Punch: Punch (100.1891)

183 PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI. [April 18, 1891,

FIN DE SIECLE CHILDREN,

Si. " I say, Hilda. I should so like to give you a Kiss i " She {who will pick up such strange expressions from the Boys), " Would

you, indeed? 'I like youb cheek'i" He. "I'm sure I should like YtURS I "

NOT CAUGHT YET!

The Boy and the Bird! And the Bird looks so old ;—
Scarce the species of fowl to be easily " sold,"—
And the Boy is so young ! It seems almost absurd
To suppose that that pinch is to capture that Bird 1

An old form of chase, if the legends run right;
Like that, much akin, of the wild goose in flight.
But salt, just like chaff and the plainly spread net,
Was never regarded as promising yet.

But now ? j jfWell, the Birds of the age, like its Boys,
Its Wives, and its Weather, its Tastes and its Toys,
H ave suffered a change, not a sea-change, but one
Which floors half the maxims, and spoils half the fun.

Simple Siiion ? Well, that's not as clear as it looks.

The typical noodles of nursery books

Were podgy and chubby, or lanky and pale,

And—they tried to drop salt on poor dicky-bird's tail I

A fat boy in tight breeks with a palpable bait
May look a great fool; but I guess we must wait,—
Before we bemock him as crass and absurd,—
To see—what effect it will have on the Bird!

The trial's well timed, and the bait looks " not bad ; "
The Boy may "know his book," though he's only a lad.
Birds sometimes fall victims to Boys on the prowl,
And the Yoter Bird is not the wariest fowl.

The Voter Bird shortly must show what he's worth.
He may be the stupidest dicky on earth,
Predestinate victim to salt-pinch or net;
But then he may not— and he is " not caught yet! "

An Autocbat's Aspieation.—Pan-Slavism for Holy Russia, and
Pan-Slav(e)ism for the rest of Europe.

LAND AND BRAIN.

{A Page jrom a Vade Mecum for Political Economists.}

Question. Can you tell me how long an Author has a right to the
profits arising out of his literary labours ?

Answer. Forty-two years, or the term of his natural life plus
seven years further, whichever may be the longer.

Q. And should Lord Monkswell's Copyright Bill, which has
been read a First Time in the House of Peers, become law, will not
this right be extended to thirty years after the death of the Author ?

A. It will, to his great advantage. The same measure contains
other valuable provisions to secure to the Author the just profit of
his brain-work.

Q. But will not these advantages be purchased at the7price of a
loss to the general good ?

A. Very likely—the community will suffer for the benefit of the
individual.

Q. In like manner a Patentee, who invents a most useful article,
enjoys (for a consideration) a monopoly of its sale, does he not ?

A. For fourteen years. This enables him to recoup himself for
the thought and labour he has employed in the most useful article's
construction.

Q. If Author and Inventor were allowed an absolute monopoly of
the profits arising out of their brain-work, it would be immoral ?

A. No doubt, as the individuals would benefit at the cost of the
community.

Q. Why should a butterman, then, have an absolute right in the
sale of his butter ?

A. Because butter is butter, and brains are merely brains.

Q. And would it not be for the benefit of the community if the
landowner of a freehold were deprived of his rights after a term of
years, and his holding be given to the public ?

A. Oh dear, no! Land, as Rudyabd Kipling would say, "is
quite another story! "__

Counsel's Motto {objected to in the Committee Rooms).—
"Absence makes the fees grow stronger."