Chapter 16

[72] As a fair specimen of the sort of reasoning that prevails among the consecrated brethren I offer the following extract from an argument against birth control delivered by the present active head of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice before the Women's City Club of New York, Nov. 17, 1916:

"Natural and inevitable conditions, over which we can have no control, will assert themselves wherever population becomes too dense. This has been exemplified time after time in the history of the world where over-population has been corrected by manifestations of nature or by war, flood or pestilence.... Belgium may have been regarded as an over-populated country. Is it a coincidence that, during the past two years, the territory of Belgium has been devastated and its population scattered throughout the other countries of the world?"

[73] For example, the printed contract of the John Lane Co., publisher of Dreiser's The "Genius," contains this provision: "The author hereby guarantees ... that the work ... contains nothing of a scandalous, an immoral or a libelous nature." The contract for the publication of The "Genius" was signed on July 30, 1914. The manuscript had been carefully read by representatives of the publisher, and presumably passed as not scandalous or immoral, inasmuch as the publication of a scandalous or immoral book would have exposed the publisher to prosecution. About 8,000 copies were sold under this contract. Two years later, in July, 1916, the Society for the Suppression of Vice threatened to begin a prosecution unless the book was withdrawn. It was withdrawn forthwith, and Dreiser was compelled to enter suit for a performance of the contract. The withdrawal, it will be noticed, was not in obedience to a court order, but followed a mere comstockian threat. Yet Dreiser was at once deprived of his royalties, and forced into expensive litigation. Had it not been that eminent counsel volunteered for his defence, his personal means would have been insufficient to have got him even a day in court.

[74] The chief sufferers from this conflict are the authors of moving pictures. What they face at the hands of imbecile State boards of censorship is described at length by Channing Pollock in an article entitled "Swinging the Censor" in the _Bulletin_ of the Authors' League of America for March, 1917.

[75] For example, the magazine which printed David Graham Phillips' Susan Lenox: Her Rise and Fall as a serial prefaced it with a moral encomium by the Rev. Charles H. Parkhurst. Later, when the novel appeared in book form, the Comstocks began an action to have it suppressed, and forced the publisher to bowdlerize it.

[76] An account of a typical prosecution, arbitrary, unintelligent and disingenuous, is to be found in Sumner and Indecency, by Frank Harris, in _Pearson's Magazine_ for June, 1917, p. 556.

[77] For further discussions of this point consult Art in America, by Aleister Crowley, _The English Review_, Nov., 1913; Life, Art and America, by Theodore Dreiser, _The Seven Arts_, Feb., 1917; and The American; His Ideas of Beauty, by H. L. Mencken, _The Smart Set_, Sept., 1913.

[78] _Vide_ The Cambridge History of English Literature, vol. XI, p. 225.

[79] The point is discussed by H. V. Routh in The Cambridge History of English Literature, vol. XI, p. 290.

[80] In Boon; New York, George H. Doran Co., 1915.

[81] In a letter to Felix Shay, Nov. 24, 1916.

INDEX

Abolitionists, 213, 231

Agnosticism, 14, 17

Alden, W. L., on Conrad, 53

"Almayer's Folly," 12, 16, 37, 42, 47, 51, 52, 56, 59

American Bible Society, 239

American mind, 25, 197-8, 207 et seq.

"Amy Foster," 36

Anglo-Saxon point of view, 20-3

Animal behaviour, theory of, 135

"Anthony Comstock, Fighter," 254 _n_, 255 et seq.

Anti-Saloon League, 244 et seq., 249-50

Art Students' League raid, 269

Balzac, H. de, 15, 73, 76, 113, 155, 202, 260

"Banks of the Wabash, The," 106

Beauty, Dreiser on, 126

Benedict, Judge Chas. L., and Comstockery, 267 _n_.

Bennett, Arnold, 19, 26, 32, 48, 62, 78, 104, 137, 142, 143

Bible, declared obscene, 261-2

Bierce, Ambrose, 146, 202, 216, 224

"Blue Sphere, The," 126

_Bohemian Magazine_, 104

Bourne, Randolph, 147 _n_, 158, 237 _n_.

Boynton, H. W., 134, 158

British mind, 25

Brooks, Van Wyck, 134

_Butler, Edward Malia_, 116 et seq., 119

Calvinism, 14, 139, 164, 197 et seq.

Catholicism, Dreiser's, 75

Censorship, theatre, 241; moving picture, 242, 274

_Century Magazine_, 143, 221

"Chance," 37, 48, 56, 60

Chicago Vice Commission, report of, 269

"Children of the Sea," _see_ "Nigger of the Narcissus, The"

"Chopin: the Man and His Music," 166, 169 et seq.

Clemens, S. L., _see_ Twain, Mark

Clifford, Hugh, 52, 54, 59

Comstock, Anthony, 253 et seq.

Comstock Postal Acts of 1873, 241, 257 et seq.

Comstocks, attack on Dreiser, 101-2, 140 et seq.

Conrad, Joseph, birth and parentage, 20; first book, 51; early success, 53; pensioned, 54; his books as bibelots, 56; style, 36 et seq.; materials, 40 et seq.; irony, 13, 18; ethical agnosticism, 17, 29-32; on women, 33-5; statement of his task, 29; contrasted with other authors, 30, 45, 48-9, 88 et seq., 96

_Cowperwood, Frank_, 79, 114 et seq., 135, 201

Criticism in America, 153 et seq., 191-2

Curle, Richard, 60

_Delineator_, 104

de Pachmann, Vladimir, 171, 178

Dewey, John, 152-3

Dime novels, Dreiser as editor of, 103

Doubleday, Page & Co., 70, 100-1, 102

Drama League of America, 180, 182

Dreiser, Theodore, birth and parentage, 76-7, 106; early influences, 68 et seq.; career in journalism, 98-105; first book, 70, 98 et seq.; dates of books, 100, 105; plays, 105, 125-6; travel books, 105, 127-131; style, 79 et seq., 113; mysticism, 12; agnosticism, 88 et seq., 147; his novels criticized, 106 et seq.; academic attitude toward, 131 et seq.; attacked by Comstocks, 139 et seq.; contrasted with Conrad, 34, 88 et seq.

Dresser, Paul, 106, 130

"Egoists," 179, 181

"End of the Tether, The," 47

"Falk," 16, 36, 39, 47, 59, 64

Fiction, English, 18, 19

"Financier, The," 81, 86, 101, 105, 107, 114, 122, 138

Flaubert, Gustave, 73, 84, 136, 181

Follett, Wilson, 11, 13, 17, 60

Garnett, Edward, 52

"'Genius,' The," 80-1, 83, 86, 87, 93, 105, 107, 115, 122, 125, 139, 226, 270, 273, 282

_Gerhardt, Jennie_, 109-10, 119, 137

_Gerhardt, Jennie's_ father, 96, 117

German mind, 25

"Girl in the Coffin, The," 125

Good Templars, 228-30

_Goorall, Yanko_, 12

Great Awakening of 1734, 227

Greenwich Village, 124, 145, 224

"Hand of the Potter, The," 105

_Hanson, Minnie_, 85

Hardy, Thomas, 16, 62, 69, 71, 72, 76, 260

Harper & Bros., 100-2, 105

Harvard, 163, 169, 177

"Heart of Darkness," 35, 36, 41, 64

_Herrenmoral_, 236

_Heyst_, 12, 34, 59

"Hoosier Holiday, A," 76, 86, 88, 92, 105, 106, 125, 127 et seq.

Hope, Dreiser on, 126

Howells, W. D., 28, 58, 74, 76, 97, 156, 159, 188, 205, 217, 218, 275, 282

Hueffer, Ford Madox, 53, 54

Huneker, James, birth and parentage, 164; in journalism, 167, 183; as music student, 166-7; as a critic, 159 et seq., 190-4; books on music, 168-175; stories, 188-90; on Conrad, 59; his aims, 193; style, 180 et seq.

_Hurstwood_, 99, 108-9

Ibsen, Henrik, 15, 23, 24, 40, 83, 124, 156, 160-1, 162, 182, 200

"Iconoclasts," 169, 170, 179, 181

"Inheritors, The," 42, 53, 56

"In the Dark," 126

"Ivory, Apes and Peacocks," 59

James, Henry, 58, 62, 113, 217, 218, 283

"Jennie Gerhardt," 16, 71, 76-7, 82, 84, 96, 101, 105-9, 111-2, 117, 124, 276

Jesup, Morris K., 257 et seq.

_Jim, Lord_, 12, 16, 38, 39, 42, 59

_Jones, Althea_, 80-1, 85

Joseffy, Rafael, 167, 178

Kellner, Leon, 197 et seq.

_Kultur-Novellen_, Huneker's, 188 et seq.

_Kurtz_, 12, 16, 34, 38, 39, 59

Libraries, Dreiser's books in American, 143-5 _n_.

"Life, Art and America," 86, 88, 92, 105

"Lord Jim," 36, 47, 56, 60

Lord's Day Alliance, 242

Love, Dreiser on, 126

_MacWhirr, Capt._, 12, 37, 42

Mann Act, 241, 251-2, 258

_Marlow_, 36, 37

_Meeber, Carrie_, 40, 85, 99, 109 et seq., 126, 137

"Melomaniacs," 188 et seq.

Men and Religions Forward Movement, 239

Methodism, 139, 197, 277

"Mezzotints in Modern Music," 168

"Mirror of the Sea, The," 50, 56

"Morals, Not Art or Literature," 253

Naturalism, German, 77

"New Cosmopolis," 165, 183 et seq.

Nietzsche, F. W., 15, 29, 90, 93, 136, 158, 162, 173, 180, 181, 183, 192, 193

"Nigger of the Narcissus, The," 50, 52, 56

Norris, Frank, 15, 70, 71, 100, 108, 122, 163, 191, 224

"Nostromo," 12, 38, 42, 45, 46-7, 48, 56

"Old Fogy," 170 et seq., 179, 181

"Old Ragpicker," 125

"Outcast of the Islands, An," 37

Page, Walter H., 102

"Pathos of Distance, The," 164

"Personal Record, A," 37, 51, 88

Pilsner, 165, 184-5

"Plays of the Natural and the Supernatural," 105, 125

Poe, Edgar Allan, 73, 151, 152, 154, 180-1, 189, 214, 221

"Point of Honor, The," 42, 47

Prague, 165, 185-6

Prohibition, 228-9, 244 et seq.

Prudery, American, 228

_Razumov_, 12, 34, 49

Resignationism, 14

"Return, The," 42

"Romance," 56

_Ruiz, Gaspar_, 12

Russia, Conrad's picture of, 49-50

Sea, Conrad's pictures of, 50-1

"Secret Agent, The," 42, 48, 59, 60

"Set of Six, A.," 56

"Shadow Line, The," 12, 13, 47

Shakespeare, Wm., 14-5, 61, 155, 121, 199, 204

Shaw, G. B., 15, 16, 19, 26, 121-2, 161, 182, 269

"Sister Carrie," 58, 70, 71, 73, 81, 84, 95, 97, 98 et seq., 105, 107, 108, 109, 111, 112-3, 117, 119, 126, 143, 201

_Sklavenmoral_, 22, 235

Slav, qualities of, 14

"Some Reminiscences," 37, 56. (_See also_ "Personal Record, A.")

Sons of Temperance, 228

Street & Smith, 103-4

Symons, Arthur, 19, 28-9, 39

"Tales of Unrest," 52, 56

"Titan, The," 60, 77, 82, 86, 101, 105, 106, 111, 114, 117 et seq., 129, 138, 201, 275

Train, George Francis, 261-2

"Traveler at Forty, A.," 76, 82, 105, 125, 127

Truth, Dreiser on, 126

Twain, Mark, 15, 17, 30, 90, 131-2, 133, 143, 151, 202, 203-4, 217, 222

"Typhoon," 12, 47, 50, 53

"Under Western Eyes," 36, 42, 47, 48, 49, 56, 59

"Victory," 13, 33, 42, 48, 55, 56

"Visionaries," 188 et seq.

Webb Law, 230, 241, 258

Wells, H. G., 19, 32, 38, 48, 53, 62, 135, 142, 144, 281

_Wille zur Macht_, the Puritan, 237, 246

_Witla, Eugene_, 122 et seq., 137, 140 et seq.

Young Men's Christian Association, 230, 238, 240, 256

"Youth," 12, 13, 37, 41, 48, 53, 54, 56, 64

Zola, Emile, 15-6, 63, 71-2, 76, 78, 113, 124, 136, 202, 216, 260