The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1902-09-05

frank statement to make. You say Il
is useless for you to make last will
and testament because you have moth
ing to leave and you cannot afford tt
even get your life insured. If you, @
great, big, strong man, are having
such a hard time to make a living
what will your physically weak wife
ped upon her back when you are dead
If it is so hard for you to swim in the
current Of life and keep your head
above the waters, how will She poor
widow, be able to do it when your
strong arm is gone? Will the world be
kinder to her than it is to you? Has
the cruel world ever been any gentler
or extended more helpful hand to a
wife and mother who is left poverty
stricken widow than it has for you?
Mark you, for what most men fool
i ishly squander every year, for the
money they spend for cigars and lux
uries, for theater tickets, fishing eX-
cursions and baseball games, clubs
and parties, they could get their lives
insured for enough, and more than
enough, to support and educate their
children long after they are dead. Fur
thermore, my brother,> if you are not
willing to economic in your selfish in
dulgences for the physical maintenance
and mental development of your chill
dren by insuring your life, then your
professed love for your wife and chill
dren is mere insincere profession of
the lips and not of the heart. "Set
thine house in order"
But" l hear some one saying, 'the
temporal aspects of this text do not
affect me at all. l do not have to get
my life insured. l am not poor. am
one of the wealthiest merchants of this
city. l am building up a fortune,
which is growing larger every day. If
my wife or children wish to buy any
thing, all that they have to do is to go
down to the city stores and charge the
same to me. 1 pay for all their lux
uries without murmur. Besides that,
l have made last will and testament
and left them everything"
Yes; your statement may be all true.
/
have you literally set your temporal
house in order? Have you taken your
wife into your business confidence so
that she knows your plans and ideas?
Have you ever made her your business
contidant so that she would be able to
take care of the money and the bust
ness after you are dead? Have you
/ 20 fho hot ha
stability of a government bond and a
Wall street speculation in stocks?
Have you ever taught her the neces-
sity of taking a receipt? Why, the wife
and the mother of your children may
be as helpless as little child in refer
ence to business matters after you are
dead. She might be so helpless that
the executors could swindle her out of
her money as easily as you could cheat
in business a five-year-old lad. Leave
your wife sense as well as cents; leave
her brains as well as bonds. "Set
thine house in order"
Make Wise Provisions.
One of the dearest friends of our
family some years ago was left a
widow with 100000. Her executor
persuaded her to invest the same in
railroad stocks so that she might have
a million dollars. She went into Wall
street and specialized. Today she is
absolutely penniless. Make no such
mistake in reference to your wife as
that husband made in reference to his
wife, who was our family friend. The
old proverb trenchantly teaches that
ANY fool can make money but 1t takes
a very wise man to keep it," When
you set your temporal house in order,
see that your loved ones will be able
to care for the money which you will
bequeath them. See that the money
which you will leave will not be able
to slip through their fingers as water
can run through a sieve.
But my text has a wider scope than
the mere fixing up of the temporal
house. In anticipating his earthly de- |
mise a common sense man should set |
his spiritual as well as his temporal |
house in order. He should prepare for |
his own eternal journey over the river
of DEATH besides looking after the tenn
household he is going to leave behind.
Unless a man has taken long journey
away from home, a journey which
runs up into the months and perhaps
into the years, he can have no cOncep-
ton of the immense amount of prep
aration necessary. In the first place,
he must get his letter of credit drawn
nd OF no o,ofi onI w
to start ON a journey around
the world, as did some years ago, and
carry enough gold and silver with you
to pay all your necessary expenses.
Why, the gold and silver would be as
heavy as a satchelful of lead. Besides,
the gold and silver that are stamped in
the American mint would not be &C.
ceptable in foreign lands. Every coun-
try has its own system of national cur
rency. Further, If traveller should be
weighed down with a satchelful of
coin he would In all probability be
waylaid by some thief and murderer
and slain for his gold. So it is the Gus
tom of the traveller about to start ON
long journey to buy a letter of credit.
He pays to the cashier of any one of
our great American banking houses,
like Brown Bros. or ]. p. Morgan &
Co., certain amount of money. That
bank gives him letter of credit, and
he can get the money noted in the let
ter of credit cashed by the agents of
that bank in almost every city of the
world. If you are going into any dan
gerous region it is also very important
for you to have passport. This pass
port, signed by the secretary of state
1t Washington. is q notification that