HYPOCRISY AS A SOCIAL DEBASER. 475 



curtains that shade our windows and form the drapery of our 

 doors and parlors, the stockings on our feet and the mittens on 

 our hands, the knitted underwear that guards us from la grippe, 

 the dresses in which our wives and mothers do their shopping, 

 the clothes that we wear, the overcoatings and even the overshoes 

 necessitated by our inclement winters, the bunting that we display 

 on the house-tops on the national holidays everywhere we utilize 

 wool, and the more of the wool and the less of cotton, silk, linen, 

 or other fibers used in all these ways, the warmer, the healthier, 

 the more endurable, the more satisfactory is the result. 



It would be interesting, had we not already far outstripped the 

 bounds of a magazine article, to follow the manufacture into these 

 subordinate branches, which are more numerous than in any other 

 industry, and several of which, particularly the manufacture of 

 carpets and of knit goods, present unique phases of development 

 which have not even been hinted at in these pages. Enough has 

 been said to show that the ancient myth of the golden fleece was 

 prophetic of an industry which has added fabulous wealth to the 

 world, and which will continue to supply increasing employment 

 to labor and increasing employment to capital through all time 

 to come. 



HYPOCRISY AS A SOCIAL DEBASER. 



Br Dr. B. W. CONANT. 



IT is difficult to decide whether the author of Hypocrisy as a 

 Social Elevator is to be taken seriously. That a thoughtful 

 and conscientious man who knows the meaning of hypocrisy 

 could seriously advocate a doctrine so Machiavellian is the worst 

 horn of a dilemma, and it seems more likely that he is simply 

 trying to " raise a breeze." Indeed, this would be rather implied 

 by his final statement, that he " calmly awaits the vehement 

 chorus of dissent from this proposition." 



Hypocrisy is, indeed, an indisputable fact, ancient as Adam 

 and Cain and world-wide ; but any claim that this detestable tend- 

 ency of human nature is a social elevator requires a reply, if only 

 because some persons rather weak on their moral and intellectual 

 pins, particularly among the young, might take these sophistries 

 seriously, to their own great loss and detriment. 



In the first place, our advocate of hypocrisy seems unaware of 

 the meaning of the word. It is from the Greek, " to question and 

 answer," as actors on the stage ; hence, to play a part, and espe- 

 cially to pretend to be better than one is in virtue or religion. 

 What has this in common with the abstinence which Hamlet 

 recommends to his mother in the extract which Mr. McElroy 



