The Washington herald., 1916-01-24
Taking Advantage.
BY JOHN d. HARRY.

tInen were having an cidoOIdtc anu a NSiy uoiiouS
dinner. When they had finished their coffee and
the waiter came with the bill. one of them said:
"Now it seems to me we'd better let Harry pay.
Instantly there was loud laugh. evidently at
great joke, joined in by all the men except one,
whose face turned red and whose hand, with
obvious reluctance, went to his back pocket
"IIl pay if you want me to" he said, in a tone
that showed he was by no means happy.
The others looked at him with their eyes shin
ing and then they exchanged glances.
The meaning Of the situation plain enough.
We all have in our acquaintance at least one
person who is known for being parsimonious and
for taking advantage OF his friends We are fortu-
nate if we don't know more than In some
ways they are rather ptiful objects, these traders
on social goodwill abusers of kindly feeling. And
yet, at times they be very irritating. They
do things that make those around them feel
ashamed, and that, in some instances, must cause
shame to themselves. l have actually seen some
of them betray embarrassment and even become
apologetic while they in the very act of do
ing meanness. 1t was as if they were controlled
by force that represented only part of them
and that the rest of their being hepessly obeyed.
used to know man of some means who had
way of speaking quite frankly about this kind
of weakness, which he recognized in himself. His
inability to use money generously he attributed
to the habit formed in his youth when he was so
poor that he was constantly forced to make close
calculations. Sometimes he would try hard to
overcome the weakness. He would give expensive
entertainments and he would make foolish presents,
l. f,;a apIS
who could not understand the contradiction in his
nature. Meantime he would maintain those par
simonious ways that characterized his daily life.
There arc many cases of this kind When one
lmcets them and sees what lies behind they appeal
to sympathy and they grow easier to be patient
about. suspect that, like most human beings,
the parsimonous long to cut good figure in the
world. They would enjoy being considered lib
eral. But they resemble people suffering from a
disease. In the end, of course they the worst
sufferers from their weakness. Their small eco
monies are great extravagances. Where they save
few dollars they may lose good will that is worth
far more in all kinds Of advantages, including the
practical
In our social relations there is wide margin
where every is, in a sense, on his honor, and
where there is kind of competition in frendliness.
There people show themselves at their best or at
their worst One be generous or selfish there
the general good will is like gross kind of cheat
ing. To yield to the temptation is to put oneself
in the way OF becoming an habitusl offender What
is most dcplorablc is to be in the state OF mind
of wishing to yield
The unfair people nearly always have excuses
for themselves. Their exactions they decorate with
fattering names or with generating phrases They
are obliged perhaps, to behave in this way ac-
count of some burden they carrying They
forget that other people carry burdens, too, per
haps even greater, and that by trying to make
their own burden lighter, they impose further
hardship on others. What is worse, they
often goodwill into ill-will. For the instant
one suspects that friend is deliberately taking
mean advantages, where once there was kindness,
bitterness is likely to take its place.
In some expressions the spirit of unairness is
generally recognized, form Of illness or even
of insanity. kleptomania is an extreme illlstra-
ton The longing for acquisition may show itself
in the stealing OF things that of no real Serv-
ice, that can merely be hidden away. Similarly,
the taking OF petty advantages may operate like
a mania In New York there is woman OF
wealth who is known for her habit OF ordering
costly garments, wearing them twice and
then sending them back In this way she feels
that she is getting something for nothing. gain
gcnces in being overeharged by the dealers, whose
confidence she has abused, for all the things she
actually buys.
Occasionally scIhshncss in petty ways is COM
pensated for in character by unselishness in
other ways making a strange contradiction. 1t
would seem as if the two kinds Of quality could
not go together; but they do just the same. OF
all animals, the human animal is the least possible
because he combines qualities that opposed to
one another.
| On the other hand there those whose sell
hshness through the character with a power
full consistency. They among the hardest peo-
pie in the world to put up with And yet they
are often people OF attractive social gifts that
able them to make and to keep friends in spite
| of their weakness.
| The most surprising contradictions arc T., be
found in the world of business where getting the
advantage and keeping it and making the most OF
| it is the main object. Men who develop genius
for this kind Of enterprise often fine, generous
fellows outside business. 1t is almost as if each
were two persons.
| This phenomenon, common as hardly TO be
recognized such, explains why there has grown
up in the older civilization deep-scated a preju
dice against business feeling that the great serv-