Some remedy for the highly unsatisfactory state of affairs was a crying need. In Sir Walter's own words

"The air was full of discontent."

The Society of Authors thus started was actually incorporated some months later, on the basis of a limited liability company under a Board of Trade licence. The certificate of incorporation is dated the 30th day of June, 1884. Prior to the inauguration a circular had been issued by the promoters of the Society, stating in general terms the objects for which the Society was to be formed.

The circular was issued with the aim of showing that it was the duty of all who were connected with "the literary calling" to support an association which would be the only one in the country for the maintenance and definition of literary property. That reason for asking the support of all is as urgent to-day as at the time when the circular was first issued.

It should be here remarked that the term "literary calling" has always been understood by the Society in its widest possible meaning. The Society does not endeavour to assist writers of fiction alone, but labourers in all branches of literature. Theological writers, dramatic writers, scientific writers, historical writers, and musical composers, writers on technical subjects, on subjects of all kinds which it would be too tedious to enumerate here, and especially educational writers, were invited to combine for a The invitation was justified by the fact that all would benefit by the common united action, for the more united the action the greater the benefit it is possible to confer, both generally and in particular. The acceptance of the presidency of the Society by Lord Tennyson compelled the public from the outset to regard the association from a serious point of view.

common cause.

To relate the early struggles of the Society is not the purpose of the present article. The record of unselfish labours on its behalf undertaken by many men of letters, and especially by Sir Walter Besant, is long. Instances of financial support generously given in addition to valuable time, again especially by Sir Walter Besant, were many.

To show in what manner and with what success the Society has exerted itself to carry into effect the purposes of its original programme is the more immediate purpose of this paper. And here it may be convenient first to record what has been done for the consolidation and amendment of the law of domestic copyright, and for the promotion of international copyright-the second and third points mentioned in the original circular.

The question of American copyright was one of the first to occupy the attention of the Society.

From the moment of its foundation the Society threw all its weight and influence (by no means so great then as now) into obtaining a friendly understanding with American authors and those other Americans who were interested in the passing of an equitable copyright law. New copyright legislation was obtained in America in 1891. As everyone knows, even this new law left much to be desired. The Society is still engaged in efforts to avail itself of every opportunity to obtain a more generous legislation on the part of the United States. To proceed with caution is, however, necessary. A false move might prove fatal.

In the direction of consolidation of domestic copyright the Society has been able to act more directly, and with more important results. The Society from the outset took up this question with vigour. The questions before it were such as admitted of no difference of opinion, and no need existed for hesitation. A copyright committee was appointed. Numerous meetings were held. Other bodies interested in copyright were consulted, and finally a new copyright law was drafted under counsel's care. This was a full consolidating and amending bill, dealing with copyright property, literary, dramatic, artistic, and musical. To bring it before Parliament ultimately proved impossible, but it was found useful to have such a bill ready in case any chance of presenting it might occur. .Subsequent events have, it is true, demonstrated this bill to have been cumbersome and inadequate. The action of the Society was, however, at the time sound, and proved beneficial to authors.

In 1891, after the passing of the new United States law, the Society found itself in a position to take a further step. Lord Monkswell brought forward a bill that had been drafted by the Society. This bill reached a second reading in the House of Lords, but was not taken further. In 1896 a new copyright law committee was formed. This committee becoming persuaded that the time for obtaining a hearing for a consolidating act had not yet arrived decided to draft a small amending bill. This bill was drafted by counsel, and was, after much expense and labour, agreed upon in its final stage.

Of this bill, Lord Monkswell, always indefatigably interested in questions of copyright and ever willing to assist the efforts of the Society, took charge. The bill passed its third reading in the House of Lords on the 23rd of July, 1897. In the autumn of the same year a consolidating bill was brought forward by the Copyright Association. The latter bill and the bill of the Society ran concurrently at the beginning of 1898. Finally, however, the whole question was taken up upon a new basis. A bill was drafted by Lord Thring separating literary from artistic copyright. This

bill was carefully studied by the members of the copyright and dramatic committees of the Society, and a number of valuable suggestions regarding it were offered. The Secretary of the Society, and other members of the committee interested in copyright questions, appeared before the committee of the House of Lords, and the bill passed through that House. It was also adopted by the Government, but finally put aside in consequence of pressure of business. In 1900, owing no doubt in a great measure to the persistent action of the Society, the Government made a public declaration of an intention of taking up the question of copyright. It must be added with regret that since this declaration nothing in the shape of a draft bill has appeared from the Government offices. But the above record will suffice to show how unflinchingly and perseveringly the Society has laboured for the amelioration of domestic copyright. It need hardly be said that the expenses have been heavy, whilst the members of the committee and others have generously made ungrudging sacrifices in order to forward the objects of the Society.

Colonial copyright has, during the same period, presented serious difficulties. In this direction the importance of the Society's action can hardly be overestimated. The committee of the Society were the first body to perceive that the colonial position formed one of the chief impediments in the way of new copyright legislation on the part of the Government. To put the matter on a more satisfactory basis became immediately one of the Society's foremost aims. At one time Mr. Hall Caine was appointed delegate of the Society during a visit which he paid to Canada. Subsequently, in 1899, the Secretary of the Society visited the Dominion. The persevering efforts of the Society to solve the complex difficulties which existed were rewarded with success when the Canadian Parliament, in 1900, passed an act embodying the ideas for which the Society had been so long contending.

Respecting international copyright it may suffice to say that all its bearings, ramifications, and modifications have the Society's constant attention. The Society is in touch with those interested in its development in France, Germany, Italy and other countries. All changes in the domestic or international copyright laws of different countries are carefully watched both from the domestic and international point of view. The information at the Society's disposal is kept strictly up-to-date, and everything of importance is duly chronicled in the pages of The Author.

To sum up, the Society has done everything that it is possible to do in the way of procuring more liberal legislation in America. It has brought about satisfactory legislation in Canada. Its perseverance has forced the question of the

improvement of domestic legislation upon the English Government, and it is in constant touch with other countries on all questions relating to international copyright. In these circumstances the committee are able to congratulate the Society upon the results of its efforts to strengthen the author's rights, and to extend the limits of his property; and it has a right to claim that such results merit the support of all members of the literary profession.

The next point demanding consideration is what the Society has done to maintain, define, and defend literary, dramatic, and musical property.

It has, in the first place, published technical works on a number of questions of primary importance to authors. These works contain accurate information previously nowhere to be found. During the earlier years of the Society's existence much time was devoted to the collection and due arrangement of a mass of statistics now embodied in these works. The publication of these books, though a small undertaking when compared with the more important enterprises in which the Society has been engaged, is one of serious moment to authors. Never before had authors been able to ascertain the real truth about the cost of production. Never before had authors been in a position to discover how much exactly the publisher really took in the division of profits. Never before had the faults and tricks incidental to publishers' agreements been disclosed. If any single author did discover them he discovered them by bitter experience. It was possible for accounts to be charged with unfair and exorbitant items without the author's being aware of the fact. What was still worse, his ignorance left him powerless to defend himself. The publications of the Society have altered all that. Here again Sir Walter Besant's name must be mentioned. He was the soul of this department of the Society's work. His time and labour were given without hesitation, and without prospect of return. His practical mind grasped and his mathematical talent enabled him to make plain what particulars were to be investigated, and how the results of the investigations could be lucidly presented. In both he was ably seconded by Mr. Squire Sprigge, the first Secretary of the Society, whose name is associated with "The Cost of Production" and " Methods of Publication.

Of still greater importance to authors has been the fact that at the Society's offices information can always be immediately obtained respecting the numerous questions which present themselves to every one who is contemplating the publication of a book. The Secretary is constantly present to give advice regarding the course to be pursued, and to receive the complaints of authors who have

been unjustly treated. Those who can readily find a market for their wares he counsels as to the form of contract that should be adopted. Those who have a difficulty in discovering a market he guides in the choice of publishers and editors to whom they should address themselves, and the terms which they should accept. To none is his assistance of more value than to those who find themselves obliged to expend money upon the production of their works. This warning is especially applicable to technical writers. It is most important to these authors that they should see that the amount expended is as small, and the returns as large as possible When the author is ignorant of the secrets of publication he is often liable to be overreached in these particulars by the publisher armed with full knowledge.

Authors are constantly in need not only of business but also of strictly legal advice. Legal questions arising out of the many disputes between author and publisher, author and editor, or dramatist and author, are common. In these instances the Secretary, himself a solicitor, is competent to advise from the legal point of view. When cases of difficulty arise, the opinion of the solicitors of the Society is obtained. In those of great importance, either on account of the principle involved or on account of the amount in dispute, counsel's opinion is taken on behalf of members. It follows that the legal expenses annually incurred by the Society are very high; and every literary man should remember that this heavy expenditure benefits not only the individuals whose causes are espoused, but every member of the literary profession, and it should be remarked that this legal advice, which could only be obtained, if at all, at great expense from the ordinary solicitor, can be gathered from the Society for the fee of £1 18. The mere settlement of an agreement would cost £2 28. or £3 3s. in a lawyer's hands.

This point would not have been dwelt upon if it had not been too frequently forgotten.

It may here be remarked in passing that a charge is not infrequently brought against the Society that it never takes an action into court. Scoffers have considered this as evidence that the work of the Society is practically useless. The answer is simple. It is a very difficult thing to get a publisher to fight an action through the courts. The Society has had before it countless cases which have been settled before the action came before the public gaze. On sundry occasions, however, especially in cases when the publisher, being in a bankrupt condition, had nothing to lose, the Society has carried matters through the courts to a successful issue. Such cases have been a great strain upon the Society's resources, owing to the impossibility of obtaining any money return.

Small county court cases, and minor legal matters connected with the profession of letters, are constantly being successfully fought by the Society. Though they are of importance there is no occasion to lay much stress upon them. They are merely the police supervision of literary property. The Society has been instrumental in exposing a number of literary swindles, and in throwing bankrupt and worthless magazines off the literary market. The actual number of cases in which the Society interferes between author and publisher, author and editor, or dramatic author and theatrical manager, few in the earlier years of the Society's existence, becomes annually greater. The number is at present about 110 a year.

This work of advice, warning, and legal protection is performed every day by the Society on behalf of its members, almost as a matter of routine.

There are editors with whom the Society has had no disputes, and publishers with whom the Society's disputes are few. Others exist whose behaviour to their authors brings them constantly before the Society's notice. There are publishers who often after they have entered into an agreement refuse to be bound by it. With these the Society is bound to deal severely and stringently. It should, however, be remembered that the author's legal position is the only one which the Society can support. Though the Society has, on one or two rare occasions, written a letter of remonstrance to the publisher when the legal position has been against the author, the committee feel that this course is, as a general rule, ill-advised, and that it is useless for the Society to remonstrate unless the remonstrance can be enforced in a court of law. Members, therefore, when laying complaints before the Society should always be ready to fight, if necessary, to an issue in the courts. A fighting vitality in the members of the Society is really the quality surest to secure a friendly understanding between author and publisher. "Si vis pacem para bellum."

The Society has also been accused, by those who (for some reason best known to themselves) enjoy scoffing at its work, of degrading the profession of letters, and of regarding it too much from the commercial point of view. It was, however, often pointed out by Sir Walter Besant that a due attention to the commercial situation has no connection at all with the dignity of letters, and can in no possible way degrade an author. A man of imaginative power and literary skill who feels himself prompted to write a book sets about it without any consideration of the financial side of the question. He is inspired by his subject. He works attentively and lovingly. He spares neither time, energy, nor labour. Years of work

may be necessary before he produces his masterpiece. During this period no thought of market value has presented itself to him. No merely mercantile aim has vitiated his work. But when the work is at last completed, no reason can exist why he should not market it upon the best terms possible. The two operations are essentially and absolutely distinct. In the mind of every man devoted to his art they will always remain so. The fact that men exist who write with mixed motives-which these scoffers appear to regard as the normal condition of literary production-is no argument for the degradation of literary ability by a desire for equitable sale. The fallacy is the familiar one of false analogy, and as unreasonable as the assertion that the existence of thieves disproves the possibility of honesty in man.

In conclusion, attention should be paid to the fact that the Society of Authors is the only institution in the Empire for the protection of literature. For that reason alone it deserves the support of every author in the three kingdoms and the colonies. The protection and assistance which it gives authors become yearly more far-reaching. The effects of its influence are felt directly or indirectly not by members of the Society alone, but by all who write. Every author is in some degree benefited, and those who are benefited, in some cases largely, but are not members of the Society, are, to a certain extent, living upon other people's money-are, in plain English, unworthy recipients of charity. That any who are thus benefited by the Society should refuse to join it, should leave the members of the Society to bear alone the burden of the combat for the cause of all, is a wrong. At its commencement the Society numbered 68 members. It now contains 1,400. That increase alone is eloquent evidence of the value of its work. But the Society ought to be three times as large as it is.

Every author is needed in this great guild of literature. Every author ought to feel that it is his duty to support the Society which exists for the defence of his rights, both by joining himself and by getting others to join.

And in proportion as the Society becomes more and more nearly an association of all British authors, and is recognised as the one body able to give advice and assistance to all who aspire to distinction in letters, the more rapidly will it be able to accomplish the object which it has set before itself of raising the position of authors. When the Society can justly boast that it speaks and acts in the name of the entire body of English men of letters, the moral and material interests of the profession will be protected and advanced in a manner hitherto unattempted and unanticipated.

WORK THE SOCIETY DOES NOT DO.

M

EMBERS of the Society who subscribe their guinea merely on the hope of getting a heavy money burden taken off their shoulders cannot fail to be disappointed, but the cause of this disappointment is with themselves.

As some members of the Society claim as a right from the committee the undertaking of business that the Society never pretended to undertake, nay, always stated that it could not bind itself to undertake, it is necessary again to put forward some of the causes which the Society, although very willing to uphold, if in a position to do so, does not promise, and never has promised, to uphold on the demand of a member and as a matter of course. 1. Obtain counsel's opinion.

2. Take up an action for a member. 3. Vouch a member's accounts by paid accountant or otherwise.

4. Draft formal agreements.

5. Act as literary agents.

With regard to the first the member has a right to a legal opinion from the Secretary and the Society's solicitors, and in nearly every case of real importance the committee are willing to obtain counsel's opinion if the finances of the Society will allow, but that the committee must decide.

With regard to No. 2 it may be stated that the Society, during the past two or three years, has never hesitated to take up county court actions on behalf of its inembers, and has not refused, when the case has been approved by the Society's lawyers, to support an action in the Higher Courts. This again, however, is a question in which the financial side has to be carefully considered.

With regard to No. 3 the Secretary will always look through a member's accounts and compare them with the agreement to see whether, on the face of them, they are correct. It sometimes occurs that one or two of the items want vouching, and though on occasions the Secretary has personally undertaken to vouch them, it would be impossible for him to do so in every case on account of the time that it is necessary to expend in going through the books of a firm. Under certain circumstances, however, the committee have been willing to appoint and put in an accountant to go through the books. Here again the question of finance arises.

The Society does not undertake to draft formal agreements, though on agreements submitted it gives full advice with regard to the clauses to be inserted or rejected. To draft agreements would entail too much time and too much responsibility.

The Society cannot act as literary agents, as it must keep a free hand to deal with publishers and

literary agents in whatever way may seem fit to it. It is requested, however, that those members who desire the Society to undertake difficult matters should not be offended in case the committee refuse to act, and should not go away and say that the Society is incapable of assisting authors. As has been pointed out over and over again at other times and in other places, the legal advice which is given gratis by the Society cannot be obtained anywhere except at the Society's offices, and if obtained from a lawyer would cost three or four times the member's subscription. Besides, the technical knowledge is exceedingly valuable to members of the Society, and is worth a considerably higher figure than the payment of the guinea a year. Finally, the claims of an old member, other things being equal, will have precedence of those of a new member.

It has been thought necessary to put forward these points, as on one or two occasions members have been exceedingly put out by the committee declining to take up their matters, either by refusing to pay an accountant to vouch accounts, or by refusing to commence action, whether the moral or legal aspect of the case was in favour of the author or

Sir Walter's fighting spirit, combined with his virite pen, was a mighty force, not only to attack the shams and cheating, the unfair business methods, the mock generosity and empty patronage of certain publishers towards those who lived by the literary profession, but also to uphold the rights and define the property, and to maintain the honour and esprit de corps of the great brotherhood.

Longo intervallo, it must be our effort to follow out the same course, and to work out the destiny of the Society on the same lines.

That some of the references contained in these notes are old is due to the fact that the August and September numbers of The Author have not been produced, but, though old, it is never too late. to point a useful moral, and when this is possible and essential it has been done.

In one of the issues of the Sphere in June last, the following note appeared :

"The whole dignity of the publisher's profession is abrogated thereby (ie., by the fact of the publisher condescending to do business with the author through a middleman-the author's agent), and there is a latent suggestion that he (the publisher) is not an honest man."

The

The italics and the brackets are ours. Surely the writer has mistaken the point of view. majority of publishers are known to be acute men of business. The majority of authors are absolutely ignorant of the commercial values of literary wares.

If the author chooses to employ an agent who knows all about market values, surely there is no necessary suggestion of the publisher's dishonesty.

If the publisher refuses to deal with the agent, a deduction might be made on the other side.

If publishers would only dismount from the pedestal on which some of them like to stand as patrons of literature and its generous supporters, and would recognise themselves for what they are -men of business-it would be far better for the profession of literature and for the trade of publishing.

Finally, so long as publishers are clever men of business and not philanthropists, and so long as the authors fully comprehend the distinction, so long will the literary agent flourish, even though at times his dealings may not be everything the publisher could desire or the author could wish.

As the question of the position of literary agent (1) to the author whom he advises; (2) to the publisher with whom he deals, is of the greatest interest to writers, and as there is so much to be said on both sides, we have invited a member of the Society to contribute an article upon the question of the employment of agents, without reference to personal experience of the dealings of individuals, hoping that other members of the Society may be able to supplement views thus generally expressed, and to illustrate them from their particular experiences, or dissent from them if they deem it proper to do so. We have at the same time invited a well-known publisher to contribute his views upon the question-views which, coming from such a source, should be