If in all this luxury there were some trace of splendour or magnificence, if art, literature, or music were generously patronised, and beauty and good taste appreciated, some slight justification or excuse for it might be found. The rich magnates of Renaissance Italy or eighteenth-century France had, on the whole, a favourable though capricious influence on art and literature. But the rich magnates of twentieth-century England are chiefly noted for the deplorable vulgarity of their taste and their ignorance of the best works in painting, literature, and music. At the best, some few of them are collectors, and if ever they seek the advice of experts to establish some permanent method for the encouragement of the arts, too often their motive is not any profound reverence for artistic beauty, but the spurious fame or titular distinctions they can gain by this means. The private collections they form are rarely exhibited, and being withheld from the public view and from popular appreciation, the true function of these great works of art is almost nullified.
Taking it as a whole, the manner of living of this set of people would not be worth a moment’s attention were it not that human beings are being sacrificed and talents and capacity prostituted, and that the example set by these few is assiduously studied and followed by a large section of the population who aspire to associate with those of higher rank and greater wealth. So it is that special notice is taken of all they do; the limelight is turned full upon them, and nothing can surpass the servility of that section of the public press that recounts the doings of these parasites, describing with intense solemnity their entertainments and their hunting and shooting exploits, and giving embarrassingly intimate episodes from their private lives for public consumption. By publishing broadcast these alluring pictures it attempts to glorify their profitless and empty existence.
From time to time, in sheer exasperation at the senselessness of it all, men come forward and inveigh against society life; but not only does this not make the very smallest impression, but the objects of their invective enjoy abuse and thrive on the advertisement it gives them.
The life of this society represents the outward and visible expression of all the various contributory elements we have been trying to analyse; it has, therefore, been necessary to allude to it in order to give some general notion of the way many of the rich live. And it is done in no cavilling or pharisaical spirit, but with the keen desire to expose a state of social corruption which can only be corrected in the long run by being brought fully into the light. The beauty, the smartness, and the brilliancy on the surface, like the flowers and lights and jewels of their entertainments, produce an attractive glamour and present an alluring picture for those who cannot see further behind the scenes, and form one of the chief inducements for money-making and for continuing the fight for material gain.
Chapter VI
The rich man as a business man—The conduct of a successful business—Money-making the incentive—Money no measure of merit or worth in men—Or in works of art—Financiers—The power of money—Imperialism—Political power—Experiments of millionaires—Gifts—Money administered by corporations or the State.
So far the type chosen has been that of an aristocratic landed proprietor. But aristocrats and landowners are not all rich men, nor are all rich men aristocrats or landed proprietors. A large proportion are business men who have made or are making their fortunes through some commercial undertaking or from successful speculations. Once the business man has succeeded he is pretty sure to buy an estate, but there are many rich men who do not claim to be engaged in the “industry” of land proprietorship. In the argument we have to meet here it is claimed for money that it is the mainspring of initiative and enterprise in commerce, and is the just reward of skilful management and business ability.
But before proceeding let us remember once more the main premises of our contention. It may be as undesirable as it is impracticable to eliminate the undoubted incentive which the desire for more money creates. But it can be curbed before it reaches an exaggerated extreme, and it can be rationalised once people understand that great riches are no real reward, only mean excessive burden, do not minister to human happiness, and impose a responsibility which no living being is capable of discharging.
In the commercial world it is evident enough that the money-making ideal is far stronger and predominates over the ideal of securing perfection in production, which implies a proud ambition to produce the best goods under the best possible conditions. In the conflict between these two ideals is precisely where the danger lies. Tricks such as extensive and sensational advertisement and unscrupulous pushing are, as we all know, more favoured than the slower, more laborious, and less certain expedients of continually improving the methods of production and conditions of labour. Many a fortune has been made in the vast expansion of a concern far beyond its intrinsic merits simply by means of advertisement. The incentive in such a case is solely money-making. The talents required are those of an inferior order, such as astute business capacity and cunning. So far, therefore, as money-making is the ideal, it is neither to the advantage of the business nor to the advantage of the community, who are the consumers of whatever commodity the business turns out, any more than it is to the ultimate advantage, as already shown, of the man who enriches himself. The ambition of heads of firms to enrich themselves personally constitutes, in fact, the chief deterrent to permanently successful commercial enterprise. A further step is made in the wrong direction when the founder of a thriving business, having made his fortune and established the reputation of his firm, has his son or successor educated at a public school and university, where he may learn the manners and customs of the leisured classes. The result is that when the successor, who has not received a special technical business training and is therefore quite unfitted to keep abreast of the acute competition which he finds in the commercial world around him, takes over the business, it rapidly deteriorates, in spite of the abortive efforts of the new head, who probably thinks that by mere expenditure of money the situation can be saved. In instances such as these no defence can be made for the accumulation of capital in the hands of individuals. But let us take a better type.