can carry everything before them in America; the whole organization of publicity is in the hands of men ready to attack; the cost of the matter must be slight in comparison with the cost in fees and labour and time involved in these endless proceedings. One hopes only that the thing will be intelligently done, without appointments of dictators and installations of self-censorships. The thing to do is to propose a substitute law which will cover what apparently at this time must be considered criminal—the smutty postcard effects in general—and which will require proof of the power (not merely the tendency) to degrade in works of art. We are aware that quibbles are possible; but we are certain that the Society for the Suppression of Vice needs suppression, by due process of law, and that only the publishers can accomplish it.
The mild hope expressed above that the attack would be carried on without resorting to self-censorships and dictators was almost dashed when, two days after it was written, exactly these things sat in the wind. Actually what Mr Sumner proposed to the publishers was a conference to discuss censorship and the possibilities of censorship in advance of publication. A "dictator" was invoked, we believe, more by the press than by any individual. It is useless for us to comment further upon this matter.
