oses. In such communities the
tendency--apparently inevitable in industrial societies--to base social
distinctions upon wealth and business success is beginning to show itself.
The plutocrats, however, are not yet numerous enough to form a society of
their own and must perforce find their associates among their fellow
townsmen.

One does not lose social position in the South by engaging in business
or by working with his hands. It may easily happen that in the afternoon
you may purchase a collar or a pair of shoes from a young man whom you
will meet in the evening at the house of the local magnate. The
granddaughter of a former governor or justice of the Supreme Court comes
home from her typewriter and her brother from the cotton mill or the
lumber yard. Social life in a small town--and most Southern towns are
small--is simple and unpretentious, although here too the influence of
prosperity is beginning to be manifest. Social affairs are more
elaborate than they were ten or fifteen years ago, and there is also
less casual expression of informal hospitality. The higher prices of
food and the increasing difficulties of the servant problem have
doubtless put some restraint upon the spirit of hospitality but perhaps
more important is the fact that more of the men must keep regular hours of
business and that women are developing interests outside the home.

Social affairs are almost entirely in the hands of women. The older men
come somewhat unwillingly to receptions in the evening, but the presence
of a man at an afternoon tea is unusual. The Southerner of the small
towns and cities puts away play with his adolescence. The professional
man seldom advertises the fact that he has gone hunting or fishing for a
day or a week, as it is thought to be not quite the thing for a lawyer
to be away from his office for such a purpose. Golf has gained no
foothold except in the larger towns, and even there the existence of the
country club is often precarious. Few males except college youths will
be seen on the tennis court, if indeed there be one even in a town of
five thousand people. Professional men keep long hours, though they
might be able to do all their work in half the time they spend in their
offices.

The theory of the Old South contemplated different spheres of activity
for men and women. The combined influence of St. Paul and Sir Walter
Scott is responsible for a part of this theory, though its development
was probably in