Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1885-1890, 1886-12-11
Hospitality as Related to Political
Economy.
Written for the Tribune:

WT2ttef1f for the Tribune:
Hospitality is fair index of the civiliz-
alton of a country and the economical hab-
its of an individual. A prodigal hospital
ity c~haracterizes a country as in a barbar-
Gus or half civilized condition and an lndl
vidual as a spendthrift. In half-clvllIZed
countries the annual. income, consisting
mostly of produce Of the soil and of hocks,
cannot be expended for the luxuries OF
manufacture and commerce., cannot be
boarded as it is so largely ~perishable, and
hence prodigal hospitality is about the only
means of utilizing it. In feudal times the
barons spent the income Of their vast es-
tates in entertaining vassals who In turn
were bound to the service Of the baron ID
Il sense partially civil and partially militia
ry. Earl Warwick, "the king maker" IS
said TO have entertained over 10000 peo-
pie in this manner Adam Smith in Vol.
III, Page $50, of "The Wealth Of Nations"
classes this form of entertainment as a
species of hospitality and dwells upon Its
Importance as a factor in political econo-
my. He states, also, that often when the
number of entertainers was too great to as
semble conveniently in one place for daily
rations. a liege would, under a nominal
form Of rental, but in fact as a modified
form Of hospitality, grant the use and IN
come Of portions of his domains to some OF
his principal vassals for the trifiing sum OF
2 crown for lands which yielded support
for a family. If Adam Smiths view OF
hospitality be correct it would include
about all of consumption in feudal times,
and, as the barons were the military and
judicial heads of their bodies OF retalners,
the whole machinery of government would
Be run on the basis Of hospitality and teu-
dial governments would be correctly styled
"hospitarchies." But Adam Smith may
have unduly extended the use of the word
hospitality, and he may also have over
looked the fact that these feudal organiza-
tons were primarily of a purely military
character and extend back in the ancestral
customs of all Teutonic races as far as his
tory goes. Tacitus in his Germania, de-
scribes the chieftains of the Teutons and
their %retinues and states that they disdain
to gain by slow, arduous, humble toll what
they could gain in swift and famous war.
He states also that the members of the re-
tinues were pledged to obey and defend
their chieftain and that the chieftain was
to furnish the retinue with sustenance in
consideration for their services. IacItus
eulogizes the hospitality of the Teutons
but speak OF it as being connected with
the houses of families and not with the re-
tinues. But after granting large correc-
ten to Adam Smith for his use Of the
word it vet remains true that 3 free hos
p:+ality characterizes barbarous couutFiea.
This fact crises not from greater generosl-
ty on the part of barbarous people but
from the conditions and the necessities OF
their condition and mode Of life. They
have no adequate supply Of hotels for the
accommodation of travellers. They have nc
systematiZed institutions of charity for the
unfortunate of their own people. They
have no better way Of hearing news thar
by entertaining travellers. Their income is
largely perishable and might better bl
used in hospitality than wasted. This fur
nishes a means to display wealth. In en-
lightened countries people prefer to en-
terrain strangers at hotels, or through some
systematic method, and to preserve tn
privacy of their homes. They expires
their generosity by systematized Chart.
and by generous and prompt contribution
for the sufferers of sudden calamities bot
at home and abroad, and by means of thi
systematic generosity on the part Of en-
lightened people many thousands of bal
barous people have been saved from d tel
rible death. On the part of individuals
as we'll as Of countries, a prodigal hosp
taIity characterizes a lack of system rattle
than a generous nature. To squander
they earn in needless expense are mer
leeches sucking up the wages that ether
would turn to profitable use. In regar
to countries and individuals alike, hosp
tally should, ike etiquette, be character
lied by system and sense rather than b
profusion and display.
WASHINGTON LETTER.