I'd like to say a word in defense of Mark Twain's essays on imperialism.

Gary Scharnhorst said that many more people learned of his views on
imperialism through interviews than through his essays which were
published in a journal with a comparatively small circulation. It might be
true that many people first learned of his views on the subject through
the homecoming interviews of October 1900, but later interviews in
which he discussed the subject were not widely reprinted. Some of his
essays were very widely reprinted. His speeches on the subject were
also more widely reprinted than most interviews, probably because any
newspaper could quote them as news or use them as filler without
appearing to be recycling material from another newspaper. The
comment he made in the speech about McKinley and the "polluted flag"
was reprinted and commented upon in newspapers and magazines from
coast to coast but his explanation in the interview was only available
locally.

The readership and influence of "To the Person Sitting in Darkness" and
"To My Missionary Critics" should not be judged by the circulation of the
North American Review. They were excerpted, and in some cases
reprinted in full, in newspapers and magazines throughout the country.
Half of "To the Person Sitting in Darkness" was reprinted in the
Congressional Record and it may have been widely distributed from
there using the franking privilege. The Anti-Imperialist League of New
York also reprinted it in an edition of 125,000 copies. The essays were
also discussed in numerous editorials and later newspaper reports as
the missionaries and Minister Conger returned from China and were
asked to respond. It would be hard to find a newspaper published in the
United States at that time that did not publish excerpts or comment at
some point on the essays and the ensuing controversy.

I recently came across a report on Twain's influence on donations to
missionary organizations that is a good example of how widely known
those essays became. It is a report from Boston published in the
Chicago American and reprinted in the Deseret Evening News of Salt
Lake City on December 9, 1901. See "Twain Only Helped Them," about
two-thirds down column five:

http://www.loc.gov/chroniclingamerica/lccn/sn83045555/1901-12-09/ed-
1/seq-2

His essays were published in February and April. This is from December
but they don't feel a need to explain why Mark Twain would have an
influence on donations to missionary organizations except to say that "It
was against a missionary of the American Board, Dr. Ament, that Mark
Twain directed his attack." It assumes that every reader of the
newspaper is familiar with Mark Twain's essays and only reminds them
of Rev. Ament's affiliation.

I don't want to downplay the importance of the interviews on imperialism
but I think they are important for other reasons. They demonstrate how
he used multiple forums to address political issues. The combination of
writings, speeches and interviews amplified and extended public
awareness of his views. The later interviews on imperialism are also
significant because he stopped writing on the subject for publication by
Harper & Brothers after it rejected "The War Prayer" and "King
Leopold's Soliloquy" in March and April of 1905. After that, his anti-
imperialism was expressed through other channels, including interviews,
speeches, and short writings he handed out to newspaper reporters. In
that context, the interviews demonstrate how he used one of the outlets
still available to him. They also indicate the importance he still attached
to the issue. Because of his strained relationship with his publisher, he
was setting aside most of his writings on imperialism for publication after
his death but it was still a front-burner issue.

Jim Zwick
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