PROS AND CONS

From a very recent book, I extract these few notes or notations which are very current,
This little note, first of all, on our monetary inflation and on the devaluation of our poor franc:
“The million becomes the unit. We're only talking about millions. We only count in the millions."
It’s sadly true, alas! Which doesn't stop many people from still having to rely on money...
Another little note on our general and very Parisian thoughtlessness:
“Victor L... says that one day a gentleman made a mistake, took his own overcoat, L..., and left his with five hundred and seventeen thousand francs inside in notes and values... >>
...A lot of money is lost in public cars...
Another note on our passion for sports and big matches:
“On the Place de l'Opéra, crowded with people, thousands of people stand to look at the windows of the Grand Hôtel at two luminous transparencies on which, above crossed American and French flags, we read the results. - scores from the big match... >>
What big match, by the way, is this? Carpentier against X?... Siki against Z?
No... It is a sensational billiard match between a French champion and an American champion... The few extracts that I have just reproduced date, in fact, from 1881 and are taken from “Souvenirs du Diner Bixio”, by Jules Claretie...
Thus, in 1881, we were already passionate about champions... And we already judged that the millions were very little... And there were already gentlemen and ladies who forgot hundreds of thousand francs on car seats... There was also (from beyond the grave Jules Claretie, perfect writer, distinguished journalist, informed Parisian, gently reminds us...) there was also the servants' crisis... and the crisis of academic elections. And the traffic crisis!...
...We believe with more pride than pain that we live in unimaginable times, that what we see has never been seen before, that what we endure has never been before. endured, that our new fashions surpass all conception, our new madnesses all limits, our new manias and our customs, all imagination.
This is a lot of conceit on our part. The world turns but does not move... The clothes change, but the people dressed do not change... The hats differ, but under the hats the brains always remain the same.
...We must not say that there is nothing new under the sun because there is, all the same, something new... Only, the new is always made with a lot of effort. old - except in antique shops, of course.

Maurice Prax.