EDITOR'S TABLE. 



555 



were a discreet man, he would confine 

 his claim to its impregnable ground, 

 and force his case in the direction 

 where no resistance can be offered. 

 But he stretches his claim until he de- 

 stroys it, as may be easily pointed out. 

 The ideas and language, the soul and 

 essence of a book that which properly 

 creates it are contributed by the mind 

 of the author. It is work, the product 

 of toil and skill and time and capital, 

 just as much as any other construction 

 of industry. All civilized countries 

 recognize and guard the right to this 

 kind of property. We do it in this 

 country in the case of our native au- 

 thors, thus abundantly vindicating the 

 theory and the practice. But we have 

 the illiberality, the narrowness, and the 

 meanness, to refuse this act of justice 

 to foreign authors simply as foreigners. 

 And for this course there can not be 

 conjured up even a decent pretest ; we 

 simply want the works of these for- 

 eign authors, and outlaw them for the 

 benefit of whomsoever can make money 

 out of their productions. It is the duty 

 of Mr. Collins and all others who are 

 victims of this policy to protest against 

 it as an outrage ; and he should de- 

 mand that his rights be admitted and 

 his property defended by the authority 

 of American law. Here his position is 

 invincible. 



Nevertheless, the case is not without 

 its difficulties as viewed in the light of 

 experience. There is no nation that 

 recognizes an author's right in his book 

 as absolute, indefeasible, and perpetual, 

 like the rights to other kinds of prop- 

 erty. Book-rights, like patent-rights, 

 are limited, and expire in all countries 

 after the lapse of specified though vari- 

 able periods. Mr. Collins can not own 

 his book for ever, even in England. It 

 may be that this is unjust; but the de- 

 mands of ideal equity are nowhere met. 

 As a matter of fact, men have to be 

 content with proximate justice ; and 

 the foreign author pushes his claim 

 as far as is wise or expedient or prac- 



tical, when he demands that the United 

 States shall place him upon an equal foot- 

 ing with American authors as regards 

 protection. Should he require that our 

 Government guarantee his literary rights 

 as interminable, he would so encumber 

 his valid claim that it would be futile to 

 urge it. We simply mean by this, that 

 Mr. Collins has got to take circum- 

 stances into account if he proposes to 

 attain a practicable end. 



The book-manufacturer is his part- 

 ner in business, whose office is to take 

 the author's literary creation and give 

 it a material embodiment for public use. 

 The business partner makes copies of 

 the work, publishes it, and manages the 

 sales. He generally furnishes the capi- 

 tal required to produce the desired edi- 

 tions. He pays for the labor of type- 

 setting, for paper, printing, and binding, 

 and when the books are sold he gives 

 the author a stipulated part of the re- 

 turns. But there is this difference be- 

 tween the parts of a book contributed 

 by the author and by the publisher, 

 that while the author's portion is pro- 

 tected by public law in a qualified way 

 or not protected at all, on the other 

 hand the part contributed by the pub- 

 lisher is protected always and every- 

 where, and as absolutely as any form 

 of property is ever protected. The 

 American Government will not protect 

 Mr. Collins's right of property in his 

 book, but in every court in the land it 

 will protect the rights of the man who 

 pirates it. The publisher may steal the 

 author's part, but no man may steal 

 the publisher's part without incurring 

 all the penalties of theft. Publishers, 

 therefore, as such, are in need of no pro- 

 tection ; they are everywhere abundant- 

 ly cared for. 



Yet it is a great thing for the pub- 

 lisher to get the advantage of that mo- 

 nopoly in the commerce of a book which 

 the author's copyright confers. When 

 he secures this advantage, he can put 

 whatever price he pleases upon the 

 stock which he has worked up into a 



