Chapter IV: Part 4

There is no doubt there is sufficient latent opposition to tipping to form the basis of an anti-tipping organization. It may be called "The American Anti-Tipping Association," or by any other name, and it should embrace in its membership not only those who are opposed to giving tips, but those servants and workers who are opposed to receiving tips, and also all other persons of any race or creed whose conception of true Americanism does not include approval of this custom.

NOT A WAR AGAINST PERSONS

The object of such an organization should not be to wage war on persons, but on a custom. There is no need for hostility against waiters, barbers, porters and the like as a class. Many of these heartily oppose the custom and will join in a movement to eradicate it. Hence, the campaign should be to readjust the basis of compensation of those who serve the public so that self-respect may be preserved all around. Nothing less than a fair wage as a substitute for the present tipping system of compensation would be considered.

Having made the foregoing point clear at the outset, much resentment among servitors would be eliminated. No one has a desire to deprive a waiter of an adequate compensation, but no one has a desire to give him an excessive compensation through gratuities, or a compensation which depresses his self-respect in the manner of receiving and humiliates the patron in the manner of giving.

Employers would need to be informed, too, that the campaign against tipping is not to throw an unjust burden of operating expense upon them. It will indeed deprive them of any revenues which they should not, economically or ethically, receive from the public through gratuities to employees. The substitution of a wage scale will be attended by economic changes which at first may cause some unsettled conditions, but this is inevitable when an unsound practice has been allowed to grow unrestrained in the business world.

PUBLIC OPINION

One of the first aims of such an organization would be to bring public opinion to bear upon city, state and national governments to inspire them to clean house in regard to tipping. No government employee should be permitted to accept any compensation other than his salary or wages from the government. Mail carriers, policemen, garbage collectors, guides and other government employees are paid adequately and gratuities to them from the public are indefensible, in any country, and supremely so in the American democracy.

The public, of course, will need to revise its attitude toward these and all persons who serve them. The feeling that a traffic policeman whom you pass in your automobile every day should be remembered with a gift of money or anything else substantial at Christmas, or upon any other occasion is false sentiment. He is due nothing except courtesy all the time from the public, which, through taxes, already has provided his compensation. The feeling that a mail carrier whom you see daily, or a garbage collector, must be similarly remembered is equally false sentiment. The ideal is a relation in which patron and employee, public and government employee, entertain mutual opinions of self-respect, and regardless of how distasteful this may be to class sense, or aristocratic impulses, it is the American standard and the right standard.

PROMOTING LEGISLATION

An organization opposed to tipping would have as its further objects the promotion of legislation against the custom and the protection of the public in the enjoyment of its rights at law. If so many States have adopted laws as a spontaneous expression of Americanism, it may be assumed that with organized public sentiment, and educated public sentiment all the States will get in line. There will be abundant financial resources behind such an organization. Those who oppose tipping have been silent but they have felt keenly and will contribute liberally toward the advancement of the cause. And when such an organization actually proves its efficacy in protecting the public, its ranks will be augmented overwhelmingly.

The protection hinted at is the kind that would take up specific instances of neglect of patrons who do not give tips. Thus, if a member should be neglected or insulted in a hotel after he had failed to bestow a gratuity, the organization, upon investigation, would assume the task of correcting the situation at law. Even where there is no statute against tipping, the common law guarantees the right of a patron to fair and equal service, and the organization could enforce this right in the courts.

Naturally, great care and good judgment would be needed to prevent an injustice to proprietors and employees. Often patrons exact more service than they are entitled to, and in such a situation the organization would be ranged on the side of the employee. Those who desire a condition where they may run rough-shod over servitors have a mistaken idea of the anti-tipping ideal. The employer is required to have employees who will give cheerful, adequate service, but within the limits of reason, and the selfish, domineering, patron is an evil which must be restrained as effectually as the waiter who surreptitiously insults patrons who do not tip.

TO PREVENT COMPLAINT

Surveying the vast field of tipping one may wonder how any organization could offer protection to the numberless patrons who might complain. The answer is that the organization would be as widespread as the custom. Every town and city would have its local organization with an attorney to prosecute violations. But it is reasonable to presume that when public opinion is once thoroughly aroused and organized, and a few prosecutions have been successful, that employers and employees, who do not voluntarily reform their practices, will see the light.

As deep-rooted as the custom seems, it really rests on insecure foundations and will crumble before any real attack. The average American, be he barber, waiter or porter, has enough inherent understanding of democracy to know that the custom is wrong. He "will get his" as long as an easy-going public will stand for the exaction, but will not be a formidable opponent. The imported European waiter will present more obstinate fondness for the custom, having been nurtured in the aristocratic school, but his opposition can be handled.

The most difficult type will be the class of patrons who delight in playing the role of Lady Bountiful or Gentleman Generous. Their pride will be restrained from buying servility from other Americans. And wealthy proprietors, who cater to this class and the intermediate class which ape the "smart set," will cling to the custom because of their pecuniary interest therein. But the average American and his vigorous sense of democracy will be adequate to the task of controlling all elements adverse to the republic.

The campaign against tipping is much more than a purpose to save the money given in gratuities. Its idealism aims to reach the very pinnacle of republican society--the destiny toward which 1776 started us. The mountain peaks of pride will have to be pulled down and the valleys of false humility will have to be lifted up, while the impulses to greed and avarice will have to be rebuked until every American can say:

If I must build my pride upon another man's humility,
I will not be proud;
If I must build my strength upon another man's weakness,
I will not be strong;
If I must build my success upon another man's failure,
I will not succeed!

INDEX

ARGUMENTS FOR TIPPING, 26, 28

BAGGAGEMEN, 76

BARBARY PIRATES, THE, 15

BARBER, THE, 29

BARBER-SHOP PORTERS, 79

BATH ATTENDANTS, 86

BELL-BOYS, 32, 69, 104

BETTER ORGANIZATION NEEDED, 160

BIBLE, THE, AGAINST TIPPING, 45

BLACKMAIL, 150

BOOTBLACKS, 66, 78

CASTE AND CLASS, 47

CHAMBERMAIDS, 153

CHAUFFEURS, 33

CHRISTMAS TIPS, 116, 119

CLOAKROOM TACTICS, 52

CLUBS, 119

COMMISSIONS, SPLITTING, 43

COURTS, THE, AND TIPPING, 126

CUSTOM ABOVE LAW, 123

DEMOCRACY AND TIPPING, 38, 48, 114, 166

DOOR MEN, 81

ECONOMICS OF TIPPING, 26, 28

ELEVATOR MEN, 61, 81

EMPLOYEE VIEWPOINT, THE, 73

EMPLOYER VIEWPOINT, THE, 88

EMPLOYERS, can control, 102
" conspiracy by, 90
" retain tips, 86, 90, 152
" three kinds of, 88
" who profit by tips, 89, 105

EQUALITY AND UNIFORMITY, 115

ETIQUETTE BOOKS foster tipping, 58

EUROPEAN TIPS, 146
train conductors, 149

FEAR, as a reason for tipping, 55

FLUNKYISM IN AMERICA, 7

FREE AND EQUAL, 113

GARBAGE COLLECTORS, 116, 118

GENEROSITY, as a reason for tipping, 51
" misguided, 117

GENTLEMAN, what is a?, 37
" would he accept tips?, 37

GOLDEN RULE, THE, 119

GOMPERS, SAMUEL, on tipping, 144

GOVERNMENT HOTELS, tipping in, 120
" " the, and tipping, 113

GOVERNOR WHITMAN against tips, 40

GRAFT, "honest", 45
" taught by tipping, 42

GUEST'S RIGHT, THE, 104

GUIDES, 81

HARRY LAUDER against tipping, 41

HATBOYS, 82

"HONEST GRAFT", 45

HOSPITALITY, false, 101

HOTEL, The, 30
" fees, 59
" hospitality, 62, 101
" theory and practice, 32
" tipless, 97, 146

HOUSE SERVANTS, 64

HUSH MONEY, 42

IDEAL LAW, The, 132

ILLINOIS LAW, The, 91
" Compromise, The, 138

IOWA LAW, The, 124

ITCHING PALM, The, 8, 10, 19, 31, 70, 72

JANITORS, 83

LADY, What is a?, 37
" would she accept tips, 37

LAWS against Tipping, 122

LEGALIZED ROBBERY, 140

LEGISLATION, Promoting, 164

LITERATURE of Tipping, The, 58

MAIL CARRIERS, 116

MANICURISTS, 84

MASSACHUSETTS, In, 141

MERCHANTS against tips, 44

MESSENGERS, 85

"MILLIONS FOR DEFENSE", 17

MORAL PIRATES, 151

"MOVIES," the, and tipping, 69

MUSICIANS, 66

NEBRASKA ACT, The, 134

NOT A WAR Against Persons, 161

"NO TIP" POLICY, barber shops, 89
" " " hotels, 89, 97, 147
" " " restaurants, 89

OCEAN VOYAGES, tipping on, 65

ONE COMPENSATION, One Service, 35, 55

ORGANIZATION NEEDED, 160

PERSONAL LIBERTY, 10, 13

PERSONNEL AND DISTRIBUTION, 19

POLICEMEN, 116, 119

PORTERS, 147, 153
" Pullman, 108

PRICE OF PRIDE, The, 37

PRIDE, as a reason for tipping, 54

PRIVATE HOUSES, tipping in, 64

PSYCHOLOGY OF TIPPING, The, 47

PULLMAN COMPANY, The, 105
" " investigated, 106

PUBLIC OPINION, 162

REASONS for tipping, 51, 54, 55

RECIPIENTS opposed to Tipping, 39, 144, 150

REMEDY for Tipping, 55, 94, 95, 103, 158

RICH AMERICAN MYTH, The, 67

SHIP'S DOCTOR, The, 67

SLEEPING-CAR PHASE, The, 105

SOLUTION, a Reasonable, 94

SOUTH CAROLINA LAW, The, 129

SPLITTING COMMISSIONS, 43

STAGE, The, and Tipping, 68, 72

STATISTICS of Tipping
money given in tips, 8
number of tip-takers, 7
tips in N. Y. City, 17, 22
tips in other cities, 21
tip-taking classes, 19, 20

STATLER HOTEL, The, 97

STENOGRAPHERS, 86

STEWARDS, Ship, 66

STREET CLEANERS, 118

TENNESSEE LAW, The, 136

TIPPING and Americanism, 11, 87, 150
" and democracy, 7, 38, 48, 113
" and labor, 144, 145
" and morals, 96, 158
" and patriotism, 56
" and personal liberty, 10, 13
" and public opinion, 162
" and slavery, 11, 50
" and the Bible, 45
" and the caste system, 47
" and the courts, 126
" and the wage system, 75, 107
" arguments for, 26, 28
" and a training school for graft, 42
" in private houses, 64
" in "the movies", 69
" Laws Against, 123
" Literature of, The, 58
" Merchants opposed to, 44
" on ocean voyages, 65
" on the stage, 68
" psychology of, the, 47
" real reasons for, 51, 54, 55
" recipients opposed to, 39, 144, 150
" remedy for, 55, 94, 95, 103, 158

"TIP PRIVILEGES" Sold, 90, 152

TIP-TAKERS, Partial List of, 19
" numbers by cities, 21

"TIP TRUST, The", 92

"TRIBUTE, Not One Cent for", 17

WAGES VERSUS TIPS, 75, 107

WAITER, The, 27
" can he be a gentleman?, 37

WAITERS, European, 150, 156

WAITRESSES, 59

WALSH COMMISSION, The, 111

WASHINGTON LAW, The, 122

WAY OUT, The, 158

WISCONSIN BILL, The, 125

Y. M. C. A., The, 104

Transcriber's Note:

Spelling and hyphenation have been retained as in the original publication. On page 74, "asumed" in "attitude asumed by servitors" has been changed to "assumed".