Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1886-11-12
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IN ImpoFtAnt Questfoh 1isNsd ifdn =
58a PhilosOphic Standpoint. 5s z5ssF$4 81

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N 1nporsant Question visksd nf6n
Philosophic stAndpolnt.
Wealth can not be any mere sum q
money. Money his 10 settled value.
II one place, among certain condi-
tons, you can get Tor mere tuitle
what you can not buy with Thousand
pounds somewhere else. What will
purchase pure air and selear sky in No
vemberi Millioaaires cry out for them
in vain. Yet some poor woman, say in
Shetland, who never sees money, but
exchanges her knitting work for her
itrifie Of ten and cloth, can get the
'bracing wind and the bright sky for
nothing. We all know how seriously
this consideration should enter into our
estimate Of the real Improvement to be
looked for in any change Of our place
or prospects What better off are we
In going somewhere to earn double
wages II all the commodities of life
there cost three times as much as where
we are now? People rush off to the
capital cities to ''better'' themselves,
by earning a few shillings more per
week or few hundreds more per year,
as the case may be. They generally
find that the things they must have alb
sorb all the apparent surplus, while
many things which they had before.
and ought to have, they have to resign
altogether. -. ~. .|.<..s#
Wealth does not consist Of possession
of any kind. Take an illustrations: A
man is wreokedon desert island; the
ship runs aground. and he finds him
self the owner of bags of bullion anu
precious stones. of rare books and rich
fabrics. But he can get no fresh water.
Presently he dies of thirst-a poorer
.man than the beggar who WINS hum
Tile meal by sweeping doorstep or
wedding garden. Indeed there is no
poverty soterrible as the possession of
every thing except what we want. The
Persian poet Sadi has a story on this
point. He says:
= II saw an Arab sitting in circle OF
jewelers. OF Basrah, aud relating as fol-
lows: >sDnce on a time, having missed
my way in the desert and having no
provisions left, gave myself up for
aost, when I happened to find bag full
of pearls. Ishall never forget the rel
ish and delightthat felt on supposing
it to be fried wheat. nor the bitterness
and despair which suffered on disoov.
ering that the bag contained pearls. -"
! Still less does wealth consist in mere
accumulation; we ~realy do not have
what we do not use. A mtser had .
store of buried gold, over which he
used secretly to gloat. A thief stole It
away and wise man strove to comfort
the mjser by persuading him to bury
some oyster shells in its place. and to
visit them and chuckle over them, az
she had done over the goa1.
Now let US turn to what wealth is In
the higher sense. Wealth is the salts.
faction of those needs of human life
. which, il unsatisfied, check its harmo
NOUS development No man can be
wealthy till he finds out the limits Of
his needs, for '"want ia g growing
giant whom the coat of Have wa!
never large enough to cover" So w
can not f1d out what wealth is TIL W
find out Whist these needs are
Our bodily needs are pure air, goot
water. wholesome food, sufficient cloth
ing and shelter, labor and rest On
mental needs are the education Of oul
senses, some leisure and some intel
1ectual nourishment, either from books
or society. Our spiritual needs are
love and duty.-L r. Mayo, ~ SUNDAY
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