ish authors never would obtain a copyright in
the United States, and as long as the present party are in power.

Their principal argument raised against the copyright, is as follows:--

"It is only by the enlightening and education of the people, that we can
expect our institutions to hold together. You ask us to tax ourselves,
to check the circulation of cheap literature, so essential to our
welfare for the benefit of a few English authors? Are the interests of
thirteen millions of people to be sacrificed? the foundation of our
government and institutions to be shaken for such trivial advantages as
would be derived by a few foreign authors. Your claim has the show of
justice we admit, but when the sacrifice to justice must be attended
with such serious consequences, must we not adhere to expediency?"

Now, it so happens that the very reverse of this argument has always
proved to be the case from the denial of copyright. The enlightening of
a people can only be produced by their hearing the truth, which they
cannot, and do not, under existing regulations, receive from their own
authors, as I have already pointed out; and the effects of their refusal
of the copyright to English authors, is, that the American publishers
will only send forth such works as are likely to have an immediate sale,
such as the novels of the day, which may be said at present to comprise
nearly the whole of American rending. Such works as might enlighten the
Americans are not so rapidly saleable as to induce an American publisher
to risk publishing when there is such competition. What is the
consequence that the Americans are amused, but not instructed or
enlightened?

According to the present system of publication in America, the grant of
copyright would prove to be of advantage only to a few authors--of
course, I refer to the most popular. I had free admission to the books
of one of the largest publishing houses in the United States, and I
extracted from them the profits received by this house for works of a
certain reputation. It will be perceived, that the editions published
are not large. The profits of the American houses chiefly resulting
from the number of works published, each of these yielding a moderate
profit, which when collected together, swell into a large sum total.

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Y Ycopies printedYTrade priceY Y
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