The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-11-20

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lrlioations arrive tho health suffers, gay
etS disappears. Simple and natural Ire
1 alone can maintain m organism In It's
1 fullest vigor by failing 10 rcnsrnber
| this elementary principle we fall Into
/ strange aberrationa.
What does n ,nnn need for his material
.llife IN the beat posslblo conditions? A
4 healthy diet. simple Earn,enta. shlti-
! brious dwelling, and q II ana movement.
i 1 shall not enter into the details OF
/ cato what kind OF a house he should
| occupy, nor tho cut OF his clothes. My
! aim is 10 rlhrk a direction md to say
/ whnt advantage there is for each one
i to order his life IN n. spirit OF simplicity.
| To assure ourselves that this spirit does
| not reign enough In OUR social life. It
! sunless to see how men Of al classes live.
/ clnsses Of life this questions: What do
you need to live?" You will henr what
they answer There Is nothing more IN
structive than that.
Tor some. n,itochtones OF Partisan as
phalt. there Is no life possible outside
4 certain rcgion circumscrlbcd by A few
| boulevnrds. There the mir IS hreathahle.
i
! the classic kitchen, and al one desires
| OF 30 many other things without which
| 1t would be scarcely worth while 10 prom
epadc OF, this round machine Of ours
tho world.
To the different rungs on the ladder OF
bourgeois life. they answer to the ques-
! ton OF what they need to 1.-Two. BY a
cipher. varying according 10 the degree
| OF ambition or education. and by educa-
| tion one understands most often the ex-
4 tcrnal habits OF ITO. the way they are
/ lodged, fed and clothed-an education all
ion the surface. Understood a certain In
come, Of profit or salary life becomes pos
sble. Below that It is impossible. We
\ have seen people commit suicide because
their means have fallen below a certain
,nin1nurn. They preferred to disappear
rather than to restrain Themselves. Note
that this minimum. the cause OF their
despair would have been very accept
able to others OF less exacting n1eds, an
enviable for people OF modest tastes.
m the mountains the fora change ac-
Icordng to the altitude. There Is the re-
aton Of ordinary cultivation. that Of for
ests. that OF pasturages and that OF bare
rocks and glaciers. After leaving a cer-
tain zone we find no more wheat. while
| the vine prosptrs. The oak ceases to
grow in comparatively low plane. md
| tho Pine ia pleased with considerable nlti-
tudes. Human life with its needs recalls
those phenomena OF vegcta ton.
At a certain altitude OF fortune we see
the nnancier slccccd. the club man, the
worldllngs. and, in short. all those for
whom strict necessity understands a GER
tain number OF servants. and equtpages,
as well as several domiclles In and out
OF the CITY. Next we find the burgesses,
good citizens with their clean manners
and habits. We sec. flourishlng in other
fo1, mid Inc ar
modest and OF categories OF exactions
very unequal. Then come the small
people, tho artisans, the laborers, the
peasants. the mass, in fact. who live hard.
and scantIly like the fine grass on the.
submits OF the mountains. there where
the larger specimens Of the vegetable
kingdom do not find nourlshment. In all
tho different provinces OF society they
live And those who grow there are men,
as arc the rest. It seems strange that
among fellow-men such prodtgions differ
ences In needs could be. And
here the6 analogy OF our conpari-
son nbandons rs. Plants and anil
mails OF the same family have identical
needs. Human life brings us to other
observations quite contrary. What con-
clnslon shall we draw II It is not that
there is n considerAbl~ elasticity in the
nature and number of our needs?
~ $3.50 +y
rs 1t useful is It fnvora BILE TO the de-
yelopment and happiness OF the ind'vid-
ual to the Developments and happiness
OF society, that man should have multi-
rude or needs and apply himselfto satisfy
them? But. first we will take up again
our, comparison with the inferior beings.
Once their essential needs are satisfied
they/llve contented. is It so with human
society? No. In all the degrees we en-
counter dlscontent. except completely
here those who lack the h1ecessaries.
One could not, Without injustice, asstmi-
late with the dlscontentcd ones those
from whom the cold. hunger and misery
force moans. wish to speak only OF
that multitude OF people who live IN
condition after nll supportable. III From
whence comes their discomfort? Why IS
It met with not only among those W nose
condition. though, modest Is sufficient,
but again under shades OF difference,
always moro refined. UP to opuence and
to the summit OF social conditions?
They speak OF the portly BOURGEOIS.
who speaks Of them? Those who. judy
ing from tho ontslde think that, given
the time during which they have devot-
cd themselves to money making, they
really ought to consider It, enough. But
do they themselves think so? Not the
least in the world. II there are rlch
and contcnted people, be sure that they
are not contented because they are rich.
but because they have learned to DO
confronted. An animal Is satisfied be-
cause 1t has eaten, 1t lies DOM md
sleeps. A man also may lie down and
sleep for certain length OF time; but
that does not last long; he accustoms
himself to his well-being, weares OF 1t
and demands greater. The appetite Is
not apreased In a man by his food; It
comes rs he cats. That may appear abb
surd, but 1t Is the absolute truth
And tho fact that those who complain
the most arc almost always the ones
who would have tho most reasons to
declare themselves satisfied. proves clear
~ that happiness is not attached to the
number OF our needs anda the haste which
we employ to cultivate them. Every one
is Interested In penetrating this truth for
himself. 1t he does not do It., II by IN
act OF energy ho does not manage to
limit his exactlons. he rieks finding him
self msensibly sliding down the incline
OF desire
The man who lives to eat. to drink, TO
sleep, to dress. to travel, to give him
self In fact MI that he can give him
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