Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1899-03-03
IAN "HONEST" MILLION,
How LONG 1T WOULD TAKE TO
EARN" 1T.
FQwf GNousand Years at One Dollar Per
DAY, hnd Then the Cost OF Living
w.r,A Have to be Deducted from the
CVtsE

have never been so impressed by
q place where there was SO little to
see as by Nazareth, once the home
of the One whose gentle life and wise
teachings have so remarkably influ-
enced the civilized world. The place
Is not particularly impressive, but
ones thoughts are thronged with mem
cries of teachings which began at
mothers knee, then continued in the
Sunday school, church, etc.. and con-
nected with every sacred relation, as
christenings, weddings and funerals.
And here was His home! We are
threading the very streets that He trod.
The views that meet our eyes in every
direction are scenes once familiar to
Him. Yonder plain Of Esdraelon,
which we crossed in coming here, was
well known to Him. Yonder mountain
Is practically the same now as 1t was
when 1t was familiar figure in His
daily landscape. 1 went to bed that
night with an impressive realization
that I was TO sleep in the town which
was once His home. And when leav-
Ing the next day I often turned my
horse about to look again and again at
the little town and its surrounding
hills and valleys-scenes Of His daily
life.
In the last few years, during which
the industrial question has assumed
such great Importance in our country,
my mind has often gone back to those
scenes in Galilee. have thought of
the principal actor, not as teacher,
but as a workingman-the Carpenter
of Galilee. Millionaires and multi
millionaires have become numerous in
our country, bringing in their wake
an army Of unemployed, many of
whom, by force of conditions, degener-
ate into tramps and vagabonds. Both
these classes, the millionaires and
tramps, are a detriment to the best
interests of cur country. / have made
calculation bearing upon the honesty
of these millions in private Golfers, and
to help us to realize what sum a
million dollars is and what it is to
actually earn million dollars. All
will agree that when workingman
can save 81 every working day in the
year he is doing well.
Our era begins with the birth OF
this Carpenter of Galilee. Let us sup
pose that He was able to begin work
on the day of His birth and that each
working day He was able to save 81
above His living expenses. Let us
suppose that He never loses a day by
sickness or bad weather, and that His
life and health and strength are mi
raculously prolonged until He shall
earn S1,00O,O00 by saving 81 for every
working day. Then we will be able
to realize What All honest million is.
We will trace our Workman who be-
gan work on the day of His birth. At
the historic time of His death, at the
age of 33, what would He be worth?
The calculation is easy-SG5 days
minus 81 Sundays equals S1S working
days in each year. Multiply that by
SO years and we have 10,329 days; but
we must add eight days for eight leap
years. This would make 1t 10,337-and
81 per day saved would equal as many
dollars-$10,337. Far from million,
yet labor began at birth and never a
holiday nor day lost by sickness.
Let us suppose that He had lived the
allotted 70 years; then how would the
account stand? Only $21,927! Our
Workman has long and weary task
before Him to earn so large an amount
as a million dollars. Our hero must
trudg ealong through summers heat
and winters storms. Years and dec
AIDES come and go until they grow into
centuries, and still He works on, for
His task is only begun. He sees king
doms and empires rise and fall, but
still He labors on, for the greater part
of His task is still before Him.
Christians are prosecuted in various
countries, the Roman empire disap
pears. the dark ages come and still He
labors on, his task not yet completed.
The crusades are fought, America is
discovered, modern science awakens
the world from It's shroud Of darkness,
and still He labors on. The stirring
events of modern history transpire and
bring us down to the present moment,
and-would you believe it?-our Car
penter is still laboring on, not yet
having missed a single working day |
from sickness or any other cause in |
all these centuries. Let us see how |
His task would stand at this time. We |
are not counting interest, but purely |
the earnings of labor. We have seen
that His savings would be 1913 per
year; this would be $4,000 per CEN
fury, but adding rs days for rs leap
years per century, it would be $31, 1926
per century. To determine how His
account would stand at the beginning
of the present century multiply $31, 1926
by Is, and the result is $561,S5O, and
add $S0,04S for the So years of the
present century and the amount is
1891, S9S. So the task at the present
time would be only little more than
half done. Let us in Imagination
bring Him before lis. Here He comes,
storm-scarred, labor
SCARED. We ask Him questions. He
tells us interesting stories of how He