The Washington herald., 1908-01-06
LuxurY vs.. Necessities.

Edit0r The Washington Herald.
The editorial I'm your New Year issue,
a Question OF Good Taste, anent the
500 010 bali given by James " Paul. jr.
Of Philadelphia, is based on widely
held economic faIlacv that the chief use
Of money IS to circulate.
The real use of money, present day
economists hold. Is TO produce A gard
ener. for instance. has a plot Of ground.
He buys fertilizer 20 enrich it, hires il
plowed, buys hand cultivators to work it
with. and plants three crops In success
sion, selling his produce TO the market
men, lie spends perhaps, $50 At the
end of the season he has $500. The money
spent has been productive It has ere
ated what did not exist before.
A MiIlet buys canvas and paints. and
the resultant picture IS woEth many times
their value. a Dickens buys ordinary
paper. and by writing upon it, enormous
ly increases its value. The money Of
the gardener, the painter. the writer,
gives to the world some object. some
service. which it did not possess before.
Now. luxury is waste. instead OF in
creased produCtiveness. The SitG 900 spent
on that ball was spent on things which
did not produce things. It is true that
money circulated, as the editorial says;
but the thing itself on which the money
was spent produced nothing. The money
spent on this ball Is like money spent on
locomotive which stands idle in the
rOund-housC. The money spent on the
locomotive circul3tes, but the locomotive
itself does nothing. In the case Of the
gardener, &c, money also CirCulatcs. but
coupled with il is increased productive
ness. a thing or service that dii not exist
before
One Of the most acute philosophic
writer's on the Roman empire ascribes
her decline largely to the stringency in
money produced by sinking so much gold
in her public buildings and military
roads. money producing nothing
This 100000 glsddened the hearts Of the
purveyors of fashion-tailors, milliners.
h8irdressers, florists, jewelers., &c. Sup
pose that Mr. Paul, ir.. had experienced
a ehange Of heart and devoted that same
amount to a different purpose Suppose
that he has q big farm that he has long
neglected. He drains and enriches the
soil and plants it. he repairs the buili-
ings. and makes roads Or suppose he
enlarges q factory, or plants a forest.
the cost in any case being 100000
lFlt II just cE Aifuttl ldAbI ElftBtDAeQ
as before, just as much money put in
circulation But the money as thus spent
results in something permanently useful
There is now a farm well drained and
fertilized. which will yield more produce;
or forest planted. which will yield wood
and protect climate and soil; or new ma
chimes set up which will produce more
manufactured articles
This is the responsibility Of money, that
it be productive; this, the condemnation
Of luxury, that it is unpToductive
This view would seem at first glance tc
cut out all use OF money for enjoyment
But the Illustrations used show merely
the material prOductiveness Of money.
The products may be mental or spiritual
Whatever employments Of money tend to
make men more efficient, more produc-
tive members Of society. are not to be
understood as luxuries. Rest and recrea-
tion are necessaries. Hence. vacation
trips, athletic sports hunting. fishing,
tramping are not luxuries. since they in
crease the efficiency Of the individual
Nothing that develops the understanding.
as books, lectures, &c; nothing that up
lifts she spirit as art in all its forms, is
a luxury. But the moment that they be-