The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1912-03-16
WITH THE TRAVELLERS

is advancing himself In the world by
spending his money. much or little, to
buy a little cheap distinction at the
expense OF his OWE cash and his fell
Iows' discomSorts.
II this mans tipping went no further
than his bankruptcy there is rea-
son to believe that II would meet with
very little objection from the public
at large, but it doesn't stop there. Ev-
cry one OF the supplemented creatures
of the Douceur tribe makes 1t cost the
ordinary American so much more per
day to travel on the train, to stop at
the hotels, to eat in the restaurants.
to ride in the taxicabs or to be shaved
at the BARRIERS.
It is the man, the snob of tippery.
who has raised the standard Of tipping
so that q breakfast tip at the big no.
tells in New York Is not 20 cents, but
80 to So cents. It is he who has made
1t we'll nigh impossible for the travel
ing business man to live within an
expense account that will be o. K.
with the boss. Tt Is he who has in
privilege, paid for with mean money.
lIlLO LILO OEulLdIS dlldlES III
the American business man.
Over in Europe, where everybody
knows the tip is a nuisance, there is
a unanimous opinion that this same
American, bent on buying his way into
distinction, has ruined the joys Of ira
vel. In part, this European ccndemna-
ton is unjust. The American snoh at
home has so raisel the standard Of
tipping that wen 4 frugal American in
Europe will tip too generously, and will
therefore have the same disastrous eff
feet upon the tipping system in general
as the snob causes in the United
States.
Mr.. Douceur is OF all ages and types.
He is not quite so offensive, perhaps.
when he appears In the person of a
rah rah boy spending the governors
money in vacation time. The rah-rah
boy doesn't know any better, and lie.
is naturally an initiative animal. He
is pitiable as well as piibul when he
appeors in the garb of a backwoods-
man lately come into money, for then
he emulates the Douceur type, not of
his own volition, but because crafty
head walters and bellboys have
SShOOASu HAAu Ii@S IL 10 ZIG (uiuS "
do"
Mr.. Douceur is most offensive when
in propria persona he appears as the
man who is bound I o demonstrate to
all the world the truth Of the old
proverb, money talks" Let him come
into a hotel and there is an ominous
swapping of fingers, a gathering swirl
of obsequois flunkies, a licking Of chops
and a smirking of smirks that BODIES
i'll for every other man in the place.
A servant in any first-class hotel is
a slave to Mr.. Douceur, because it
pays. But to every other man--to all
those who tip only reasonably- he is
another being. On account Of the Am
erican air he breathes he feels the hu-
initiation and the degradation imposed
upon him by the partnership of his
employer and the tipping system. He
feels he must get even. He dares not
insult Mr.. Douceur.
Therefore when an ordinary Ameri-
can comes within his range he takes
the proffered tip, but for fear the or
binary American might get the idea
that the tiptaker is a mental, he care
fully refrains from expressing thanks
therefor. Sometimes an employer OBJ
jects to this spirit. He thinks the
servant oughtcalways to thank the pat
ron for paying him the wages that the
employer fails to pay. That is why
certain railroad companies send out
spoilers" to eat on It's dining cars
and to make reports on the in
which the tip ~proffered has been &C
cepted by the waiter. The railway
cheerfully pays the salary Of the spot
ter, but never thinks Of paying the
wages of its walters and posting INC
tipping rules in it's dining cars v
All of which goes to show that the
| tipping system not only degrades the
man who takes a tip, but that 1t also
corrupts and poisons the man who
gives a tip. For, in q way, every one
| of us is more or less related to the
| family Of Douceur.