The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-04-09
Excepting Up Appearances"

discussing. as to the ability Of a man to
" entertain on an income Of $500 q
year. il Of importance because it goes to
the marrow Of social question which
has been under almost immemorial dis
c,,ssion. In another and broader form
that question is, IL 1t defensible to keep
UP appearances OF q better social and
financial condition than that in which
you are actually?
A few years ago this subject was dis
GUESSED very earnestly by many CORE
spondents OF q London paper, and it may
be said to be pertinent to a social situa-
ton which Ia English rather than Ameri-
can. The point was made in the Lon
don paper that the effort to keep up
appearances, at no matter what sacri-
fee, il defensible II not laudable as an
evidence Of a wholesome pride Of char
acter, without which families would tend
to drop in the social scale, with the
consequence of condemning their chill
dren permanently to a lower place in 1t
than the parents occupied; that Is, to
. declass them
In England. where there are fixed
classes, the upper the middle and
the lower classes, each with It's lines
OF demarcation more or less sharply
drawn, a step down in the social scale is
dreaded as one Of the greatest OF calam-
tiles. To avoid it an Englishman is
tempted to strain and overstrain himself
to keep up false pretence Of ability to sus-
stain the cost Of manner Of living which
seems to be required Of him II he is to be
counted in the superior class to which he
belongs or would belong. The policy OF
keeping up appearances. therefore,
had many defenders when the subject
was discussed at very great length in
the London paper.
OF course, when the title to social su-
periority lies in birth only, according to
the general aristocratio theory, 1t is UNI
affected by the condition Of a mans purse
and the way in which he lives, whether
it be Of luxury or perjury; but actually
aristocracy without wealth to maintain
its pretensions soon falls into disrepute
and goes to pieces. Accordingly, there is
a manifestation Of the policy Of keeping
up appearances in the strenuous efforts
made by impoverished scions Of aris-
tocracy to marry rich girls, American,
perhaps, that they may get the money
to maintain their state in the order to
which they were born. 1t is in social
gradations somewhat lower, where there
are no titles with which to purchase a
pecuniarily valuable matrimonial alli-
ance. that keeping up appearances
is oftener attempted and produces most
hardship. Even then the chance Of max
ing marriages with wealth Of a lower
social grade may constitute one Of the
main incentives to an effort to present
a false show Of prosperity in straitened
households.
In this country, however. there Is no
like incentive to such false social display.
Here, it is simply snobbishness at the
bottom. 1t is also a waste Of effort,
almost invariably. The shifts to which
it resorts in the way of false pretence are
usually 80 apparent or are so soon discov-
cred, that as a social investment it is
as bad as it is under the rule Of sound
business prudence. The family which
lives within its means and restricts its
social ambitions in accordance with
them has a very much better chance OF
getting ahead here than the family which
makes sacrifices in a snobbish spirit Of
keeping up appearances.
1t is not true that In America, as Eng
lishmen are so fond of asserting. money
OF itself gives social superiority, for
many of the richest people are outside the
ranks Of society," so-called; but it is
true that here and everywhere else in
the world money is necessary to keep
VI the pace in the society Of fashion
Whether the game is worth the candle
is another question. Even very many
rich people do not believe II is; and that
1t is not worth the strain OF keeping
DIP appearances OF a wealth which has
no real existence is unquestionable. To
pretend to be richer than you are and to
make an outside show OF prosperity at
the cost Of the most niggardly economy
and sharp deprivation underneath 10 TO
play the confidence game and to lose
both self-reepect and all title TO respect
from anybody else. 1t Is debasing, and
It ia vain, also. The social climber or
struggler earns the contempt of those
into whose society he would push him.
self, and his pitiful devices must bring to
him the degradation Of self-contempt
Commences, as we all know, is the first
and most necessary element Of a char
acter which commands respect from
any social sphere or from itself; and,
say what you may in criticism OF the
present social tone. the genuine was
never more at social premium than it
IL now.
The correspondent who took the
ground in yesterdays Sun that the man
who tried to excuse his expenditure Of
more than his income of $500 year on
the theory that II u necessary to
maintain his position was deceiving
himself and wasting his efforts was
altogether right. The assumed necss-
sity does not exist. As often happens,
the man put his minor motive before
the motive that is really the influencing
cause, or simply his spirit Of snobbish-