The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-08-09
War On TIPS
GROWING FAST
EVIL MUST BE WIRED OUT BY
GET-ToGETHER MOVEMENT OF
AMERICAN PEOPLE - UNITED
COMM ERCIAL TRAVELLERS
SPEND $5o.ooo,oo0 ON TIPS.

u
Apply at nee to the American people.
Such is the mental want ad of ever,
one Of the millions Of Americans VIII
find themselves enrolled by conscrip
tion in the United States army Of til
payers. The rank and file has beel
ready to revolt for many years, blu
the summary punishment sustained b,
a few brave rebels from time to tim,
is the awful warning that keeps thu
great majority on the reservation. Sci
dom does a rebel who has been caugh
and punished have the backbone tt
take another tilt at tipping. The tip
ping bound slaves are crying for {
sticker. A sort of superman, who will
boldly defy the creased palm brigadiers
IF it takes all summer" The people
are looking for a leader to lead them
forth into the bright sunshine Of the
tipless day.
Popular murmurings against the tip
ping crime are louder than ever be-
fore. The public temper seems to be
getting beyond the "be It resolved
stage. Here. and there it Is a trifie less
easy for the honey mugged mental to
extract his time honored perquisite
from an unwilling patron. Some of
the associations of drummers, which
in 1911 put a ban on restaurants, no
tells, barber shops, ETC.. which per-
LII SIs LILY A4A1AoS HpSL
it-are actually getting results in spots,
There are other signs, but only an OPP
timist ne plus ultra imagines that the
tip and the hydra headed system of
evils which it spawns will be smother
ed in two or three years.
1t took fifteen years to get a consti-
tutional amendment for an income tax.
Agitation for the popular election of
United States senators began long be-
fore hat. 1t Is now clearly understood
by. the people that only n thing bull
WarkS the tipping CurSe-the big hotel.
Barring the exception that makes the
rule, the American hotels have reduc-
ed the wages of walters, bell boys, etc,
to the point where they simply must
be tipped to live. 1t is a matter Of
bread and butter to most Of them.
Therefore, the small change the Amer
lean business men and travellers exude
at every pore from the moment they
venture beyond their w doorstep
lines the pockets Of the hotel and res
taurant owners. .,.... ID.
A great deal Of this illegal exchange
of coins with the servant as the middle
man on small commission represents
the, handsome dividend which more
than one hotel writes off every year.
While the hotel proprietor is not who'll
ly to blame, he is at the bottom of the
deep-Seated ecnomi sore. The only
way to beat him is for the public to
select the hotel which displays the
n tipping" sign and means 1t. If this
could be done consistently in every
city it would not be long before the
combination in restraint of grateful
tipping for real personal service duly
received would be broken up.
A certain New York hotel recently
established a 10 per cent discount rule
on the bills Of its guests, the deduc-
ton apparently designated to cover
the guests tipping outlay. In likewise
doing hotels will yield their old atti-
tude of pay to the limit or beat it,
Tipping cuts a big hole in the daily
expense account. Ter per cent dis
count is a conscience fund.-" but it
does not go far enough.
The time has long since passed when
10 per cent is acceptable to the hotel
or restaurant fiunky. Nowadays a man
in the east would hardly dare offer a
waiter a dime after a dollar meal. 1t
is not so bad in the west and south.
except in Chicago San Francisco.
A few weeks ago a well known Irish
American in New York city entered a
famous restaurant for a luncheon with
his sister. AS they ate lightly the bill
was a modest $1.65. Ten per cen
for tips had been the Irishman's rule
for years. In his instance he laid two
dimes on the table for the waiter. With
a snarling BAIL" that pampered pork
chop attache swept the none on the
floor. The head waiter was called and
in this particular case the man was
discharged.
AS a rule matters don't get that far.
In the first place, only a brave mar
tries to get by with the customary 10
per cent that was deemed liberal a few
years ago. If he does 1t once the lofty
condescension or the plying smile Of
bitter insult with which the waiter re-
ceives the pitance blisters the patron
into resolving that it is even better to
be robbed than to be roasted. To be
strictly honest with themselves and
their guests, all hotels which hereafter
shall feel attacks Of ~"conscience' be-
meath which is concealed the good
business sense that notes the gradual
turning Of the worm should take off
| 20 instead of a teasing 10 per cent.
Only an aroused public conviction of
a wrong that should be righted can
clip the claws Of the tipping monster.
1t will have to grow strong enough to
pull in line the ~spineless and the vain
among it's own number who cannot
resist the tipping lure. Then the hotel
proprietors, taxicab owners, sleeping
car plutocrats and others of the same
ilk who chiefly benefit by the outrage,
and finally the walters, bell boys, driv-
ers, etc, when, when proper wages are
restored to them, must resist the temp
tation to extort coin by the methods
now used so mercilessly.
Tipping in this country easily
amounts to $500, 100000 a year. Com-
mercial travellers estimate that they
spend fully $780, 900, 900. @. A. Lorenzo,
a Chicago drummer who has just quit
the road, has announced that in TWEEN
ty years he lost $4,000 in tips. He
kept accurate account Of every tip, no
matter how small, throughout the
tire twenty years. He found that to
get proper service and make the right
connections with his trains 1t was abb
solutely necessary to smooth the way
with gratuities. Also he testifies that
the tips are twice today what they
were ten or even five years ago. a
quarter now works hard to do the
duty OF the thankfully received dime OF
a few years back. Mr.. Lorenzo says
that although he was not a piker, a
large percentage of drummers give up
more than he did for tips.
Then there are thousands of travel
ers who are not drunmers. Besides
the peripatetic tippers there are humid
ireds Of thousands who tip. but do not
travel: they who pay daily toll to the
barber, the butchers boy, the candle
stick maker and the waiter In their
own home town. No reliable statistics
ARE at hand, but it can readily be seen
that $10D,0O0 600 annually Is rather un-
der than above the amount expended
in the United States to perpetuate the
Tipping evil.
a number Of western legislatures
have passed laws which prohibit ern-
Iployes from %accepting tips unless on
ri 49, So HxryJ4I 4 a.