W. D. Howells On Tipping

The accepbanca o; maney in la'.gesse, over and above Avages earned, Ls the practice of beggary without the beggar'fl excuse of destitution, aud in the giver it is the encouragement ol the worst form oE beggary. The custom of tipping as a principie Is plainly this and nothing else, though there are fa ets concerning the custom whlch ma y be regarded as extenuating eircumstaiaces. Many employers oí the servaut clase "íigure on their chances" oí tips from customers, nnd do not pay tlnem bo much asi they otherwise would, but I doubt vrhether tíü.s is so generally; the case as the givers of tips assume. In most cases the tip is just so much added to the aniount eanied, and I believe It is conimonly feiven as nijeaiily and sliamefully os it is taken. Coth parties to the transactkra know íthat it is a swiíadlO, wiucli írom the despicable vamity oí the giver to' the detestable rapacity of the taker. Tki.s is tlie trutli o; the, matter, and I respectfully offer it to t'ne consideratiou oí t'lue Liberty D;uvn Associatiou oí Coiach Drivers. They niay íancy t-hat the acceptamce oï tip does itot rank a, coacltman with a titurdy beggar, but it; doeá, and it i given with the same grudge and the tsame ooutempt that alnis are bestawed upon sturdy beggars. Many givers will dony this, but they are such as do not scao their motives, or know their íeeliugs from their sentiments. They plead that the man whom they tip eerved tihem weli, or lus beea'Very ::ut, and sto 5ias merited their gift ; but it was lii,-. business to serve them wefU, and to be pleasant, and a íul he deserved wha.t lie earned and notliing more. Tlie oítYcc oí their muuuicenee is to make liim greedy with t.lie next comer, aiul surly íf he isnot flttingly tipped. lint who know.s what a fitting 't ij is '? No one, for thero is no snch ffliing as a. fitting tip. It i i swnetlhing Which the vague expeetation oi the inferior extracta without real gratitud from tlie superioi-, who beBboiws it without real eharity. ín Eunype, Where tipping is oí im memorial emstom, and where it really :o:nn the wage o: inany vi the servani cías ., tlie smn is úxed and well known. i'ou give that. and neither more nor íes.-.. But when we began to1 go ;iíroa.(l in immense numbera after tlie war, and broug-ht back with us the lalríul habit oí tipping, we tlid not toring tliie EurntH-au ixed scale ; and witra oair lordly love of overdoing eA-erytliing c established an order ar disorder liere, in which no man kivows Where to find himself. I have made 'much imquiry on this patat, and I ani satisfied that there ís no fixed rule for tipping. Thife makas it doaibly corrupting, and stil inore lilce sturdy beggary ; for the nia.n who expecbs Bomething beyonc wíiat he has earned expeets that tíhaoce will bufrlend him in the amoun amd gambtes upou it m his iieart. -