New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-02-09
Tie DECLINE OF COrRTESY.

Arc we n, polite and cOnSidcatc people rs
yo usod 70 be? /, the average American as
fine a gentleman Is his father was? Is re-
spec, for womcn-that touchstone Of nation
nrocro,S along the line Of the amcntles-as
general or rs genuine rs II was q generation
aco2 We should like 20 hear from the dcbat-
ING societies Of the colleges and schools OF the
METROPOLIS on thi, interesting and important
roin,. Ncw-N ork i. the chief city of tn" ch"t
state Of this Nation of ours II Is not only the
commercial. but the intellectual, centre OF the
pcnuLlic Therefore the best type OF the
American man is properly 70 be sought for IN
this cauital What is he like Docs he meet
the host expectations Is there anything about
him that recall, Sir Philip Sidney Offering the
crfp of water or SIN Walter Raleigh spreading
his cloak?
Now undoubtedly the flower Of American
manhood j., tn be- found between the Battery
and IIeh Bridge Still we believe that most
If orr reader, who are familiar with what goes
ou In the street, Of Ncw-lork from day to day
will conccdc tina, the ordinary New Yorker is SD
intent upon being good 10 Number one that he
give, little Thought 10 hi, ncighbor> welfare
oven though she be- a woman. " He Is gen
10 81
selfish man. "thc fault being that he Is gen
crous 10 no one hut himself" The Ncw-l ork-
or We have u mind j, not a bad ~ that sun
he recalls the criticism. ON ho'~'-carN ana
elevated train, and fcrryhoatN his treatment
Of women really does not do him credit. lie
awards them the white Of Justice. but not the
pinl, OF courtc,y-that is to say hc mover makes
4 woman get mp and give him her seat IN pub
lie convcyanccs. but he rarely rises and insists
upon her taking his. Walking along Broad
vay he /, 50 cngros,cd with his own thoughts
that if women are prciudiccd against beng
chowcd off the sidewalk they would do well 10
keep ont Of his way. II they enter sell
closing stormdoor Immediately after HIM leu
them look sharp that it does not fly back ana
floor them We are now speaking oil the ordi-
nary New Yorker who looks the gentleman
who is recognized rs a gentleman. who would
holly resent tho suggestion that he was not "A
gentleman. But is hc gentleman? y tree IS
known by lis fruits. 1t Is the junction OF
gentleman to be gcntlemany II he regards
his treatment Of women as gentcmanly' one
would like 10 know 10 what standards he con
forms his conduct and if the standards are
patented Bpt leaving this New Yorker out
Of the account what about the others wen,
il * thc wcll-nigh universal testimony that all
sorts and conditions of men IN NcW-l ork show
less urhanity-nO 10 put It Siron@er-thah tholr
fathers did. The average horso-car conductor
the average clerk in the great business houses,
the average public official Of any grade are
by no means rs polite a they might be- some
of them too often are perhaps as rude rs they
MIGHT be- holding as a fundamental truth that
"pcoplo mustn't come here wanting to know,
you know"
That such Il state of things should exist, that
tbe metropolis should be dcgcncrating so far
~ courtesy is concerned, is doubtless one Of
the wcll-nigh inevitable penalties of our tre-
mcndous material progress. Wealth accumu-
latcs and men decay, or at all events, their
politoncss runs to seed. The race for riches is
"a absorbing that there is little time and less
inclination for the cultivation of any of the
minor virtues. This explanation of the decline
Of courtesy has often been given, and has been
held to be inadequate. But there is another
one 10 which small attention has been directed.
Ours is "A day when w0manS "sphercn-if We
may be pard0ncd for using that muchabuScd
worlds wider than it ever was before. She
has moro rights and moro opportunities than
she ever had, and consequently the popular
estimate of her has changed. Now she is looked
upon as a sclf-reliant person, who is abundant
| " able TO take care Of herself The natural
outcome Of this revision of the estimate of
| woman is that men, uncOnsciouSy it may be-
reason that women no longer need the con
Sdcration which they commanded when their
sex was synonym for weakness and depend
encc. But whatever may be the reasons for
the decline Of courtesy, the thing itself is most
dcplorablc. 1t tends to make life not worth