The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-12-12
As to Fees and chipping"

Concerning walters and the propriety OF
offering them fees. contemporary para
grapher AYERS in reference to the college
students who wait in summer hotels. that
mo person Of refined sensibilitics will ac-
ccpt tip" This contemporary COM
plains Of 1.-The avidity with which they
accept money from people who are their
intellectual and social interiors" To be
over eager for fees is not consistent
either with self-respcct or with good SER
vice. but there seem to be good reasons to
differ from the opinion that to accept gra-
tuities offered in recognition OF personal SER
vices is necessarily inconsistent with SER
viceable degree OF refinement.
AS between self-respecting guest and
self-respectiDg servant a fee is not bride.
but an expression OF appreciation. 1t is a
tangible way of saying Thank you! When
a gentleman has been a guest in another
gentleman's house. and his comfort has
been a special charge Of certain OF his hosts
servants. the fees he may choose to give
those servants when he goes away simply
say that he appreciates their care OF him.
and is grateful Such fees are not aims. nor
are they brides: they discharge an obiga-
ton. which. whether it actually exists or not,
is recognized rs equitable by the departing
guest. Fees OF that sort. freely and COR
daily given, and expressive OF good will.
are source OF satisfaction to the giver
and it is notapparent why they should not
be Il perfectly legitimate source of satisfac-
ton to the receiver also.
1t is true that when the departing guest
comes to say good-by to his host he does
not tip him. He thanks him for his hos
pitality, and very likely expresses the hope
that he may soon be able to return it in
kind. He has toward his host a feeling Of
obligation analogous to what he has
toward his hosts servants. He knows
that first or last he will get even with
his host by showing him some cour-
tesy or doing him some service. but the
chances are that unless he discharges the
obligation he feels to the servant by ma
tcrial gift on the spot no other opportunity
to rcquitc him will Offer.
The Tip" given to a servant by an ap-
precativc guests given to the Office rather
than to the individual. 1t is not charity.
and to accept it need not necessarily offend
tho sclf-respcct OF the most self-reliant
person. There is no lack Of other voca-
tions besides service" in which fees,
more or less Graeutous. are given without
the slightest loss OF self-respect on either
side. The Clergyman who marrics a
couple gets n fee. and is entitled to
it, but whether it is five dollars or five
hundred depends entirely on the feelings
and pccuniary abilities Of the groom. To
perform the marriage ceremony. even when
it includes the salutation Of the bride, isn't
very hard work, and il would be reasonable
to say that anything over twenty-five dol
lars. or perhaps less, that the clergyman
gets is in the nature Of a gratuity. But
whether his fee is fifty dollars or Il hun
drcd, he never feels obliged to send any
part of it back. 1t is given to his
Office rather than to himself, and
his office enables him TO accept it without re-
morse or improperly. Tostckle for large
fee would be decidedly Improper. we'll
behaved clergyman docs not permit his
mind to dwell uuduly ON his marriage fees
one way or the other and he is ready to
marry folks as securely and reverently with
Out money or price as he would for the most
lavish remuneration. But what fees come
TO him unsolicited he puts into his pocket
cheerfully and without gualm. conscious
that the laborer is worthy not only of his
hire. but of any casual pecuniary bar
nacles that happen to stick to it,
And so with the Office of servant. 1t Is a
humble Office. but it is as capable as any
other OF being adorned in the manner OF
its discharge. The best servant is the one
who is most successful in promoting the
comfort of the people he serves. II he ap-
prcciates the possibilities of his Office and
lives up to them, there is no reason why
the casual emOlumcntS of it should burn
his fingers. II he spends himself gcner-
ously in his work. he has no moro valid
reason to feel humliatcd by the offer of
fee than the clergyman is when the best
man hands him IN envelope. II his ecnsi-
bilities are too refined to permit him TO ac-
cept fees. that is not a merit. but n defect.
and he Is that much less fit for the place
that no holds. A servant who de-
mands fees or whose usefulness is
measured by the acutencsa of his Az