The result is
that a writer in such a situation, is practically beaten before he can
offer a defence. The professional book-baiters have laws to their
liking, and courts pliant to their exactions; they fill the newspapers
with inflammatory charges before the accused gets his day in court; they
have the aid of prosecuting officers who fear the political damage of
their enmity, and of the enmity of their wealthy and influential
backers; above all, they have the command of far more money than any
author can hope to muster. Finally, they derive an advantage from two of
the most widespread of human weaknesses, the first being envy and the
second being fear. When an author is attacked, a good many of his rivals
see only a personal benefit in his difficulties, and not a menace to
the whole order, and a good many others are afraid to go to his aid
because of the danger of bringing down the moralists' rage upon
themselves. Both of these weaknesses revealed themselves very amusingly
in the Dreiser case, and I hope to detail their operations at some
length later on, when I describe that _cause celebre_ in a separate
work.
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