Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-07-03
A TOOTHLESS SAW
Civilian Kent in Golfers for July 8, 1so79

4 seemed 10 be inherently d1SfeputaDle.
Then l happened TO meet u friend
| who loved the trees because he loved
| men, and we talked over his work. He
! told of his interest in saving the pub
lie domain for real people. of preserv-
| ing the common wealth of the trees
| for the future and of his intention to
| devote life and strength to public
| service and to fight the greedy ele-
nlents of destruction. His money, lots
of It, talked in unison with him. There
| was harmony and not discord.
| great manufacturer told of his
| success in organizing his business and
/, diffdently questioned whether it was
| more his" business than that of the
| employees and the public: and his mon
| ely talked with him of democracy and
| opportunity, and the financial duty of
| a man who could but be Il trustee for
| the talent in his keeping
Save the children taught another
and in spite of his thought, which
arrayed him against others who We're
rich. he and his money fearlessly
worked together against the em
ployer of child labor
Surely, 1 thought, money like cigar
company il keeps
Once | heard a feeble noise from the
pocket of a Russian Jew peddler. Here,
I thought. Will be sordid strain. But
1t was a clear toned cry that came
down from Egypt of old: Tickets,
emigrant tickets from odessa; Lord,
let my people GO
A rich woman was talking charity.
but her money was wrangling dread
fully; some of it was calling out
Hospital while the rest shrieked
sable wrap!"
a tainted woman. singing, maudlin
and disreputable, presented another
field of battle one cry of the wages
of her sin: More wine, more silk,
more hell" was answered by another:
THE kid must be kept in school; the
old folks must have a twenty this
week.
l watched money pass from hand
to hand and heard its tone change
with each change of possessor. Here
was refutation of the doctrine of
tainted money" BUT then there
came the thought of keeping the greedy
the dishonest from buying social alb
solution with the surplus of their steal
ings. and l remembered the moonshine
traffic which points out a modus vi
vendi For neither the mooneshiner
nor the drinker would know too much
of che transaction. and so a dollar
is placed on stump and later there
appears jug on the stump and the
dollar is gone. If college presidents
and others toiling to bring light into
selves to the civility of an unaddressed
"Thank YOU" there could be no criti-
cism leveled against them. Better go
without money than to laud the name
of an enemy of society. or to place
POUNDED by Fee Faw Fun" on the
letterhead of an institution dedicated
to human service.
Far from the noise of pocketbooks
sat me down to mediate on the things
I had heard from money and the
things had heard about money. 1t is
obviously power. centralized power,
and great deal of it, however OBJ
tanned, is power beyond the concep-
ton of democracy, whether 1t be used
for good or evil. 1t would seem that
the tendency of the great increasing
hoard Is to call for more, ever for more.
For the great hoard can only increase
by the neglect of the needs of men.
Money means opportunity and the
highest opportunity is service, and the
basest is found in greed with its heed
| less, anarchistic cry for more.
recollected how complete and dis
sonant and disconnected was most OF
the talk money had utter. AT the bot
| tom of the scale was the clearer de-
i mand Of the thin pocketbook for food
shelter. clothing for self and family,
aye. with recognition of neighbor.
With increase in volume there aver
aged In increase proportion of the ele-
ment of the sordid, and the more it was
given to internal strife. The larger and
yellower the bills, the louder and yell
| lower was apt to be their insistent call
| for more.
| was tired of the everlasting din in
my ears weary of the noises escaped
| by my more fortunate fellows. More
over I felt mean about it, for 1t
seemed as tho I were eavesdropping.
dissecting souls. or at best engaged in
a sort of picking of pockets. Like an
Ancient Mariner" money made me sit
! and listen. despite all other interests
and all other engagements.
| After while l consulted an en-
nent alienist, whose profession it was
| to exercise bats from from the human
be1fry just as Dorney clears a resi-
dence of rats. mot a bad case" said
the great man, Just a case of ground
ed wires. you've heard that actions
speak louder than words. You haven't
| been hearing money at all, but listen
ing to actions AS he felt my head
something clicked into place, the noises
| ceased, and I noted with joy that the
bill / gave him slid into his pocket
/