St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1895-05-11
COvINGTON PARISH, La, SATURDAY, MAY

2ISH, La, SATURDl
THE NEED OF MONEY!.
Net the Want OF Plentiful Msssy bss sAs
waat Of Nsedtal M~ney."
II the love of money is tho root Of
evil, the want of money is IN evil in it
self, and among the many troubles OF
life, is 1.-THE biggest trouble OF all." Is
Mr.. Besant expresses it in his novel
beyond the Dreams of Avarice." -" mot
the want Of plentiful money. but the
v ant Of ncedful money" is his pithy
wording of this universal truth. There
come to mind the many needs which
money alone can relieve. and which
vary rs much as do the individuals who
lack the wherewithal to satisfy them.
To be sheltered. clothed and fed are
such obvious necessities that needful
money is sometimes defined rs that
which suffices for these most pressing
claims, all beyond the imperative ma
tcrial comfort being grimly classed as
luxLries. or things which one might
dispense.
Man wants but little here below.
Nor wants that little long
was said by . young gentleman, who
detected with the scorn of his fair one,
retired to . hermitage. where he sub
sisted ON herbs and fruit, and water
from the spring, inconsistently. how
.ver, with his frugal preachinRs in
dulging in the comforts Of a fire and
the playful tricks of q sympathetic
kitten. Men and women require much
more than the "little" prescribed by
the hermit, and they want it long
that is, always ready for each days
recurring needs and affording pleas
ant vista of competence to meet the
demands of the future. There is ac-
cordingly n great deal Of peace in a
fixed income, although 1t may be
small and barely sufficient, yet
the certainty which it affords
takes away half tho worry
and diminishes the trouble. Invention
is stimulated and become fertile in de-
vices which make money worth far
more than its face value, and there IS
even q homely pleasure in the contriv-
ing and combining which produce such
astonishing results, while the coveted
article for which one must save and
bide ones time is apt to enjoy . very
particular sort of esteem when it does
come into possession. These compensa-
tions of modest fortunese are unknown
joys to the very wealthy, whose purses
are adequate to every expenditure, and
who consequently can not have the lit
tie cxcitements of dreaming and PLAN
ming. nor the recompenscS of self-de.
nial.
An American author whose exquisite
writings are tissues of pure and deli
cate romance, and who invested the
hard details of life with . glalnor
which raised them into IAN ampler
ether, . diviner air." showed the
effect Of his New England
birth and training when he expressed
the practical opinion that all literary
workers should have q regular income
not necessarily q large one, but sui
ficient to place them beyond the cares
and anxieties which attend upon I'M
certainty-and thus be insured the
tranquility of mind which would en-
able them to pursue with success their
beautiful vocation. A curious effect
of the reverse of this case in regard to
money matters was observed in one of
the earlier novels of . French author.
His own poverty had SO debarred him
from acquaintance with the power of
money that he rushed into the extreme
of fancying that wealth must be
boundless ere it could accomplish any-
thing, and consequently he endowed
his hero with absurdly impossible
riches, transforming him into \ mod
ern edition of Aladdin.
To generous natures giving us, in so
ber truth, necessity, and the ability
TO exercise it, should be included under
the head of needful money. 1t is hard
trial to find that, economic rs one
may, there is never more than enough
TO meet the Iaily needs, while the
weight of the burden OF care and its
absorbing preoccupations seriously in.
terfere with the giving of ones self in
those pleasant neighborly attentions
which money can not buy. Perhaps,
then, ''needful money" may be defined
as that which best enables US to do our
duty in the state of life into which we
have been called, without tho constant
thought for the morrow and the wear
and tear of continual discomforts; not
ministering to unworthy social ambi-
tions, but making us ''just comforta-
ble." And thus. untrammeled by debt,
relieved Of haunting apprehensions,
and with minds free for higher
thoughts, we may go on our modest way
''snd be content without excess -"-Har-
per's Bazar.