The Bossier banner., 1909-03-25
uONEY-MAKING AND IDEALS.

apo a question which involved a socialistlc
tendency was to be put to the test. Inc
men recognized the full meaning OF de-
cision and had discussed it with lively
interest before the meeting. After the de-
bate had continued for some time, large,
iovial Irishman, with as much strong sense
as Drawn, jerred at the proposal, and de-
clared: 1t is no use for US to take any
such tack as that, for we all know very
well that we are out for the money just the
same as The people who have got it, and
would take all we could get mighty cheer
fully The members recognized the
univefsality CT the human desire for wealth,
and the matter was brushed aside.
Every intelligent, normal human being
desires wealth, or the means Of acquiring
the useful the delightful, beautiful and
civiliZing things of life, such as education,
comfort and safety for the family, leisure,
books, travel, music, the chance to culti-
vate friends, the opportunity to be ac-
quainted with nature, and social life and
many other things. The chief difference
between men in this respect is in the inten-
sity of the desire; in their ability to con-
troll the desire and to regulate it decently;
in the character of the objects upon which
they devote the wealth when they have
acquired it.
There is a prevalent theory, which has
long been held by many cultivated people
in this country, that civilization and the
health Of society are in imminent danger
in the United States for these reasons:
The universal aim is supposed to be to get
money; the desire is of marked intensity;
the objects of the quest are rather ignob!e,
such as mere personal luxury and self
indulgence. and also because of the ab-
sence of higher and noble standards than
mere money getting.
There is, in other words, lack of suita-
bic rewards for those who devote them
selves to the higher things in the spiritual
and intellectual world.
The argument is, briefly, that there
never was a time in the worlds history
when immoderate and unrestrianed devo-
ton to bald money-making did not debase
the people and corrupt the State; "there
never was a time when a people bowed
down TO Baal and remained an outstanding
population upright and pure of heart;
there never was a nation that came out
unscaJhed and strong from an era in which
the people chiefly sought luxury and wealth,
unless the counteracting influences of re-
Egion, love of glory, fame, honor, learning,
and the higher patriotism were powerfully
and continuously exerted.
Carlyle speaks of those who keep their
gaze fixed steadily and exclusively upon
money and luxury as those who are guided
by the 'swine trough philosophy"
In other times, it is to be noted that the
sovereign or court, even when profligate,
cherished art and literature; munificently
rewarded learning and piety; crowned"
the poet and decreed a triumph for the
noble and self-sacrificing patriot In
other days the soap-maker was humble
tallow chandler and the colonel of regi-
ment was a hero held in great honor. In
our day the soap-maker, if he succeeds,
will become a millionaire with automobiles,
a yacht. a town house and country seat.
The colonel of "a regiment of regulars sinks
from barracks to barracks, and is ashamed
of his career because he cannot afford to
educate his children. Formerly dealer in
linen rags or in cotton Or wool fraternized
with the jantor of the college hall, with
the steward of the university dining hall,
and the college professor was on an emf
nence.
To-day in this country the cotton factor
or wholesaler in rags is, if fortunate, a
merchant prince and owner of square
acre of paintings, while the average uni
versity professor is, relatively to the lead
ing men in the rich commercial community
in which he usually resides, an unconsid-
cred and insignificant person whose wife
''makes over her scant supply of last
years frocks.
The minister of the gospel is woefully
ill-paid man, and in the eager rush of
wealthy, arrogant and thoughtless world
is crowded down into humble position in
which his natural influence is as much
minimized as possible.
From the hint furnished by the very in
complete and inadequate illustrations any
intelligent man may see that in CONNER
cial age the ''current sets" powerfully in
certain directions against the ideals which