The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-12-18
THE MERCENARY SPIRIT AND
SIMPLICITY.

70 money Il magic power.
Having come so near en-
chanted ground we will not retire in
awe, but plant a firm foot here. per-
suaded Of many truths that should be
spoken They are not new, but how
they are forgotten.
I see no possible way Of doing with
out money. The only thing that the
olists or Legislators who accuse il Of all
our ills have hitherto achieved, has been
10 change its name or form. But they
have never been able to dispense with
d symbol representative Of the CONNER
cial value of things. One might as well
wish to do away with written language
as to do away with money. Neverthe-
less, this question Of a circulating me-
dium is very troublesome. 1t forms one
OF the chief elements of complication i'm
cur life. The economic difficulties amid
which we still founder. social conven-
Iionalities. and the entire organization
of modern life. have carried gold to d
rank so eminent that il is not aStOnish-
ing 90 find the imagination Of man at
tributing to it a sort of royalty. And
il is on this side that we shall attack
the problem.
The term money HAS for appendage
that of merchandise. II there were no
merchandise there would be 10 money:
but as long as there is merchandise
there will be money, little matter under
what form. The source of all the
abuses which center around money lies
i'm a lack of discrimination. People
have confused under the term and idea
Of merchandise, things which have no
eFeff tr-stI
attempted 10 give a venal value to
things which neither could have it nor
ought to. The idea OF purchase and
sale has invaded ground where ii may
justly be considered an enemy and a
usUrper. It is reasonable that wheat.
potatoes. wine, fabrics, should be
bought and sold and It is perfectly nat
uTal that a mans labor procure him
rights TO life, and that there be put
into his hands something whose value
represents them but here already the
analogy ceases to be complete. 4 mantS
IA Dor is not merchandise in the same
sense as a sack of -four or a ton of
coal Into this labor enter elements
which cannot be valued i'm money. In
short, there are things which can in no
wise be bought; sleep, for instance,
knowledge Of the future. talent. He who
offers them for sale must be considered
q fool or an importer. And yet there
are gentlemen who coin money by such
traffic. They sell what does not be-
long to them.> and theic dupes pay fic-
titious values ia veritabIe coin So,
TOO. there are dealers in pleasure, deal
ers IN love, dealers in miracles. dealers
in patriotism. and the title OF merchant,
So honorable when il represents a man
selling that which il in truth a com
Inodity of trade, becomes the worst of
stigmaS when there is question of the
h art of religion, OF country.
Almost all men are agreed that TO
barter with ones sentiments his honor,
his cloth, his pen, or his note, is infa-
nous. Unfortunately this idea, which
suffers no contradiction as to theory.
and which thus stated seems rather a
commonplace than a high moral truth,
has indefinite trouble to make its way
ju practice. Traffic has invaded the
world. The money changers are estab-
lished even in the sanctuary, and by
sanctuary ] do not mean religious
things alone. but whatever mankind
holds sacred and inviOlable. II is not
gold that complexities, corrupts and de-
bases life; it is our mercenaTy spirit.
The mercenary spirit resolves every
thing into a single question: How much
IS that going 10 bring me? and sums
up everything in a single axiom: With
money you can procure anything. Fol-
lowing these two principles of conduct,
a society may descend to a degree Of
infamy impossible to describe or to i'm
sCine.
How much is il going to bring me?
This question, so legitimate while it
a,nrerpc those urn1oIffo1,S " nfgb ga oh
ought to take TO assure his subsistence
by his labor, becomes perniciOus as
soon as il passes it's limits and dom
mates the whole life. This is so true
that il vitiates even the toll which
gains our daily bread. l furnish paid
labor; nothing could be worse. A man
whose only motive for action Is his
wages. does a bad piece of work: what
interests him is not the doing, it's the
gold. IL he can retrench In pains with
out lessening his gains, b, assured that
he viii do Il. PlOwman, mason, factory
abOrer. he who loves not his work puts
into il neither interest nor dignity
Is in short. bad workman it is not
well to confide ones life 10 doctor who
Is wholly engFossed in his fees. for the
spring of his action is the desire TO
garnish his purse with the contents of
W urs. Ii it is for his interest that you
should suffer longer, he is capable of
fostering your malady instead Of forti-
tying your strength. The instructor of
children who cares for his work only
SO far as it brings him profit, is a sad
teacher; for his pay is Indifferent. and
lis teaching more Indifferent still OF
y, hat value is the mercerary journalist?
The day you write for the dollar, your
he IoI1
Tor. The more elevated in kind is the
object Of human labor, the more the
1uercenary spirit. if it be present. makes
this labor void and corrupts il. There
are a thousand reasons to say that all
toll merits its wage, that every man
who devotes his energies 10 providing
for his life should have his place I'm the
sun. and that he who does nothing use
full. does not gain his livelihood. i'm
short. is only a parasite. But there is
no greater social error than to
make gain the sole motive Of ac-
tion. The best we put into our
work - be that work done by
strength Of muscle. warmth Of heart. or
concentration OF minds precisely
that for which no one can pay us
Nothing better proves that man is not
q machine than this fact: two men at
Work with the same fOces and the same
movements, produce totally different
results. Where lies the cause Of TINS
Phenomenon? In the divergence Of
their intentions. One has the mercen-
Fry spirit. the other has. singleness Of
purpose. Both receive their pay, but
the labor Of the one is barren: the
other has put his soul into his work
he work Of the first is like a grain
Of sand. out of which nothing comes
through all eternity; the others work
Is like the living seed thrown into the
ground: il terminates and brings forth
barvests. This is the secret which ex-
Plains why so many people have failed
eror,fox-fuo inc r-or1- r,,-7raeros 49,