Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-17

Augmentation of Wages he asserts that
insufficient wages occasion the decline of
mandatory, while high wages promote its
prosperity. He stands in the forefront of
those benevolent thinkers who have fought
the literary battles of labor
High wages" he writes, attract the
most skillful and most Industrious work
men. Thus the article is better made, it
sells better and in this way the employer
makes a better profit than he could do by
diminishing the pay of the workmen.
good workman spoils fewer tools wastes
less material and works faster than one
of inferior skill; and thus the profits of the
manufacturer are increased sttll more"
Before Nautilus he had given deep thought
TO the problem of population and he pre-
ceded him in pointing out the influence of
high standard of living on the Increase of
population. The greater the common fash
ionable expense of any rank of people, the
more cautious they are of marriage The
natural law of numbers and subsistence ne
also understood "A country half depopu-
lated" he writes. would soon be repeopled
till the means of subsistence were equaled
by the population. All increase beyond that
point must perish or flow off into more ia
vorable situations. Such overfiowings there
have been of mankind in all ages, or we
should not now have so many nations
To agriculture. too, Franklin gave much
thought. He always took deep interest IN
the welfare of farmers. Among them he eX-
pected to find the greatest industry and
frugaity. All his life long he was on an
eager search for new grasses or new plants
which could be introduced IN the American
colonies Agriculture he thought the most
useful the most independent, and, there
FORE the noblest of ernployments In
dustrious, frugal farmers are the mainstay
of the nation,' he declared.
Franklin's interest in economic problems
was without bound He had wise and deep
thoughts to express upon manufactures,
paper money and interest free trade and
taxation. 1.-THE taxes of the government
are indeed heavy" says Father Abra ham
in FranklSns way to Wealth" but I'VE
are taxed twice as much by our iolehess
and four times as much by our folly
In the discussion of these diverse prob
lens Franklin had many new things to say.
ideas of his own, but OF greatest importance
was the way ne said them. He had way
of saying things that was easy TO remem-
Der, just as he had way of doing things
that appealed to the ina gination, of which
the kite-hying episode is a fine type
He was always observing and collecting
facts and writing down conclusions He in
terested many people in observation. who
sent their results to him, and he became
sort of clearing house for such testimony.
It was In this wise that he learned so
much, and added SO much to the worlds
knowledge of the gulf stream, whose tenn
perature, current and course he did much
to determine. When a new idea came to
a
tons, he wrote a pamphlet about it in that
simple, luminous, witty way in which he
has no equal.
Franklin founded no school of literature
gave no impetus to letters and linked his
name with no great poem, novel or history,
but as a pamphleteer and popular eSsayist
he is without a peer.
OF all the host of Addison's imitators,
Franklin alone shows a wit keen,
humor as gentle. his mastSr. At time
when many Americans We're trying TO rival
Or. johnson in making the little fishes
talk like whales Franklin put his ideas
in plain. vigorous English-his English, not
the king Switch everybody could under
stand.
ed that Franklin's literary influence upon
the American people was bad, that he low
cred the popular taste, and inculcated a
scorn for the graces of literature; but, a
nation that could detect and appreciate the
literary grace of Hawthorne had not been
wholly robbed Of its taste for classic litera-
tGre.
1t is also fashionable nowadays to re-
proach his philosophy as being of the cam
dle-end-saving kind. where moral ends are
neglected and the thing that pays is en-
phasized but in his time the American
people needed the sound and good advice
which he gave that they might gain the
practical virtues before striving for the
higher moral standards of a more advanced
age.
thee was a needed maxim In those strug-
Cling days. They must get rich, and make
money, for 1T is hard for an empty sack
to stand upright" Energy they needed
too. for The sleeping fox catches no poui-
try 1t was good for the common man
to have ringing In his ear Poor Richards