That grim truth is that we as a class are condemned7 to death. We have outlived our time. It is not necessary, as it was in the earlier ages of the world’s history, that the mass of the people should be enslaved to give leisure to an upper class in the pursuit of luxuries, of refinement8, of the factors that go to the making of civilization. Instead of being the roof and crown of things, the wealthy class in America to-day has sunk to the level of the parasite9. The time has come when the producing classes are about to bring it to judgment10. In fact, to-day we stand indicted11 before the court of civilization. We are charged openly with being parasites12; and the mass of evidence against us is so overwhelming that there is no doubt whatever about the verdict of history, if indeed it must come to a verdict.
Idleness is doomed13 as a vocation14. Of that I am perfectly15 certain. Even in the social world it is becoming unfashionable. Not so very long ago, in the fashionable world of New York, it was considered bad taste, in fact, it was a decided16 breach17 of etiquette18, to inquire amongst the men of your acquaintance what anybody did for a living. Within the past five years there has been a very decided change in this respect, and I constantly hear that very question asked, without rebuke19, in the most fashionable clubs of the city.
A man whom I know pretty well, himself a member of the highest social order, but a man of indefatigable20 energy, recently put very neatly21 this fact that many of the quondam idle class are now engaging themselves in useful pursuits. On the street one day he met a young man, a confirmed idler of long standing22. He exchanged the time of day with him, and was told that he was about to go to Europe to join in the social season of London. He congratulated him and said he thought it was a good thing to do.
A few nights later, talking to me about him, he said:
“I feel sorry for Charlie. He seems so lonely. He can’t find any one to play with him!”
In a measure, that is true. The confirmed idler of the social world is slowly coming to be despised instead of envied. He still infests23 a few of the up-town clubs, but even here he is more and more relegated24 to the bottom of the social list. It is harder and harder every social year to fill up the ranks for social entertainment. A dinner or an early reception can be managed223 very well, for the young men who work will go to such functions, perhaps as freely as they ever went. It is far different with the late dance or the late reception.
If you could go down into Wall Street and call the roll of the bond houses, it would astound25 you to discover how many young men of the highest social class are working very hard right at the bottom of the ladder of industry learning the financial business. A friend of mine, a fairly well-to-do man of a small city in the Middle West, sent his son to me a year or so ago with a letter asking me to introduce him in Wall Street with a view to his learning the bond business. He had chosen that as his vocation in life, and he had taken a special course in college as a preparation for it. I sent him, with personal letters, to half a dozen friends of mine, partners in various houses. I told him simply to look around, at first, and to talk freely and frankly26 to these gentlemen about the chances for a young man in that line of business.
He came back to me in the course of a week, considerably27 crestfallen28. He had looked forward to earning his living in an honourable29 way. He found the conditions in this labour market most deplorable from his point of view. According to his story, every one of these big bond houses announced itself able to get all the apprentice30 labour that it needed at from five dollars to ten dollars a week. His report interested me so much that I went around myself to some of my friends to learn the causes of this strange condition.
In the case of one bond house I discovered that it had one very skilful31 and very high225 paid man selling bonds at retail32 throughout the city. Working under him were three young men learning the bond business. I knew them all, personally, socially. They belonged to one of the best of the younger sets. Two of them went out a good deal, and the third had a reputation as something of a student. One of them I knew to be the happy possessor of four automobiles33 and a small stable of horses. Both the others owned automobiles, and belonged to some of the most expensive, as well as the best, of the up-town clubs.
One of these young men—and none of them was so very young at that—received the salary of fifteen dollars a week. The other two were getting ten dollars apiece. All three were college men. My friend in this bond house told me that two of them were making good; but the third has the “ten o’clock in the morning habit,” and will not last very long. Of course, none of them can begin to live on the money he receives for his work. I do not think that any one of them could pay his tailor and haberdashery bill with his salary, and even the bond house clerk has to eat, you know.
Further investigation34 showed me that there is a perfect flood of these young men turned loose each year upon the financial districts of this country, not only here, but in Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, and St. Louis. They go to work for trivial salaries, because they care little or nothing about the amount that they receive. They are not working for wages, but they are working for emancipation35. They do not want to be idlers, because they know that in these days idleness is doomed. They pick out Wall Street, particularly, I think, the bond department of Wall Street, because that is recognized as a world of real work that is fitted to the tastes and abilities of a well-educated but not too rigorously trained young man.
These young men are by no means effete36 dilletanti. They are strong, vigorous young men, and they plunge37 into what they know to be a competitive field with a full knowledge that they are not likely to go very far unless they earn their way. For in these same offices, and working in the field in hot competition with them, there is still an army of young men from the provinces, so to speak, who actually do live upon the proceeds of their work. It gave a real personal joy to discover that, in several of the banking38 houses which I looked into, the poor young man who starts228 out into the world in competition with these scions39 of the wealthy aristocracy is paid a better salary at the beginning than is his moneyed competitor, and has at least an equal chance for advancement40. Indeed it is recognized that the wealthy young man has a marked advantage through his personal acquaintance with men of money, and more is expected of him in return from his training than is expected of the self-supporting clerk. As a rule, however, the real workers are given outlying districts of the country to canvass41, while the aristocracy of the profession does its work in the city.
I sketch42 this phenomenon in some detail, because I think it is a very significant thing in its bearing upon the subject of this book. Perhaps more than any other one outlet43 it is an avenue leading toward honourable229 labour, suited to the capacity and the taste of our wealthy young men. That the market is crowded to-day, and has been crowded for five years past, more than it ever was crowded before in the history of the financial profession, speaks far more eloquently44 than I can speak of the change of sentiment amongst the wealthy.
In the Harvard Club, of a Saturday afternoon in winter, you will find groups of young men sitting around and talking, just as you would have found them fifteen years ago. There is one marked difference. Fifteen years ago they would have been talking about social events, the sports, and various other trivial things that went in those days to make up the sum and substance of a fashionable young man’s career. Nowadays many of these groups are earnestly discussing finance, not in its relation230 to their own private fortunes or misfortunes in the stock market, but in its broader aspect. You hear such phrases as “gold supply,” “premium bond,” “over-production of securities,” “diversion of money from the legitimate45 market,” “intrinsic value,” “investment outlook,” etc. They are, in fact, talking shop; and I do not think I have ever met any other class of men more addicted46 to the habit than these novitiates of the financial game.
Even their sisters, nurtured47 in luxury, and taught, as they still unhappily are, that elegant idleness is the proper portion of the sex, are beginning to rebel. They are seeking knowledge eagerly, sometimes in places and under circumstances that promise not the best of results. More particularly during the past five or ten years there has been the really extraordinary231 propaganda amongst the women of the younger set in our great cities looking toward the strengthening of the body and the building up of a vigorous and buoyant health that would have been considered actually vulgar in the generation that preceded them. Health, in fact, in many of the younger sets, has become almost a religion, a sort of fetich. They study hygiene48, biology, and the mystery of life. Perhaps they are coming to know too much at too early an age, but in excuse let it be said that it is far better to know too much than to know too little.
On the other hand, I have already written of the tendency of the fashionable young women of the day toward charity and reform. They follow fads49 madly, working as hard and using up as much nerve force in this pursuit as any young woman of the232 middle class gives to her household work, or even to her bread-winning activities. I could name a dozen young women of the finest families in New York who within the past twelve months have actually thrown themselves into this sort of function with such fiery50 ardour and zeal51 that they have either totally neglected their social activities or broken down completely under the strain of double labour. Such instances are more numerous year by year. I do not know that I fully52 approve it, but I set it down here for the judgment of the world.
So, on the one hand, the ranks of the doomed class are being swiftly depleted53 by what I must call rank out and out desertion. The idle rich, particularly the younger set, are depleted year by year by squadrons of young men and women who233 go over to the army of workers. I do not know that there is any one single sign in the world in which I live that gives me greater hope than this. The dishonour54 of inactivity, sloth55, and idleness is coming to be widely recognized in the very best classes of Society. Old prejudices are breaking down under the demands of the younger men for something to do. Even labour with the hands is not beneath them. As I pause to think, I could name at least half a dozen young men of my own set who within the past two or three years have gone into the railroad business, carried chains with engineering gangs in the field, or done other real manual labour. To-day the son of one of the oldest and noblest families in New York is superintending the laying of sewers56 in a New England town under a municipal contract.
If actual desertion is thinning the ranks of the idle rich, there is another and even greater cause which will tend in the future, as it is tending to-day, to limit the number of this class. It lies much deeper than the mere57 phenomenon of desertion. It is, in fact, nothing more nor less than the removal of the means of making gigantic fortunes through the exploitation of men.
I do not intend to dwell upon this phase of the passing of the idle rich to any great extent, because its effects are necessarily slow. Indeed, they will not be felt for many years to come. Yet I would point out one or two phases of this question that seem to me to be intensely interesting and vastly important. In the first place, the opportunities for the making of gigantic fortunes are being limited more and more by the world-embracing activities of those who already possess gigantic wealth.
Let any man discover in the mountains of Mexico, in the forbidding ridges58 of Alaska, or on the plains of the Yukon, great new deposits of iron, or coal, or oil, and immediately, almost before the news of such discovery has reached the world at large, a dozen secret agents rush to investigate. They represent the Pearsons, of London; the Guggenheims or Morgans, of New York; the Rockefellers or the Rothschilds, of New York or Germany. They are the first in the field; they preëmpt, for fortunes already far beyond competition, the opportunity of making a tremendous fortune out of the new discovery.
Think of the raw materials of commerce—sugar, meat, oil, iron, coal, copper59, cotton, wheat, corn, lumber—is it not absolutely true that in the manufacture and exploitation of this tremendous mass of the raw material of wealth the possibility of amassing60 enormous fortunes is almost hopelessly limited by the activities and the world-girdling power of capitalist groups already far beyond the reach of competition?
The free land of America is gone. All these great staples61 that have been in generations past the vehicles in which men have been carried upon the road to lordly fortunes are already in the hands of a few hundred families. This fact, sinister62 as it undoubtedly63 is in its broader aspect upon the economic conditions of the country, must certainly tend to eliminate more and more the possibility for the creation of additional gigantic industrial fortunes in this country. In so far as this is true it is a very important item indeed among the forces that tend toward the elimination64 of the idle rich.
More than this, as I have pointed65 out already in a phrase, the growing knowledge on the part of the people of the ways and means by which they have been exploited for the creation of wealth will surely prevent any further long-continued growth of this same process. Men are being sent up to congress year by year sworn to break up and destroy the coördinate political machine that has made possible the growth of the power of the trusts. Earnest fighters like La Follette may well be watched, for though no little of his work and his talk is based on fallacy, yet in this at least he represents the temper of the whole United States, that he is a bitter and an ardent66 enemy of the concentration of wealth. The agitation67 over the Guggenheim claims in Alaska, the bursts of popular acclaim68 over land-fraud prosecutions69 in the West, the sardonic70 joy of the people over the retrieving71 of enormous coal land areas stolen by railroads, the warm enthusiasm of the West for government reclamation72, conservation, and preëmption—these are signs of the times all pointing in the one direction.
They do not mark the end of the idle rich, to-day existent. They do point unmistakably toward the prevention of a new crop of great American fortunes won through exploitation of government property and popular rights. If you couple with them the ever-growing movement toward Socialism, and the hundred and one private propaganda along strange and often faulty economic lines, you cannot help but feel as I feel, that even if there were a revolution, in a hundred years, when the present great fortunes of America are subdivided73, split up, and scattered74 among a thousand heirs, the wealth of America will certainly not be held ninety-five per cent. in the hands of five per cent. of the people and five per cent. in the hands of the rest of the people. And it is self-evident that since the gathering75 together of wealth in the hands of the few gave us the idle rich, the natural scattering76 of that wealth into more and more hands as the years go on must tend in the other direction.
The days of the idle rich in America are as a tale that is told. To-morrow in this land there will be one of two things, either an evolution or a revolution.
... The class I represent will again be merged77 into and assimilated by the body of the nation.... We shall reënact in this land some of the most terrible tragedies of history.
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1
nemesis
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| n.给以报应者，复仇者，难以对付的敌手 | |
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futility
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| n.无用 | |
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armour
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| （=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队 | |
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arrogance
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| n.傲慢，自大 | |
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persevered
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| v.坚忍，坚持( persevere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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agitator
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| n.鼓动者；搅拌器 | |
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condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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parasite
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| n.寄生虫；寄生菌；食客 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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indicted
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| 控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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parasites
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| 寄生物( parasite的名词复数 )； 靠他人为生的人； 诸虫 | |
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doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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vocation
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| n.职业，行业 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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etiquette
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| n.礼仪，礼节；规矩 | |
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rebuke
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| v.指责，非难，斥责 [反]praise | |
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indefatigable
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| adj.不知疲倦的，不屈不挠的 | |
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neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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infests
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| n.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的名词复数 )；遍布于v.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的第三人称单数 )；遍布于 | |
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24
relegated
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| v.使降级( relegate的过去式和过去分词 )；使降职；转移；把…归类 | |
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astound
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| v.使震惊，使大吃一惊 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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crestfallen
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| adj. 挫败的，失望的，沮丧的 | |
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honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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apprentice
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| n.学徒，徒弟 | |
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skilful
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| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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retail
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| v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格 | |
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automobiles
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| n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 ) | |
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investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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emancipation
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| n.（从束缚、支配下）解放 | |
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effete
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| adj.无生产力的，虚弱的 | |
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plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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banking
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| n.银行业，银行学，金融业 | |
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scions
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| n.接穗，幼枝( scion的名词复数 )；（尤指富家）子孙 | |
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advancement
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| n.前进，促进，提升 | |
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canvass
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| v.招徕顾客，兜售；游说；详细检查，讨论 | |
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sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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outlet
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| n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄 | |
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eloquently
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| adv. 雄辩地(有口才地, 富于表情地) | |
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legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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46
addicted
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| adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的 | |
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47
nurtured
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| 养育( nurture的过去式和过去分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长 | |
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48
hygiene
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| n.健康法，卫生学 （a.hygienic） | |
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49
fads
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| n.一时的流行，一时的风尚( fad的名词复数 ) | |
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50
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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51
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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52
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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53
depleted
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| adj. 枯竭的, 废弃的 动词deplete的过去式和过去分词 | |
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54
dishonour
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| n./vt.拒付（支票、汇票、票据等）；vt.凌辱，使丢脸；n.不名誉，耻辱，不光彩 | |
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55
sloth
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| n.[动]树懒；懒惰，懒散 | |
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56
sewers
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| n.阴沟，污水管，下水道( sewer的名词复数 ) | |
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57
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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58
ridges
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| n.脊( ridge的名词复数 )；山脊；脊状突起；大气层的)高压脊 | |
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59
copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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60
amassing
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| v.积累，积聚( amass的现在分词 ) | |
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staples
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| n.（某国的）主要产品( staple的名词复数 )；钉书钉；U 形钉；主要部份v.用钉书钉钉住( staple的第三人称单数 ) | |
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62
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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64
elimination
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| n.排除，消除，消灭 | |
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65
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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66
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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67
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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acclaim
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| v.向…欢呼，公认；n.欢呼，喝彩，称赞 | |
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69
prosecutions
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| 起诉( prosecution的名词复数 )； 原告； 实施； 从事 | |
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sardonic
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| adj.嘲笑的，冷笑的，讥讽的 | |
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71
retrieving
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| n.检索（过程），取还v.取回( retrieve的现在分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息） | |
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reclamation
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| n.开垦；改造；（废料等的）回收 | |
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73
subdivided
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| 再分，细分( subdivide的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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75
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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76
scattering
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| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
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merged
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| （使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中 | |
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