The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1904-07-21

part of the system. IL is the aggrega.
tion of comforts that constitutes the
standard of living. To keep in sight
of the standard of living is the price
of opportunity-of many opportuni-
ties, that is, that you and l value.
Living is cheap where opportunities
are scarce; living is dear where OPP
portunities abound. That is to say,
the kind of living that enables you to
improve the opportunities you value, is
dear. OF course, / don't mean that
you can't live at small cost in New
York tenement house, but you couldn't
give dinner parties there. Do you
suppose you and l would cling to cur
rent comforts of life. if there were
not something in it besides ease?''
"There certainly isn't much ease in
it for us. Cattlett."
"No, there's precious little. Think
of the vast luxury of eating in the
basement, and never having table,
cloth on your dining table, and
and"
Backing your own shoes or letting
them go bare, and wearing your old
clothes, and having no plumbers pipes
in the house to get out of order,
and
ooh, come, I'd have hot water, any.
how
"You would? What for?"
ITO wash i'm
wash Would you wash? Why
wash? The greatest of the forbidden
luxuries is dirt, and cleanliness is one
of the dearest and most troublesome of
all the comforts. I believe you'd
want clean house. That implies the
continuous labor of housemaids.
Now, housemaids cost money, direct
ly for wages, and indirectly for food
andRhouse rent
"Well, what have l been telling
you? You can't get away from the
standard of comfort with turning
hobo. The things you buy with the
money you earn are 80 obviously de-
sirsble that you would rather earn
the money, if you can, than do with
out them. What costs? Cabs, opera
tickets, theatre tickets, ball gowns,
automobiles travel. horseback exer.
cise To be sure, but all those things
the philosopher can brush aside with
out much of pang. What he will
pay for if he can scrape together the
means is light, air, cleanliness, whole
some food, education, the apparatus
of a simple hospitality, the privilege
Of association with the people he
wants to see, the chance to whirl in
the particular maelstrom that attracts
him.
$50 on. go OIL Explain now that
civilization is nothing more than de-
velopmens of new wants.
"It may be something more that
that, but it is that. 1t makes differ.
ence, though, what you wspt.''
"You wouldn't say that the man
who wants the most things is the most
civilized man."
'As rule we don't want things
that are entirely out of our reach.
1t would be waste of time. The
people who want the most things are
usually the people who are best quail
fed to get what they want; that is,
the richest people. Do you think the
richest people are the most civilized. ;
"Not necessarily, of course. Some
Of them are bsrbarisns. But money
seems to be. on the whole, the great
est civilizing influence there is
"How about religion"
sit is funny about religion. There
are all kinds of religion. When yor
and say religion, we mean Chris
tianity. But there are several species
of Christianity. think good grade
of Christianity, fostering liberty and
altruism, is the most civilizing infiu-
ence there is. But where you have
that you seem bound to have educa-
ton, and where you have liberty and
education, you seem bound in the end
to have wealth.