r largely
devoted to literary matters I recently read a statement to the effect
that many authors, indifferent to books, neither buy nor read them,
whilst others positively dislike them. Mr. Shaw's quarrel with
Shakespeare has been of long standing, but at least Mr. Shaw has done
his old-fashioned rival the honour of reading him. Mr. Arnold Bennett,
on the other hand, who is undoubtedly one of the most brilliant
contemporary novelists, has declared, not without pride, that the only
novel of Dickens that he had ever read was _Little Dorrit_, and this
but recently, and that he considered him a greatly overrated novelist.
The conclusion is not surprising, and the living author is no doubt
confirmed in his opinion that the works of Mr. Bennett are of vastly
superior merit.

This modern self-confidence is undoubtedly a healthy sign of
intellectual activity and eagerness. It goes to show that authors are
scrutinising keenly the life that is going on around them; that they
are interested in facts and things, and seeking to give them a larger
reality in terms of ideas; and we see that they are finding a similar
response from the reading public. It was not without significance that
all through the period of the great Coal Strike publishers reduced
their output of books to the smallest possible dimensions, and
especially refrained from issuing books of the highest class. I do not
believe that this was merely due to the fact that in times of economic
crisis there is a lack of pocket-money with which to purchase
literature. The fact surely was that much of the attention which in
many circles is given to modern books was drawn away by the stirring
events that were happening in our midst. The study and contemplation
of the Coal Strike were of precisely the same nature as the study and
contemplation of original contemporary literature. For that
literature in its most characteristic forms is concerned with the
problems and the structure of modern society.

If at the time of the Coal Strike we had inquired what English plays
had recently called forth the most criticism and interest in
intellectual circles, we should probably have named, first, Mr.
Galsworthy's _Justice_, and secondly, his _Strife_. The latter was
concerned with a situation exactly similar to that developed by the
Coal Strike. The action of the drama took place in the middle of a
great strike. Mr. Galsworthy presented typical characters representing
owners and men, bo