The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-10-04
IMMORTALITY IN MONEY MATTERS
From Leslie's Weekly.

From Leslie's Weekly.
At a moderate estimate, II may be COM
puted that at least half of the humanity
manageable troubles in the world arise
from money matters After thorough
grounding in the principles of the Ten
Commandments, the next most important
lesson to teach our youth is the care and
handling of money, yet this Is usually
done in the most haphaZard way, If at
all. Lavish spending for others, often
done through sheer thoughtlessness or
love of display, and at the risk of ones
own future, or that of ones family, Is
too often condoned, both in life and lit
erature The sins of the spendthrift,
provided he does not squander his sub
stance in riotous living, and even some
times when he does, are held up as being
very excusable, If not praiseworthy, in
stead of as palpable breach of morality.
Self-respect and the duty of self-support
demand that adequate provision should
be made by every human being for his
future when age or illness may incapaci-
tate him for work. The belief that it is
his bounden duty to provide for his fam
lily is one which should be fostered
strenuously in every citizen. If every
man felt it as he ought, there would be
almost no eleemosynary effort needed.
O.
A man in country village put hun
dred-dollar bill into the contribution box
one Sunday. His generosity was warmly
praised by his fellow church-members,
and was commented upon with laudation
in the county paper. 1t leaked out later
that this man was deeply in debt. He
failed not long afterwards, and dozens
| of business men lost heavily by him. The
| desire to win applause, or to create or
strengthen credit, inspires large part Of
| the so-called "beneficence" of the day. 1t
| may have its spring in genuine loving
| Kindness, but it is a loving kindness
| which has been allowed to develop at the
| expense of prudence and morality. Let
| benevolent enterprises flourish-let every
| body give. Giving according to ability Is
| a binding duty upon every citizen, but
| many good man gives far more literally
| than he can afford, because he has not
| the strength or judgment to refrain. The
| criticisms OF ones neighbors upon ones $
| parsimony are hard to bear, but 1t would
| be harder if we had only the imagination
| to picture it, to see ones family going
down to destitute old age, or dependent
upon the grudging bounty of relatives.
| 1t is far harder to stand firm under press
| ure in these times than it is to give. It
| Is generous age, and all of current lit
crature, from the Bible down, can be
| quoted to justify the freest possible ex-
penditurc, while the passages which
| counsel caution and economy are forgot
ten in the commotion caused by trumpet
tongued Slander as she bawls out "skin-
| flint" and "miser"
On the other hand. the man who holds
vast inherited wealth, or who has pros
| pered largely in business, has quite as
hard lesson in learning to give judi
! ciously and sufficiently: but 1t is per-
haps no more difficult for the stingy rich
man to acquire the lesson of giving
than for the too generous or the osten-
| tatious poor man to learn to curb his
open-handedness and to temper his law
| ishness with discretion.