<br /> was again adjourned owing to the heavy call<br /> ‘on the sub-committee’s time.<br /> <br /> Composers’ SuB-COMMITTEE.<br /> <br /> THe Composers’ Sub-Committee met at<br /> the offices of the Society, at No. 1, Central<br /> Buildings, Tothill Street, Westminster, on<br /> Monday, April 21, at 11 o’clock.<br /> <br /> After the reading of the minutes of the<br /> previous meeting, the secretary read a com-<br /> munication from a member of the Society,<br /> in which the following suggestion was made:<br /> “To forward to all the small musical clubs<br /> and choral societies in the country lists of<br /> part-songs and small choral works which could<br /> be undertaken by such societies, as these<br /> societies often found it very difficult to obtain<br /> information about the music of modern com-<br /> posers.” The sub-committee thought the idea<br /> an excellent one, and the secretary was<br /> instructed to take steps to obtain a proper<br /> list of part-songs, etc., by modern composers,<br /> and then to send the list to as many country<br /> clubs as possible.<br /> <br /> The secretary then reported that the Society<br /> had succeeded in getting a clause incorporated<br /> in the Bankruptcy Bill as it passed through<br /> Committee, which would materially benefit<br /> the composer, author or dramatist who had<br /> assigned his copyright while retaining a con-<br /> tinuing interest in the sales of his work or<br /> the performance of it. The sub-committee<br /> approved the action taken by the Society,<br /> and hoped that the clause would, eventually,<br /> become law.<br /> <br /> The answers to the circular to composers,<br /> <br /> 225<br /> <br /> ~<br /> <br /> sent out with the sanction of the Com-<br /> mittee of Management, were next laid before<br /> the sub-committee, and it was decided,<br /> when further answers were received, to call<br /> a public meeting to discuss the points put<br /> forward. In the meantime, the sub-committee<br /> directed that another circular should be drafted,<br /> in which would be embodied the principles<br /> set out in the previous circular, in the form of<br /> questions, to which categorical answers would<br /> be requested.<br /> <br /> It was pointed out that from the usual<br /> form of agreement between composer and<br /> music publisher—which was really no agree-<br /> ment at all, but merely an assignment of the<br /> rights in his work by the composer—many<br /> of the ordinary clauses of an agreement were<br /> lacking, and amongst the number, special<br /> attention was drawn to the omission of the<br /> account clause. The sub-committee decided<br /> to circularise the big music publishing firms,<br /> suggesting that it would be invaluable to com-<br /> posers and to the firms themselves, that some<br /> uniform arrangement should be come to as to<br /> the rendering of accounts at fixed dates.<br /> <br /> The agreement of the German Genossenschaft<br /> was then discussed, and the matter adjourned<br /> for further consideration.<br /> <br /> —+-—&lt;=—4—<br /> <br /> Cases.<br /> <br /> SINCE the last issue of The Author there have<br /> been eight cases passing through the secretary’s<br /> hands ; four of them have dealt with applica-<br /> tions for money. Of these two have been<br /> settled and cheques have been forwarded<br /> to the authors. The third is in the course of<br /> negotiation and a reasonable arrangement<br /> will be come to, but the matter has been a<br /> little delayed owing to the misreading of the<br /> contract. The last case has only recently<br /> come to hand.<br /> <br /> There were three cases for the return of<br /> MSS. One has been settled, one in the United<br /> States is still open, and the last as it has<br /> been impossible to trace the whereabouts of<br /> the person to whom the MSS. were sent, has<br /> had to be abandoned.<br /> <br /> There has been a dispute about the trans-<br /> lation of a member’s work in a foreign country,<br /> and action has been taken by the secretary<br /> in the matter. It is not so much a case for<br /> legal action as for diplomatic settlement, and<br /> it is impossible to say, at the present time,<br /> what the result will be.<br /> <br /> There are still six cases open from the<br /> former month; that is, cases still in the<br /> <br /> <br /> 226<br /> <br /> secretary’s hands. The others have been<br /> settled, with the exception of one placed in<br /> the hands of the Society’s solicitors. Of the<br /> six cases open, four are foreign cases, two<br /> lying in the United States, where negotiations<br /> can go through but slowly, one in Hungary,<br /> where again it is difficult to get a quick<br /> answer to letters, and one in India where the<br /> member resides.<br /> <br /> Of the other two cases, one referring to the<br /> cancellation of an agreement with a publisher,<br /> is very nearly settled, terms have been arranged,<br /> but the actual cancellation has not yet taken<br /> <br /> Jace ; the other a demand from a publisher<br /> or accounts, is still open. The publisher<br /> has proved on former occasions most difficult<br /> to deal with. The present case will, in all<br /> probability, have to be placed in the hands<br /> of the Society’s solicitors.<br /> <br /> ——<br /> <br /> Elections.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. |<br /> <br /> Philpot, Stephen Row-<br /> land —<br /> <br /> Richards, Harold<br /> Grahame<br /> <br /> Rothwell, Ernest Her-<br /> bert<br /> Sargent, HerbertC. .<br /> <br /> Sarolea, Charles .<br /> <br /> Stock, Ralph . ‘<br /> <br /> /Strachey, Miss Amabel<br /> <br /> Taylor, Susette M. .<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 83, Randolph Cres-<br /> cent, Maida Vale,<br /> W.<br /> <br /> 13, Hampstead Hill<br /> Gardens, Hamp-<br /> stead, N.W.<br /> <br /> 9, Brunswick Square,<br /> Hove.<br /> <br /> Green Room Club, —<br /> Leicester Square,<br /> W.C.<br /> <br /> 21, Royal Terrace,<br /> Edinburgh.<br /> <br /> c/o Bank of New<br /> South Wales,<br /> 29, Threadneedle<br /> Street, E.C.<br /> <br /> Newlands Corner,<br /> Merrow Downs,<br /> Guildford.<br /> <br /> 22, Cromwell Cres-<br /> cent, S.W.<br /> <br /> Bourgeois, Maurice<br /> <br /> Brackenbury, Anita<br /> Bartle<br /> <br /> Bridges, T. C. (‘ Chris-<br /> topher Beck ’’).<br /> <br /> Caulfield-Stoker, T.<br /> <br /> Dempster, Miss Char-<br /> lotte Louisa Hawkins<br /> Falkner, Major Percy<br /> Hope, R.A.M.C.<br /> Fraser, A. Keith.<br /> Griffith, Mrs.L.W. .<br /> <br /> Griffiths, Maj.-General<br /> C.<br /> Harding Newman<br /> <br /> Hicks, Rev. E. Savell<br /> Heaton<br /> <br /> Jackson, Henry Cecil .<br /> Mace, Charles Augustine<br /> <br /> McConaghey, Capt.<br /> M. E.<br /> Mothersole, Miss Jessie<br /> Orred, Meta : i<br /> Palmer, Mrs. Clayton .<br /> <br /> Pearson, Mrs. Meynell<br /> (‘* Ida Wild’’).<br /> <br /> 20 bis rue Censier,<br /> Paris, France.<br /> Oakwood, Warling-<br /> <br /> ham, Surrey.<br /> Moor Lodge, Prince-<br /> town, Devon.<br /> <br /> 26, College Road,<br /> Bromley, Kent.<br /> 24, Portman Square,<br /> <br /> W.<br /> <br /> 22, Victoria Park,<br /> Dover.<br /> <br /> 55, Holland Road,<br /> Kensington, W.<br /> <br /> 8, Fayland Avenue,<br /> Streatham Park,<br /> S.W.<br /> <br /> St. Kevin’s Park,<br /> Rathmines,<br /> Dublin.<br /> <br /> Khartoum, Sudan.<br /> <br /> 4, Kingsland Road,<br /> N.E<br /> <br /> Royal Scots Fusiliers<br /> Lanark, N.B.<br /> <br /> 141, Willesden Lane,<br /> N.W.<br /> <br /> 1,Richmond Gardens,<br /> Bournemouth.<br /> <br /> Greenhurst, Oxted.<br /> <br /> Golf Club, Hindhead,<br /> Surrey.<br /> <br /> The editor regrets that in the last number<br /> of The Author Mr. W. Wilfrid Blair Fish’s<br /> name was wrongly announced. The name<br /> should have been Mr. W. Wilfrid Blair Fish,<br /> and not Wilfred.<br /> <br /> —————_<br /> <br /> BOOKS PUBLISHED BY MEMBERS.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> While every effort is made by the aia to keep<br /> this list as accurate and exhaustive as possible, they have<br /> some difficulty in attaining this object owing to the fact<br /> that many of the books mentioned are not sent to the office<br /> by the members. In consequence, it is necessary to rely<br /> largely upon lists of books which appear in literary and<br /> other papers. It is hoped, however, that members will<br /> co-operate in the compiling of this list, and, by sending<br /> particulars of their works, help to make it substantially<br /> accurate. - 4<br /> <br /> ART.<br /> <br /> VisvaxarMa. 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Long-<br /> mans. £12 12s. n.<br /> <br /> Tur Crecrinc Year. Book IV. Rambles in Winter.<br /> Book V. Rambles on the Sea Shore. Book VI. Rambles<br /> under the Stars. By W. Prrcivan WESTELL, D.Sc.<br /> 93 x. 7s. Nelson.<br /> <br /> 72 x 43.<br /> <br /> pope<br /> <br /> Esm&amp;<br /> <br /> Being the<br /> 7% x Of.<br /> <br /> <br /> 228<br /> <br /> PHILOSOPHY.<br /> <br /> Lire Ipnats AND DuatTH. By F. Grantuam. 6} X 44.<br /> 107 pp. Grant Richards. 2s. 6d. n.<br /> <br /> Tur Fair or ALL SENSIBLE Peoriy. By D. A. Witson.<br /> 63 x 44. 124 pp. Methuen. 2s. 6d. n.<br /> <br /> POETRY.<br /> <br /> Tur Muse in Exrz. By Wit1am Watson. ‘To which<br /> is added an Address on the Poet’s Place in the Scheme<br /> of Life. 7} x 42. 116pp. Herbert Jenkins. 3s. 6d. n.<br /> <br /> Tur CaLL oF THE Mountains AND OTHER Porms. By<br /> J. E. Proxerrnc. 7 x 44. 64 pp. Fifield. 1s. n.<br /> <br /> Puriran Pansies. By Craup Frevp. 74 X 34. 48 pp.<br /> Gay &amp; Hancock.<br /> <br /> THEOLOGY.<br /> A Book of Meditations on the Veni<br /> Written in the Seventeenth Century<br /> Re-edited by E. M. Grern, with<br /> 130 pp.<br /> <br /> CELESTIAL Fire.<br /> Sancte Spiritus.<br /> by Ricuarp WHITE.<br /> Preface by Rev. GrorcE Concreve, §.8.J.E.<br /> Longmans. 2s. 6d. n.<br /> <br /> THE CHILDREN FoR THE CHuRcH. The League of Young<br /> Worshippers. By the Rev. Sm W. Rogpertson NIcoLt,<br /> LL.D. and the Rrv. J. Witu1ams ButcHEeR. (Reprinted<br /> from the British Weekly.) 7 x 43. 126 pp. Hodder<br /> &amp; Stoughton. 6s. n.<br /> <br /> TOPOGRAPHY.<br /> <br /> By Epwarp Tuomas. Illustrated<br /> 82 x 6. 320 pp. Constable.<br /> <br /> Tur IcKNIELD WAY.<br /> by A. L. Comins.<br /> 7s. 6d. n.<br /> <br /> TRAVEL.<br /> <br /> Ravenna. A Study. By Epwarp Hourron. Ilus-<br /> trated. By Harotp Lunpr. 8 x 6. 300 pp. Dent.<br /> 10s. 6d. n.<br /> <br /> Moprrn Cutz. By W. H. Korset.<br /> Bell. 10s. 6d. n.<br /> <br /> 81 x 5}. 278 pp.<br /> <br /> ————_1-<br /> <br /> LITERARY, DRAMATIC, AND MUSICAL<br /> NOTES.<br /> <br /> —<br /> <br /> a A Small Boy and Others” Mr. Henry<br /> James gives the memories of his boy-<br /> hood, including much about his brother,<br /> “Ww. J.,” otherwise the celebrated William<br /> James. The publishers are Messrs. Mac-<br /> millan &amp; Co., and the price is 12s. net.<br /> <br /> Mr. Morley Roberts calls his new collection<br /> of short tales ‘‘ Gloomy Fanny, and Other<br /> Stories ” (Eveleigh Nash). They are in the<br /> author’s humorous vein.<br /> <br /> In “Four Plays” (Sidgwick &amp; Jackson,<br /> 2s. 6d.), Mr. Gilbert Cannan publishes as a book<br /> his “James and John,” ‘‘ Miles Dixon,”<br /> “‘ Mary’s Wedding,” and “ A Short Way with<br /> Authors.”’<br /> <br /> Messrs. Macmillan &amp; Co. announce the pre-<br /> paration of an uniform edition of the works of<br /> Sir Gilbert Parker. It will be known as the<br /> Imperial Edition, and will consist of eighteen<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> volumes at 8s. 6d. net each. The long novels,<br /> the short novels, the short stories, and the<br /> verse are embraced, including certain work<br /> which has only appeared in magazines or been<br /> printed privately. Sir Gilbert Parker has<br /> provided a general introduction to the edition<br /> as a whole, and a special introduction to each<br /> volume. Photogravure frontispieces are also<br /> furnished throughout: in the first volume a<br /> portrait of the author, in the others pictures<br /> from original drawings by well-known artists.<br /> The set is to be issued at the rate of three<br /> volumes a month, commencing this month.<br /> <br /> Mr. Bernard Capes’s new novel is entitled<br /> “‘ Bag and Baggage.” It is issued by Messrs.<br /> Constable &amp; Co.<br /> <br /> The same firm has published ‘“ Keren of<br /> Lowbole,”’ by Una L. Silberrad ; and “ Lifted<br /> Curtains,” by Edward Noble. :<br /> <br /> Mr. Francis Gribble’s latest work is called<br /> “The Tragedy of Isabella II.,”’ Messrs. Chap-<br /> man &amp; Hall being the publishers, and the<br /> price 15s.<br /> <br /> Mrs. Alec Tweedie, who has in the last six<br /> months travelled about 26,000 miles, through<br /> Canada, the United States, Brazil, and Argen-<br /> tina, has during that period contributed full-<br /> page articles to the New York Times. She has<br /> been asked to enlarge these articles for pub-<br /> lication in book form this autumn for an<br /> important American firm. Her last book,<br /> “Thirteen Years of a Busy Woman’s Life ”<br /> (Messrs. John Lane), has run through four<br /> editions.<br /> <br /> The Rev. Theodore Johnson, vicar and rector<br /> of Bodiam, Sussex, has compiled from ancient<br /> sources, and issued through Messrs. F. J.<br /> Parsons, of Hastings, ‘“‘ The History of Bodiam,<br /> its‘Ancient Manor, Church and Castle.” There<br /> are a large number of photographs and draw-<br /> ings, and a ground-plan of the Castle. The<br /> published price of the work is 1s., or 1s. 6d.<br /> cloth.<br /> <br /> Madame Albanesi’s new novel is ‘“ The<br /> Beloved Enemy.’”’ The publishers are Messrs.<br /> Methuen.<br /> <br /> Mr. H. F. Prevost Battersby’s ‘‘ The Silence<br /> of Men” is published by the Bodley Head.<br /> <br /> In “ Veiled Women” (Eveleigh Nash) Mr.<br /> Marmaduke Pickthall gives pictures of harem.<br /> life in the form of a novel.<br /> <br /> Ghost stories are the content of Mr. William.<br /> Hope Hodgson’s ‘“* Carnacki the Ghost-F inder,”’<br /> of which also Mr. Nash is the publisher.<br /> <br /> Mr. Halliwell Sutcliffe has given to a novel<br /> which Messrs. Stanley Paul announces for<br /> immediate publication .the title of “The<br /> Strength of the Hills.” The scene is laid in<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR. 229<br /> <br /> the bare, rough Haworth moorland country,<br /> sixty years ago, which was the inspiration of all<br /> Mr. Sutcliffe’s earlier work.<br /> <br /> The same firm has just issued ‘‘ Mrs. Gray’s<br /> Past,”’ by Mr. Herbert Flowerdew. The scene<br /> of this is an old-fashioned cathedral city, whose<br /> peace is disturbed by the scandal arising from<br /> the presence of the charming but mysterious<br /> widow, Mrs. Gray, and her baby son. Like<br /> ‘“‘ The Strength of the Hills ’’ and Miss Annes-<br /> ley Kenealy’s ‘‘ Poodle Woman,” “ Mrs. Gray’s<br /> Past” has been added to the firm’s Colonial<br /> Library.<br /> <br /> Messrs. Paul have also brought out a six-<br /> penny edition of Mr. Rafael Sabatini’s “The<br /> Lion’s Skin.” This author’s “ Strolling Saint”<br /> is now in its fourth edition.<br /> <br /> On April 7 Messrs. William Rider &amp; Son<br /> published a 1s. edition of Maude Annesley’s<br /> ** Wind along the Waste,” which appeared in<br /> 6s. form two years ago. The same author’s<br /> new novel, ‘‘ The Sphinx in the Labyrinth,”<br /> was published by Messrs. Mills &amp; Boon on the<br /> 16th. The title is taken from the quotation,<br /> “The heart of a woman is a Sphinx within a<br /> labyrinth,” and the plot is a very strong one.<br /> It is a psychological study of two women and<br /> one man. The scene is laid in Provence.<br /> This book will be published in America by<br /> Messrs. Duffield &amp; Co. This month Messrs.<br /> Newnes &amp; Co. are producing a 6d. edition of<br /> Maude Annesley’s ‘* All Awry.”<br /> <br /> Count Plunkett, K.C.H.S., has been elected<br /> a corresponding member of the Société Archéo-<br /> logique de France. At the recent Historical<br /> Congress in London he represented the Paris<br /> institution, as well as the Royal Society of<br /> Antiquaries of Ireland, of which he is President.<br /> <br /> Messrs. Harrap &amp; Co. have just issued<br /> another number of their ‘‘ All Time Tales,”<br /> viz., ‘‘ Ivanhoe,” by E. P. Prentys.<br /> <br /> Mr. Walter Wood, who has written exten-<br /> sively on North Sea fishermen—one of his most<br /> recent books being ‘‘ North Sea Fishers and<br /> Fighters ’—has been appointed by the Council<br /> of the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea<br /> Fishermen to the editorship of Toilers of the<br /> Deep,. the Mission’s monthly magazine, in<br /> succession to the late Mr. George Andrew<br /> Hutchison. Mr. Hutchison (who was also the<br /> editor of The Boy’s Own Paper) had conducted<br /> Toilers of the Deep since its foundation in 1886.<br /> <br /> The Quest contains in its April number a<br /> metrical version of the medieval French<br /> legend of Our Lady’s Tumbler, entitled “‘ The<br /> Jongleur of Poitou,” by K. L. Montgomery.<br /> The authors who write under this name are<br /> contributing to the English Illustrated Magazine<br /> <br /> some articles on Portraits in European<br /> Galleries.”” Their Welsh novel, ‘‘ The Gate-<br /> Openeis,”’ is in its fourth edition.<br /> <br /> Miss Lillias Campbell Davidson has a new<br /> serial running in the Ladies’ World, under the<br /> name of “‘ The Primitive Law.”<br /> <br /> Miss Ethel Canning, author of ‘“ Sybella,”<br /> has had another novel published by Messrs.<br /> Digby, Long &amp; Co., entitled “‘ The Sky-Line.”<br /> <br /> Derek Vane’s new novel, ‘‘ The Paradise of<br /> Fools,’’ will be published by Messrs. Everett in<br /> May. The American serial rights of this story<br /> were sold for £250. The same author is now<br /> writing a series of short stories for an American<br /> magazine, entitled “The Indiscretions of<br /> Fantine.”<br /> <br /> ‘* Ineffectual Fires,”’ a novel by E. M. Smith-<br /> Dampier, has been published by Messrs.<br /> Melrose.<br /> <br /> A second edition is announced of E. Yol-<br /> land’s “The Struggle for the Crown,” a<br /> romance of the seventeenth century (Lynwood<br /> &amp; Co.).<br /> <br /> Verse claims somewhat larger attention this<br /> month than usual in comparison with prose.<br /> The first number has appeared of the quarterly<br /> Poetry and Drama, published by the Poetry<br /> Bookshop, 35, Devonshire Street, Theobald’s<br /> Road, at an annual subscription of 10s. 6d.<br /> post free. Mr. Maurice Hewlett occupies the<br /> first place in the poetry section of the magazine<br /> with ‘“‘ The Voyage,” the other contributors<br /> being Messrs. James Elroy Flecker, Lascelles<br /> Abercrombie, and Michael Mecredy. The rest<br /> of the magazine is divided between articles<br /> and criticism. A “‘ personal explanation ” by<br /> the editor sets out the descent of Poetry and<br /> Drama from the Poetry Review.<br /> <br /> Mr. James E. Pickering has published “* The<br /> Call of the Mountains, and Other Poems,”’<br /> which is No. 23 of Messrs. A. C. Fifield’s Grey<br /> Board Series, 1s. net. Mr. Pickering’s ‘‘ The<br /> Cap of Care ’’ was No. 18 in the same series.<br /> <br /> Mr. Arthur Scott Craven has a long poem,<br /> entitled ‘‘ Dawkins,”’ in the current number of<br /> the Magpie. A story by him, ‘“ The Man who<br /> had Greatness thrust upon Him,” will appear<br /> in the June issue of the Pall Mall Magazine.<br /> <br /> ** A Memorial Ode to Our Antarctic Heroes,”<br /> from the pen of Alfred Smythe, F.R.G.S.,<br /> appears in the May number of the Westminster<br /> Review. Mr. Smythe is the author of ““ A New<br /> Faust,” “ Sir Dunstan’s Daughter, and Other<br /> Poems,” ‘‘ The Warlock” (a lyric play pro-<br /> duced at the Gaiety and Queen’s Theatres,<br /> Dublin), as well as other works, and has con-<br /> tributed prose and verse to journals, both in<br /> London and in New York. His lines of wel-<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 230<br /> <br /> .come on the occasion of Their Majesties’ return<br /> from India were accepted by the King.<br /> <br /> “Modern Verse,”? published with the im-<br /> print of Morland, Amersham, Bucks, at the<br /> price of 1s., announces that half a guinea is<br /> paid for every poem appearing in its pages.<br /> The number before us contains twenty-five<br /> short poems.<br /> <br /> The English Review for April contains a story<br /> by E. H. Young, called ‘‘ Cow’s Tail.”<br /> <br /> MUSICAL.<br /> <br /> The Rev. James Eckersley’s ‘‘ Responsive<br /> Psalter,” mentioned last month, is published<br /> in two editions; one 3s. net, the other, with<br /> words only, 1s. net. This work provides<br /> musically responsive chant-forms correspond-<br /> ing to the parallelisms of the Hebrew poetry,<br /> which, the editor maintains, cannot be done by<br /> plain-song or Anglicans, owing to the unequal<br /> length of their sections. The melodies are<br /> kept within moderate range, so that they may<br /> be sung in unison by the congregation, and<br /> changes of chant are given wherever demanded<br /> by the words. A method of printing is adopted<br /> with a view to prevent hurried recitation, and<br /> short, barless chants to avoid false accents.<br /> <br /> DRAMATIC.<br /> <br /> Sir Arthur Pinero’s ‘“‘ Playgoers,” in one act,<br /> was produced at the St. James’s Theatre, on<br /> March 381, before Mr. A. E. W. Mason’s “‘ Open<br /> Window.”<br /> <br /> On April 22, at the New Royalty Theatre,<br /> Mr. Rudyard Kipling’s first play was seen—<br /> the first, that is to say, from him as his own<br /> dramatist ; for ‘“‘ The Light that Failed ” and<br /> ‘* The Man Who Was ”’ owed their conversion<br /> to drama-form to other hands. The new piece<br /> is entitled ‘‘ The Harbour Watch,” and is to be<br /> played, for a commencement, at six matinees<br /> in all. ‘‘ The Light that Failed,” it may be<br /> mentioned, was one of the items of Mr. Forbes<br /> Robertson’s farewell season at. Drury Lane.<br /> <br /> Mr. Forbes Robertson’s season also included<br /> revivals of Madeleine Ryley’s ‘“‘ Mice and Men ”<br /> and Mr. Bernard Shaw’s “‘ Cesar and Cleo-<br /> patra.’ The latter was more than a revival,<br /> however, as there were additions since the<br /> original production, including a prologue.<br /> <br /> On April 1 Mr. Ernest Denny’s comedy<br /> ‘** Vanity ’’? was produced at the Globe Theatre<br /> by Miss Ethel Irving.<br /> <br /> April 8 saw the first night of Mr. Frank<br /> Stayton’s “* The Inferior Sex,”’ at the Comedy,<br /> with Messrs. Kenneth Douglas and QO. B.<br /> <br /> VTHE AUTHOR. |<br /> <br /> Clarence and Miss Renée Kelly in the leading<br /> parts.<br /> <br /> The run of ‘ Lolotte,”’ as adapted by Mr.<br /> John Pollock from the French of Meilhae and<br /> Halevy, terminated at the Coliseum on April 5.<br /> The play has been taken on tour by Madame<br /> Lydia Yavorska (Princess Bariatinsky).<br /> <br /> The bill at the New Royalty on April 22, in<br /> addition to the already mentioned Kipling<br /> play, contained a comedy called “* Thompson,”<br /> by the late St. John Hankin, completed by Mr.<br /> George Calderon. Messrs. Vedrenne and Eadie<br /> are the producers of “‘ Thompson.”<br /> <br /> The repertory season at the Grand Theatre,<br /> Croydon, opened on April 14 with Miss Eliza-<br /> beth Baker’s ‘‘ Chains.”<br /> <br /> At the King’s Hall, Covent Garden, on<br /> April 29, the masque “* Love and the Dryad ”<br /> was produced. The music of this is by Agnes<br /> H. Lambert (Mrs. Heygate Lambert).<br /> <br /> In Mr. Galsworthy’s revival of “Strife” at<br /> the Comedy, which is due just as we are going<br /> to press, Mr. Norman McKinnel resumes his<br /> role of John Anthony. Others in the cast are<br /> Mr. J. Fisher White, Mr. Kenneth Douglas,<br /> and Mr. O. B. Clarence.<br /> <br /> ‘Strife’? has just been produced in Vienna<br /> under the German title “ Kampf.”<br /> <br /> Mr. J. M. Barrie’s new play, “‘ The Legend of<br /> Leonora,” will be produced by Mr. Frohman<br /> in London, at the beginning of the autumn<br /> season.<br /> <br /> The Drama Society will present before the<br /> close of this month a new play by Mr.<br /> Gilbert Cannan.<br /> <br /> Oe<br /> <br /> PARIS NOTES.<br /> <br /> 1<br /> <br /> HE prize awarded annually by La Vie<br /> Heureuse has been given this year to<br /> <br /> M. Emile Nolly for his book, ‘‘ Gens de<br /> Guerre au Maroc,”’ about which we spoke in<br /> the January number of The Author.<br /> <br /> The book by Pierre Loti, entitled ‘* Turquie<br /> agonisante,’’ has made its way to all countries.<br /> The result has been that the author has been<br /> besieged by documents and letters giving him<br /> further information. He has now added so<br /> much new matter to his original book that the<br /> new edition should be read by all who are<br /> interested in the subject.<br /> <br /> In a new volume, ‘Les Merveilles de<br /> l’Instinct chez les Insectes,’’ J..H. Fabre, the<br /> celebrated naturalist, gives us a series of well-<br /> chosen extracts from his ‘‘ Souvenirs Entomo-<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> re<br /> is<br /> <br /> =<br /> <br /> bow<br /> we<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> pee ae<br /> <br /> me<br /> Sew<br /> <br /> wo ee a. ee<br /> Se Peer eae a Ee ey<br /> <br /> it _<br /> GED ht ot<br /> <br /> £<br /> Ake<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> logiques,” and some hitherto unpublished<br /> studies concerning ‘‘ Le Ver luisant ”’ and “ La<br /> Chenille du chou.” The chapter on the grave-<br /> diggers and the studies of the spiders and the<br /> glow-worms are remarkable.<br /> <br /> Dr. G. V. Legros has now published the life<br /> of the great naturalist “La Vie de J. H.<br /> Fabre.” The titles of the chapters will give<br /> an idea of the book: Intuition de la Nature,<br /> Instituteur primaire, Séjour en Corse, Fabre<br /> d’Avignon, Un grand Educateur, Dans l’ermi-<br /> tage, Interprétation de la Nature, La merveille<br /> de l’Instinct, Le Transformisme, L’Ame des<br /> betes, Harmonies et dissonances, Traduction<br /> de la Nature, L’épopée animale, Vies paralléles,<br /> Les Veillées de Sérignan, Au crépuscule. In<br /> the last chapter Dr. Legros gives us an idea of<br /> the simple, dignified life which the great<br /> naturalist has led. The whole book is well<br /> worth reading.<br /> <br /> “‘Ta Belle Madame Colet’’ is the title of<br /> the book by J. de Mestral-Combremont which<br /> we have been awaiting for some time. It is<br /> the first one to give us a definite account of this<br /> déesse des romantiques. The biographer has<br /> had access to many documents which throw<br /> new light on the history of this extraordinary<br /> and not very interesting woman. We have<br /> many enlightening details about her various<br /> friendships and her efforts to become<br /> acquainted with the chief writers of her day.<br /> <br /> Another new novel is announced by M.<br /> Henry Bordeaux. The title is “ La Maison.”’<br /> <br /> M. Frédéric Masson continues his series of<br /> books on the Bonaparte family. The tenth<br /> volume is entitled ‘“‘ Napoleon et sa Famille.”<br /> It treats more particularly of the fatal years<br /> 1814 and 1815.<br /> <br /> “Elisabeth de Baviére,”’ by Jacques de la<br /> Faye, is another interesting biography by a<br /> writer who has given us several valuable<br /> historical works. The preface is written by<br /> M. Maurice Barrés.<br /> <br /> The first volume of the works of Paracelsus<br /> has recently been published in French.<br /> M. Grillot de Givry has undertaken to translate<br /> the whole series.<br /> <br /> “Le Costume civil en France,” by Camille<br /> Piton, is to be published in twelve parts. It<br /> is a work which will be of great value to illus-<br /> trators, as there are to be some 700 illustrations<br /> of the various transformations which costumes<br /> have undergone from the thirteenth century to<br /> the nineteenth.<br /> <br /> The death of M. Honoré Champion will be<br /> regretted by all bibliophiles. He was not only<br /> a seller, but a true lover of books, and all those<br /> in search of curious editions wended their way<br /> <br /> 231<br /> <br /> to the Quay to consult with M. Champion.<br /> To the favoured few he would show his<br /> treasures, one of which was a manuscript of<br /> the ‘‘ Memoires d’outre-tombe,’”’ written by<br /> Hyacinthe Pilorge and annotated by Chateau-<br /> briand himself.<br /> <br /> A curious legal case has just been tried in<br /> Paris. A novel, entitled “‘ Kowa la Mystér-<br /> ieuse,” by Charles Foley, was translated,<br /> without the author’s permission, and pub-<br /> lished in an Argentine paper, La Prensa, which<br /> has a branch office in Paris. M. Foley brought<br /> an action against the manager in Paris, and<br /> has won his case. The story was published<br /> before the legislation of the country concerned<br /> had agreed to protect the rights of literary<br /> property, but, as copies of the journal had been<br /> sold in Paris, M. Fole¥ won his case. An<br /> appeal was made to a higher court by the Paris<br /> manager of La Prensa, and M. Foley has once<br /> more won.<br /> <br /> At the Comédie-Francaise, ‘‘]’Embuscade,”’<br /> by M. Henry Kistemaeckers, has been greatly<br /> appreciated. It is a four-act piece, with plenty<br /> of movement and a strong plot. “ Hélene<br /> Ardouin,” the comedy in five acts, by M. Alfred<br /> Capus, is still being played at the Vaudeville.<br /> At the Gymnase ‘“‘ La Demoiselle de Magasin,”<br /> a three-act play by MM. Fonson and Wicheler,<br /> is now being given.<br /> <br /> Atys HALLArD.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> “Gens de Guerre au Maroc.” (Calmann Lévy.)<br /> “Turquie agonisante.”’ (Calmann Lévy.)<br /> “Ta Vie de J. H. Fabre.” (Delagrave.)<br /> ‘Ta Belle Madame Colet.” (Fontemoing.)<br /> “ Napoléon et sa Famille.” (Ollendorff.)<br /> ‘“ Blisabeth de Bavitre.”’ (Emile Paul.)<br /> Works of Paracelsus. (Chacornac.)<br /> “Le Costume civil en France.” (Flammarion.)<br /> <br /> —___—_+—_-&gt;—_+____—__<br /> <br /> NEW UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT ACT.<br /> <br /> —+-——+<br /> <br /> (Received from the Copyright Office :<br /> The Library of Congress.)<br /> (Note: The new matter in this amendatory Act is printed<br /> in italics.)<br /> AN ACT<br /> To amend section fifty-five of “‘An Act to<br /> amend and consolidate the Acts respecting<br /> copyright,” approved March fourth, nine-<br /> teen hundred and nine.<br /> <br /> Be it enacted by the Senate and House of<br /> Representatives of the United States of America<br /> in Congress assembled, That section fifty-five<br /> of the Act entitled “‘An Act to amend and<br /> consolidate the Acts respecting copyright,”’<br /> <br /> <br /> 232 THER AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> approved March fourth, nineteen hundred and<br /> nine, be amended to read as follows :<br /> <br /> “‘ Sec. 55. That in the case of each entry the<br /> person recorded as the claimant of the copy-<br /> right shall be entitled to a certificate of regis-<br /> tration under seal of the copyright office, to<br /> contain the name and address of said claimant,<br /> the name of the country of which the author of<br /> the work is a citizen or subject, and when an alien<br /> author domiciled in the United States at the time<br /> of said registration, then a statement of that<br /> fact, including his place of domicile, the name<br /> of the author (when the records of the copyright<br /> office shall show the same), the title of the work<br /> which is registered for which copyright is<br /> claimed, the date of the deposit of the copies<br /> of such work, the date of publication if the work<br /> has been reproduced in copies for sale, or publicly<br /> distributed, and such marks as to class designa-<br /> tion and entry number as shall fully identify<br /> the entry. In the case of a book, the certificate<br /> shall also state the receipt of the affidavit, as<br /> provided by section sixteen of this Act, and<br /> the date of the completion of the printing, or<br /> the date of the publication of the book, as<br /> stated in the said affidavit. The register of<br /> copyrights shall prepare a printed form for<br /> the said certificate, to be filled out in each case<br /> as above provided for in the case of all registra-<br /> tions made after this Act goes into effect, and in<br /> the case of all previous registrations so far as the<br /> copyright office record books shall show such<br /> facts, which certificate, sealed with the seal<br /> of the copyright office, shall, upon payment<br /> of the prescribed fee, be given to any person<br /> making application for the same. Said certifi-<br /> cate shall be admitted in any court as prima<br /> facie evidence of the facts stated therein. In<br /> addition to such certificate the register of<br /> copyrights shall furnish, upon request, without<br /> additional fee, a receipt for the copies of the<br /> work deposited to complete the registration.”<br /> <br /> Approved, March 2, 1913.<br /> <br /> ———_+- o_o —__—__<br /> <br /> DRAMATIC REPRESENTATION AND<br /> INSURANCE.<br /> <br /> &gt;<br /> <br /> R. JAMES T. TANNER, one of the<br /> members of the Dramatic Sub-Com-<br /> mittee of the Society of Authors has<br /> <br /> kindly called the attention of that committee<br /> to a method of protecting dramatic returns in<br /> ease of fire at a theatre. It has been his<br /> custom—after some difficulty and negotiation<br /> —to arrange for an insurance policy by which<br /> he is to be paid a certain sum per. week in<br /> <br /> case the run of a piece is interrupted through<br /> a fire or an agreed amount of total compensa-<br /> tion should the run of the piece be entirely<br /> stopped by the destruction of the theatre by<br /> fire. The Dramatic Sub-Committee think<br /> the matter of such importance to members<br /> of the profession generally, that they desire,<br /> through the columns of The Author, to draw<br /> attention to the details.<br /> <br /> The insurance policy in the case mentioned<br /> is for £2,000, though the amount could be<br /> fixed either higher or lower according to the<br /> wishes of the insurer ; and a special memoran-<br /> dum, which covers this special policy, runs as<br /> follows :—<br /> <br /> ‘In the event of the said theatre being damaged or<br /> destroyed by fire during the run or rehearsal of one of the<br /> insured’s plays at said theatre, thereby occasioning loss to<br /> the Insured, this Company shall be liable to pay to the<br /> Insured the sum of £40 per week or a pro rata share thereof<br /> during the period for which the performance of such play is<br /> . in consequence of the damage done by such fire,<br /> <br /> ut not exceeding in all the sum of £2,000 (two thousand<br /> pounds).<br /> <br /> “Tt is, however, hereby declared that in the event of the<br /> entire destruction by fire of the within mentioned theatre,<br /> the Company shall pay to the Insured the total amount<br /> <br /> insured by this Policy, viz., £2,000. The Insured’s<br /> interest in the said theatre is hereby admitted.”<br /> <br /> There are some further special stipulations,<br /> and some further points in the usual policy<br /> issued by the company are cancelled.<br /> <br /> “The Insured binds himself under Clause 6 as follows :<br /> On the happening of any fire by reason of which the<br /> Insured shall sustain any Loss under this Policy, the<br /> Tnsured shall forthwith give to the Company notice thereof<br /> and shall use due diligence and do and concur in doing all<br /> things which may be practicable to minimise and to avoid<br /> or diminish such loss, and shall, at his own expense, deliver<br /> to the Company a claim in writing for the loss, together<br /> with, if demanded, a statutory declaration in support<br /> thereof, and no claim under this Policy shall be payable<br /> unless and until the terms of this condition are complied<br /> with.”<br /> <br /> We have by the courtesy of Mr. Tanner<br /> set out the main features of the policy, and<br /> shall be pleased to give any further details in<br /> confidence to members of the Society. His<br /> contract is with the Phoenix Assurance<br /> Company ; it is possible, however, that other<br /> companies would be willing to enter into a<br /> similar contract with dramatic authors should<br /> they desire to protect themselves in the same<br /> way as Mr. Tanner has done. No doubt the<br /> loss that a dramatist would sustain if a theatre<br /> was burnt in the full run of his play would be<br /> very serious, and it is perhaps probable that<br /> this chance has not entered the minds of<br /> numbers of the dramatic authors. Again, if<br /> it has done so, it is possible that they have<br /> been unsuccessful in carrying out the desire<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> SN. a ne ee<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> - twenty-five copies, or positive films.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> to protect themselves against loss. The<br /> Dramatic Sub-Committee hope, therefore, that<br /> those who wish to protect themselves may<br /> follow in Mr. Tanner’s footsteps and take up<br /> the idea which he has so kindly presented to<br /> them.<br /> <br /> a<br /> <br /> MOVING PICTURES.<br /> <br /> s<br /> <br /> HE excellence of Moving Pictures is<br /> already such, and their development is<br /> so rapid, that before long the Picture<br /> <br /> Palace will undoubtedly come into more or less<br /> acute competition with the Theatre.<br /> <br /> Dramatists, therefore, are advised to give<br /> some serious attention to the Moving Picture,<br /> as a vehicle for expressing their thoughts, and<br /> generally to the Picture Palace industry.<br /> <br /> The machine that flings the Moving Picture<br /> on to a screen is nothing more nor less than a<br /> superior magic lantern, but instead of the<br /> glass slide of our childhood there is run through<br /> this lantern a long piece of celluloid gelatine<br /> covered with photographs. This piece of<br /> celluloid gelatine is less than an inch wide, and<br /> is from 100 to 2,000 feet in length. It is called<br /> a film. This film in its original state is passed<br /> very rapidly through a camera, which is<br /> focussed upon the subject of the Moving<br /> Picture. When it is complete it is called the<br /> negative, and from it it is possible to print<br /> That<br /> number is not always printed, but can be<br /> printed in the case of a successful picture.<br /> <br /> The first exhibition of the film is what is<br /> called ‘‘ exclusive,’’ that is to say, it is exhibited<br /> in one, or possibly, two halls only. It is<br /> practically impossible to say what price is<br /> charged for the “exclusive”’ exhibition of a film.<br /> It depends upon the subject, the excellence of<br /> the film, and a variety of other conditions. In<br /> time the name of an author will also give it<br /> value, that is when authors write more<br /> regularly for the picture theatre. But the<br /> fact that the price I have mentioned is so<br /> uncertain, makes it essential that the author<br /> should be paid by taking some share of the<br /> money that the manufacturer receives.<br /> <br /> The “exclusive” period being over, the film<br /> comes on to the open market. Now it is the<br /> <br /> custom in Picture Theatres to change the<br /> <br /> programme twice in every week. Any one<br /> film therefore is let twice in each week, and for<br /> each of these lettings £6 odd is charged. This<br /> goes on for about six weeks, when the value<br /> of the film is supposed to have lessened. It is<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 233<br /> <br /> then shown for about another six weeks, a<br /> little over £4 per let being charged for its hire.<br /> It then arrives at what is known as its third or<br /> final re-lease, when £2 per let is charged for it.<br /> It is not returned to the manufacturer, but<br /> remains the property of its last hirer, who<br /> resells it, or sublets it, to the small cheap halls,<br /> where the price of admission is 1d. or 2d. It<br /> will be seen that in its earlier stages one film<br /> earns over £12 per week for, say, six weeks.<br /> Say this equals £72. If twenty-five films of<br /> the same subject are also busy at the same time,<br /> twenty-five times £72 is earned, or £1,800. In<br /> the next six weeks the film is let twice in each<br /> week at £4 per week, that is to say £8 per week<br /> in all. In six weeks this equals £48. If<br /> twenty-five films.are at work the result is<br /> £1,200. If £200 were charged for the first<br /> ‘* exclusive ” exhibition of the film, you will see<br /> that £3,200 could be earned by a successful<br /> picture, without counting the small money<br /> when it gets down to its £2 value. When,<br /> therefore, an author is invited to sell a story<br /> or a play, or write an original scenario for<br /> Moving Picture purposes, it seems highly<br /> desirable that he should insist upon a percen-<br /> tage of the gross fees earned by the films of<br /> his subject being paid to him.<br /> <br /> There is no difficulty about this. I recently<br /> received the following letter from a well-known<br /> American manager.<br /> <br /> “ Regarding the matter of moving pictures of plays, our<br /> custom here is to pay from £200 to £400 down on account<br /> of royalty, which runs from 5 per cent. to 15 per cent. of<br /> the profits accruing to us from the sale of films, rentals<br /> and exhibitions through our subsidiary companies and<br /> affiliated companies. But this amount depends entirely<br /> upon the prominence of the play or the popular value of<br /> the star. We make the same terms with the star who owns<br /> the play, or any who appears for us in a standard work of<br /> fiction.<br /> <br /> “These are terms that we are now using. Of course<br /> there is something in a business connection with a company<br /> of good standing which does the work. There are numbers<br /> of predatory companies who make big offers, and take their<br /> chances upon capitalising their quarry, just as you might<br /> find it with theatrical management.<br /> <br /> “With a sound and well-established company there is<br /> no difficulty about honest payments, as special, verified<br /> accounts in books are kept of each separate display. We also<br /> have other terms, such as paying £100 outright for a<br /> copyrighted novel (of which we have many in this country),<br /> and which the publishers realise are a help in stimulating<br /> the sale of the novel.”<br /> <br /> The highest terms above quoted are a little<br /> exceptional, however, and they refer mostly<br /> to a novel experiment that has been tried by<br /> certain American film manufacturers, who<br /> induce well-known actors and actresses to<br /> appear for them before the camera either in<br /> scenes from a popular play or in specially<br /> <br /> <br /> 234<br /> <br /> written incidents. The remuneration of these<br /> actors and actresses is a percentage of the<br /> earnings of all the films showing such scenes<br /> and incidents. The Picture Palace proprietor<br /> is thus able to announce :-—<br /> <br /> “‘ Mr. Lewis Waller as ‘ Beaucaire ’ every<br /> night.”<br /> <br /> and the public is drawn accordingly. I do<br /> not know whether Mr. Waller has ever appeared<br /> for Moving Picture purposes, I merely give his<br /> name as an example of the system. As will<br /> be seen from the letter I have quoted, in the<br /> special cases referred to the author gets the<br /> same percentage as the star actor.<br /> <br /> It will be found, however, that, speaking<br /> generally, such a payment, down, as £400 on<br /> account of 10 per cent. is rather high, and can<br /> only be secured by authors with very well-<br /> known names. £100 down on account of<br /> five per cent. is quite fair remuneration either<br /> in this country or in America. All kinds of<br /> different prices have been charged. In<br /> America it is said that everybody writes<br /> moving picture plots, and that their price is<br /> $2. In this country endless plots have been<br /> written for £2 and £3 a piece. But this period<br /> is passing away, as the pictures develop<br /> upwards and require better work. I know of<br /> several instances in which dramatists have<br /> séld the Moving Picture rights of their plays<br /> for £200. That looked like becoming a<br /> standard price, but competition luckily brought<br /> an advance. Not long ago an author received<br /> £500 for the entire rights in a play, and more<br /> recently an author with a world-wide reputa-<br /> tion received £750 on account of a percentage<br /> of the gross.<br /> <br /> What I have said above refers to England<br /> and America. Dramatists should remember<br /> that there are several rights in a subject, the<br /> English right, the American right, the Con-<br /> tinental right, and so forth, though manu-<br /> facturers as a rule like to deal with the All-<br /> World right when they purchase, and this is<br /> only reasonable, because when once a film has<br /> been made it is difficult to control and easy<br /> to copy.<br /> <br /> What is the custom on the Continent with<br /> regard to the payment of authors I am unable<br /> to say. The French Society of Authors and<br /> Composers sent a long communication to the<br /> Dramatic Sub-Committee of the<br /> <br /> Authors’ |<br /> <br /> Society, laid emphasis on “ urgency,” sug- |<br /> <br /> gested a conference, and announced that they |<br /> <br /> had appointed a sub-committee. Since then<br /> our secretary has received no further com-<br /> munication.<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> On the other hand, we have had very<br /> interesting communications from America.<br /> <br /> It is only right that I should mention ‘a<br /> method of payment which some people hold<br /> in favour. Instead of a percentage on the<br /> gross receipts earned by the various films of<br /> any one subject, they advocate a payment of<br /> so much per foot on the films manufactured.<br /> Of course, if a film is 1,000 feet long, and<br /> twenty-five copies are made of it, and you<br /> charge let us say 1s. per foot, you would, as<br /> author, receive 25,000 shillings, or £1,250,<br /> But a good subject is not necessarily a long<br /> subject. A bad film may be 2,000 feet long.<br /> A brilliant and most effective film may be only<br /> 500 feet long. Payment by length is never so<br /> desirable as payment by merit. Also, so far<br /> as my enquiries go, I doubt whether any<br /> manufacturer would pay so much as 1s. a foot.<br /> <br /> In thinking of the value of their work,<br /> dramatists should remember that in the<br /> making of Moving Pictures, scenery repre-<br /> senting exteriors cannot be used. It is pos-<br /> sible to photograph upon a film any built-up<br /> interior, but when you come to an exterior, it<br /> must be a real exterior, or at any rate some-<br /> thing that looks like a real exterior. I¢ cannot<br /> be ordinary paint and canvas scenery such as<br /> are used in theatres. I am now speaking of<br /> course of the author who has in his mind the<br /> writing of a serious plot for a Moving Picture<br /> representation.<br /> <br /> Ifa dramatist wants to write a ‘“freak”’ plot,<br /> that is to say, a story in which people fly over<br /> the roofs of London by night, or jump over<br /> houses, or visit the moon, he had much better<br /> go to a Moving Picture manufacturer first, and<br /> before he wastes much time upon his work, ask<br /> the manufacturer if the idea is possible. Very<br /> remarkable results are sometimes produced in<br /> “ freak ” or “‘ faked ’’ films.<br /> <br /> In writing plots for Moving Picture purposes,<br /> authors should remember that set words for<br /> the characters to speak are useless. The plot<br /> should be written out in exactly the same way<br /> that a ballet is written. The facts and the<br /> emotions only should be stated, as for example :<br /> <br /> “Gretchen is sitting Centre reading her lover’s.<br /> letter by the aid of a candle. Suddenly the<br /> door R is thrown open, and her father enters.<br /> Gretchen springs up in surprise, holding her<br /> lover’s letter in her left hand, which she keeps<br /> behind her. Her father eyes her sternly. He<br /> throws down his rifle, flings from his shoulder<br /> the dead chamois that he has brought back<br /> from his hunting, and throws aside his cloak.<br /> He comes down stage and for a moment eyes<br /> her critically. He holds out his hand as<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> Av dup<br /> <br /> * Sititegs 3<br /> ye ted) Le<br /> <br /> &lt;A Dera G<br /> WET ne uh<br /> “SP aS as<br /> <br /> FADE UR Racks<br /> ” he Ta<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> i<br /> <br /> Ff<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> though he would say, ‘Show me what is in<br /> your hand.’ She holds out her right hand<br /> before him. He shakes his head and demands<br /> the other hand. Vevy reluctantly she holds<br /> out her left hand from which, with a quick<br /> gesture of anger, he snatches her lover’s letter.<br /> He reads it and turns fiercely upon his daughter<br /> who falls back to the table L.”<br /> <br /> It is in these terms that the actual producer<br /> of a moving picture has got to think. If the<br /> author desires to be successful, the author<br /> must do likewise.<br /> <br /> In connection with the Moving Picture<br /> industry there are at present three combina-<br /> tions, the actual manufacturers of films, the<br /> renters, or middle-men, who do the work of<br /> distribution and the arranging of leases, and<br /> the exhibitors, who are the actual proprietors<br /> of the picture palaces. Between these bodies,<br /> both in this country and in Ametica, there is<br /> friction. In the fulness of time the renters<br /> will probably become extinct as a separate<br /> body, and will be amalgamated as part of the<br /> manufacturers’ organisation. The exhibitors<br /> naturally want to get their films wherever they<br /> like. Some of the greater manufacturers are<br /> a little inclined to say : “You shall take ours and<br /> ours only.”” The combination of manufacturers<br /> would of course, be very powerful, and could<br /> dictate to the best halls, what they could and<br /> could not show. . But these considerations do<br /> not, for the moment, affect the author very<br /> much. They may some day. At present the<br /> author should watch the developments of<br /> picture palaces regularly and seriously. They<br /> are bound to affect him. The production of<br /> words by means of the gramophone to be<br /> spoken in connection with the moving picture<br /> has been frequently attempted, but is not<br /> perfect yet. Something of the sort will come,<br /> however. A machine has already been<br /> patented which successfully reproduces noises,<br /> such as the ringing of bells, the blowing of<br /> motor horns, engine and steamboat whistles,<br /> which works quite correctly and automatically<br /> in connection with moving pictures. The<br /> singing of a song by a gramophone while the<br /> moving picture shows the artist is sometimes<br /> remarkably accurate, but is a little difficult.<br /> The time is not far distant, however, when<br /> public speeches will be taken down on a<br /> gramophone while the speaker, with all his<br /> movements and gestures, is being taken by the<br /> film. A speech made in Liverpool at twelve<br /> o’clock in the morning will be heard and seen<br /> at the Palace on the same evening. The<br /> Grand National Steeplechase which was run<br /> at Liverpool did not finish till nearly three<br /> <br /> 235<br /> <br /> o’clock, but it was seer practically from start<br /> to finish on the screen at the Palace Theatre<br /> the same night.<br /> <br /> The needs of the Moving Picture will, in all<br /> probability, be of great advantage to dramatic<br /> art though not to dramatic literature. The<br /> moving picture story is told, not by beautiful<br /> and well-chosen words, but by dramatic and<br /> expressive gestures. These things are rare on<br /> the English stage, though they are common<br /> enough in France and Italy. Hundreds of<br /> artists who will be wanted for Moving Picture<br /> purposes in this country will have to give up<br /> looking fearfully well-bred, and doing nothing<br /> to emphasize their words except twiddling<br /> their watch chains. Their faces will have to<br /> express, their hands will have to indicate, they<br /> will have to act all over with their bodies,<br /> they will have to be something more than<br /> authors’ gramophones.<br /> <br /> And for this blessing let us be grateful to<br /> the Moving Pictures.<br /> <br /> Ceci RALEIGH.<br /> <br /> ——____+—~&gt;-+<br /> <br /> MAGAZINE CONTENTS.<br /> <br /> —<br /> <br /> BLACKWOODS.<br /> <br /> Some Novels by Surtes. By Moira O&#039;Neill.<br /> Musings Without Method. Lord Acton’s Letters.<br /> <br /> British REVIEW.<br /> <br /> Poetry: The Grey Rock. By W. B. Yeats.<br /> Pennant and His Friends. By the Countess of Denbigh.<br /> <br /> CoNTEMPORARY.<br /> <br /> The Fairy Tale in Education.<br /> donald, M.D.<br /> <br /> Maeterlinck, the Revolutionary. By J. H. Harley.<br /> <br /> The Optimism of Ibsen. By Edwin Bjorkman.<br /> <br /> The Conception of Resurrection in Literature.<br /> <br /> By Greville Mac-<br /> <br /> CoRNHILL.<br /> <br /> Books and Reading: a Retrospect.<br /> Green.<br /> <br /> By the Rev. W. C.<br /> <br /> Enoeuiso REVIEW.<br /> <br /> To Swinburne: a Poem. By John Helston.<br /> A National College of Music for Wales. By Granville<br /> Bantock.<br /> <br /> Literature as a Fine Art. By R. A. Scott-James.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> SCALE FOR ADVERTISEMENIS.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> [ALLOWANCE TO MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY 20 PER OENT.)<br /> Frout Page ae FOE A vie £4 0 0<br /> Other Pages ot 80.8<br /> Half of a Page .. “i 0<br /> Quarter of a Page<br /> Highth of a Page eae Nes ee ae<br /> Single Column Advertisements perinch 0<br /> <br /> Reduction of 20 per cent. made for a Series of Six and of 25 per cent. for<br /> Twelve Insertions.<br /> <br /> All letters respecting Advertisements should be addressed to J. F.<br /> Brimont &amp; Co,, 29, Paternoster Square, London, £.C.<br /> <br /> oor<br /> me<br /> <br /> 0<br /> 5 6<br /> 7-0<br /> 6 0<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> HOW TO USE THE SOCIETY.<br /> <br /> —<br /> <br /> 1. VERY member has a right toask for and to receive<br /> K advice upon his agreements, his choice of a pub-<br /> lisher, or any dispute arising in the conduct of his<br /> business or the administration of his property. The<br /> Secretary of the Society is a solicitor; but if there is any<br /> special reason the Secretary will refer the case to the<br /> Solicitors of the Society. Further, the Committee, if they<br /> deem it desirable, will obtain counsel’s opinion without<br /> any cost to the member. Moreover, where counsel&#039;s<br /> opinion is favourable, and the sanction of the Committee<br /> is obtained, action will be taken on behalf of the aggrieved<br /> member, and all costs borne by the Society.<br /> <br /> 2. Remember that questions connected with copyright<br /> and publishers’ agreements do not fall within the experi-<br /> ence of ordinary solicitors. Therefore, do not scruple to use<br /> the Society.<br /> <br /> 3. Before signing any agreement whatever, send<br /> the document to the Society for examination,<br /> <br /> 4. Remember always that in belonging to the Society<br /> you are fighting the battles of other writers, even if you<br /> are reaping no direct benefit to yourself, and that you are<br /> advancing the best interests of your calling in promoting<br /> the independence of the writer, the dramatist, the composer.<br /> <br /> 5. The Committee have arranged for the reception of<br /> members’ agreements and their preservation in a fire-<br /> proof safe. The agreements will, of course, be regarded as<br /> confidential documents to be read only by the Secretary,<br /> who will keep the key of the safe. The Society now offers :<br /> (1) To stamp agreements in readiness for a possible action<br /> upon them. (2) To keep agreements. (3) To enforce<br /> payments due according to agreements. Fuller particu-<br /> lars of the Society’s work can be obtained in the<br /> Prospectus.<br /> <br /> 6. No contract should be entered into with a literary<br /> agent without the advice of the Secretary of the Society.<br /> Members are strongly advised not to accept without careful<br /> consideration the contracts with publishers submitted to<br /> them by literary agents, and are recommended to submit<br /> them for interpretation and explanation to the Secretary<br /> of the Society.<br /> <br /> This<br /> The<br /> <br /> 7. Many agents neglect to stamp agreements,<br /> must be done within fourteen days of first execution.<br /> Secretary will undertake it on behalf of members.<br /> <br /> 8. Some agents endeayour to prevent authors from<br /> referring matters to the Secretary of the Society; so<br /> do some publishers. Members can make their own<br /> deductions and act accordingly.<br /> <br /> 9. The subscription to the Society is £1 1s. per<br /> annum, or £10 10s. for life membership.<br /> <br /> ——— ee<br /> <br /> WARNINGS TO THE PRODUCERS<br /> OF BOOKS.<br /> <br /> —+—&gt;— +<br /> <br /> ERE are a few standing rules to be observed in an<br /> agreement. There are four methods of dealing<br /> with literary property :—<br /> <br /> I, Selling it Outright.<br /> * This is sometimes satisfactory, if a proper price. can be<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> obtained. But the transaction should be managed by 4<br /> competent agent, or with the advice of the Secretary of<br /> the Society.<br /> <br /> Il. A Profit-Sharing Agreement (a bad form of<br /> agreement),<br /> <br /> In this case the following rules should be attended to:<br /> <br /> (1.) Not to sign any agreement in which the cost of pre-<br /> duction forms a part without the strictest investigation,<br /> <br /> (2.) Not to give the publisher the power of putting the<br /> profits into his own pocket by charging for advertisements<br /> in his own organs, or by charging exchange advertise-<br /> ments. Therefore keep control of the advertisements.<br /> <br /> (3.) Not to allow a special charge for ‘office expenses,”<br /> unless the same allowance is made to the author.<br /> <br /> (4.) Not to give up American, Colonial, or Continental]<br /> rights.<br /> <br /> (5.) Not to give up serial or translation rights.<br /> <br /> (6.) Not to bind yourself for future work to any publisher.<br /> As well bind yourself for the future to any one solicitor or<br /> doctor |<br /> <br /> III. The Royalty System.<br /> <br /> This is perhaps, with certain limitations, the best form<br /> of agreement. It is above all things necessary to know<br /> what the proposed royalty means to both sides. It is now<br /> possible for an author to ascertain approximately the<br /> truth. From time to time very important figures connected<br /> with royalties are published in The Author.<br /> <br /> IV. A Commission Agreement.<br /> <br /> The main points are :—<br /> <br /> (1.) Be careful to obtain a fair cost of production.<br /> (2.) Keep control of the advertisements.<br /> <br /> (3.) Keep control of the sale price of the book.<br /> <br /> General.<br /> <br /> All other forms of agreement are combinations of the four<br /> above mentioned.<br /> <br /> Such combinations are generally disastrous to the author.<br /> <br /> Never sign any agreement without competent advice from<br /> the Secretary of the Society.<br /> <br /> Stamp all agreements with the Inland Revenue stamp.<br /> <br /> Avoid agreements by letter if possible.<br /> <br /> The main points which the Society has always demanded<br /> from the outset are :—<br /> <br /> (1.) That both sides shall know what an agreement<br /> means.<br /> <br /> (2.) The inspection of those account books which belong<br /> to the author. We are advised that this is a right, in the<br /> nature of a common law right, which cannot be denied or<br /> withheld.<br /> <br /> (3.) Always avoid a transfer of copyright.<br /> <br /> —__—_———__+—&gt;_&gt;+—___<br /> <br /> WARNINGS TO DRAMATIC AUTHORS.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> EVER sign an agreement without submitting it to the<br /> Secretary of the Society of Authors or some com-<br /> petent legal authority.<br /> <br /> 2. It is well to be extremely careful in negotiating for<br /> the production of a play with any one except an established —<br /> manager.<br /> <br /> 3. There are three forms of dramatic contract for plays<br /> in three or more acts :—<br /> <br /> (a.) Sale outright of the performing right. This<br /> is unsatisfactory. An author who enters into<br /> such a contract should stipulate in the contract<br /> for production of the piece by a certain date<br /> and for proper publication of his name on the<br /> play-bills,<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> (2.) Sale of performing right or of a licence to<br /> perform on the basis of percentages on<br /> gross receipts. Percentages vary between 5<br /> and 15 per cent, An author should obtain a<br /> percentage on the sliding scale of gross receipts<br /> in preference to the American system. Should<br /> obtain a sum in advance of percentages. A fixed<br /> date on or before which the play should be<br /> performed.<br /> <br /> (c.) Sale of performing right or of a licence to<br /> perform on the basis of royalties (é.e., fixed<br /> nightly fees). This method should be always<br /> avoided except in cases where the fees are<br /> likely to be small or difficult to collect. The<br /> other safeguards set out under heading (d.) apply<br /> also in this case.<br /> <br /> 4, Plays in one act are often sold outright, but it is<br /> better to obtain a small nightly fee if possible, and a sum<br /> paid in advance of such fees in any event. It is extremely<br /> important that the amateur rights of one-act plays should<br /> be reserved.<br /> <br /> 5. Authors should remember that performing rights can<br /> be limited, and are usually limited, by town, country, and<br /> time. This is most important.<br /> <br /> 6. Authors should not assign performing rights, but<br /> should grant a licence to perform. The legal distinction<br /> is of great importance,<br /> <br /> 7. Authors should remember that performing rights in a<br /> play are distinct from literary copyright. A manager<br /> holding the performing right or licence to perform cannot<br /> print the book of the words.<br /> <br /> 8. Never forget that United States rights may be exceed-<br /> ingly valuable. They should never be included in English<br /> agreements without the author obtaining a substantial<br /> consideration.<br /> <br /> 9, Agreements for collaboration should be carefully<br /> drawn and executed before collaboration is commenced.<br /> <br /> 10. An author should remember that production of a play<br /> is highly speculative: that he runs a very great risk of<br /> delay and a breakdown in the fulfilment of his contract.<br /> He should therefore guard himself all the more carefully in<br /> the beginning.<br /> <br /> 11. An author must remember that the dramatic market<br /> is exceedingly limited, and that for a novice the first object<br /> is to obtain adequate publication.<br /> <br /> As these warnings must necessarily be incomplete, on<br /> account of the wide range of the subject of dramatic con-<br /> tracts, those authors desirous of further information<br /> are referred to the Secretary of the Society.<br /> <br /> a<br /> <br /> REGISTRATION OF SCENARIOS AND<br /> ORIGINAL PLAYS.<br /> <br /> &lt;&gt; +<br /> <br /> CENARIOS, typewritten in duplicate on foolscap paper<br /> forwarded to the offices of the Society, together with<br /> <br /> a registration fee of two shillings and sixpence, will<br /> <br /> be carefully compared by the Secretary or a qualified assis-<br /> tant. One copy will be stamped and returned to theauthor<br /> and the other filed in the register of the Society. Copies<br /> of the scenario thus filed may be obtained at any time by<br /> the author only at a small charge to cover cost of typing.<br /> <br /> Original Plays may also be filed subject to the same<br /> <br /> tules, with the exception that a play will be charged for<br /> at the price of 2s. 6d. per act.<br /> <br /> 237<br /> <br /> DRAMATIC AUTHORS AND AGENTS.<br /> ——<br /> <br /> RAMATIC authors should seek’ the advice of the<br /> Society before putting plays into the hands of<br /> agents. As the law stands at present, an agent<br /> <br /> who has once had a play in his hands may acquire a<br /> perpetual claim to a percentage on the author’s fees<br /> from it. As far as the placing of plays is concerned,<br /> it may be taken as a general rule that there are only<br /> very few agents who can do anything for an author<br /> that he cannot, under the guidance of the Society, do<br /> equally well or better for himself. The collection of fees<br /> is also a matter in which in many cases no intermediary is<br /> required. For certain purposes, such as the collection of<br /> fees on amateur performances, and in general the trans-<br /> action of frequent petty authorisations with different<br /> individuals, and also for the collection of fees in foreign<br /> countries, almost all dramatic authors employ agents; and<br /> in these ways the services of agents are real and valuable.<br /> But the Society warns authors against agents who profess<br /> to have influence with managers in the placing of plays, or<br /> who propose to act as principals by offering to purchase<br /> the author’s rights. In any case, in the present state of<br /> the law, an agent should not be employed under any<br /> circumstances without an agreement approved of by the<br /> Society.<br /> gg<br /> <br /> WARNINGS TO MUSICAL COMPOSERS.<br /> <br /> ee ae<br /> ITTLE can be added to the warnings given for the<br /> assistance of producers of books and dramatic<br /> authors. It must, however, be pointed out that, as<br /> a rule, the musical publisher demands from the musical<br /> composer a transfer of fuller rights and less liberal finan-<br /> cial terms than those obtained for literary and dramatic<br /> property. The musical composer has very often the two<br /> rights to deal with—performing right and copyright. He<br /> should be especially careful therefore when entering into<br /> an agreement, and should take into particular consideration<br /> the warnings stated above.<br /> <br /> a i oe ee ee<br /> <br /> STAMPING MUSIC.<br /> <br /> a<br /> <br /> The Society undertakes to stamp copies of music on;<br /> behalf of its members for the fee of 6d. per 100 or part<br /> of 100. The members’ stamps are kept in the Society&#039;s<br /> safe. The musical publishers communicate direct with the<br /> Secretary, and the voucher is then forwarded to the<br /> members, who are thus saved much unnecessary trouble.<br /> <br /> ie ee ee<br /> <br /> THE READING BRANCH.<br /> <br /> ——&gt; +<br /> <br /> EMBERS will greatly assist the Society in this<br /> branch of its work by informing young writers<br /> of its existence. Their MSS. can be read and<br /> treated as a composition is treated by a coach, The term<br /> MSS. includes not only works of fiction, but poetry<br /> and dramatic works, and when it is possible, under<br /> special arrangement, technical and scientific works. Tbe<br /> Readers are writers of competence and experience. The<br /> <br /> fee is one guinea,<br /> <br /> —_——_—_—_—_.—&gt;—_____—__<br /> <br /> REMITTANCES.<br /> <br /> AEs<br /> <br /> The Secretary of the Society begs to give notice<br /> that all remittances are acknowledged by return of post.<br /> All remittences should be crossed Union of London and-<br /> Smiths Bank, Chancery Lane, or be sent by registered<br /> letter only.<br /> <br /> <br /> 238<br /> COLLECTION BUREAU.<br /> <br /> 1<br /> <br /> HE Society undertakes to collect accounts and moneys<br /> <br /> l due to authors, composers and dramatists.<br /> <br /> 1. Under contracts for the publication of their<br /> works.<br /> <br /> 2. Under contracts for the performance of their works<br /> and amateur fees.<br /> <br /> 3. Under the Compulsory Licence Clauses of the Copy-<br /> right Act, i.e., Clause 3, governing compulsory licences for<br /> books, and Clause 19, referring to mechanical instrument<br /> records. :<br /> <br /> The Bureau is divided into three departments :—<br /> <br /> 1. Literary.<br /> 2. Dramatic.<br /> 3. Musical.<br /> <br /> The Society does not desire to make a profit from the<br /> collection of fees, but will charge a commission to cover<br /> expenses. If, owing to the amount passing through the<br /> office, the expenses are more than covered, the Committee<br /> of Management will discuss the possibility of reducing the<br /> commission.<br /> <br /> For full particulars of the terms of collection, application<br /> must be made to the Collection Bureau of the Society.<br /> <br /> The Bureau is in no sense a literary or dramatic<br /> agency for the placing of books or plays.<br /> <br /> —_——__+ &gt; +___—<br /> <br /> GENERAL NOTES.<br /> <br /> ——— +<br /> Tur AutHors’ LEAGUE OF AMERICA.<br /> <br /> WE must give our heartiest welcome to the<br /> first number of the Bulletin of the Authors’<br /> League of America, which was issued on<br /> April1. We hope the date is not ominous;<br /> but, putting aside this question, it is of the<br /> greatest interest to see that the American<br /> authors are combining, and it is very flattering<br /> to see that they are combining almost entirely<br /> along the lines of our own Society. We note<br /> their list of members and the statement that<br /> they number already 350, and that applicants<br /> are coming in daily. All this is very healthy<br /> and very satisfactory, and we feel convinced<br /> that the Authors’ League will justify its present<br /> popularity by showing that it really turns<br /> out useful information, and gives to its mem-<br /> bers strong legal support, according to the<br /> proposals set out in its paper and its pro-<br /> spectus. The committee of the Society of<br /> Authors promised to give the League its best<br /> assistance. As we hope the League may<br /> be able to furnish the Society with interesting<br /> advice as to the position of publishers, editors<br /> of magazines, theatrical managers, and others<br /> who deal with copyright property in America<br /> from the trade side, so the Society will be<br /> able to help the League by information from<br /> England. But why, if the League considers<br /> it necessary to appoint a literary agent in<br /> London, do they appoint a publisher? We<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> deal with the matter on principle. How can<br /> a publisher act as a literary agent, for it<br /> means either that he cannot publish himself<br /> any of the work put into his hands, or if he<br /> does publish it himself, that he ceases to be an<br /> agent. Perhaps the American Authors’ League<br /> will reconsider the position and explain.<br /> <br /> PUBLISHERS’ ASSOCIATION.<br /> <br /> WE desire to tender our congratulations<br /> to Mr. J. H. Blackwood on his election to the<br /> presidency of the Publishers’ Association,<br /> in succession to Sir Frederick Macmillan,<br /> who retired and was elected vice-president.<br /> <br /> While, in many cases, the interests of authors<br /> and publishers are necessarily opposed, there<br /> are still not a few matters on which their<br /> interests are at one. The recent Copyright<br /> Bill to which Mr. Blackwood, in proposing a<br /> vote of thanks to the retiring. president,<br /> referred, afforded the Society of Authors and<br /> the Publishers’ Association an opportunity<br /> of working together. We feel certain that<br /> in the event of any matter arising where joint<br /> action between the two bodies is feasible,<br /> we may count on the assistance and co-opera-<br /> tion of the Publishers’ Association’s latest<br /> president as we could on that of his predecessor<br /> in the chair.<br /> <br /> Movine Pictures.<br /> <br /> By the desire of the Dramatic Sub-Com-<br /> mittee, we print an article on Moving Pictures,<br /> being a report compiled by Mr. Cecil Raleigh<br /> for the benefit of dramatists who are members<br /> of the Society.<br /> <br /> Although Mr. Raleigh has been so successful<br /> in presenting the matter in practical form and<br /> in giving the figures obtainable, the Dramatic<br /> Sub-Committee desire to impress upon<br /> members the fact that before making any<br /> contract affecting their cinematograph rights,<br /> they should apply to the Society for advice.<br /> All information which is forwarded to the<br /> Society concerning these contracts will be<br /> submitted with the sanction of the member,<br /> to the Dramatic Sub-Committee and will be<br /> treated in absolute confidence. It is hoped<br /> that members will give their best support to<br /> the efforts of the Dramatic sub-Committee.<br /> It may be necessary with the larger develop-<br /> ment of the cinematograph to amplify and<br /> amend the report. The more information<br /> therefore at the disposal of the sub-committee,<br /> the more lasting will be the conclusion at<br /> which it is possible to arrive.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> MacazinE RicHTs IN THE U.S.A.<br /> <br /> Toucutne the matter of magazine rights,<br /> an American correspondent informs us that<br /> most of the better class magazines will accept<br /> or return a serial of some 60,000 to 100,000<br /> words within ten days, while a short story<br /> takes about the same time to get through,<br /> because, as a rule, it fetches a much higher<br /> price in proportion. Practically all magazines<br /> pay on acceptance, and have their stated<br /> pay-days, weekly, fortnightly or monthly.<br /> Those magazines that are of best repute for<br /> quick decisions and prompt pay get the pick<br /> of the market in fiction, and those at the bottom<br /> of the grade—information concerning which<br /> every author can easily obtain—get the dregs.<br /> He states further that almost every editor in<br /> America is easily accessible to, and is even<br /> anxious to meet, any contributor who shows<br /> promise of affording him scope of adding to<br /> his circulation.<br /> <br /> Serra, RIGHTS IN THE U.S.A.<br /> <br /> Tue Information Bureau of the Authors’<br /> League of America received a number of<br /> letters from members, asking what practical<br /> steps it was necessary to take in order<br /> that the author of the serial story appearing<br /> in a magazine in America may obtain for<br /> himself copyright of all other rights excepting<br /> the right of first publication owned by the<br /> magazine. The same question is constantly<br /> arising in Great Britain.<br /> <br /> We take pleasure therefore in printing the<br /> reply to such a question received from Mr.<br /> Thorwald Solberg, who is the Registrar of<br /> Copyrights in Washington. In addition to<br /> following the instructions contained therein,<br /> the author should, of course, publish under<br /> each instalment of his story a notice of the<br /> copyright reserved by him :—<br /> <br /> . “ Liprary or CONGRESS,<br /> ‘**CopyRIGHT OFFICE,<br /> ‘* WASHINGTON.<br /> “ Authors’ League of America,<br /> “30, Broad Street, New York.<br /> <br /> “ Duar Sres,—In response to the question raised in<br /> your letter, I beg to say that it would no doubt be a<br /> safer course to pursue to file a claim of copyright in<br /> each serial instalment upon the deposit of a copy of the<br /> periodical containing it in accordance with the express<br /> provisions of the copyright law.<br /> <br /> “ Under the express provisions of the statute, only the<br /> numbers which are deposited at the same time can be<br /> included in one registration. In the case of serial publica-<br /> tions some publishers believe that it is a secure enough<br /> procedure to hold numbers and send three or four at one<br /> time, and if this is done the Copyright Office will register<br /> them upon the responsibility of the claimant.<br /> <br /> “Tt is to be noticed, however, that if that course is<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 239<br /> <br /> pursued, any inquiry as to whether the work has been<br /> registered for copyright in the United States must be<br /> answered in the negative before the deposit has been made.<br /> It is probably to obviate the possibly practical difficulties<br /> which might arise from such negative answers that more<br /> cautious publishers will deposit each instalment separately<br /> and pay a separate fee for each.<br /> <br /> “To the above I must add also that there is of necessity<br /> a limit of space in the record books of the Copyright Office<br /> for indicating the date of publication, and therefore the<br /> Office cannot undertake to include a great many separate<br /> issues of magazines with separate dates of publication for<br /> one registration.<br /> <br /> (Signed) ““THORWALD SOLBERG,<br /> “ Register of Copyrights.”<br /> We only wish it had been possible to obtain<br /> an equally authoritative answer to the question<br /> how to obtain copyright in Great Britain and<br /> America in the same story when it is published<br /> serially in both countries.<br /> <br /> Tue AUSTRALIAN MARKET.<br /> <br /> In another column of this issue we print an<br /> article from the Bookfellow, Sidney, Australia<br /> on The Tied Book System. The article needs<br /> consideration as it has been written by an<br /> Australian with a knowledge of the Austra-<br /> lian markets, but although it is important to<br /> hear that side of the question, the statements<br /> contained in the article are not in accord with<br /> other statements that have been received at<br /> the Society’s office with regard to the Austra-<br /> lian book trade. Indeed, in those cases where<br /> English authors have published themselves<br /> with one Australian publisher, the result has.<br /> been most satisfactory and the authors have<br /> obtained a wider circulation than they<br /> generally obtain from the free competition.<br /> We trust that the time is not far distant<br /> when the Australian publisher will come<br /> forward, contract with the English author<br /> and produce an edition in Australia for the<br /> Australians. If such a contract could be<br /> entered into, the advantage to the publisher<br /> as well as to the author would stimulate a<br /> much wider circulation. If a person produced<br /> a book at his own expense in England, no<br /> publisher would take it up unless he had a<br /> monopoly of publication. Why the same rule<br /> should not apply in Australia it is difficult to<br /> say.<br /> <br /> Toe TREATMENT OF THE LATE COLERIDGE<br /> TAYLOR BY THE Frrm oF MEssRs.<br /> NovELLo.<br /> In a paper called the Musical News, in the<br /> issue for March 22, there is an article on<br /> <br /> this subject by Mr. T. Lea Southgate. It<br /> is a rather pathetic presentation of the<br /> <br /> <br /> 240<br /> <br /> relations between authors and composers and<br /> their publishers which were thought proper in<br /> the evil old times, when the artist regarded his<br /> publisher as his patron. Mr. T. Lea Southgate<br /> pleads his age and experience entitling him to<br /> discuss the whole question at large, but in<br /> truth the world has moved on without his<br /> knowledge, leaving him with nothing to say<br /> worth saying. We are glad to acknowledge<br /> his fairness, however, in one direction. He<br /> acquits Mrs. Coleridge Taylor of responsibility<br /> for the efforts of the chairman of the Society<br /> of Authors on behalf of her and her family.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Tue AUTHOR AND THE PUBLISHER.<br /> <br /> A CORRESPONDENT has sent us a funny little<br /> pamphlet with this title, written by Mr.<br /> <br /> Filson Young, and reprinted from the<br /> Eyewitness. In this pamphlet we are told<br /> <br /> that ‘‘ agencies and societies exist for no<br /> other purpose than to point them (the sins of<br /> the publisher to the author) out’; and that<br /> “it is seriously believed also that, except for<br /> the vigilance of societies and agents, authors<br /> would all be starving in the gutter, and pub-<br /> lishers would all be millionaires.” To the<br /> novelist who is prudent enough not to séll his<br /> property outright unless he can get good terms<br /> we have this reference: ‘‘ Over a quite worth-<br /> less library novel he talks importantly about<br /> ‘reserving the copyright,’ with the fond idea<br /> that his grandchildren may possibly derive a<br /> handsome annual income from it.’ To the<br /> novelist who would act in business affairs like<br /> any other sensible person, and would take his<br /> wares to the best market, wherever that might<br /> be, the following advice is addressed: “ For<br /> the author who writes books from any serious<br /> motive, and who wishes them to live, the plan<br /> of sticking to one publisher is far the best.”<br /> The pamphlet might make a good circular for<br /> a publisher, but as the counsel of an author to<br /> his brother authors it is an amazing piece of<br /> work.<br /> <br /> E. M. Unprerpown, K.C.<br /> <br /> WE regret to record the death of Mr. E. M.<br /> Underdown, K.C., which occurred suddenly<br /> last month. He was, for many years,<br /> honorary counsel to the Society, and one of<br /> the very earliest members of the company<br /> of authors from which it has_ evolved.<br /> Mr. Underdown rendered the Society many<br /> services in its earlier years—more particularly<br /> in connection with copyright law reform, which<br /> from the date of its foundation the Society<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> was endeavouring to promote. Many of the<br /> Bills initiated in those early days by the<br /> Society failed to obtain the Parliamentary<br /> facilities necessary for their transformation<br /> into Acts of Parliament. Nevertheless, the<br /> time spent was not wasted, and the knowledge<br /> of copyright law possessed by Mr. Underdown<br /> was of great assistance to the Society, and was<br /> generously placed at its disposal by him. He<br /> was an extraordinarily accomplished man, a<br /> great commercial lawyer, an expert musician,<br /> and at home in five European languages.<br /> <br /> Proressor EpwarD DowDEN.<br /> <br /> WE have also, with regret, to chronicle the<br /> death of Professor Edward Dowden, whose<br /> contributions to literature are well known to<br /> all students.<br /> <br /> Elected to the professorship of English<br /> Literature and Oratory at Trinity College,<br /> Dublin, in 1867, he published, eight years later,<br /> his first Shakespearean study, ‘‘ Shakespeare :<br /> His Mind and Art.” This work made him<br /> widely known as a critic, and was translated<br /> into German and Russian. Many other essays<br /> in criticism followed, but it was his ‘ Life of<br /> Shelley,’’ published 1886, which brought his<br /> name to the notice of the general public. He<br /> was also the author of several books of poems.<br /> His scholastic honours included the Cunning-<br /> ham Gold Medal of the Royal Irish Academy<br /> (1878), an Honorary LL.D. of Edinburgh, and<br /> an Honorary D.C.L. of Oxford. Apart from<br /> his literary work he held several public posts, -<br /> and displayed keen interest in political ques-<br /> tions as a Unionist. His association with the<br /> Society continued till his death, though his<br /> many other interests gave him little leisure for<br /> active participation in the Society’s work.<br /> <br /> ——_<br /> <br /> FIELD-MARSHAL THE YISCOUNT<br /> WOLSELEY, K.P., P.C., ETC.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> E regret to chronicle the death of<br /> <br /> Field - Marshal Viscount Wolseley,<br /> <br /> K.P., P.C., ete., which occurred on<br /> <br /> March 27. It is unnecessary in these columns<br /> to give a detailed statement of his distinguished<br /> career as a soldier and of the brilliant services<br /> that he rendered to his country during the<br /> many campaigns through which he fought; all<br /> this has already been set out in the general<br /> press. It is only for us to chronicle his work<br /> as an author. ‘‘ The Soldier’s Pocket Book<br /> for Field Service”’ was already in its fifth edition<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> in 1886. This work without doubt, from the<br /> practical point of view, from the point of view<br /> of Lord Wolseley as the writer for his own pro-<br /> fession, is the most important work that he<br /> produced as an author. He wrote other works<br /> which are recognised as authoritative on their<br /> subjects, and they all of them deal with mil-<br /> tary matters: “The Life of the Duke of<br /> Marlborough,’ ‘‘The Decline and Fall of<br /> Napoleon,” and his own auto-biography,<br /> which is confined to the soldier side of his<br /> life, are the most important of these publica-<br /> tions. Though he was first and last a soldier,<br /> he was successful as a writer, as might have<br /> been expected, because he always wrote out<br /> of the fulness of his knowledge. He joined<br /> the Society in June, 1903, was elected to<br /> the Council, and, although he took no active<br /> part in the Society’s work, he was fully<br /> in accord with the principles on which’ it is<br /> based. We have pleasure in recording that<br /> his daughter, who succeeds to the title, has<br /> also been a member of the Society for some<br /> years.<br /> <br /> ———_+——_+___—_<br /> <br /> THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING.<br /> <br /> 1<br /> 2 ieee Annual<br /> Society of Authors was held at<br /> <br /> 4.30 p.m. on Thursday, April 3, in<br /> the rooms of the Society of Arts, 18, John<br /> Street, Adelphi, when, amongst others, the<br /> following members were present :—<br /> <br /> Dr. S. Squire Sprigge, Chairman; James<br /> Baker, Mackenzie Bell, Percy J. Brebner,<br /> Prof. Lewis N. Chase, Mrs. Lewis N. Chase,<br /> Miss W. J. Curwen, Mrs. L. F. Wynne Ffoulkes,<br /> Charles L. Freeston, Anthony Hope Hawkins,<br /> John Helston, Miss E. M. Hine, Mrs. Hope<br /> Huntly, The Rev. H. N. Hutchinson, John<br /> Ivimey, Cliff Keane, C. Lincoln, Gilbert S.<br /> Macquoid, Mowbray Marras, Miss H. E.<br /> Marshall, E. D. McCormick, Aylmer Maude,<br /> H. W. Ord, H. M. Paull, Mrs. Charles Perrin,<br /> Miss Alice Grant Rosman, Firth Scott, P. W.<br /> Sergeant, H. W. Seton-Karr, Adolphe Smith,<br /> Miss L. E. Tiddeman, Major Philip Trevor,<br /> George Vernon, L. C. Wharton, Louis Zangwill.<br /> <br /> The agenda list was as follows :—<br /> <br /> 1. To receive, and, if desired, to discuss the<br /> accounts and report of the Committee of<br /> Management. 2. To elect a member of the<br /> Pension Fund Committee under the scheme for<br /> the management of the Pension Fund.<br /> (Mr. M. H. Spielmann resigns in due order,<br /> <br /> General Meeting of the<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 241<br /> <br /> but submits his name for re-election. The<br /> name of no other candidate has been put<br /> forward). 8. To appoint scrutineers to count<br /> the votes under the Society’s constitution.<br /> 4. To consider a proposal: (a) That all sums<br /> recovered through the agency of the Society’s<br /> solicitors for those members who are not<br /> employing the Society’s Collection Bureau<br /> shall be subject to the deduction of com-<br /> mission. (b) That the commission so deducted<br /> shall be the same as is deducted for the time<br /> being in the case of its members employing<br /> the bureau.<br /> <br /> Dr. S. Squire Sprigge, Chairman of the<br /> Committee of Management, who presided,<br /> proposed that the meeting should take first<br /> the second and third items of the agenda.<br /> Mr. M. H. Spielmann having been re-elected<br /> to the Pension Fund Committee, the election<br /> of scrutineers was left in the hands of the<br /> Committee of Management.<br /> <br /> Coming next to the accounts and report,<br /> which were already in the hands of the members,<br /> the Chairman invited any of those present who<br /> had anything to say concerning these to do so.<br /> The past year, he said, had been very favour-<br /> able to the Society. The membership had<br /> gone up, the total number of elections being<br /> 345, a great advance on the numbers for the<br /> past four years; and the financial position<br /> was very strong. There had, moreover, been<br /> a drop in the number of resignations, the<br /> report showing a loss of 180, including fifty-five<br /> erasions for non-payment, ninety-nine resigna-<br /> tions, and twenty-six deaths. The question<br /> of resignations had always been, said the<br /> Chairman, a difficult one for their Society,<br /> for apparently a great number of people only<br /> came to them when in trouble. If these<br /> people, after obtaining the aid which they<br /> sought, did not remain to share the troubles<br /> of others, but dropped their membership<br /> again, then they were only a drain upon the<br /> finances of the Society. He hoped that the<br /> decrease in the number of resignations, even<br /> if it were only a slight one, might be taken as<br /> a sign that authors were beginning to recognise<br /> that the Society should be used as a form of<br /> insurance and a means of co-operation with<br /> their fellow-writers. With regard to finance,<br /> the accounts showed that their income last<br /> year was the largest they had ever received,<br /> an increase of £185 bringing the revenue from<br /> annual subscriptions to £2,250. At the same<br /> time the legal expenses of the year had been<br /> smaller, a point for congratulation when<br /> their membership was increasing. He again<br /> invited any who had remarks to make on the<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 242<br /> <br /> report, or suggestions as to the future conduct<br /> of the Society, to make them now.<br /> <br /> No one responding to the invitation, the<br /> Chairman passed on to the fourth item in<br /> the agenda. This, he explained, arose partly<br /> out of a proposal, somewhat to the same effect,<br /> made at the last Annual Meeting by Mr. Paull.<br /> Similar suggestions had reached the Committee<br /> of Management, generally in letters from<br /> members, the effect of which was that it seemed<br /> to them a legitimate source of income to the<br /> Society to charge a small commission on<br /> moneys collected. Members usually made<br /> the suggestion when sending donations at<br /> the end of successful actions undertaken on<br /> their behalf by the Society. The Committee<br /> of Management had, therefore, decided to put<br /> forward the proposal now before the meeting,<br /> without expressing any collective opinion of<br /> their own either for or against it. They were<br /> not, indeed, all agreed upon it; but the<br /> proposal, in its present form, was the result<br /> of several debates in committee. The fact<br /> that the net result of its being passed would<br /> be an increase of revenue was a matter of<br /> importance to the Society, for, though their<br /> financial position was good, their growing<br /> work necessitated larger offices and more<br /> clerical assistance, and it must be remembered<br /> that the bigger their income the more good<br /> they could do on behalf of authors. It must<br /> also be remembered that they were not at<br /> <br /> resent banking any substantial reserve fund,<br /> and that the guinea subscription barely<br /> covered the expense of the services rendered<br /> to members. He asked Mr. Paull if he would<br /> speak first on the subject.<br /> <br /> Mr. H. M. Paull said that what appeared<br /> upon the agenda was not in so many words<br /> his own proposal, but he welcomed it never-<br /> theless. A large number of members did not<br /> appreciate the cost to the Society of the<br /> recovery of sums due to them. He knew<br /> himself of cases where the money recovered<br /> amounted to several hundreds of pounds. A<br /> small percentage charged as commission on<br /> such would be very acceptable to their funds.<br /> How could any reasonable objection be made<br /> to the charge of a small percentage? Yet<br /> he knew that some authors at least made no<br /> return to the Society for the money which it<br /> obtained for them. He expressed his pleasure<br /> in putting forward the proposal as it stood.<br /> <br /> Mr. Anthony Hope Hawkins said that he was<br /> sorry that this matter had been brought before<br /> so small a meeting as the present one. The<br /> decision would be hurried if they adopted the<br /> proposal now and instructed the committee to<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> act upon it. He regarded it as a departure<br /> from the guiding principles of the Society<br /> hitherto, and suggested certain modifications<br /> as being necessary. For instance, members<br /> who had already paid subscriptions for several<br /> years without asking for legal assistance ought<br /> to be exempt from such a charge. They<br /> might get the case of an author, who was also<br /> a poor man and who had already paid five<br /> guineas in the course of five years, and who<br /> then sued, through: the Society, for the<br /> recovery of a sum of five guineas, on which<br /> he would be called upon to pay a commission<br /> of 10s. 6d. Might he not justly think that he<br /> had already paid five guineas in subscriptions<br /> toward the expenses of recovery of his five<br /> guineas? Then there were some cases in<br /> which all that was needed was the sending of<br /> a lawyer’s letter. Was it reasonable to charge<br /> for this 5 per cent. on the sum recovered ?<br /> The Society wanted to get hold of every author<br /> it could. Would it get more members if it<br /> adopted this proposal, or would it not rather<br /> lose members thereby ? He thought that it<br /> would be right for the matter to be decided<br /> upon by a more representative gathering than<br /> was present that day. Let them not enable<br /> people to say, with more force than now, that<br /> the Society gave nothing in return for the<br /> guinea subscription. He would adopt the<br /> time-honoured device of moving “‘ the previous<br /> question.”<br /> <br /> It having been pointed out that the proposal<br /> had not yet been seconded, Mr. Aylmer Maude<br /> begged leave to do so. He admitted that it<br /> was a pity the meeting was so small, but<br /> considered that those who had come to it had<br /> a right to express their opinion. A plebiscite<br /> of the Society might follow. With regard to<br /> the justice of the proposal, they could not<br /> really afford to collect money for nothing.<br /> They had started a bureau for the collection<br /> of moneys, charging five per cent. commission<br /> without the benefit of legal proceedings. But<br /> there were some members for whom they were<br /> collecting money, with the aid of the law,<br /> and whom they were charging nothing. This<br /> was surely unreasonable. (Mr. L. Zangwill:<br /> No, no).<br /> <br /> Mr. James Baker, after congratulating the<br /> Society on its excellent financial position, said<br /> that he thought the proposed step unwise and<br /> unlikely to have a favourable effect on the<br /> membership.<br /> <br /> Mr. Louis Zangwill opposed the motion.<br /> He disagreed entirely with the sugges-<br /> tion that the members of the Society who<br /> did not employ the Collection Bureau had<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> i<br /> 3<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> now an undue advantage. As soon as what he<br /> might call the non-bureau group of authors<br /> passed over into the legal proceedings group<br /> they stood merely on a position of equality<br /> with the bureau group.<br /> <br /> Mr. James Baker, having formally seconded<br /> Mr. Hope Hawkins’s amendment (‘the previous<br /> question”) the Chairman put it to the meeting,<br /> when it was carried by twelve votes to seven.<br /> Several members did not vote.<br /> <br /> Mr. Hope Hawkins proposed a vote of thanks<br /> to Dr. S. Squire Sprigge for his services as<br /> Chairman. This was carried unanimously,<br /> and the meeting then came to an end.<br /> <br /> COPYRIGHT AND “THE LADY.”<br /> <br /> — 1<br /> <br /> N the May number of The Author, 1912, an<br /> J article was printed in criticism of a letter<br /> which had been issued by the proprietor<br /> of a paper to certain contributors. The letter<br /> asked for the transfer of the copyright to the<br /> proprietor. One paragraph ran as follows :—<br /> *¢ We shall be glad to have your assent to this<br /> arrangement, which is a mere formality<br /> required by the Copyright Act, and does not<br /> make any alteration in the conditions existing<br /> prior to the Copyright Act of 1911, when the<br /> copyright of such articles or photographs was<br /> also vested in the newspaper or periodical in<br /> which they appeared.’ The article pointed<br /> out that such a statement was distinctly mis-<br /> leading, that the matter was not one of mere<br /> formality, but of serious importance to the<br /> author; and that the suggestion that the<br /> assignment of such copyright did not make any<br /> alteration in the conditions existing prior to<br /> the Act was quite incorrect. The reason for<br /> bringing the matter forward again is because<br /> the manager of The Lady has asked the editor<br /> of that popular paper to send out a circular<br /> for the signature of contributors. It runs as<br /> follows :—<br /> 39 anp 40, BeprorpD STREET,<br /> Srranp, W.C.,<br /> March 13, 1913.<br /> “The Lady.”<br /> <br /> Dear Mapam,—The Manager has requested me to send<br /> you the enclosed for your signature. The idea, so I under-<br /> stand, is to save contributors the trouble of sending him<br /> a special form of acknowledgment on receipt of each<br /> cheque. Once the enclosed has been signed, the indorse-<br /> ment on the cheque will be the only receipt required by the<br /> Manager.<br /> <br /> Yours truly,<br /> THe Eprror.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 248<br /> <br /> [ENCLOSURE. |<br /> To the Proprietor of “ The Lady”? Newspaper.<br /> <br /> Tn consideration of your publishing in your newspaper<br /> or purchasing any article or drawing written or made by<br /> me I hereby assign and transfer to you the original and the<br /> copyright therein and also agree to assign and transfer to<br /> you the original of and copyright in all future articles and<br /> drawings written or made by me which may hereafter be<br /> purchased by you or published in your newspaper.<br /> <br /> Signature........<br /> <br /> Wetec. co os as<br /> <br /> It is quite true that “ once the enclosed has<br /> been signed the endorsement at the back of<br /> the cheque will be the only receipt required<br /> by the manager”; because under the docu-<br /> ment which.the author or artist is asked to<br /> sign he is transferring not only all his rights<br /> under the Copyright Act of 1911 in_ any<br /> contribution he is making at the time, and also<br /> the original of the drawing—if the matter<br /> refers to a drawing—but he is also assigning his<br /> copyright in any future article or drawing that<br /> he may contribute.<br /> <br /> The members of the Society have often<br /> been warned that in selling their work to<br /> a paper they should not sell anything beyond<br /> the first serial use of their work for that<br /> paper, and there is no real reason why the<br /> proprietor or manager should demand more<br /> than this. According to the ‘‘ Writers’ and<br /> Artists’ Year Book,’? Zhe Lady publishes<br /> articles which should not exceed a thousand<br /> words and stories of about 5,000 words, and<br /> also illustrations. If the author is writing on<br /> any special subject, and no doubt articles in<br /> The Lady would fall under the category, it is<br /> quite possible that he or she may wish to<br /> reprint the articles at a later date in book<br /> form. This could not be done, however, if<br /> the paper printed above were signed. The<br /> writer of a short story of 5,000 words might<br /> wish to deal with it in many ways. He might<br /> wish to republish it in a volume of stories,<br /> he might wish to sell secondary serial rights,<br /> he might wish to amplify it into a novel, or he<br /> might wish to dramatise it as a sketch for the<br /> theatres and music-halls. None of these<br /> undertakings would be open to him if he had<br /> signed the enclosure printed above.<br /> <br /> The question remains, “* Does the manager or<br /> the editor desire to print these articles in book<br /> form ? does he desire to utilise the short stories<br /> for dramatic purposes or for further publica-<br /> tion in any form?” If he does not so desire,<br /> and it is most improbable that he will, then<br /> there can be no reason for him to ask for the<br /> assignment of the copyright—it is mere greed<br /> hoping to trade on possible ignorance, and this<br /> comment would be due concerning any assign-<br /> <br /> <br /> 244<br /> <br /> ment of copyright, without any consideration<br /> by a contributor to serial literature. But here<br /> the position is worse. The manager of The<br /> Lady asks for the assignment not only of<br /> those articles and drawings that are sub-<br /> mitted to him, but for the copyright of all<br /> future articles. An author might sign the<br /> paper inadvertently, thinking it referred<br /> merely to one article, but might, a year<br /> afterwards send another story and _ then<br /> suddenly find that he had transferred his<br /> copyright in that also. If The Lady desires<br /> such full rights and so wide a power, then the<br /> manager or proprietor should pay for them<br /> proportionately. There is no mention in the<br /> document of the usual rate of payment.<br /> But supposing an author was willing to sell<br /> a short story of 5,000 words for £4 a thousand<br /> | for the first serial use, which would amount to<br /> £20, he most probably would not sell the whole<br /> copyright for a sum under £100, and if he was<br /> asked at the same time to bind himself to sell<br /> the copyright of future work, as his obligation<br /> increased his price would increase to £150 or<br /> £200. Would the manager of The Lady be<br /> willing to pay these prices ?<br /> <br /> As regards literary work, the contract is<br /> bad enough, but when it comes to artistic<br /> work it is even worse. An original MS. is<br /> really not of much value after it has been<br /> through the printers’ hands, as it generally<br /> comes back to the author in a mutilated<br /> condition, but an original drawing has always<br /> its market value ; and if artists in subsequent<br /> years became famous, these drawings some-<br /> times fetch a good price. The artist, therefore,<br /> is not only asked to sell the copyright, that is<br /> the right to reproduce the work in any form,<br /> in any size, and by any process at any price,<br /> but he is also asked to sell the original under<br /> the enclosure printed above, and to bind him-<br /> self to do the same with regard to any future<br /> work. Again, it is necessary to point out that<br /> the usual contract that a paper or magazine<br /> enters into with an artist is the right of<br /> reproduction in that paper or magazine,<br /> the author retaining the original drawing, which<br /> in many cases he will be able to sell, as well<br /> as the right to reproduce that drawing in<br /> other forms and by other process of production<br /> if necessary. The demand, therefore, which<br /> is made by the manager of The Lady through<br /> the editor is contrary to custom, though put<br /> forward in a way that might lead any unsus-<br /> pecting author or artist to think that it was<br /> a quite usual arrangement.<br /> <br /> If any more members of the Society have<br /> this enclosure forwarded to them, and it would<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> appear that it has been sent out as a general<br /> circular, they should at once refer the matter<br /> to the Society.<br /> <br /> THE TIED BOOK SYSTEM IN<br /> AUSTRALIA.<br /> <br /> nh ee ah<br /> <br /> (Reprinted from the Bookfellow, Sidney, Australia,)<br /> <br /> EER. Ale. Stout. Stingo. Heavy.<br /> wet. With all variants from four-’alf<br /> to the brewer’s pride measured into a<br /> wine-glass for sixpence. The any-class, low-<br /> class, no-class people who live in English<br /> stories like Edwin Pugh’s or Neil Lyons’s seem<br /> to think that the drinker is better served in a<br /> ‘* free house ”’ than in a ‘“‘ tied house.”<br /> You know more about that. Weknow more |<br /> about books; and we affirm that authors and —<br /> readers are better served with a “‘ free book ”<br /> than with a “ tied book.’’ For just the same<br /> reasons. As soon as you give an English ~<br /> publican or an Australasian importer a<br /> monopoly of his goods, either the price will<br /> tend to go up or the quality will tend to go<br /> down. We say “‘ tend,’”’ because the rule has —<br /> exceptions. Nevertheless, the rule is that as —<br /> soon as checked competition interferes with<br /> free consumption somebody is bound to suffer, —<br /> Because every monopolist is bound to get a |<br /> profit on his monopoly as well as a profit on the<br /> goods. “ That’s business.”<br /> <br /> How iT OPERATES IN AUSTRALIA,<br /> <br /> Not long ago we showed how the tied-book —<br /> system in fiction was operating in Australasia<br /> to reduce, upon the whole, the range and —<br /> quality of novels offered to readers. Authors<br /> come into consideration too. Australian —<br /> novelists publishing in London, as well as —<br /> English and American novelists, need to think<br /> hard about the tied book system. .<br /> <br /> Take the case of a book like “‘ The Happy _<br /> Warrior,” which recently we called (provi-<br /> sionally) the “* biggest ” English novel of 1912<br /> The London publisher of “* The Happy War<br /> rior ” sent the book for review. But you can’t —<br /> buy that book. Why not? We are informed —<br /> that it is because an importing firm has ~<br /> “bought the Australasian market,” and<br /> “The Happy Warrior” is tied, bound, and —<br /> hermetically sealed to the importing firm. -<br /> <br /> Yet even so, why does not the monopolist —<br /> sell the book ? There may be several reasons.<br /> In the first place, a monopolist in Australasia, —<br /> buying novels in London, cannot always fore- —<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 998<br /> 2A<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> EE<br /> Me<br /> Le)<br /> ud<br /> oT<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> see how many copies of a novel can be sold in<br /> Australasia. He may not have enough stock<br /> to go round all the booksellers. In that case,<br /> he is apt to keep the book off the market while<br /> he is getting fresh supplies from London in<br /> order that he may prevent dissatisfaction by<br /> supplying all the booksellers together.<br /> <br /> In the next place, a monopolist importer is<br /> apt to accumulate so many tied novels that<br /> even voracious Australasian readers cannot<br /> swallow them all at a gulp. Besides, English<br /> publishing follows the sun and the seasons :<br /> novels are published chiefly in the English<br /> spring and autumn; so that, tallying with the<br /> English spring and winter, there are “ slack<br /> seasons ”’ here when there may not be enough<br /> good novels to satisfy readers’ demand.<br /> <br /> So a monopolist importer is apt to lay by a<br /> few novels for the slack season, and feed them<br /> out judiciously when he thinks that readers are<br /> hungry. His agreement with the English<br /> publisher ensures that the Australasian market<br /> is preserved to him. Thus a novel published<br /> in a London “Colonial Library”? in March<br /> may be held over for Australasian sale in<br /> September, or in December, or later still. A<br /> monopolist Australasian importer is like a<br /> Marguerite plucking her petals of tied books<br /> and murmuring ‘“‘ This year—next year—some<br /> time—any old time will do for Australasian<br /> readers.”<br /> <br /> Sometimes a few books filter past the barrier,<br /> but not many ; because the English publisher<br /> has tied himself by agreement. In considera-<br /> tion of an Australasian importing firm buying<br /> so many copies of a new novel, he has under-<br /> taken not to sell that novel to anybody else in<br /> Australasia. Usually all Australasian book-<br /> sellers who want a tied book to sell to their<br /> customers must come and buy it from the<br /> monopolist at the monopolist’s price. The<br /> marketing system causes a lot of business<br /> friction. Naturally.<br /> <br /> Booksellers, readers, and authors are affected<br /> in this way.<br /> <br /> The author of a novel is usually paid by a<br /> royalty on sales. Upon every copy of his book<br /> that is sold at the usual English price (4s. 6d.)<br /> the London publisher may agree to pay him<br /> 25 per cent. of the price—sometimes less.<br /> Then the London publisher puts the book into<br /> what is called a ‘“ Colonial Library,’’ and it is<br /> offered to Australasian readers at 3s. 6d., or<br /> perhaps at 2s. 6d. in paper covers. “‘ Colonial<br /> <br /> Libraries ”’ usually get a separate clause in the<br /> -author’s agreement with his publisher. As the<br /> price is lower, the author is not promised so<br /> high a royalty per copy sold. Perhaps the<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 245<br /> <br /> author is promised 3d. per copy. Perhaps he<br /> gets 14d. s<br /> <br /> But, whatever the author gets, he is paid<br /> usually according to sales—for ‘ Colonial<br /> Libraries ” too. So that anything tending to<br /> hamper the Australasian sale of a book reacts<br /> against an author. If fewer copies are sold in<br /> Australasia, he gets usually a smaller payment<br /> for his labour. And the marketing system,<br /> the tied-book system, is apt to be such a<br /> hamper on sales. The rule has few exceptions.<br /> <br /> Suppose that ‘The Happy Warrior” is a<br /> tied book, and Louis Stone’s ‘‘ Jonah ”’ is a free<br /> book (since many English publishers in the best<br /> class have refrained from selling the Austra-<br /> lasian market of their books to a monopolist<br /> importer). Then, if a monopolist has bought<br /> 1,000 copies of ‘‘The Happy Warrior” in<br /> order to secure the Australasian market,<br /> clearly, when the monopolist is ready to sell<br /> ‘“The Happy Warrior,” he is likely to put<br /> ‘Happy Warriors” in the front row and<br /> “ Jonahs ” in the back row. Or even he may<br /> put all his tied books in all the rows and leave<br /> out some free books altogether, because his<br /> business eggs are in the tied-book basket. He<br /> has so many tied books which he must sell or<br /> lose money. And, as a monopolist, he makes<br /> a higher profit on his own tied books than on<br /> other people’s free books.<br /> <br /> So that, comparing the tied author with the<br /> free author, the free author is unlikely to get<br /> the fairest innings in a monopolist’s shop.<br /> Consequently, it is to the interest of free<br /> authors to oppose the monopoly system,<br /> because the free trade system is more likely to<br /> give every novel a chance of sale on its merits.<br /> <br /> But the tied author does not get a fair chance<br /> on his merits either. Because the booksellers<br /> who are not monopolists prefer to sell the free<br /> books. They may have to pay more for the<br /> tied book, because the monopolist wants a<br /> profit on his monopoly ; so that the free book-<br /> seller is not unlikely to get a smaller profit on,<br /> the tied book. Or, with good business reason,<br /> they may object to supporting a trade<br /> monopoly.<br /> <br /> So that all the time, in Australasian book-<br /> selling to-day, monopolised trade and _ tied<br /> books are fighting free trade and free books ;<br /> and the unfortunate author is squeezed out of<br /> his royalties in the middle. He may be<br /> squeezed very little, or he may be squeezed a<br /> whole lot; but always he is being squeezed,<br /> for always he has one section of booksellers<br /> standing against him. Not necessarily pulling<br /> against him, since when a book is demanded by<br /> readers it must be sold; but standing against<br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> 246<br /> <br /> him. Declining to push a book on its merits<br /> because it is tied to an opposition monopolist.<br /> Or declining to push a free book because<br /> invested money must first be got out of a<br /> monopolised book.<br /> <br /> The effect of the tied-book system must be<br /> to limit the sale of any given book, since always<br /> under that system there is a section of book-<br /> sellers actively or passively hostile to a sale of<br /> any given book. The tied-book author makes<br /> his quick sudden profit only by bringing into<br /> operation forces that tend to restrict his further<br /> profit. And, not in every case, but in the long<br /> run, it is true that as many copies of a free<br /> novel will be sold in Australasia as a monopo-<br /> list can offer to buy. The cost of exceptions<br /> comes out of the monopolist’s pocket. Mono-<br /> poly is beer and skittles, but it isn’t all beer and<br /> skittles.<br /> <br /> For these reasons and others,<br /> should oppose the tied-novel system.<br /> <br /> authors<br /> <br /> THE SNOBBERY OF FREE-LANCING.<br /> <br /> —_1+—~—+—<br /> <br /> By AN Ex-Eprror wuHo Is ProupD OF His<br /> PROFESSION OF FREE-LANCE.<br /> <br /> HIS has been roused by an article in the<br /> April Author on ‘“‘ The Common-sense<br /> of Free-Lancing.”<br /> <br /> I want to protest as vigorously as I know<br /> how against those patronising obiter dicta of<br /> the editor who now leans back in his arm-<br /> chair, serene in the dignity of Editordom,<br /> complacent in the easy réle of critic, passing<br /> out from the editorial.desk crumbs of consola-<br /> tion to the poor free-lance.<br /> <br /> I want to protest against that tacit assump-<br /> tion that the one and only career for the free-<br /> lance must lie along the paths of journalistic<br /> snobbery.<br /> <br /> I. want to protest against that smug<br /> patronage of the profession to which I have<br /> the honour to belong.<br /> <br /> Snobbery. The: idea that the free-lance<br /> must set as his rungs of ambition the pages of<br /> solemn mausoleums such as the ancient weekly<br /> and monthly reviews; and his goal the rever-<br /> sion of an editorial chair in their musty<br /> sanctums.<br /> <br /> Snobbery. Servile bowing before the senile<br /> and gritless in journalism, merely because of a<br /> past tradition from the days when critic was<br /> king and creators courtiers.<br /> <br /> Snobbery. The ignoring of the vast popular<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> Press of to-day—daily and weekly and monthly<br /> —which reaches, and influences, its hundreds<br /> and thousands of readers to every unit reader<br /> of the former.<br /> <br /> A “cachet” is supposed to attach to the<br /> contributor who has an article accepted by the<br /> Joves of the journalistic Olympus. At least,<br /> that is what the free-lance coming fresh from<br /> the country is told. He is to gain fame by<br /> writing formal essays and criticisms of other<br /> men’s work for papers which announce on the<br /> front page: ‘‘ We neither return manuscripts<br /> nor enter into any correspondence regarding<br /> them. A manuscript not acknowledged within<br /> a month can be considered as rejected.”’<br /> <br /> I contend that any professional free-lance<br /> with a pride in his calling should throw such<br /> papers in the discard.<br /> <br /> Writing for them can be left to those who<br /> take up authorship as a sideline and are<br /> content to wait hat-in-hand on the pleasure of<br /> self-important editors. ‘<br /> <br /> The professional free-lance has a far wider,<br /> far more lucrative, and far more self-respecting<br /> field elsewhere. If he avoids the snobbery of<br /> free-lancing, and concentrates on the popular<br /> Press, Grub Street can be left very far behind.<br /> <br /> Certain very well-known writers have pointed<br /> the way. Many of us are quietly following, and<br /> finding it profitable as well as exceedingly<br /> pleasant—making incomes easily larger than<br /> editorial incomes, and being freed from the<br /> shackles of the office desk.<br /> <br /> Articles for the popular monthly magazines<br /> yield ten to twenty guineas apiece even for<br /> the rank and file of us who have not yet “ made<br /> our names.”<br /> <br /> Stories for the popular magazines—say of<br /> 5,000 words in length—can be sold even by<br /> the rank and file of us for twenty-five and<br /> upwards, counting English and American rights<br /> together. Book rights and translation rights<br /> may easily add another ten or fifteen. Such<br /> stories (I speak from personal experience) can<br /> be evolved—plot, writing and revision—in<br /> from three to five days apiece.<br /> <br /> Many of the popular weekly papers pay as<br /> highly for their articles as the gods of Olympus.<br /> A few pay higher.<br /> <br /> The daily papers of to-day, with their<br /> “ fourth-pages ” and their ‘‘ magazine pages,”<br /> offer a splendid field.<br /> <br /> All these media are profitable not only in<br /> actual coin, but what is more important tor<br /> the professional free-lance, in publicity. A<br /> <br /> signed article in the popular evening oF<br /> <br /> morning papers brings the unknown’s name<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />  <br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> before half a million to two million readers.<br /> At the same expenditure of mental energy, he<br /> would secure in the Olympian Press a mere<br /> 10,000 to 30,000 readers—mostly of the<br /> Victorian era.<br /> <br /> Moreover, the gods of Olympus like to veil<br /> their contributors in anonymity. From the<br /> professional point of view, writing unsigned<br /> articles is a fool’s game. Very few indeed<br /> amongst readers ever trouble to guess who the<br /> author may be. The unsigned effort brings<br /> in merely the bare monetary payment, stripped<br /> of the larger payment of publicity.<br /> <br /> Better a signed article in Answers than an<br /> unsigned in the Atheneum.<br /> <br /> I hope that the readers of The Author will<br /> agree with me in my contention that the<br /> professional free-lance needs no patronising<br /> from the Olympian editor.<br /> <br /> The free-lance is his own master. He builds<br /> up in his name a property of his own. He is<br /> not dependent for his income on the whims of<br /> one individual proprietor. He is not shackled<br /> to an office desk. He is free to travel the<br /> whole wide world and earn his living at the<br /> same time. He can work on ocean liners as<br /> well as on terra firma. He can choose town or<br /> country, England or the continent, Europe or<br /> America, for his writing-desk.<br /> <br /> The common-sense of free-lancing, I maintain,<br /> is to avoid the snobbery of free-lancing; to<br /> treat one’s work as a profession ; to study the<br /> modern reading demands; to join one’s<br /> professional union, exchange knowledge of<br /> publishing conditions with fellow-workers, and<br /> unite with them in action for the rights of the<br /> profession; to let it be known that we are<br /> proud of our calling and want no smug<br /> patronage from an outworn Olympus.<br /> <br /> Max RITTENBERG.<br /> <br /> .CORRESPONDENCE.<br /> <br /> —+ +<br /> CONCERNING Cat ATHLETICS.<br /> <br /> Dear Srr,—I am always ready to oblige<br /> a fellow member of the Authors’ Society, and<br /> so let me help “ Justice” to the career he<br /> contemplates by telling him that the sum<br /> ‘to a ha’penny” I have ‘‘ put out advertising”<br /> to “ arrive ” at my “ present stage of success ”<br /> is just exactly £0 Os. Od., and I have no doubt<br /> that Mr. Bennett and Mr. Shaw will confess to<br /> an equal parsimony. What my publisher<br /> spends is between himself and God. I never<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 247<br /> <br /> pay for advertisement or corrections, never<br /> allow. an agency clausé in my agreements<br /> (I generally don’t do business through agents),<br /> always take 25 per cent. upon a 6s. book,<br /> always exact a big cheque on account of<br /> royalties (rather larger than what is caused by<br /> the certain sales), always reserve the right to<br /> publish a cheap edition at less than 13d. at<br /> the end of two years, and never suffer a 13<br /> as 12 clause. I draw up my own agreements<br /> with Messrs. Macmillan, who also, as a matter<br /> of courtesy—and subject, of course, to a con-<br /> siderate use of the privilege—give me unlimited<br /> free copies. If an author is really worth while<br /> publishing, he can get these terms from any<br /> decent publishing house, and I wish we could<br /> make some agreement among authors to hold<br /> the publishers generally at this level. In the<br /> past I was not so wise as I am now; [ left<br /> nearly all my business to an agent. T am still<br /> encumbered with his slovenly and disadvan-<br /> tageous agreements. Now I do business with<br /> an agent when it suits me. None of them is<br /> good all round, and none can be trusted to<br /> “handle” the whole of an author’s affairs.<br /> One agent is rather good with short stories,<br /> another is brilliant at a serialisation, another<br /> who goes about upsetting authors with<br /> imperfectly substantiated offers of large sums<br /> in order to get hold of their business is a<br /> dangerous nuisance. The ideal thing for an<br /> author to do is to fix up a standing agreement<br /> on the lines I have given above with a big<br /> honest solvent firm, give his books to a<br /> capable agent to serialise—and think no more<br /> of these things.<br /> H. G. WELLS.<br /> <br /> oo<br /> <br /> CoMMON SENSE AS IT APPEARS TO A<br /> FREE LANCE.<br /> <br /> I reap with keen interest the reply to my<br /> article: ‘‘ The Sorrows of a Free Lance,”’ in<br /> the March Author, but common sense does not<br /> allow me to convince myself (nor, I think, will<br /> it convince free lances in general, whether<br /> sorrowing or not) that amending one’s ways<br /> will suffice to turn one in due course into an<br /> editor.<br /> <br /> If luck is left out of the reckoning as an<br /> incalculable factor in getting to the top—<br /> the fact that a free lance has succeeded in<br /> doing so proves that he must have been<br /> amongst the “strikingly uncommon, clever<br /> people compelling attention” which I did not<br /> overlook in my article, even though I do not<br /> belong to their class; one cannot be guided<br /> by exceptions. All contributors know that<br /> <br /> <br /> 248<br /> <br /> contributions are, in any case, sent at owner’s<br /> risk, but what they do not always realise is,<br /> what they are “ risking.”<br /> <br /> The object of my article was not a complaint,<br /> and I made this clear by my final statement ;<br /> to me at least it has been very well worth<br /> while, but a warning to would-be writers not<br /> to “risk” starving if they had nothing to<br /> live on but their incomes, as “ ordinary ”’<br /> Free Lances.<br /> <br /> A Free Lance.<br /> <br /> 9<br /> <br /> Epiror1aL Courtesy.<br /> <br /> S1r,—The discussion of this subject in The<br /> Author seems to me rather one sided. I<br /> hold no brief for any editor, but nearly all<br /> your correspondents imagine that editors only<br /> exist to adjudge the merits or demerits of Free<br /> Lancers’ unsolicited MSS., and are all animated<br /> by a desire to decry and neglect aspiring<br /> contributors to the journals of which they<br /> are “the head and front.” This appears to<br /> me an absurd assumption. The various and<br /> varied duties of editors, occupying their<br /> available time, may preclude them from<br /> giving due attention to the numerous MSS.<br /> of unknown writers; business modes and<br /> methods may not have formed a portion of<br /> their early training, or may be, neither nature<br /> nor art have exactly fitted them for their<br /> onerous position. Be this as it may, I think<br /> the complainants in The Author are some-<br /> what eaigeant, and expect too much from the<br /> often harassed controllers of periodicals. One<br /> remembers the thorny chair of Thackeray.<br /> It is a fact that disappointment and weariness<br /> of spirit are the natural concomitants of all<br /> those who are striving to gain the ear of the<br /> public through editorial channels. It must<br /> then be patent to your correspondents that<br /> if all free lancers would at once desist from<br /> launching their MSS. on the uncertain sea<br /> of free lancing, and the agents would also<br /> abandon their efforts to gain a hearing,<br /> all the periodicals of the United Kingdom would<br /> still flourish without their assistance.<br /> <br /> The experiences of very many years have<br /> justified my remarks. I have been on the<br /> staff of three weeklies at once; I have had<br /> commissions to furnish articles, and the<br /> doubtful luxury of free lancing has also been<br /> mine. I have had the pleasure of interviewing<br /> editors, and have been in correspondence with<br /> many, and, of course, with a very few excep-<br /> tions, taking them all in all, I have always<br /> met with civility, politeness, urbanity, and<br /> <br /> &#039;<br /> <br /> THE AUTHOR.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> often kindness, and I am glad to be allowed<br /> to testify this fact in The Author.<br /> Yours, etc., IstporE G. AscHER.<br /> —- 1 —_<br /> Review Copies.<br /> <br /> Dear Str,—Mr. Ascher’s suggestion, in the<br /> February Author, that publishers and authors<br /> should enclose stamps for the return of<br /> unreviewed books, seems at first sight a good<br /> one, but supposing that 100 (one hundred)<br /> copies go out, postage say 6d. (six pence) a<br /> copy, there’s £5 (five pounds) right away for<br /> the publisher or author to add to his initial<br /> expenses! No, I think some other solution<br /> could be found. How would it be for the<br /> procedure to be reversed, and for newspaper<br /> editors to solicit copies of advertised forth-<br /> coming books, on a halfpenny postcard if<br /> they like? An editor could tell a publisher<br /> exactly what he is prepared to review, and<br /> decide what is in his line and what he has space<br /> for, just as well from the printed description<br /> of a book as he can from its flaring red cover.<br /> Why should 60% (sixty per cent.) of an<br /> author’s venture be wasted? It is almost<br /> impossible for a writer to be certain that<br /> such-and-such a paper has not reviewed his<br /> book, the press cutters are human (very much<br /> so, we are told), and it is not thanks to mine<br /> that I saw the most important (from a business<br /> point that I should see) review of my book.<br /> Still, about two-thirds of the copies sent out<br /> for review were, as far as I can ascertain,<br /> unnoticed. My book had twenty-eight notices,<br /> counting its birthday notice, on All Fools’<br /> Day, in the Morning Post! I have a complete<br /> list of the eighty-five papers to which the book<br /> was sent, and it amounts to this: that 57 (fifty-<br /> seven) copies have been, as the saying is—<br /> thrown away. So I think my experience was<br /> more disastrous than Mr. Storey’s, related<br /> in the April Author. But all this, to my<br /> mind, comes, to a large extent, from writers<br /> not knowing the rules of the game. My book<br /> was advertised for just one fortnight (I knew<br /> no more about the cost of an advertisement<br /> than I know about Marconis !), and sixteen of<br /> the reviews and notices are dated April.<br /> My deduction, therefore, is that just as long<br /> as a book is advertised from the start will it<br /> live in the newspaper columns; and there is<br /> reason in this, considering the advertisements<br /> are a paper’s vital source of income. I think<br /> this is the crux of the whole thing, for we live<br /> in a commercial world, where business is<br /> business and should be such.<br /> <br /> Yours faithfully, F. R. M. Furspon.<br /> <br /> April 5th, 1918.	https://historysoa.com/files/original/5/528/1913-05-01-The-Author-23-8.pdf	publications, The Author