Thereisagratificationoftheartisticsenseinthecontemplationofskillfulwork。Butitisalsotobeaddedthatnosuchevidenceofskillfulworkmanship，orofingeniousandeffectiveadaptationofmeanstoanend，will，inthelongrun，enjoytheapprobationofthemoderncivilizedconsumerunlessithasthesanctionoftheCanonofconspicuouswaste。
Thepositionheretakenisenforcedinafelicitousmannerbytheplaceassignedintheeconomyofconsumptiontomachineproducts。Thepointofmaterialdifferencebetweenmachine-madegoodsandthehand-wroughtgoodswhichservethesamepurposesis，ordinarily，thattheformerservetheirprimarypurposemoreadequately。Theyareamoreperfectproduct——showamoreperfectadaptationofmeanstoend。Thisdoesnotsavethemfromdisesteemanddeprecation，fortheyfallshortunderthetestofhonorificwaste。Handlaborisamorewastefulmethodofproduction；hencethegoodsturnedoutbythismethodaremoreserviceableforthepurposeofpecuniaryreputability；hencethemarksofhandlaborcometobehonorific，andthegoodswhichexhibitthesemarkstakerankasofhighergradethanthecorrespondingmachineproduct。Commonly，ifnotinvariably，thehonorificmarksofhandlaborarecertainimperfectionsandirregularitiesinthelinesofthehand-wroughtarticle，showingwheretheworkmanhasfallenshortintheexecutionofthedesign。Thegroundofthesuperiorityofhand-wroughtgoods，therefore，isacertainmarginofcrudeness。Thismarginmustneverbesowideastoshowbunglingworkmanship，sincethatwouldbeevidenceoflowcost，norsonarrowastosuggesttheidealprecisionattainedonlybythemachine，forthatwouldbeevidenceoflowcost。
TheappreciationofthoseevidencesofhonorificcrUdenesstowhichhand-wroughtgoodsowetheirsuperiorworthandcharmintheeyesofwell-bredpeopleisamatterofnicediscrimination。
Itrequirestrainingandtheformationofrighthabitsofthoughtwithrespecttowhatmaybecalledthephysiognomyofgoods。
Machine-madegoodsofdailyuseareoftenadmiredandpreferredpreciselyonaccountoftheirexcessiveperfectionbythevulgarandtheunderbredwhohavenotgivenduethoughttothepunctiliosofelegantconsumption。Theceremonialinferiorityofmachineproductsgoestoshowthattheperfectionofskillandworkmanshipembodiedinanycostlyinnovationsinthefinishofgoodsisnotsufficientofitselftosecurethemacceptanceandpermanentfavor。Theinnovationmusthavethesupportofthecanonofconspicuouswaste。Anyfeatureinthephysiognomyofgoods，howeverpleasinginitself，andhoweverwellitmayapproveitselftothetasteforeffectivework，willnotbetoleratedifitprovesobnoxioustothisnormofpecuniaryreputability。