Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 11.djvu/542

 526 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

ture was broader than that of any literary magazine containing fiction and poetry undertaken in Chicago during the eighties.

The publication of this representative American .literary out- put, secured at such extravagant prices, was continued for only a few weeks. It did not pay. But few copies of America circulated east of the Alleghanies. "Literary trade-winds blow from the east," says Mr. Thompson today. The circulation of America was for the most part western, and at no time did it exceed 10,000. After the period of high prices for contributions, Mr. Taylor wrote nearly all of the literary contents under a series of noms de plume. In recounting this part of his experiences with America, Mr. Taylor said : " That is where I gained my literary training."

Two local writers who have since attained national promi- nence in lines of artistic production were assistant editors of America during parts of its career as a training school Reginald De Koven, composer, and Harry B. Smith, light-opera librettist. Writing as "Quaver," Mr. De Koven conducted a department of musical criticism. Of Mr. De Koven's column, Bclford's Magazine, a Chicago contemporary of America, said :

His notes will be read with much interest, for he is an eminently qualified musician ; a graduate of Oxford University, England, and essentially cosmo- politan as regards his education.

Mr. Smith, who was beginning his literary work, was at first listed as assistant editor and later as business manager, although Slason Thompson says the periodical never had any business management in the present-day sense. Mr. Smith was a frequent contributor of verse.

While starting out with a notable character as to genuine American literature, America from the first was distinguished for the virile political interest and the vigorous personality of Mr. Thompson, which stood out in its pages most emphatically. The very title, while suggesting the literary interest, was conspicuous for its political significance, and a sub-title declared America to be " a journal for Americans." Articles by Seth Low on " American Patriotism," and by Theodore Roosevelt on "Americans Past and Present, and the Americanization of Foreigners," appeared