Why,ifamanwhoisnotevenmad,butonlystrenuous—strenuousaboutrace—suicide—shouldcometomeandtrytogetmetousemylargepoliticalandecclesiasticalinfluencetogetabillpassedbythisCongresslimitingfamiliestotwenty—twochildrenbyonemother,Ishouldtrytocalmhimdown。Ishouldreasonwithhim。I
shouldsaytohim,\"Leaveitalone。Leaveitaloneanditwilltakecareofitself。OnlyonecoupleayearintheUnitedStatescanreachthatlimit。Iftheyhavereachedthatlimitletthemgorighton。Letthemhaveallthelibertytheywant。Inrestrictingthatfamilytotwenty—twochildrenyouaremerelyconferringdiscomfortandunhappinessononefamilyperyearinanationof88,000,000,whichisnotworthwhile。\"
Itistheverysamewithcopyright。Oneauthorperyearproducesabookwhichcanoutlivetheforty—two—yearlimit;that\'sall。Thisnationcan\'tproducetwoauthorsayearthatcandoit;thethingisdemonstrablyimpossible。Allthatthelimitedcopyrightcandoistotakethebreadoutofthemouthsofthechildrenofthatoneauthorperyear。
Imadeanestimatesomeyearsago,whenIappearedbeforeacommitteeoftheHouseofLords,thatwehadpublishedinthiscountrysincetheDeclarationofIndependence220,000books。Theyhaveallgone。Theyhadallperishedbeforetheyweretenyearsold。Itisonlyonebookin1000thatcanoutlivetheforty—two—yearlimit。
Thereforewhyputalimitatall？Youmightaswelllimitthefamilytotwenty—twochildren。