New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-02-01
DR. FAUNCE ON WEALTH.
NoN.PRoDUCTIvE EXPENDITURE Is A
SIN. HE SAYS.
uHE SPENDING or MONEY ON SELF. HE HOLDS
,s NOT JUSTIFIED EXCEPT AS A MEANS OF
sELF-DEvELoPMENT FOR THE SER


VICE OF OTHERS
r,s Raw DIR. w. H. p Faunce preached SER
mon last night at the Fifth Avenue Baptist Cnurch'
based upon the prevailing controversy az 70 the
questions involved in the lavish expenditure Vi
wealth. The Fifth Avenue Baptist Chureh Is at
tended by many wealthy people. among whom are
several members Of the Standard Oil Company. Dr.
Faunce though, It fallacy TO contend as an en-
cuse for luxury that II gives employment to'aoor,
and he deprecated the expenditure Of money upon
that class OF labor which economists call non-pro-
ductve He took his subject The Christian
Expenditure OF Money" and said in part;
Righteously gotten wealth is legitimate and
honorable possession But how much Of i Is
blessing to is always a question. II 1t min
and burden. If it Dampers and eneryates chill
dren II 1t shdts ono away from his fellows 80
IS impossible. then it cannot be blessing. Never
theless. there is no wrong IN the possession 81
human progress are impossible Money has the
s to the so GheT Ens of the
world TO the extent Of that siXpence The man
atey ' to employ his feow-men He cannot de
YOUR or eat or drink his money. He cannot ordi-
parable who rec c one talent. In those days Inc
only way Of preserving wealth was 10 secrete T.
IN the bank /, is immediately leaned out to men
out in wages. and thus. the depos,or becomes the
employer OF scores of his fellow-mcn To de-
therefore. no man can help employing labor Ills
responsibility consists in deciding in what direction
the course of the year he may expend ii in
cers. which is equivalent 10 saving that more men
Which is Equivalent TO saying that more men shall
Vest it in a church. which is equivalent to saying
that more men should teach and preach the GSSpe
IS in deciding whether or not he will smploy
IN ecns hove ns hs
Wealth is merely trust. The Christian owner
Our % oresa 1ean Hse s G BE-
thousands are. blind TO their responsiontes
e ee ao Of
.st is not the man who pours out MS reckless ana
1S aece Pseea % fn om God and
expends his II IDLE l. ss sn yX1f S man
might employ hundred men TO shovel snow from
back S,S again but the result is zero and the labor
non productive 1t is in vain for me rch man III
Wall Street banker should resolve to sink a cask Of
gold in the waters of the Hudson he would be fnr.
eond not do it. but the result is zero; and the
process criminal; If man should spend 5000 in
labor in perhaps a dozen states in the Union, but
the result would be something which lasts or lew
mill. a ship or n mine would have employed iaoo'
No more foolish excuse for luxury was ever in
vented than the declaration that in It's pursuit one
employing ii for what end? A hundred thousand
dollars Is large sum to nyest N that bm OF ona
concsivably may have accomplished more for the
moral life of the world than any other possible in.
vcstment OF the money. Two hundred and fifty
thousand dollars is large sum for the monument
now rising on Riverside Drive but II 1t be impor-
tant that Grants memory should be wildly cher
fshed by the young of the future, then THIS is
productive expenditure of the highest kind.
Expenditure on self is sin. except as IT conduces
FOR our equipment for service This fact brings Tor
ward the question how much should one spend
for self and how much for others. We ought
10 spend on self all that need TO fit US
for serving others. A man may spend nun.
dreds of thousands of dollars upon himself II
thereby he is being fitted for the service Of his fel
bowman. A tour in Europe, trip around the
sible means of such self-development such moral
and intellectual culture. that through It man can
render those around him. To spend a dollar on
self except for acknowledgment as means OF ser
vice is a sin. Luxury is a waste, and waste Is
crime.