El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-11-21

"HE tipping system is rapidly
working the ruin Of the barber
trade in the United States. Many
BARRIERS unwiseIy and incorrectly at
tribute the periIous condition of their
business to the safety razor Ihey are
wrong. But the manufacturers OF lhe
safety razor may correctly atlflDute
their present prosperity to the tipping
The American public made no resist
ance, hardly murmured Complaint
when the standard price OF snaVe
was increased from a dime to 10 cents.
But when il came about that the 10
cents, or even the 20 cents charged IN
the more pretenuous barber SHOPS,
was no longer sufficient to insure good
service, and an additional tip OF
cents was required, there were mutJer-
ings of rebellion. When, as came
about naturally the cent tip was
scOrned and 10 cents demanded, there
was open revolt Men who from their
youth had trembled in fear before the
old-fashioned open blade razor, sought
counsel Of the advertising pages OF the
newspapers and magazines ana IdIeu
forth to buy safety razor cOnIrap-
ton. The makers Of safety razors
prospered and the BARRIERS suffered
correspondingly.
The BARRIERS, however, with a Pc
culiarly perVerse g-headedness,
sought to bolster up their falling Tor
woes. They demanded more tips ana
instituted a system OF coercion ana
cOmpulsiOn that permits no nOnupper
to 20 unscathed. All the time Iney
have been foolshly blaming the trou-
bic on the safety razor and not on the
tip.
A few days ago a barber was ex-
PEELED from BARRIERS union IN New
England city because it was lscoVereQ
that he habituaIl- shaved himself al
home with a saftey razor. This 1910
syncrasy on the part OF This particular
barber was set down as treason 70 the
trade, and was punished accordingly
Blame Safety RazOrs.
1t was seriously proposed at a recent
meeting of barber shop owners IN
western city to increase the charge Tor
a hair cut from the ordinary 25 cents 70
81 when the customer was suspected
Of being an habitual self-shaYer here
the boss BARRIERS owners OF the SHOPS,
again were ascrfbing their financial
troubles, not to tips. but to the SAFETY
In the barber trade. as in every
other business that has been defiled and
corrupted by the iniqu1t0us tipping
system the man who takes the tip
is not the man who profits by the
system. In some shops. not all where
the working BARRIERS got SO percent OF
their tasings IN the old days before
tipping became general, they now get
only 40 percent The barber. the man
who actually does the Work, on an
he used TO. The only difference Is that
the victim, the patron, pays twice as
much. The one difference between the
barber business and other businesses
afflicted by the tipping evil is that
the beneficiaries, the proprletors, are
now suffering bcause Of their own
cupidity. The people are shaving
themselves Unfortunately one cannot
carry about with him his own pri-
vate bed. bath and kitchenette, but he
can carry razor.
BARRIERS 20 to extreme lengths in
compelling tips They have their Gus
toners at their mercy. and the penalty
for refusing to tip IS actual physical
pain and punishment A man who
goes into & barbershop only once may
/ escape. but If he refuse to tip. he
must never go there again.
Confined TO Large Towns.
Fortunately the tipping evil. so far as
! BARRIERS are concerned. has not yet
spread to the smaller cities and towns
It is confined TO the large cities and
there are some persons who actually
hope that it viii be abolished, or al
any rate mitigated in its severity be-
fore it extends farther into the coun-
try.
The very fact that tipping the barber
is not altogether universal custom