belonged to both parties, and some of them perhaps had the audacity to belong to neither, and in general they were not conspicuous in the caucus or famous for their knowledge of ropes and wires. They were simply American citizens, eminent for character and ability, pleading a cause in which not they alone but the whole people were concerned, and in which, so far as they themselves were personally interested, they had a case as strong as justice and common sense could make it. All this availed but little to conquer the indifference of Congress to a proposition that could not be expressed in terms of "politics."
There was a little more than indifference in it, however. The proposition was that this country should cease to appropriate without compensation the literary goods of foreigners, particularly of the British; and this did not fall in with those considerations of expediency which are so likely to influence the attitude of our legislators toward moral questions. How could the representative excuse himself to his constituents for making anything dear in the interest merely of abstract justice and of the higher intellectual development of the country at large? It was also the case that certain organized interests were arrayed against the principle of international copyright. There was no little opposition to it among publishers, printers, stereotypers, engravers, etc., who thought they saw in it the threat of a serious diminution of business. It is no wonder, therefore, that Congress should have put the matter off from year to year; the only wonder, indeed, is that those who believed in the principle should have had the courage to go on and should now by dint of patient persistence be in a position to present to Congress a stronger case than ever—one that can only be put aside through the most extreme and culpable indifference to an issue which affects, not the balance of parties, but the higher life of the whole people.
As the matter stands now, there is substantially but one opinion among publishers and authors in regard to the copyright question. The consideration of justice to foreign authors remains, of course, as before, neither stronger nor weaker; bat careful reflection has led the great majority of those interested in the publishing trade to see that, in this case, justice to the foreigner means advantage to themselves. The stimulus that would be given to domestic literary production by the granting of copyright to American editions of foreign works would admittedly be very great; and, as the author can do nothing without the printer and publisher, these would share the benefit with him. There are bills now before both houses of Congress—the House bill being a copy of that introduced into the Senate by Senator Chace, of Rhode Island—providing for the extension of copyright privileges to foreigners on condition that the work for which the privilege is sought is published simultaneously in the United States and in the country of origin. Proof of publication will be the filing of two copies of the best American edition of the work in the office of the Librarian of Congress. Upon the granting of copyright to a foreign work, the importation of all foreign editions of the work in question, save with the consent of the holder of the copyright, is interdicted. These are the principal provisions of the measure, and it will be seen that they do justice to all interests concerned. They also appear to commend themselves to those members of Congress who have given the subject most attention, as the committees of both Houses having the matter in charge reported, without a dissenting voice, in favor of the bill. Congress, therefore, has now an opportunity of doing the country a triple service: 1. Removing the stigma which attaches to the
