WHAT MY CRITICS WILL SAY. 45 



in lard, honestly buying lard and selling lard, 

 and not simply betting upon the future price of 

 lard, may be doing useful work in getting lard 

 where it is plenty and carrying it to places 

 where it is scarce, and so throughout the whole 

 range of legitimate mercantile life. The man 

 who keeps a retail shop of any kind is of actual 

 service to the community But the typical 

 broker what does he produce in the course of 

 a year to pay for the large sums of money he 

 receives? This is an old topic, and I have 

 nothing new to say about it. But when people 

 point to me as an idler, wasting my time and 

 neglecting my opportunities, and at the same 

 time point to my neighbor, the successful 

 broker, as an example, I must decline to be 

 impressed. At least, I give something in return 

 for what the world gives me. The articles I 

 write may be poor enough, but some people 

 read them, and live to want to read more, or 

 publishers would not buy them. 



I have a dear friend who is a cotton-broker. 

 He admits candidly that his business is gam- 

 bling, pure and simple, but he contends that if 

 people want to gamble, and want to pay him a 

 comfortable income for registering their bets, 



