The Kinsley graphic. [volume] (Kinsley, Kan.) 1890-1940, 1891-11-20
Y, EDWARDS COUNTY. KANSAS FRIDAY NOVEMBER 1891
10 BECOME WEALTHY

TO BECOME WEALTHY
A Nation Must Keep Its Currency In Active
Circulation and FEes E'ron the Burden
% lntarest-E'sFuiclou1 TuachinEu OF
Ealne Economy iiy she liaukers-
In their overvveeuEuy desire 20 bor-
row (o5tain deposits of as much as
possible OF other peoples money, at &
low rate Of Interest 60 the end that
they may loan it out at a high rate OF
interest and thus acquire wealth with
out labor, the savings banks Of Kansas
City are at present flooding the city
with ndvertising pamphlets and ciTcu-
lars, more or less elaborate and unique,
urging the merits aud claims of their
respective institutions ana plans
These pamphlets are specially adj
dressed to the wage-worlzers OF the
city, ard aim 90 impress upon them the
necessity and duty devoiviug upon
them to be industrious, frugal and
economical, aud above all to save every
dollar they can and deposit each dollar
in savings bank in order that it may
draw interest
have before me a pamphlet issued
by one OF the savings banks of Kansas
City, in which the aliuring fact is set
forth that such bank pays Tor savings
and trust funds:
Three per cent on daily balances,
subject to check, in excess Of $500;
Four per cent on savings deposits
for thirty days or longer, from $1,000
TO IS, ,OOOi
Five per cont on certificates of
deposit for a fixed period of not less
than six months from $50 upward
In the preparation Of this pamphlet
the aforesaid savings bank seems TO
have enlisted the services of o gentle
man who, under the nom de plume
'Uncle Ben," poses as philosoPher
and a teacher of the true principles of
happiness and success. He evidently,
however, possesses a fine vein OF
sarcastic humor and 8 keen apprecia-
ton of the ridiculous anon allies of the
present ndustrisl-sconomics system
He introduces his subject (''What is a
SPendthrift?'D to the public in the fol-
lowing doggerel verse;
NATURES Plat.
want TO succeed without labor
But no man ever will
want 60 be wise without study
But the nat rcuiaiuctn stllll
BY the sweat Of thy face get bread
And sufieE Il you viii noti
FOR tho wise gain kuo owIedgeby stuly
And sIoth Enaketh beEgar and sot
No doubt the stockholders and Of
hciais in this institution (who expect to
reap rich dividends and big salaries as
a result OF their urduous toll expended
in lOaning other peoples money!. huge
ly enjoyed the grim humcr contained
in the above lines. Eerchance, how
ever, during moments of reelection
they have grave misgivings as TO the
result. if labor should apPrehend the
paradoxicat nature OF this verse and
grasp the idea that labor does in reality
produce all vealth-und pay all in
tersst
Uncle Ben then cheerfuiIy proceeds
TO classify all those who are not misers
or frugal men, + G., who do not deposit
money in savings bank He divides
them into three classes, as follows:
First-Prodigals
Second Spenders.
Third-EOn-savers-
And then sapisutIy adds;
you see that the outspreading arms
of the spsudthrifb will en- brace them
all, though in different degrees Let
us endeavOr to define these three"
He then defines as follows:
''First-The prodiRal, or the man
who spends all he can beg, borrow or
steal
"Second-The speuder, or the man
who spends all he earns, though he
might, with frugality, save part OF it
This class is generally composed Of
young msn, not married, earning Si, 600
or more every year in cities, and $500
or $500 in the country.
''Third-The uon-savers or men who
simply do not save because it really
seems as if they could not And here
is a woeful picture of human existence,
If it is as It seems to the eyes of many.
But ! think it is not So Amongst this
third class we may place nearly the
whole laboriug population of the couu-
try who have nothing ahead Bot ] do
sincerely believe that there is not one
family out of every thousand in the
land that could not, IL it would. save
some thing every week The trouble is,
every body seems TO have been trying
by dress and living, TO lift themselves
to a station in society above their own.
To lift themselves ia the world, really.
is highly commsndable- But to seem
TO do IL is not Because, by seeming to
be richer than we are we foolishIy
spend all we earn This is not raising
ourselves in the world at all Ii is do
ing just the opposite thing precisely" "
After which classification this prince
Of humorists proceeds to moralizc and
exhort after this fashion;
Ought we not 20 call every man q |
spendthrift who spends all he gsts9 |
Why not2 Who can be a spend thrift, /
If not the man who spends all he getsP /
Now dear reader, do not deceive your /
self any longer. Are you a spsndthrift? 1
Have you anything saved from your |
earnings TO prove yourself not a spend I
thrift? II not, why does not the oppro- |
bEious term 1t your case2 Excuses |
avail uothingl The man who avoids a /
wrong never needs 20 make IA excuse |
Only those ezcuse themselves who fail /
to do what they ought"
Was there ever a more delicious bit |
of delicate sarcasm aud veiisd irony? |
How rich does this humor appear. I
viewed iu the light of the fact that. IN /
1880. the average yearly earnings Of |
the vvage-Worizer Of America were E348 /
a yeari How ludicrously funny must \
be the inteErogatOry, who can Ge
spandthrift IL not the man who spends |
All he geta27 to the man who gets $500 I
or 500 a year upon which 20 support /
himself and family And then how
he satires The ilnpudsnt as
ssrtion OF the drones and parasites OF
eg-.a -g--- honest labor r-HfnEr