Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-12-25
AMERICAN WASTEFULNES
A Noted Author Crfticises an Aston
ing Trait of Great People.
From the Chicago Record.

rom the chicago Record
The Rev. John Watson Gan Maclaren)
comes from land of thrift. The Scotch,
by the very necessity of their situation and
surroundings, obliged to be frugal
with results that are apparent to all who
familiar with Scotch character. The
prodigality and wastefulness of Americans
seem to nave impressed Mr.. Watson. He
says of them:
If one were placed in a witness box he
might be obliged to declare that they
were distinctly thrftless. An American
filings about his money with gorgeous prod
iSality. Times there are when a hard
bitten poverty stricken Scot cherishes a
bitter grudge against his more friendly
cousin. 1t is when he follows him into a
continental hotel and finds the lackeys
dcspise his poor walls after the royal
largesse they have just received. We can
only stand aside and wonder at our kins-
man who gets his money easily, who
holds 1t so lightly, who spends il so law
ishly-a man surely of a very pr;ncely
habit and far removed above thought of
saving. And yet it may be allowed us to
shake our heads and have some misgiv-
inSs as to whether this prodigality is for
the good of individual character and the
flrm upbuilding of a people. Is the osten-
tatlous waste of food in hotels wholesome
or justifiable, where the menu is bewilder-
ing IN variety and the portions supplied
beyond all necessity, and more is taken
away than is used? Does it conduce to
stability and self-restrant to be quite
indifferent about tomorrow and to reserve
nothing of today's earnings? Have not
the farmers traded recklessly on the vir-
gin resources of the land? Have not the
Forests been improvidently cut down? Is
there not everywhere certain want of
prudence and management which cannot
IN the long run minister to moral strength
or even TO material wealth? If it be true
as is contended, that every great emDire
has been built up on thrift, this means
mat the homeiiest of virtues does not
end In the accumulation of money, but
results in the creation of manhood And
the best friends of America, therefore, de-
sire that amid all her prosperity she shall
not TALL away into improvidence and lux
uIy, but ever retain and cultivate that
habit of simple and severe living which
was shown by her Puritan fathers"
This reference to the Puritan fathers
suggests to the mind the difference between
generations. For Americans were not al
ways wasteful. The foundations of the re-
public were laid by men who were known
for their frugality and small economies.
1t is only since the civil war that this
tendency to conspicuous extravaganza
which Mr.. Watson notes has appeared as
a distinctive trait of American character
Habits of wastefulness are not conducive
to the best development of people Thrift
and frugality are qualities essential to the
highest citizenship, and the nation that
does not develop them is untrue to itself
The extravaganza which Mr.. Watson notes
is not confined to the rich but is ,reya-
lent among those who might be glad to
save if assured of safe repositories for
their small sums. No nation on . earth
would benefit so much by the establishment
of postal savings banks as the United
States. In no country are these institu-
tons so badly needed for their influence in
intoxicating in the people the habits of
thrift and frugality that characterized the
typical American of preceding generations