CHARITY In these democratic days a very democratic theory has exploded.

Not so very long ago we believed, or made semblance of belief, that it is useless to put a high price upon a ticket with the object of securing that selectness for which the high-born crave.

"If they want to come," Lady Champignon (wife of Alderman Champignon) would say, "they do not mind paying the extra half-guinea." But Lady Champignon was wrong.

It is not that the self-made man cannot or will not pay two guineas for a ball-ticket.

It is merely that, in his commercial way, he thinks that he will not have his money's worth, and therefore prefers keeping his two guineas to spend on something more tangible--say food.