How far
it may be true of the immediate present it would be hazardous to
say, for it is impossible to see present-day facts in such
perspective as to get a fair conception of their relative
proportions.
So far, nothing has been said of the Maecenas function of the
well-to-do, which is habitually dwelt on at some length by
writers and speakers who treat of the development of culture and
of social structure. This leisure-class function is not without
an important bearing on the higher and on the spread of knowledge
and culture. The manner and the degree in which the class
furthers learning through patronage of this kind is sufficiently
familiar. It has been frequently presented in affectionate and
effective terms by spokesmen whose familiarity with the topic
fits them to bring home to their hearers the profound
significance of this cultural factor. These spokesmen, however,
have presented the matter from the point of view of the cultural
interest, or of the interest of reputability, rather than from
that of the economic interest. As apprehended from the economic
point of view, and valued for the purpose of industrial
serviceability, this function of the well-to-do, as well as the
intellectual attitude of members of the well-to-do class, merits
some attention and will bear illustration.
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