The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1904-04-16
R0CKEFELLER'S FIRST LEDGER,

| AIeceHtS ne gave lecture to the young men. His
subject was "his First Ledger" Before reading the
ledger he made profession of faith: Il believe if
Is religious duty to get all the money you can
fairly and honestly; to keep all you can, and to
! give away all you can" The first article of his
creed, which makes 1T a religious duty for him to
get all the money he cam is doubtless founded on
| the recommendation given to the unjust steward
who had made friends with the Mamnon of iniouitv
But the getting must be fairly and honestly" and
he, of course, is the Judge To get few million
dollars he has only to add few mills to the price
Of STANDARD oil" That is fair and honest. Hon
esty is abstraction and materiaizes only in
the methods of doing business. The washerwoman
who pays the extra two mills for pint of oil may
differ from the Bible class teacher in her ideas of
fairness and honesty, and say to the teacher "Y on
have taken dishonesty the widows mite His sec
ond article of faith is, "to keep all you cam This
article of faith too, has the approval of the rich
man mentioned in the Gospel, 'whose land brought
forth much fruit and who thought within him
SELF What shall [ do, because have no room where
to store my fruits. And he said: This will [ do:
l will pull down my barns, and will build greater;
and into them Will [ gather all things that are
grown to me, and my goods And l will say to NV
soul: "Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many
years, Take thy rest; eat drink, make good
cheer."'" What followed2 The third article of
faith is scrptural also-"to give away all you can"
However, this giving away all he could" is not up
TO the requirements of perfection which demands
first, that he sell all his possessions and secondly
distribute same to the poor. Evidently then
yet John Rockefeller jr. is not perfect nor has
he any desire to reach perfection which demands so
great a sacrifice
But his first ledger, or as he terms it, Ledger
A" is interesting He produces it in class and says:
Il have not seen this book for twenty-five years.
1t does not look like modern ledger, does it, But
you could get that book from me for all the
modern edgers i'll New York, nor for all that they
would bring. 1t almost brings tears to my eyes
when read over this little book, and it fills me with
of gratitude that [ cannot express 1t shows
largely what l received and what paid out during
my first years of business. 1t shows that from Sept
26, 1856, until Jan. l. 1856, received $50 Out of
that paid my washerwoman and the lady boarded
with, and saved little money to put away | am
not ashamed to read it over to you"
In three months and four days he received only
$50 This extraordinary feat is more than dupli-
Gated daily in every large city. The writer remem-
oers one case which came under his personal super
vision. 1t was that of widow who had three small
children depending upon her earnings. She
scrubbed offices in the early hours of morning for
| living. Her monthly income was $12. For one
mall room which served as a kitchen dining and
leeping for the entire family she paid out OF
Ter monthly income 81 a month for rent She kept
10 ledger, but managed to live on the balances
f Mr.. Rockefeller's ledger almost brought tears
o his eyes" this one case out of many, in these
avs of cant and humbug, should bring tears from
he hardest heart No one acquainted with the mis-
ry and wretchedness which exist in all large cities
nd from which the multimillionare is exempt, can
all to see the comic side of that famous ledger
moving the abject misery that exists in many
FETCHED homes in New York, and John D. Rookie
ellers plethoric wealth. and the Socialist and An
rchst fail to present object lessons to their
eluded followers. This enchanted wealth, as Car l
lie would term it, could be used to good advantage
the Bible class teacher if he followed in the foot
cps of the Good Master by relieving some of that
isery. a
To be just to the capitalist in his juvenile days
quote from the ledger which tells of his charity
Among other things, | find that I gave cent
the Sunday school every Sunday. That is not "
ry large sum, is it! But that was all the money !,
had to give for that particular object | was also
wing to several other religious objects, and what a
could afford to give regularly, as | was taught u
do, and it has been pleasure to me all my life "
do so. fl
Il had large increase in my revenue the next c.
ap. 1t went up to $25 month. 1 began 90 be a p
pitalist, and had regarded myself than the same
y as we regard capitalists now ought to have
t like criminal because I had so much money.
It we had no trusts monopolies then I paid
own bills, and always had little something
give away, and the happiness of saving some
fact, am not so Independent now as / was
n"
With $20-goldpieees jingling in all his pockets.
IN Rockefeller is not as independent now
ne was in 1856, when his income was limited to
month. Now he can secure the most fashion
G cut OF clothing and partake of the finest cook
, yet he is not as independent now as he was in
g. We agree, if he will only substitute the word
ppy' for independent" Money will not heal
peptlc stomach. Its possession will not change
sad, gloomy and downcast countenances of the
I, nor the disloyal hearts of the Anarchists On