138 Life and Sport on the Pacific Slope 



selves freely from other folks' piles. The Chosen 

 People are a concrete example of this, for they 

 pilfer and prosper after a fashion quite impossible 

 overseas. But I imagine that an impartial judge 

 would pronounce the difference, ethically consid- 

 ered, to be one 'twixt Tweedledum and Tweedledee. 

 We have no "guinea-pig" system in the West; we 

 are not hypocrites ; we don't take very much (com- 

 pared with others) ; and what we do take is always 

 published in the newspapers. If you read the 

 "Times" diligently, you will come to the conclu- 

 sion that a rich man can do no wrong ; a Western 

 editor will prove to you conclusively that a rich 

 man can do no right. In "Aurora Leigh," Mrs. 

 Barrett Browning speaks of those who sit in easy 

 chairs and damn the rows that stand. The Eng- 

 lishman, snug in his easy chair, is given to cheap 

 condemnation of those who stand, and that is why 

 he is so beloved by the nations. When you have 

 nearly all that the Gods can give, it is not difficult 

 to be virtuous — as Becky Sharp observed. 



Of the many in business upon the Pacific Slope 

 who are honest we hear nothing, which reminds 

 me of a story. At the time of the last Presiden- 

 tial election, when the claims of Free Silver were 

 being generally exploited, the following was over- 

 heard : " Where are the Gold men ? " demanded a 

 Popocrat, a street orator, who was holding forth to 

 a crowd in sympathy with his dogmas, "where 

 are they? I don't see them. I don't hear them. 

 Where are they?" After a pause a deep voice 

 answered : " I '11 tell you where they are, they 're — 

 at work" 



