Page:The Fraternity and the College (1915).pdf/94

 Though as I say these notes would be collected by law with difficulty, if at all, not many men care to have such obligations put into the hands of an attorney, even if there is little likelihood of his being able to collect, and so I have found that some men who are otherwise reluctant or stubborn about paying will yield rather than have the matter tested. Men will grow angry and tell me to try it, if I think it will do any good, but at the same time they will pay rather than suffer the humiliation in their own towns of having it tried. Human nature is certainly a queer thing.

Of the three sets of notes which I hold and have made an effort to collect, two were for purposes of raising money to pay off a debt some time ago contracted, and the other set was to help meet the expenses of building a chapter house. The former I have found more difficult of collection than the latter, for the reason perhaps that there was a less tangible and visible object for raising the money. Paying for something that is already eaten up, or burned, or worn out is too much like paying for a dead horse. The house was an object of interest and pride, an object which the men could enjoy, and come back to, and for that reason, perhaps, they more readily put their money into it. My experiences were similar in each of the three cases; but to avoid confusion, my discussion and my illustrations will have to do