nto contact, to "mix," to make the most of even a
chance acquaintance. Simply and directly he exposes the whole of
himself, says what he means and withholds nothing, so that acquaintance
should be made on an equitable and genuine basis. To the more
conservative Briton this is alarming; brought up in a land of
reticences, the Briton wonders what the American is "getting at," what
does he want? What is his game? The American on his side is baffled
by the British habit of keeping things back, and he, too, perhaps
wonders why this fellow is going slow with me? Doesn't he want to be
friends?

Personally, I think that the directness and simplicity of the Americans
is the directness and simplicity of the artist, the man who has no use
for unessentials. And one gets this sense of artistry in an American's
business dealings. He goes directly at his object, and he goes with a
concentrated power and a zest that is exhilarating. Here, too, he
exposes his hand in a way bewildering to the Britisher, who sometimes
finds the American so candid in his transactions that he becomes
suspicious of there being something more behind it.

To the American work is something zestful, joyous. He likes to get
things done; he likes to do big things with a big gesture--sometimes to
the damage of detail, which he has overlooked--for him work is
craftsmanship, a thing to be carried through with the delight of a
craftsman. He is, in fact, the artist as business man.

Like all artists he has an air of hardness, the ruthlessness to attain
an end. But like all artists he is quick and generous, vivid in
enthusiasm and hard to daunt. Like the artist he is narrow in his
point of view at times and decisive in opinion--simply because his own
point of vision is all-absorbing.

This, for example, is apparent in his democracy, which is
extraordinarily wide in certain respects, and singularly restricted in
others--an example of this is the way the Americans handle offenders
against their code; whether they be I.W.W., strikers or the like, their
attitude is infinitely more ruthless than the British attitude.
Another example is, having so splendid a freedom, they allow themselves
to be "bossed" by policemen, porters and a score of others who exert an
authority so drastic on occasions that no Briton would stand it.

But over all I was struck by the vividity of the Americans I met.
Business men, journalists, writers, store girls, clerks, clubmen,
rail