New-York tribune., 1921-12-25
IATDOES YOUR HAT COST? A QUERY FOR NlEl

-@'Ha Lin.
coin. He has the same rights in ~.
rnunity as every other man, whether he l;s..
on the north side or the south side -
income tax exemption line. Milljona;r.
pauper' employer or employee, plusaber Or
professor-they all occupy the same smo,..
of space in the census records.
That, Of course, is the theory of the ~.
but it is regrettaby far from the fact ~
our talk about liberty and equality cann..
erase the specter of that menial class. VIII.
is always with us, staring lis in the face :.
rather, in the pocketbook
CONSIDER the case Of that lineal descend
ant of the James boys who stands a. a..
restaurant door and relieves you of the h..
which has already inspired so many rhetoric.
questions. He is performing a service >.
doubtful value-but, still, he is performin,.
service; and he is therefore entitled n i.
share Of the minted matter. If the owner Of
the restaurant where he works refuses to nav
him regular wage there is nothing to ston
him from putting up sign, Hats Checked
Here-Price Ten Cents with the under.
standing that those who avail themselves ~
the service must pay the advertised price
no more and no less.
He would then be in the same position .,
any other citizen who earns his living in an
honorable and legitimate way He would be
business man, with a definite commodity 10
sell, and respectable method of selling it.
But he doesn't seem to care about that
Instead, he is content to fawn upon his
patrons, signifying his willingness to groyel
at the feet Of any one who will tip him quar-
ter; expressing his whitening contempt for
the tightwad who buys his hat back with
paltry nickel.
Nor is he the only one. Every hotel is
the happy hunting ground for this type Of
parasite. From the time you enter the re.
volving doors Of any hostelry, large or small,
until you sneak out the side way with tight
grip on your carfare you have pack Of
yelping bloodhounds at your heels. The porter
who carries your bag, the bellboy who brings
up the pitcher of ice and the bottle of seltzes
lor do you take ginger ale with it?), the
washroom attendant who hands you towel,
the walters, the bootblacks, the BARRIERS, the
manicures, the hardressers, the chiropods
the Wallets, the chamber maid Cf she can catch
you)-they're all engaged in the same profit
able pastime.
What is more, they are all getting away
with it.
The solution?
To wax bromide and metrical, it S somewhat
more easily said than done. And it's not SO
easily said, either.
At the start of this article hurled num-
Der of rhetorical questions at you in order to
convince you that it is your own fault that
you spend SO much on your hat. I hope that
the incubation took" For you are to blame
you and / and every one else who is weak
enough to dread the Olympian scorn CT
menial hat checker. Every time that we yield
our panama, or fedora, or gray homburg. or
brown derby, as the case may be- we are con-
tributing just SO much more potency to the
tipping menace and making it all the harder
to overcome.
Passive resistance will get US nowhere We
can boycott the tip collectors, but that will
have little effect, for the reserve supply OF
suckers is practically unlimited (sce statistics
compiled by ?. Z. Barnum) Nor will the
call them menials and show our contempt untt
the cows decide to call it a day, but it VII
have no effect. For as long as we continue
to hand over our silverware our insults VIII
be swallowed with thanks.
No, the tipping evil must be killed by a
smothering process. Fire must be fought with
fire.
Everybody must tip everybody else.
When you have concluded your stay at a
hotel be sure to tip the desk clerk, the cooks
the scrubwomcn, the furnace man, the telc-
phone operators and the house detective.
Then go up to the man who owns the place
and press moist dollar bill into his HANDS
in token Of your appreciation of his hospi-
tality.
When you take a taxi ride don't be content
with a tip to the driver. Send a money order
for 10 per cent of tn. fare to Henry Ford
who created the machine
When YOU eat a par icularly toothsome
steak don't permit your gent ~oslty to end WIN
the vyaitar who served II 7 ,r'Wa rd q small