g to a party which allowed its members
to have political aspirations or to push friends forward for political
preferment.

Yours very truly,
S. L. CLEMENS.

The copyright extension, for which the author had been working so
long, was granted by Congress in 1909, largely as the result of that
afternoon in Washington when Mark Twain had "received" in "Uncle
Joe" Cannon's private room, and preached the gospel of copyright
until the daylight faded and the rest of the Capitol grew still.
Champ Clark was the last to linger that day and they had talked far
into the dusk. Clark was powerful, and had fathered the bill. Now
he wrote to know if it was satisfactory.

*****

To Champ Clark, in Washington:

STORMFIELD, REDDING, CONN., June 5, '09.

DEAR CHAMP CLARK--Is the new copyright law acceptable to me?
Emphatically, yes! Clark, it is the only sane, and clearly defined, and
just and righteous copyright law that has ever existed in the United
States. Whosoever will compare it with its predecessors will have no
trouble in arriving at that decision.

The bill which was before the committee two years ago when I was down
there was the most stupefying jumble of conflicting and apparently
irreconcilable interests that was ever seen; and we all said "the case
is hopeless, absolutely hopeless--out of this chaos nothing can be
built." But we were in error; out of that chaotic mass this excellent
bill has been instructed; the warring interests have been reconciled,
and the result is as comely and substantial a legislative edifice as
lifts its domes and towers and protective lightning rods out of the
statute book, I think. When I think of that other bill, which even the
Deity couldn't understand, and of this one which even I can understand,
I take off my hat to the man or men who devised this one. Was it R. U.
Johnson? Was it the Author's League? Was it both together? I don't know,
but I take off my hat, anyway. Johnson has written a valuable article
about the new law--I enclose it.

At last--at last and for the first time in copyright history we are
ahead of England! Ahead of her in two ways: by length of time and by
fairness to all interests concerned. Does this sound like shouting?
Then I must modify it: all we possessed of copyright-justice before the
fourth of last March we owed to England's init