Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-07-25
Uatlp 9,stelltpe,,rer.
atchets .hcyNat Il the Incentivel

aschsts theyAat Is the lncentlves
IL visible and ,sev be said for or against
'lncpigcta II is .usg the accumulation
cf wealth by Law, elbsheory severely criti-
cised by the Eran,fncr In late issue,
we must take exception to the position
advanced by our contemporary that the
desire for money is the great motive
power In human affairs. II tells us
" Edison IL worth $l5,O00,0OO. He de-
serves 1t. He IL the product Of an age,
and the mere fact that he knew he could
get q reward for his genius led him on
from invention to invention, all Of which
have benefited the world"
We do not deprecate the universal de-
sire for money. Money is a good. 1t Is
its abuse only that il evil. The ambi-
ton to acquire wealth 10 laudable one
Money Ia a great power in the world
and IL does much to ameliorate the con-
dition of man and to bring happiness.
We also recognize the benefits OF its
gigantic achievements In the hands of
corporations and other combines. Ac-
cumulated wealth in this way has ac-
complished much for mans happiness
that otherwise could never have been at
tained.
All this we are ready TO admit, and
more too.
But we take issue with the PROPOSE
ton that money Ii the great motive
power in human affairs. II is q motive,
but not the great motive. Men must live
10 be sure; /; they must feed and clothe
themselves /; they must have houses to
live in, and they should have the ordi-
nary comforts Of life. This all requires
money. They also have right to ex-
pect proper pecuniary reward for their
labors.
II still remains true that the great in
centive to action is not the accumulation
Of wealth. There are other higher in
centives. Money 10 not king. II is n
slander upon our civilization TO say that
1t Is. There are things in this life
that money cannot buy. The delights
of learning, the love and esteem of our
fellow men, the pleasures Of the high
est emotions Of heart and feeling, the
raptures Of religion and n clear con-
science are things that money cannot
buy.
Some Of the higher aims of life, above
the mere getting of money, are the de-
velopment Of character, the unfolding
Of the noble qualities of the soul, the al-
deviation of suffering, and the further
ance Of the principles Of right and of
the good In the world.
The highest incentive for each man
should be the rehabilitation of his mis-
sion In the world as a moral agent.
We should be sorry TO acknowledge
that men, an a rule, do not recognize
this In their conduct. We believe they
do. No man is more despised in com.
munity than the mere money maker.
When men come to choose calling In
life, they recognize a higher incentive
than mere mOney-getting. They choose
that in which they can do most good
and for which nature has best adapted
them. This Ia their first consideration
not where can they make the mos,
money.
On what other principle can he ex,
planned the fact that men choose 10 fol.
low vocations where the income is not
at all d lucrative one
There are men who prefer to labor for
small salaries in certain positions who
might accumulate fortunes in other
spheres. What shall be snid of the in
centives Of those who 90 to districts in
fected with disease at the risk of their
lives, to alleviate suffering, OF of the sol.
dier who goes to battle for principle
Do they do II for pay? Is there not q
higher incentive here:
The same thing will hold good of The
men who fight the battle of life i'm the
more humble avocations. They will
tell you they are living and laboring for
something more than dollars and cents
There Is higher incentive at work in
their lives than the mere desire to make
money.
We do not believe that Edison was led
ON from one invention to another by the
mere fact that he knew he could get a
reward for his genius. He was animated
rather by that higher principle which
inspired Fresnel, about whom and whose
discovery Bishop Potter writes as fol.
lows:
Ion our coast, as the traveller nears ite
chief seaport, there is magnificent light
which flashes its clear radiance across
the stormy seas and lifts its tall form 10
be beacon by day and by night. We
can well believe that he who in.
vented that light, when at last he saw
the vision Of his brain transmitted into
that pillar of fire by night, lifted his
thoughts in u joy which was not born OF
the reflection that he was to receive q
decoration from the French government,
or five hundred thousand dollar. for his
Invention"
The same might be said of Edison and
bis discoveries, and of the millions
of patient toilers of earth.