PEGGY-IN-THE-RAIN
"Jewels—yachts—grouse moors; oh, it's a sin!"
"You may jest about it, my dear, but it's really so. They speak of the wealthy class being extravagant, but it's really the poor people and the people with a little money who are extravagant. I've observed and I know. It's the real reason why the poor stay poor and the wealthy remain wealthy."
"But they don't," Gordon smiled. "That is, the poor don't stay poor. It's the poor who become eventually the wealthy."
"That used to be so, Gordon, but it's becoming less and less the rule every year. Look about you and see. Wealth is becoming more firmly intrenched all the time, and before very long—not in my time, nor yours—it will be impossible for the poor to move out of their poverty."
"My dear mother, you sound absolutely socialistic!"
"I don't sympathize with socialism," replied Mrs. Ames, shaking her head. "Equal distribution of wealth is impossible until all men are born with the same brains and ability. Distribute wealth equally to-day and to-morrow you'll have a rich class and a poor class again, just as now. I
77
