Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1906-09-07
USE OF MONEY.
II Seldom Brings Happiness in Acquisition or
Expenditure.


II Seldom Brings Happiness in Acquisition o
Expenditure.
There's a certain class OF philoso
pliers who are continually whining
about the woes OF the poor, without
understanding that the fret step in
the amelioration OF the unfortunate
poor is to insist upon their going te
work themselves.
An old moralist used to say tha,
there are two classes of poor-God'e
poor and the DEVILS poor. The Gods
poor needed q little assistance, but
when put upon their feet, they went
forward of themselves. The devils
poor continually required assistance
and the more you assisted them, the
worse they were off.
The truth is, the greatest benefit
that can be conferred upon the indi.
vidual soul is to beat into his head
that he must depend upon himself,
that for every assistance he receives,
he must pay full measure, and that
when he receives help, he must pay
for it in kind, or in loss of courage
and manhood, in stamina and in free.
dom. These things are as immutable
as the law OF the Medes and Persians
which alters not. When people un.
derstand it, they will be able to utilize
their forces and thus do what in COM
mon parlance is called "getting on"
in the world.
The trouble is. people fancy that
money is the result of luck. Every
has dreams of acquiring
a sudden fortune. People buy lottery
tickets, invest their slender savings in
gold mines, take stock in schemes
that moments reflection would show
them are raw swindles, all with the
hope OF getting suddenly rich. They
spend more effort and time in this
way than would suffice 10 make them
comfortable did they but exercise ordi.
nary care and prudence. And there.
fore, l repeat that the kindest service
that can be done is to teach people
that, as old Ben Franklin said, "The
way to wealth is as open as the way to
and that the old principles
OF honesty, prudence, economy are in
force to day as much as they ever were.
He who follows them will prosper.
He who neglects them fails, and the
rules are IS plain as the nose on ones
face.
The evil seems to be that men are
to accept the rule generally,
but they fancy that in some way, It
doesn't apply TO them, and that they
must be scheming to "make a killing"
How many q poor devil has tried to
speculate, led by his delusion, lost bis
own money, squandered the funds
TO him, and made q moral
shipwreck OF himself, as we'll As .
financial one, aud this, too, when he
had absolutely within his own hands
the means Of competence, being like
the Indians who plant the potatoes
one day and dig them up the next to
see if they have grown!
Men are differently constituted. One
man in ten studies accumulation and
thinks of adding to his store. The
other nine study only how to spend
their money and they consequently
spend it most of the time before they
earn it, are in debt. aud when they
make money. they are 10 a fever to get
rid OF it. The old adage 10 that the
money burns a hole in their pockets.
For this reason, most men who OBJ.
tain fortune suddenly are ruined. l
have known men who have drawn
sums in the lottery, but in not q
single case did it do such people one
bit of good ultimately. Even those
who set out to make q good use of it
were finally overwhelmed by it.
This is seen in . more marked de.
gree among the millionaires Of Pitts.
burg, Pa. Here were dozens and
dozens of men who suddenly ac-
quired q fortune through the steel
trust. In almost every case it ruined
them, body and soul. They set out
in search Of pleasure, and having ex-
hausted those denomina ated respect
able" they plunged into the pursuit
OF illicit ones and speedily became in
volved in a horrible career of vice.
They wrecked their families, divorces
have followed, scandals have resulted
that have shaken society from center
to circumference, and given the world
all idea that the United States is on
the downward road. The truth is
that people stand adversely much
better than they do prosperity. Ad.
versi,y sobers them, prosperity in-
toxicates and bewilders them. No
wonder that Christ is reported saying
that "It is easier for camel to go
through the eye Of needle than for a
rich man 10 enter the kingdom OF
Heaven"
A rich man is surrounded by para
sites who fiatter and fleece him. On
one side, he is prey to cheap vanity
and is uneasy unless adulation is con-
tinually poured upon him. On the
other hand, he is mean, suspicious
revengeiul, filed with animosities
that eat into bis soul and render him
hard, bitter, uncharitable, unforgiving