The Itching Palm: A Study of the Habit of Tipping 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!

Contents

Flunkyism in America -- On personal liberty -- Barbary pirates -- Personnel and distribution -- The economics of tipping -- The ethics of tipping -- The psychology of tipping -- The literature of tipping -- Tipping and the stage -- The employee viewpoint -- The employer viewpoint -- One step forward -- The sleeping-car phase -- The government and tipping -- Laws against tipping -- Samuel Gompers on tipping -- The way out.

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