ith suspicion, and its
too eager amassment with a bilious eye. Here alone, west of the Dvina,
rich men are _ipso facto_ scoundrels and _ferae naturae_, with no rights
that any slanderer is bound to respect. Here alone, the possession of a
fortune puts a man automatically upon the defensive, and exposes him to
special legislation of a rough and inquisitorial character and to the
special animosity of judges, district attorneys and juries. It would be
a literal impossibility for an Englishman worth $100,000,000 to avoid
public office and public honour; it would be equally impossible for an
American worth $100,000,000 to obtain either.

Americans, true enough, enjoy an average of prosperity that is above
that witnessed in any other country. Their land, with less labour,
yields a greater usufruct than other land; they get more money for their
industry; they jingle more coin in their pockets than other peoples. But
it is a grievous error to mistake that superior opulence for a sign of
money-hunger, for they actually hold money very lightly, and spend a
great deal more of it than any other race of men and with far less
thought of values. The normal French family, it is often said, could
live very comfortably for a week upon what the normal American family
wastes in a week. There is, among Americans, not the slightest sign of
the unanimous French habit of biting every franc, of calculating the
cost of every luxury to five places of decimals, of utilizing every
scrap, of sleeping with the bankbook under the pillow. Whatever is showy
gets their dollars, whether they need it or not, even whether they can
afford it or not. They are, so to speak, constantly on a bust, their
eyes alert for chances to get rid of their small change.

Consider, for example, the amazing readiness with which they succumb to
the imbecile bait of advertising! An American manufacturer, finding
himself with a stock of unsalable goods or encountering otherwise a
demand that is less than his production, does not have to look, like his
English or German colleague, for foreign dumping grounds. He simply
packs his surplus in gaudy packages, sends for an advertising agent,
joins an Honest-Advertising club, fills the newspapers and magazines
with lying advertisements, and sits down in peace while his countrymen
fight their way to his counters. That they will come is almost
absolutely sure; no matter how valueless the goods, they will leap to
the advertisements; the