many  articles  of  jeweller)  and  of  dress.  The  in-
dispensabilit)  of  these  things  alter  the  habit  and
the  convention  have  been  formed,  however,  has
little  to  sa\  in  the  classification  o\  expenditures  as
waste  or  not  waste  in  the  technical  meaning  ot  the
word.  I  lie  test  to  which  all  expenditure  must  be
broughl  in  an  attempt  to  decide  that  point  is  the
question  whether  it  serves  directh  to  enhance
human  life  on  the  whole  whether  it  furthers  the
lite  process  taken  impersonally.  For  this  is  the
basis  o\  aw  aid  o\  the  instinct  of  workmanship,
and  that  instinct  is  the  court  of  final  appeal  in
am  question  ot  economic  truth  or  adequacy.  It  is
a   question   as   to   the   award   rendered   by   a   dis-


570


Part  Two,  Sec.  C — Stratification  and  Mobility


passionate  common  sense.  The  question  is  there-
fore, not  whether,  under  the  existing  circumstances
of  individual  habit  and  social  custom,  a  given
expenditure  conduces  to  the  particular  consumer's
gratification  or  peace  of  mind;  but  whether,  aside
from  acquired  tastes  and  from  the  canons  of  usage
and  conventional  decency,  its  result  is  a  net  gain
in  comfort  or  in  the  fulness  of  life.  Customary
expenditure  must  be  classed  under  the  head  of
waste  in  so  far  as  the  custom  on  which  it  rests  is
traceable  to  the  habit  of  making  an  invidious
pecuniary  comparison — in  so  far  as  it  is  conceived
that  it  could  not  have  become  customary  and
prescriptive  without  the  backing  of  this  principle
of  pecuniary  reputability  or  relative  economic
success.
