Will the proposed treaty protect us (& effectually) against Canadian piracy? Because if it doesn’t, there is not a single argument against in favor of international copyright which a rational American Senate ought to could entertain for a moment. My notions have mightily changed, lately. Under this recent & brand-new system of piracy in New York, this country is being flooded with the best of English literature at prices which make a package of water closet paper seem an “edition de luxe” in comparison. I can buy Macaulay’s History, 3 vols., bound, for $1.25; Chambers’s Cyclopedia, 15 vols., cloth, for $7.25. (we paid $60), & other English copyrights in proportion; I can buy a lot of the great copyright classics, in paper, at from 3 cents to 30 cents apiece. These things must find their way into the very kitchens & hovels of the country. A generation of this sort of thing ought to make this the most intelligent & the best-read nation in the world. International copyright must becloud this sun & bring on the former darkness and dime-novel reading.

Morally, this is all ro wrong—governmentally it is all right; for it is the duty of governments—& families—to be selfish, & look out simply for their own. International copyright would benefit a few English authors, & a whole lot of American publishers, & be a profound detriment to 20,000,000 Americans; it would benefit a dozen American authors a few dollars a year, & there an end. The real advantages all go to English authors & American publishers.

And even o if the treaty will kill Canadian piracy, & thus save me an average of $5,000 a year, I’m down on it anyway—& I’d like cussed well to write an article opposing the treaty. Dern England! Such is my sentiments.