S. WEIR MITCHELL.
The Nation,
New York City,
May 5th, 1913.
I fear you must be charging me with discourtesy for delaying so long my reply to your letter of April 19th. I have in fact had the intention of writing to you rather fully on the subject of public libraries and best sellers, for use in your conference in Kaaterskill. One obligation after another, however, has kept me from doing this and now I can only express to you briefly my conviction that the public library ought by no means to undertake "to supply all the best sellers hot from the press." It has always seemed to me that the office of any institution such as the library is as much to direct and restrain public taste as it is to supply what is demanded.
With regret that I cannot reply at greater length to your flattering request for my opinion, I am
Very truly yours,
PAUL E. MORE, Editor.
Washington, D. C.,
May 17, 1913.