daily press would attend; would you draw a distinction in that case between them and a reporter of another sort?
A. No; I should always make it the right of the speaker to admit reporters or not. Allow me to tell you what happened to myself. I am not complaining of it for a moment, because I knew exactly what was to be expected, and I did not care whether it happened or not; but permit me to state what happened to me in the United States the other day: I gave three lectures in New York, which had cost me a very considerable amount of trouble, and they were illustrated by diagrams, etc. I found that it was the intention of the proprietor of one of the leading papers there to send short-hand writers who would take down what I said verbatim; to send artists who would copy all the diagrams, and to print my lecture the next day in the paper in full, and not only so, but when the three lectures were completed to make them up into a sort of pamphlet and sell it, without consulting me in any way whatever. As I say, in this particular case I did not care in the least about this proceeding; and I have the less reason for complaint, as the proprietor of the paper subsequently offered me a certain share in the profits of the sale of the pamphlet; but, in principle, it appears to me to be sheer piracy.
Q. That, of course, would be under the law of the United States. Are you able to tell us what the United States law with respect to lectures is?
A. I cannot say, but the same thing might take place here if I had not given notice to two justices of the peace, or complied with whatever is the requisite formality, which is a thing I never did in my life. I fancy that in practice the same thing might be done here.
Q. If you gave a proper notice, you would have the law on your side?
A. Very few persons know of the existence of that law.
Q. Admitting the grievance to exist, as I think the commission would probably be prepared to do, in removing it might it not be well to substitute some more easy process than that of giving notice to two magistrates within five miles?
A. Certainly, one would think that there must be a great number of easier processes than that.
Q. It has been suggested by some witness that a notice put over the door, so that everybody should see it when he entered the room in which the lecture was given, that the lecture was copyright would be sufficient; would that meet your view?
A. Yes, or the same practice might be adopted as in the case of reserving the right of translation of a book; you might put on the ticket, "All rights reserved."
Dr. Smith. Supposing that the lecturer himself gave notice, at the beginning of the lecture, that he reserved to himself the right of printing it, might not that be sufficient?
