Augustus Bagster, Thought Broker

I

IN my mail I found a circular marked ‘Important,’ which seemed to indicate that it was n’t. I was about to consign it to the wastebasket when I saw that it was from an old and valued friend whom I had not met for several years. It was written in that lucidly dictatorial style affected by modem advertisers.

AUGUSTUS BAGSTER

THOUGHT INVESTMENT BROKER AND BANKER Safety and Satisfaction. Why not? Watch your Intellect grow. A thought saved is a thought earned.

When you invest in stocks and bonds, you choose your banker carefully. What about your thoughts? Does anybody look after them? Do you know how to select sound and seasoned ideas? Do you know how to invest your accumulated experiences so as to get returns from them? How much wildcat stock have you just now in your mental safe-deposit? Do you know that you are intellectually solvent, or do you only hope so? Did you ever have a skilled accountant go over your intellectual securities and estimate their present market-value? How much do you mark off for depreciation every year? Have you any facilities for coöperative thinking, or do you hoard your thoughts? What about that big thought that came to you last summer? Is it now a part of your working capital, or is it lying idle? Whatever your goal is, gain it through investments in high-grade thoughts. Let us help you. Bring your investment troubles to us. Send for our booklet. Do it now.

After reading the circular, I lost no time in going down to the financial district to call on Bagster. I found him on the fourteenth floor of a big officebuilding. He greeted me with his accustomed cordiality, and bade me disregard the notice on his desk that this was his busy day.

‘What are you up to now?’ I asked. ‘Something new? ‘

‘Not at all,’ said Bagster. ‘Same old job ministering to the unfelt wants of people who know that there’s something the matter with their minds and want someone to tell them what it is. It’s a common predicament in this alltoo-complicated world.’

‘From the sign on your door I gathered that you had taken up with some kind of New Thought.’

‘Bless you, no. I have n’t a thought that is less than two thousand years old. I never had any originality. I ‘ve a good deal of native applicability. I like to apply old thoughts to changing conditions — it freshens them up. When I find people who are muddled I like to help them if I can. That’s all.

‘The people I am interested in are intelligent persons who have come to the “years that bring the philosophic mind.” That is about twenty years after the date set in our educational system for the study of philosophy.

‘Touchstone asked Corin, “Hast any philosophy in thee, shepherd?” By that he meant to inquire whether Corin was interested merely in some particular sheep, or whether he liked to talk about the shepherd’s life in general.

‘We curiously enough set apart for the study of philosophy the period in life when the mind has the fewest facilities for profitable philosophizing. We say to the husky youth, “Go to, now! Stock up with enough general ideas to last your lifetime. Meditate fruitfully on the One and the Many. See things steadily and see them whole. In the ‘sessions of sweet silent thought’ get acquainted with the Cosmos. Having absorbed large ideas and learned to see things in their true relation, then you may take a few years in the professional school to fit you for your specific job. Just now you must finish up with the fundamentals.”

‘But the youthful Gallio cares for none of these things. He is not interested in the Cosmos. He is interested in himself. He does not care to sit on the banks of the River of Time contemplating its mighty current. He wants to go in swimming.

‘But the chances are that if all goes well with him, and he succeeds in his own business, he will in about fifteen or twenty years awake some fine morning and ask what it is all about. He will be in a mood for philosophizing. John Stuart Mill, speaking of his own education, says, “Anything that could be found out by thinking I was never told until I had exhausted every effort to find it out myself. My father always gave his explanations not before but after I had felt the full force of the difficulties.” After about ten or fifteen years of independent struggle with circumstances, enough difficulties are encountered to make the explanations interesting. If even in a small way one has overcome a real difficulty, he is anxious to give others the benefit of his experience. He thinks that it forms the basis of profitable generalization.

‘The people I have in mind have accumulated a certain amount of experience. They have learned to do what they set out to do, but they have a surplus of unexpended curiosity and energy. Having tended to their own business, they are ready for larger operations. They have come, after considerable effort, upon some thoughts that seem to have a wide application. They are sure these thoughts have intrinsic value, but they do not know what their exchangeable value may be.

‘They are in the same state intellectually that they would be financially if there were no banks or exchanges by which the individual’s savings could be combined with others and put to work profitably in large undertakings. They are even worse off, for they do not know of any circulating medium and carry on their intellectual trade by primitive barter—a mere swapping of ideas. Owing to the lack of coördination, there is a great deal of waste. Many mental factories are running full time, but at a loss. Their facilities for production are greater than their facilities for distribution.

‘That being the case, it seemed to me that there was room for the despised middleman. These people need professional assistance. I am not a thinker. I am a thought investment banker and broker. I execute orders and give advice when it is asked for. In my advisory capacity I encourage intellectual thrift. I advise my clients that if their savings are wisely invested, and the accruing interest promptly reinvested, they can be assured of an intellectual competence. But they must beware of bucket shops.

‘ When a man in the course of his own business comes upon an idea which he is sure has wide applications, he does n’t want to hoard it. He wants to get it into general circulation. He knows it has intrinsic value, but he does n’t know what its exchangeable value may be. “He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbor cometh and searcheth him.”

‘Here, for example, is a man who has made his fortune in boots and shoes. He knows that business from A to Z. But one day he comes upon an idea that applies first of all to boots and shoes, and then to everything else. He feels like Jack when he began to climb his beanstalk. There seems to be no end to it. It’s a principle, and he wants to apply it in a large way. He applies it to Church and State, the public schools and the board of aldermen. The thought expands and almost explodes. He wonders why the preachers and teachers and politicians have n’t got on to it. It would revolutionize their methods. In fact, it would revolutionize society.

‘Now, if in the first flush of his enthusiasm he were to present his ideas to his business associates, they would think he was a Bolshevik. But if he is fortunate to see my advertisement he will come to me and make a few inquiries. What is the present state of the thought market? Is it able without disturbance to absorb so large an offering? I suggest to him that he might be in a better technical position if part of his intellectual capital were in a more liquid form. In a revaluation of his holdings he must be prepared for some paper losses. There is likely to be a difference between the book value of his stock and the market value. In the case of unlisted securities there is often a considerable margin between the bidding and the asking price. All this seems reasonable to him and we sit down and do a little figuring.

‘ In estimating the exchangeable value of an idea, a great many considerations must be taken into account. The market price of a thought depends a good deal on who thinks it. An idea is like a check — its value is greatly enhanced by the name of its endorser. Here on the front page of the daily newspaper is an idea endorsed by Mr. J. P. Morgan. Large headlines proclaim its value. “Never do anything which you do not approve of in order to accomplish something you do approve of.” That is a perfectly sound proposition. But if the minister of the Methodist Church in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, had said that, as he probably has many times, it would not have been telegraphed over the country. When Mr. Morgan says it, it is news.

‘There are useful persons who are not original thinkers but who are indispensable in the commerce of ideas. They take thoughts from one province where they are cheap and transport them to another where they are rare. I think that these common carriers should receive some profit over and above the bare transportation charges. A part of the service I render is in facilitating these exchanges, and in analyzing the cost involved in transportation.

‘Yesterday a prosperous merchant came to me and, taking a newspaper clipping from his vest pocket, read excitedly: “The Manchester Guardian, commenting on the shipment of cotton goods to Central America, expresses the opinion that the larger purchases of coffee in Germany in recent months contributed to increase the sales of Lancashire products to Central America and Brazil.”

Here,” he said, “is a commonplace in the business world. I wish you’d tell me how to get it over into the minds of the clergymen. It has great spiritual value and it would revolutionize their preaching if they could only be made to see it. My minister has been running a course of sermons on Religion and Modem Civilization. He treats them as if they were trade rivals and the only way were cutthroat competition. Now we business men have got away beyond that. He thinks if he can run down Modern Civilization he can get its custom into the church. He began with a sermon on the Bankruptcy of Science, then he has gone on enumerating one thing after another that has failed — Greek Philosophy, Ethics, and all the rest. When he’s got all the competitors out of the way, he’s going to wind up with a sermon on Religion, the only hope of a ruined world. I’m afraid that he will get us so in the habit of looking for failures that we shall be discouraged about religion, when we come to it.

"’Now I should like to spring that item from the Manchester Guardian on him, and see how he takes it. When we let up a little on the Germans, they buy more coffee, which allows the people of Brazil to buy more cotton goods from the Lancashire mills, and so it goes. Now does n’t spiritual prosperity follow the same laws? If I had a chance to preach, I would n’t run down Modern Civilization. I’d boost it. I’d show that Science and Art and Morality and Economics are departments of one Big Business. They help each other when they grow healthfully. I’d make a chart and make everyone in the congregation see the point. It does n’t matter where the wave of prosperity starts. It spreads.”

'"Why don’t you do it?” I said. “You have Laymen’s Sunday in your church. Just the chance for you to preach. I can tell you of some mighty good texts.”

II

’I am continually warning people against reckless speculation. I tell them not to believe everything they see in a prospectus. Go slow on any proposition that promises abnormal returns for a small investment. Don’t let anyone sell you the blue sky. Here is a letter from a man who says he is one of Abraham Lincoln’s plain people: —

‘“I’m a native American and don’t care who knows it. Since the war I have accumulated an amount of patriotism that I don’t know what to do with. How shall I invest my surplus? What do you think of Hundred-Per-Cent Americanism? Is that too high a per cent for a plain citizen who is n’t running for office? Or should I be content with a more moderate return? What about investing a portion of my patriotic enthusiasms in K. K. K., Inc.? I enclose a circular which I have just received. It looks good to me. I don’t see where I could get a hundred per cent so easily. I notice that in order to get in on the ground floor I have to be a Nordic. Could you tell me how I can qualify? All I know about them is that the Nordics were Protestants from away back before the Christian era. But were they any particular denomination of Protestants? Or does every stockholder get a certificate of Nordicity when he pays his ten dollars?”

‘I answered in a conservative way: “The securities you mention are highly speculative. You should look into the history of these offerings and avoid irresponsible dealers. The market for racial and religious antipathies is very fluctuating. At one moment it rises to enormous proportions, and then it goes flat. Avoid companies that exploit two kinds of antipathies at the same time. One is enough. This is a big country, and you can’t corner the hate market. If you must invest, choose your antipathy cautiously, then put it away in a safe place and think no more about it. Do not expect a ready market for it. Most persons have antipathies of their own and don’t care to have others dumped upon them.”

‘ Here is a letter from an excellent and public-spirited citizen which shows the kind of questions that come to me. While they require only a moderate amount of business sagacity, yet they are not without their difficulties. One correspondent writes: —

‘“My chief interest has been in enterprises dealing with the peace of the world. Complications in world politics have made it necessary to scrutinize my investments. I ask suggestions from your office. Almost any plan for keeping the peace looked good to me, and in the course of the last twenty years I have invested in pretty nearly everything that was offered. I have taken stock in Hague Tribunal, Benevolent Neutrality, Pan-Americanism, League of Nations (with or without reservations), Outlawry of War, Washington Conference, World Court, Youth Movement, Limitation of Armament, Society of Friends, Universal Religion (when, as, and if issued). I invested in the first issue of War to End War. These were short-time bonds to mature in 1919. When the date of maturity arrived, it was found that no provision was made for meeting these obligations, and an extension of time was asked.

‘“As I am loaded up with these securities, which I took in good faith, I am looking for relief. Might not a committee be formed to protect the interest of the investors? I think we ought to consolidate our holdings. Perhaps some of the older pacifist issues might be retired and new issues be presented that would reach a wider investing public. Competitive peace-planning seems as wasteful as competitive armament.

'"Here is an editorial in a paper devoted to the cause of international peace. It bitterly attacks the League of Nations for not interfering in the recent crisis in Egypt, though it declares that if it had done so that would have been the end of the League. ‘In our judgment it would have been better for the League to have smashed itself up in a vain attempt to settle the Egyptian question than to continue to exist amid wars and rumors of wars.’

'"What do you think of this as a business proposition? Should the League smash itself up trying to do something that it knows it can’t do now, or should it try to keep on as a going concern even though it can’t pay dividends for several years ? What would you advise me to do with my various holdings?”

’I wrote my client in regard to the advantage of diversified investment. “I would suggest that this is not a time for panic. Do not dump any large block of peace securities on the market so as to depress it. The fact that a man like yourself can sympathize with so many ways of keeping the peace has a steadying effect. It is well to have even the weaker securities in strong hands. If the whole list can be kept active, it ensures a continuous market. You know Sir Philip Sidney used to advise his friends, ‘When you hear of a good war, go to it.’ That was a great encouragement to the sixteenth-century militarists. Why should n’t you say, ‘When you hear of a good peace, go to it.’

'"I agree that cutthroat competition between peace plans is uneconomic. We should remember that the best plan is not that which looks best on paper. It is the plan that can be put through. When at last it is put through it may turn out to be a combination of various plans, or it may be an old discarded plan with something added to make it work. Or perhaps what is needed is somebody who has force enough to work it.”

‘I suggested also that arrangements might be made for bringing Peace issues within the reach of the ordinary man. World peace seems rather a big proposition for a person of moderate means. He does n’t know how to swing anything so big. Now, if peace principles in smaller denomination were offered him, he might feel like investing his little all. A peace plan covering his own ward might seem attractive. If he found that he could carry on a neighborhood church or a town meeting peaceably, he might be induced to take stock in more ambitious enterprises. More attention should be given to the small investors.

III

‘Perhaps there are no subjects in regard to which I have had more inquiries from well-meaning people whose minds are in a tangle than in regard to the various Temperance issues. They have so overlapped that it is hard for the ordinary person to find his way about. There was a time when Temperance was a comparatively simple proposition. Most people would agree in regard to Ten Nights in a Barroom. The first night was really enough to convince anyone that a barroom was a good place to keep away from.

‘But as the Temperance movement has gone on, it has become involved in many complexities. Temperance people differ among themselves, and are not always able to discuss their differences temperately. There is often occasion for Father Taylor’s ejaculatory prayer, “Lord, save us from bigotry and bad rum — Thou knowest which is worse.”

‘Here is a letter from an earnest Temperance advocate who feels the need of expert advice. She writes as follows: —

‘“About 1867 my mother invested in Victory Bonds of Ohio Crusaders. These bonds were to mature in 1880. Before the date of maturity mother was induced to exchange them for W. C. T. U. preferred. I inherited these securities, together with a block of Moral Suasions from my grandmother’s estate. They were, I was informed, no longer active on the exchange, but might have some value in the future. From time to time I have taken up the new issues of W. C. T. U. as they came out, particularly the Educationals. I invested in Coffee House, Local Option, Scientific Investigation, Three Square Meals a Day, Better Housing Conditions, Votes for Women, and State-wide Prohibition. I added to my holdings Y. M. C. A., Y. W. C. A., and Social Settlement. I looked upon this as a reasonably diversified investment. The bull movement in National Prohibition took me by surprise, but I promptly invested all my spare funds in Eighteenth Amendment and Volstead Act. I do not regret this, but I confess that I have been a little bewildered by later developments. I don’t know just where I stand, for I am also a D. A. R. and have inherited, from my revolutionary sires, a large interest in Personal Liberties. Must any of these valued securities be sacrificed? I have been advised to sell my old securities for what they will fetch in the open market and invest everything in Law Enforcement. What do you think about it?”

‘ I wrote to her strongly advising her not to sacrifice anything. “Law Enforcement is all right, but it is what we call a business man’s investment. It has to be watched carefully all the time. It is a strenuous job to look after it. There are lots of laws on the statute books, and the law enforcer must n’t play favorites. I don’t think you can afford to throw away that old-fashioned Moral Suasion your grandmother believed in. A little more of it would come in handy just now. After you have persuaded people to pass a law you have to keep on persuading them to obey it. That’s the hardest part of the job in this country. Do you remember the text, ‘What the law could not do . . . ‘? There are some things the law can do, but there are a good many more things that the law cannot do. They have to be done in a different way. Don’t get in wrong on that Personal Liberty issue. But insist that Personal Liberty has as its only security Personal Responsibility.”

‘Speaking of the various temperance reforms reminds me of the reformers of all kinds who come to my office, and with whom I have established a brisk business. It is what might be called a seasonal trade. In his busy season the reformer has no time to consider the relation of his cause to society as a whole. He is not a general practitioner like Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, who could boast that the world was out of joint and he was born to set it right. He is a specialist and confines himself to a particular joint. He holds on to that with grim tenacity, till it is set.

‘But when his particular reform has been accomplished the reformer is likely to have a gone feeling. The cause for which he labored has triumphed, but it is not his triumph. Its opponents have forgotten that they ever opposed it. It is no longer a great moral issue; it has become an accomplished fact, and all the people who stand for accomplished facts accept it — and then go on as if nothing had happened.

‘If the reformer is a sensitive and self-centred person, this is gall and wormwood to him. He is like the workmen in the parable who had borne the heat and burden of the day, and begrudged the eleventh-hour man his penny.

‘But if the reformer is a sensible person he comes to my office to talk over the matter just as any successful business man might talk with his banker about changing his investments. He has had a quick turnover. He has cleared a quite tidy sum in his last venture. He has an unexpended balance of pugnacity, and is in a rather speculative frame of mind. He would like to take a flyer in some new cause that conservative people are afraid of. What is there that’s most unpopular just now? After talking with me he does n’t lose much time in making the change. One can always find wrongs to be righted if he knows where to look for them. I keep a list in my office of reforms that are overdue. There are some choice bargains yet to be picked up.

IV

‘A good many clergymen drop in from time to time seeking advice. They know that they are spiritually solvent, but they are not sure that they are intellectually so. One gentleman complained that he had some seasoned doctrinal bonds for which he had received no return in interest for a number of years. I looked up the securities and explained to him that these bonds had been called some time ago. The capital was safe, but the interest had stopped. The best thing for him to do would be to invest his spiritual capital in some securities that were not callable.

‘A zealous minister came with his troubles. He had become, he said, socially minded, but he found it difficult to get his congregation to keep up with him. He had added one social activity after another in his church till the people complained that the addition of another good cause would be more than they could stand. What could he do about it? How could he keep his church up to the mark in social activities, without having it die on his hands?

‘ I took out a little pamphlet which I had received with the compliments of the U. S. Steel Corporation. It contained remarks by Judge Gary on the subject of Pittsburgh Plus. “Let’s get at the principle. You see, when the steel industry in this country was in its infancy, the cradle was in Pittsburgh. That’s where the steel was actually produced. It was natural that the price in other parts of the country should be that established at Pittsburgh, plus the cost of transportation from that point. By and by steel began to be produced in Alabama and on the Great Lakes in large quantities. Why should transportation from Pittsburgh be included in the price of steel that had never come from Pittsburgh? Judge Gary explains how at last the U. S. Steel Corporation had to yield to the demand for a new standard for price-making. The price of steel is no longer determined by its distance from Pittsburgh, but there is a recognition of the point where it is actually produced.

'"Now you are dealing with the same kind of question. The time was when all social-welfare activities were centred in the church. It was the Pittsburgh for altruism. But one society after another has been organized to meet special needs. These nonecclesiastical agencies have proved very effective. You are going on the principle of the church — your church — plus. If a person wishes to engage in work for the community, you expect him to join your church and then go to work. But what if he takes a short cut and goes to work without joining your church? When the individuals of your congregation join with their neighbors in good works, you want them to do all these things over again so as to make a good showing in your denominational yearbook. You miss the point of the parable of the Good Samaritan. He was n’t a good Jew or a good Christian — he was only a good Samaritan.

'"Why don’t you cut out church plus? It will save a lot of bother. Your people then can do their good works in the ways most natural and efficient without spending too much time in figuring out who will get the credit. It will save duplication. It will be better for the church in the long run. People can have leisure to be spiritually minded and socially minded at the same time.”

‘It is not the church people only who are troubled by the needless duplication of effort. A well-known philanthropist came to me for help. He said he had for some time been converted to the modern view of social responsibility. He did not consider himself as a benefactor when he contributed to various organizations for social welfare. It was a voluntary form of taxation.

‘What he objects to is that, now that his principles are known, his assessment has been raised and he is the victim of triple and even quadruple taxation. He asked, “Does the fact that I have given as much as I can afford to one good cause carry with it the obligation to contribute as much to every other good cause? Would there not be a more general participation in altruistic enterprises if the principle of limited liability were recognized?”

‘Not only were the demands for money increasing beyond his ability to pay, but also the demands for all sorts of social and semisocial services. During the war he had conducted a number of successful drives. Teams were organized to go through each neighborhood. Two gentlemen appearing where only one had been expected had an intimidating effect on the nongiver. It was an effective method. But of late the number of drives for divers good causes had so increased that the drivers were in danger of collision. “On my last drive,” he said, “I carefully chose names of friends with whose generosity and affability I was familiar. When I called at their houses they were out. On my return to my home I found their cards, each friend stating that he would call again to interest me in a philanthropic object to which he knew I would gladly contribute.” My client suggested that if well-known philanthropists would subscribe to a gentlemen’s agreement not to solicit from one another they might get more from the general public.

VOL. 136 — No. 4

V

’I am organizing a department of domestic relations so that young people and their parents can exchange ideas as to what constitutes propriety. At present the transactions are conducted with the bickering that belongs to private bargaining. Paternalism and maternalism, however necessary in the family, are subject to the law of diminishing returns. Now if the time comes when this is manifest the parents and children could bring their ideas into the open market, and much misunderstanding could be done away.

‘There is a great confusion in regard to values. Matters of taste or of fashion are given an inflated moral value. A policy of drastic deflation is indicated for such cases.

‘Here is a letter from a young girl. “Dear Sir: I learn that you are dealing in moral exchanges. I wish you would straighten out mother’s ideas for me. She is much upset over bobbed hair. Can you tell me how to adjust the matter with her so as to make everything pleasant? She is so solemn about it. Is bobbed hair morally wrong, or is it only unscriptural? If it is unscriptural, where can I find a commentary that explains it the other way? I love mother dearly, but she does n’t understand me.

I just have to do something that she does n’t approve of. Perhaps if I knew what she used to do when she was my age, and she wanted to show that she was n’t tied to grandmother’s apron string, I might do that. What I want is the equivalent.”

‘By a curious coincidence I received a letter from her mother, dealing with the same subject. She said that there is a reckless rebelliousness on the part of the rising generation that bodes no good for the Republic. Young people are taking things into their own hands. They won’t take advice unless you give them the reason for it, and that is n’t always convenient. What is going to become of Civilization?

‘I answered in a way to allay her fears about civilization and then to focus her attention upon the immediate problem. In regard to things in general, I recommended some statistical study. A table of statistics is a great stabilizer of the emotions. There is a strong family resemblance among averages. I enclosed a chart prepared by a well-known banking house showing by means of graphic curves the fluctuations of business for the last fifty years. Most people when they hear of good times and bad times have an exaggerated idea of the difference between them. But this chart shows that business sticks pretty close to the normal. What is lost in one way is made up in another. The lowest depression in the worst financial year did not fall fifteen per cent below normal, and in the years of greatest prosperity the rise was not more than that above it.

‘I promised to send her a similar chart showing the fluctuation in the manners of the young during a similar period. Our chart has not been completed, but our statistician thinks it probable that the difference between high and low will not amount to more than ten points. There is a complication that has to be taken into account in calculating these averages. Owing to the increased time required for education, the period which is designated as youth has been greatly prolonged. The ladies who took themselves so seriously in the old-fashioned novels were about fifteen years of age. By the time they were eighteen or nineteen they were matrons too much absorbed in bringing up their own children to criticize their parents.

‘“Your daughter is evidently irritated because you treat her as if she were younger than she feels, and she retaliates by treating you as if you were older than you are. The years make a barrier between you, and your minds, as the lawyers say, do not meet. She vaguely feels that the time has come when you should meet her more upon a level, and have a decent respect for her opinion. Perhaps she is right. If I were you I would look into the matter.

'"If you wish to establish permanently profitable relations with your daughter, I would advise you to take her into full intellectual partnership, giving her an equal share in all the risks and the profits of your joint undertakings. This sense of responsibility will be good for her. Nor will the difference in value of the contributions you make to the common fund be so great as you may imagine. The book value of your accumulated opinions may be greater, but hers may have the greater marketability. A good deal of your capital is tied up. You have a good many fixed ideas that have value only for their associations. When you clean up all your mortgages you may find that your equity is not large. If you are to develop any new and profitable intellectual business it will be very advantageous to draw on the quick capital which your daughter can furnish.

‘“The difference in age need not trouble you. You are aware that in these days less importance is put on the dates in the family Bible. Estimates are now made on the basis of what is called mental age. Call at our office and let our experts determine your mental age. Perhaps when you ascertain it you may look upon your daughter as a contemporary.”

‘While mothers are likely to be concerned about any deviation from the manners of their girlhood, most of the inquiries from the fathers indicate that they are desirous that their sons should have advantages greater than those which they have enjoyed. Especially is this the case with those who have made their own way in the world. But when it comes to considering what these advantages are there is a great deal of vagueness. Only yesterday a prominent business-man came to ask my advice as to the best college for his son. Knowing that I dealt in intellectual exchanges, he thought I might furnish him with the ratings of various institutions. He brought with him a number of catalogues and I found that he was very much impressed by the colleges that offered the most courses and had the longest list of noted professors.

‘“I am looking,” he said, “for the college which offers the greatest advantages.” “For whom?” I asked. “For my boy, of course.”

"‘Oh, that simplifies it,” I said. “A good many of these advantages in the catalogue are not for him.” Then I took up the financial column of the morning newspaper and read: “The capital structure of a company means little to most investors, and yet it is most important. There is a vast difference in investment merit between the common stock of a company that has no bonds or preferred stock ahead of it and the common stock of a concern that has so many other security issues in front of it that it represents nothing more than an attenuated equity.

'"You can figure out how much value to your boy will be the courses he will never take and the noted professors he will never meet. Perhaps a smaller college in which he could have a larger part might be better for him. In the big college he might have only an attenuated equity.”

VI

‘I am thinking,’said Bagster, ‘of establishing a branch office in Washington. There seems to be a demand for it from conscientious, hard-working members of Congress. Here is a letter which shows a distressing condition.

‘“Dear Sir: Seeing your advertisement, it occurred to me that you might be able to do something for a deserving and much misunderstood class of American citizens. They are curiously called Representatives. When I was elected to Congress from the ninth district of my state, I labored under an altogether erroneous notion of what constitutes representative government. I supposed that the people of my district, not having the time or the special knowledge to deal directly with the specific questions that might arise during the session of the national legislature, had asked me to do some political thinking for them. Having the opportunity of listening to the debates and consulting with my colleagues, I could make decisions in regard to matters of which my constituents were ignorant. I now see that this was a great mistake. The alarming increase of literacy, cheap postage, and the radio have undermined the old foundations of representative government. My constituents know more about what is going on in Washington than I do, and they lose no time in telling me so. While I am acting as chore boy, they are making up my mind for me. They tell me how to vote on a bill which I have not had time to consider. I have no longer leisure to read my letters. I weigh them. You would not believe how many pounds of peremptory advice I receive every day. As for telegrams, they are as the sands of the seashore, and they have a curious way of confirming one another. Hundreds of my constituents will rush simultaneously to the offices of the Western Union Telegraph Company and express themselves vehemently in exactly the same language. They do not argue — they decide. The only liberty I have is the liberty of anticipating what they are going to tell me to think. If this keeps on, the government at Washington will be a government by Telepathy.

‘“I am not complaining. It is a glorious thought that public opinion can express itself spontaneously on every new question with such terseness and timeliness. But is it public opinion? Who are the promoters who are putting it on the market? There must still be a good many people who have not acquired the habit of telegraphing to their Congressmen. Perhaps some of them rather admire a Congressman who has opinions of his own. Perhaps they would prefer to have him now and then make a mistake of his own rather than make all of theirs.

‘“Could n’t you help us out? I wish I could drop into your office and get the current quotations about public opinion, so that I need n’t be dependent on the opinions that are wished on me by zealous promoters. If your office were on Pennsylvania Avenue, it would be a great convenience in case an emergency should arise in which I had to make up my mind in advance of telegraphic instructions."'

At this point I interrupted.

’I hope, Bagster, you did n’t encourage that Congressman too much. He thinks his constituents have an undue influence over him, and that he could legislate better if they would let him alone. Perhaps he could. But this government is not arranged for the convenience of Congressmen. This is a government not only of the people but by the people.

‘ By the way, there’s a bill coming up for the benefit of the whole people. We must get busy and work up public sentiment. It’s your business, Bagster, as well as mine, to get that bill through at once. I’d tell you about it if you had leisure, but as you have n’t you must take my word for it. That’s the way I did when it was brought to my attention by persons I have confidence in. We are at the parting of the ways. Send a night letter to your Congressman telling him how much the people around here are wrought up about it. I advise you to do it now.’

‘Oh,’ said Bagster, ‘I’m here to give advice, not to take it.’