We have come to the end of the story. The days of the idle rich in America are as a tale that is told. To-morrow in this land there will be one of two things: either an evolution or a revolution. Either by one of those characteristically swift and marvellous changes for which the history of our race is , the class which I represent will again be into and assimilated by the body of the nation, as it was half a century ago, or we shall stand face to face with the forces of , Socialism, trade unionism, and a hundred other that either do represent or claim to represent the spirit of this people, and we shall reënact in this land some of the most terrible tragedies of history.  
I do not believe a middle course is possible. I know, of course, that the rank and file of the class I represent are blind and careless. I know that many of them, if they read this book, will lay it aside with a smile, calling it , calling it untrue. Wealth never yet in history has recognized its true position in the world, and I suppose it never will. Yet I am bound to say the things I think, and I can only trust that some few at least will be to study facts and come before the tribunal of public opinion within the next few years armed and prepared for their own .
 
I have written in vain if I have not made it clear that while the class of the wealthy has been increasing during the past five years, faster than it ever increased in a similar period before, that growth in numbers has been accompanied also by an ever-increasing knowledge on the part of the wiser heads in the social world, by a serious, sober, and careful analysis of the real conditions among the wealthy themselves, and by a genuine adaptation of the minds of the wealthy to these new conditions as they come home to us. This is the one hope of American Society. It is not , but at least it points the way toward the future of America.
 
I do not want to be considered an alarmist or to cry panic from the house tops. Yet, in the light of facts, and in the face of the terrific changes that must take place within the next decade in our social and business structure, I cannot see how the business world of America can long escape a reckoning that has for years been . There has to be in this country an adjustment that will shake the financial and business world to its foundations. It is possible, though not probable, that the necessary social changes of the next decade could be without a ; but with the business changes, the necessary shifting of the bases of our industrial system, the scaling down of the extravagance to which the nation as a whole has become accustomed, it is, I should say, impossible that we can go through without an industrial that will strike far deeper than any we have known since 1893.
 
For the poison of gold has debauched and American Society, it has brought within our gates new armies of , it has led to a degree of and of luxury, and even of and , comparable with that of the Roman Empire under Heliogabalus. I said in a former chapter that the middle class in America has almost if not quite lost its power. One of the most vital reasons for this fact is that much of that middle class has become confused with the lower fringes of the wealthy class, has learned to ape its habits and its luxuries, has come to live with ostentation and display, and has given up its traditional habits of and to waste its substance on a form of living that is, as it were, but a faint and unworthy imitation of the habits of life of the wealthy.
 
In the process of adjustment that is unavoidable this drunkenness must pass. The great professional class, which in all ages has produced so many thinkers, writers, and of a nation’s history, must come back into its own; it must learn again the lesson of thrift and which it has learned so well in France and Germany, and which, forty years ago, were the most striking features of its character here in this land. If, as is true, the class I represent has very much to learn, I take it to be equally true that every other class in the land also has its lessons to learn. The process of learning is not to be an easy one. It may be that we as a nation will be tried in the furnace of adversity, immersed in the gloomy depths of business depression, and crushed beneath a load of debt and before we have learned the first small principles upon which the newer order of things in America must be founded.
 
It is not my business, however, to talk249 to the people of America at large. I am addressing this book to Society, to the men and women whom I know, to the boys and girls who are to take our places in the social world as years go by. To them, in all , I am preaching a sermon of warning. I am calling them to gird themselves for battle—a battle the like of which has never been fought in this land before—a battle for life.
 
My appeal, if it were merely an appeal to save ourselves, would be indeed. For it is ours to think of saving others. The of the assured destiny of our race should quicken us to the service of a great and holy cause. The call is the call of the future, and the cause is the cause of humanity. I for you, my friends and members of my class, a higher destiny than the panic-stricken flight to safety. I250 am aware not only of your views, but of your . Never before has there been such an opportunity for real service to mankind. You have the means, you have the power, you have the position, you have all, save only the will. I feel confident that if you give the matter study, and do not throw away this book as mere idle talk, the will to serve will come to you.
 
I know that the great bulk of Society can be reconstructed only by one agency, and that is death. To-day, in the South, there linger here and there many old men and women who never yet have ceased to call down curses from heaven upon the head and memory of Lincoln. It is self-evident that in this other cause of which I write, and that has come to be so near to me, the army of the unreconstructed must remain for many years tremendous. Particularly is this true of the newer recruits within the golden gates of the city of wealth. You may note that we are still enjoying the company of the first generation of the captains of industry. The second generation marches swiftly upon us. It will not be satisfied, it will not be sated, until it has reached the of age. It will follow the will-of-the-wisp of society to the bitter end. It is more stubborn, I think, than even that ancient culture of Boston and Philadelphia. Most certainly it is much more offensive to the public at large. In fact, more than any other specific subdivision of the army of wealth, it its glaring banners in the faces of the people.
 
I often think, as I watch the young men and women of my class trying to enjoy themselves, what a terrible problem we have bequeathed to them. I am no longer young; even my friends call me middle . At any rate, I have reached a stage in life where I can stop and weigh the facts, and come to a conclusion unbiased by the mere joy of living. Therefore I am moved to pity as I watch the very young of my class at play. For I am certain that three out of four of them will face, in the fulness of their lives, many bitter and heart-searching problems. Already the shadow of events falls heavily upon them. Many of them, even in their very tender youth, have learned that they belong to a hated class. How different is their lot from mine! For I, as a boy, was taught to consider myself the heir of all the ages. I was taught that I belonged to a class loved and respected for its virtues, envied and looked up to for its opportunities. I was taught that the women of my class were models and examplars to all the world. I was taught that the men were the uncrowned kings of America, leaders of thought, leaders of action, masters of destiny, masters of business.
 
To-day, in New York, the girls of our class cannot read the newspapers without learning the fearful lesson that their fathers are despised by the people and their mothers are suspected by the women of the nation. , , , and are poured upon us day by day. I sometimes wonder how the class can survive it. It is a fearful thing for a young girl to be brought up to womanhood in an atmosphere like this. It must bree............