As A Chinaman Saw Us | Page 6

ordinary individual in America; it is only the billionaire who now really
attracts attention. The wealth and splendors of the homes, the
magnificent tout ensemble of these establishments, suggests the
possibility of degeneracy, an appearance of demoralization; but I am
assured that this is not apparent in very wealthy families.
It is not to be understood that wealth always gives social position in
America. By reading the American papers you might believe that this is
all that is necessary. Some wealth is of course requisite to enable a
family to hold its own, to give the social retort courteous, to live
according to the mode of others; yet mere wealth will not buy the
entrée to the very best society, even in villages. Culture, refinement,
education, and, most important, savoir faire, constitute the "open
sesame." I know a billionaire, at least this is his reputation, who has no
standing merely because he is vulgar--that is, ill-bred. I have met
another man, a great financier, who would give a million to have the
entrée to the very best houses. Instances could be cited without end.
Such men and women generally have their standing in Europe; in a
word, go abroad for the position they can not secure at home. A family
now allied to one of the proudest families in Europe had absolutely no
position in America previous to the alliance, and doubtless would not
now be taken up by some. You will understand that I am speaking now
of the most exclusive American society, formed of families who have
age, historical associations, breeding, education, great-grandparents,
and always have had "manners." There are other social sets which pass

as representative society, into which all the ill-mannered nouveau riche
can climb by the golden stairs; but this is not real society. The richest
man in America, Rockefeller, quoted at over a billion, is a religious
worker, and his indulgences consist in gifts to universities. Another
billionaire, Mr. Carnegie, gives his millions to found libraries. Mr.
Morgan, the millionaire banker, attends church conventions as an
antipodal diversion. There is no conspicuous millionaire before the
American public who has earned a reputation for extreme profligacy.
There is a leisure class, the sons of wealthy men, who devote their time
to hunting and other sports; but in the recent war this class surged to the
front as private soldiers and fought the country's battles. I admire the
American gentleman of the select society class I have described. He is
modest, intelligent, learned in the best sense, magnanimous, a type of
chivalry, bold, vigorous, charming as a host, and the soul of honor. It is
a regret that this is not the dominating and best-known class in America,
but it is not; and the alien, the stranger coming without letters of
introduction, would fall into other hands. A man might live a lifetime in
Philadelphia or Boston and never meet these people, unless he had been
introduced by some one who was of the same class in some other city.
Such strange social customs make strange bedfellows. Thus, if you
came to America to-day and had letters to the Vice-President, you
would, without doubt, if properly accredited, see the very best society.
If, on the other hand, you had letters to the President at his home in the
State of Ohio you would doubtless meet an entirely different class,
eminently respectable, yet not the same. It would be impossible to
ignore the inference from this. The Vice-President is in society (the
best); the President is not. Where else could this hold? Nowhere but in
America.
The Americans affect to scorn caste and sect, yet no nation has more of
them. Sets or classes, even among men, are found in all towns where
there is any display of wealth. The best society of a small town consists
of its bank presidents, its clergymen, its physicians, its authors, its
lawyers. No matter how educated the grocer may be, he will not be
received, nor the retail shoe dealer, though the shoe manufacturer, the
dealer in many shoes, may be the virtual leader, at least among the men.

Each town will have its clubs, the members ranging according to their
class; and while it seems a paradox, it is true that this classification is
mainly based upon the refinement, culture, and family of the man. A
well-known man once engaged me in conversation with a view to
finding out some facts regarding our social customs, and I learned from
him that a dentist in America would scarcely be received in the best
society. He argued, that to a man of refinement and culture, such a
profession, which included the cleaning of teeth, would be impossible;
consequently, you would not be likely to find a really cultivated man
who was a dentist.