Toronto
George N. Morang & Company, Limited
1902
BROWN-SEARLE PRINTING COMPANY
89 Wellington St. West
TORONTO, FEBRUARY 19, 1902
The Secretary,
The Board of Trade,
Toronto
SIR—
The Council of the Board of Trade lately adopted a resolution asking thatCanadian Legislation be passed, giving effect to the Copyright Billproposed in 1895 by Mr. Hall Caine, "making it obligatory that a bookshall be printed and bound in this country in order to secure Canadiancopyright, and continue to be so printed and bound in order to retain suchcopyright, and that upon failure to print in Canada within a reasonabletime, provision shall be made by which the Government may issue to aCanadian publisher a license to print in Canada, subject to suchsafeguards as will secure to the owner of such book a reasonable royaltyupon his work." The resolution is to be forwarded to the Boards of Tradeof other cities in Canada, together with the request that they join inrepresentations to the Government asking their consideration of thisimportant question, and urging the passing of this legislation.
This resolution emanated from the Wholesale Booksellers' Section of theBoard of Trade, of which Mr. W.J. Gage is the Chairman. The Report of thisSection presented to the Board recites, that in 1895 Mr. Hall Caine cameto this country, the duly accredited representative of English authors,accompanied by Mr. Daldy, representing the English publishers, and thatafter a conference with Canadian publishers, papermakers, printers andbookbinders, a draft Bill was completed, which Mr. Hall Caine announced tothe Canadian Government as containing an understanding reached with theCanadian publishers, and to which Mr. Daldy, on behalf of the Englishpublishers, consented. These statements were made in the Report of theSection, notwithstanding the fact that at a Committee meeting composed ofits members held last year, I read a letter from the Secretary of theBritish Society of Authors stating that Mr. Hall Caine's proposed Bill hadnever received the approval of the Society; and although at the samemeeting I stated that Mr. Daldy had informed me he had never consented tothe Bill. After the Report of the action of the Board of Trade reachedEngland, Mr. Daldy addressed a letter to "The Publishers' Circular," fromwhich I quote:—
"So far from consenting to it (i.e., the Hall Caine Bill), I pointed out several important errors to which I could not agree; and being invited by some printers, publishers, and papermakers to meet them in Toronto just afterwards, I distinctly assured them that I could not consent to any restriction of the rights and privileges contained in the Imperial Acts of 1842 and 1886."
I was absent from Toronto when the Booksellers' Section framed and passedits Report, and only returned to Toronto after it had been adopted at themeeting of the Council of the Board. Knowing that the Council was beingmisled, I communicated with the President and requested that I might beheard before the Council, offering to explain the copyright question,which I knew was little understood by the members, of whom only two orthree are publishers. The President frankly admitted to me that he had notinvestigated the question, and told me he would bring my request beforethe next meeting of the