"
Hence the barring from the mails of the inflammatory report of the
Chicago Vice Commission--a strange, strange case of dog eating dog.
But here we have humour. There is, however, no humour in the case of a
serious author who sees his work damaged and perhaps ruined by a
malicious and unintelligent attack, and himself held up to public
obloquy as one with the vendors of pamphlets of flagellation and filthy
"marriage guides." He finds opposing him a flat denial of his decent
purpose as an artist, and a stupid and ill-natured logic that baffles
sober answer.[72] He finds on his side only the half-hearted support of
a publisher whose interest in a single book is limited to his profits
from it, and who desires above all things to evade a nuisance and an
expense. Not a few publishers, knowing the constant possibility of
sudden and arbitrary attack, insert a clause in their contracts whereby
an author must secure them against damage from any "immoral" matter in
his book. They read and approve the manuscript, they print the book and
sell it--but if it is unlucky enough to attract the comstockian
lightning, the author has the whole burden to bear,[73] and if they
seek safety and economy by yielding, as often happens, he must consent
to the mutilation or even the suppression of his work.
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