The
Itching Palm
The
Itching Palm
A STUDY OF THE HABIT
OF TIPPING IN AMERICA
By
William R. Scott
Author of
"The Americans in Panama,"
"Scientific Circulation Management," Etc.
THE PENN PUBLISHING
COMPANY PHILADELPHIA
1916
COPYRIGHT 1916 BY THE PENN PUBLISHING COMPANY
The Itching Palm
THE AUTHOR WILL BE PLEASED TO CORRESPOND WITH ANY READER WHO APPROVES OF, OR HAS COMMENTS TO MAKE UPON, THE ATTITUDE TAKEN IN THIS BOOK TOWARD THE TIPPING CUSTOM.
WILLIAM R. SCOTT.
PADUCAH, KENTUCKY.
CONTENTS
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
|---|---|---|
| I | Flunkyism in America | [7] |
| II | On Personal Liberty | [10] |
| III | Barbary Pirates | [15] |
| IV | Personnel and Distribution | [19] |
| V | The Economics of Tipping | [26] |
| VI | The Ethics of Tipping | [36] |
| VII | The Psychology of Tipping | [47] |
| VIII | The Literature of Tipping | [58] |
| IX | Tipping and the Stage | [68] |
| X | The Employee Viewpoint | [73] |
| XI | The Employer Viewpoint | [88] |
| XII | One Step Forward | [97] |
| XIII | The Sleeping-Car Phase | [105] |
| XIV | The Government and Tipping | [113] |
| XV | Laws Against Tipping | [122] |
| XVI | Samuel Gompers on Tipping | [144] |
| XVII | The Way Out | [158] |
| Index | [169] | |
THE ITCHING PALM
I
FLUNKYISM IN AMERICA
"Oliver Cromwell struck a mortal blow at the universal heart of Flunkyism," wrote Carlyle of the execution of Charles I.
Yet, Flunkyism is not dead!
In the United States alone more than 5,000,000 persons derive their incomes, in whole or in part, from "tips," or gratuities. They have the moral malady denominated The Itching Palm.
Tipping is the modern form of Flunkyism. Flunkyism may be defined as a willingness to be servile for a consideration. It is democracy's deadly foe. The two ideas cannot live together except in a false peace. The tendency always is for one to sap the vitality of the other.
The full significance of the foregoing figures is realized in the further knowledge that these 5,000,000 persons with itching palms are fully 10 per cent of our entire industrial population; for the number of persons engaged in gainful occupations in this country is less than 50,000,000.
Whether this constitutes a problem for moralists, economists and statesmen depends upon the ethical appraisement of tipping. If tipping is moral, the interest is reduced to the economic phase—whether the remuneration thus given is normal or abnormal. If tipping is immoral, the fact that 5,000,000 Americans practice it constitutes a problem of first rate importance.
Accurate statistics are not obtainable, but conservative estimates place the amount of money given in one year by the American people in tips, or gratuities, at a figure somewhere between $200,000,000 and $500,000,000!
Now we have the full statement of the case against tipping—five million persons receiving in excess of two hundred millions of dollars for—what?
It will be interesting to examine the ethics, economics and psychology of tipping to determine whether the American people receive a value for this expenditure.
II
ON PERSONAL LIBERTY
The Itching Palm is a moral disease. It is as old as the passion of greed in the human mind. Milton was thinking of it when he exclaimed:
"Help us to save free conscience from the paw,
Of hireling wolves whose gospel is their maw."
Although it had only a feeble lodgment in the minds of the Puritans, because their minds were in the travail that gave birth to democracy, enough remained to perpetuate the disease. In Europe, under monarchical ideals, a person could accept a tip without feeling the acute loss of self-respect that attends the practice in America, under democratic ideals. For tipping is essentially an aristocratic custom.