The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-11-06
by THE oPTIMIsT.

owing 10 the crowded condition of the
paper and the insistent demands for
space, / am. unfortunately not able to
print all the communications received. 1
can. therefore. only print such as We
have room for and in addition give
credit, by printing the names of those
whose contributions are crowded out.
/ am glad TO see that most of the mem
bers of the Optimist Club grasped the
truly optimistic idea as 10 The love OF
money" OF all the servants Of man.
money is one of the most useful; of all
mems masters. If he let il master him,
II can be the most unjust and tyrannical.
The love OF il is a most unnatural pas
sion. and arises. not from any Unborn
desire for a good and worthy thing. but
from a vulgar out-Of-doors opinion OF
other people. Carlyle. the philosopher
who never had much money. yet clearly
realized how narrow in very truth are
the limitations of money, and he warned
Us that:
Money. in truth. can do much, but it cannot do
al. We must know the province II H. and eosifne
II there and even srun it bach when it wishes 10
get further
But unfortunately the man who has
once felt the passion for IL has forever
lost the power TO "spurn it back"
To love money is to lose to a great ex-
tent the power of loving great and
worthy things and the man who in
trenches himself against the worlds ills
behind a barrier OF money, shuts himself
on. also, from much that is best and
healthiest for his soul. 1t is not too
much 10 say that money has hardly
helped at all in the ideal things of life,
The monuments that live. the great
books, the wOndrOus poems, the har-
monies that sound throughout the ages.
the paintings that enrich the world-how
little has money had 20 do with the crea-
ton of these? These Joys sprang mostly
from poverty. as Horace Bushnell says:
so closely to his bosom does God
manage to bring us, under the teaching
and the discipline of a short supply Not
70 admire the sublime teaching of want
in this connection VIII be difieult for any
reflective person. Who has not discov-
cred that good necessities are the grand
est wealth of existence? To be cOrnered
and pressed and edged on practically into
the best ways and nobiest endeavors.
turned away from evil and made strong
in good, corrected, uplifted, amplified,
and held fast in the way 10 be glorified-
what man will not thank God for such
good necessities more devoutly than for
life itself"
To think in this direction is to ind a
panacea against the pains of poverty; is
10 retain optimism In spite of an empty
purse. IL is 10 arm ourselves against
envy and to save ourselves from bitter
ness. II should even if we but think
clearly, make us rejoice at the opportuni-
ties that, unincumbered by money, we
enjoy and enable US TO understand Mil
ton when he says:
E2tol not riches. then the toll II fools
The wise mans 'cumblance. if not snare. more apt
To slackeu virtue and abate her edge
Than prompt her % do aught may merit praise.
The two prize winners this week 10
whom has been awarded the prizes OF s.
each are Arthur W. Beer. Seventeenth
and Hamlin streets, and Mae II. Shaw.
l4S North Carolina avenue. Their con-
uibuuons follow;
There are few who love money for its
own sake, II is probably the feeling of
power which the possession of money
gives that even the miser loves rather
than the bright coins and crisp bank
notes themselves. AS ne counts his
money over he thinks of what he might
do with it if he chose, but he doesn't
choose, and his power to spend becomes
paralyzed as he continues 70 hoard. until
he comes 10 be such a creature as George
Eliot has masteTfully sketched for US In
Silas Mariner. the weaver:
At night came his reyelry; at night he
closed his shutters and mQde fast his
doors. and drew forth his gold Long
ago the heap of coins had become TOO
large for the iron pot TO hold them, and
he had made for them two thick leather
bags, which wasted no room in their rest
ing place, but lent themselves hexibly 20
every corner. How the guineas shone as
they came pouring out of the dark
sill ls.r
proportion in amount TO the gold be-
cause the long pieces of linen which
formed his chief work were always
partly paid IN for gold, and out OF the
silver he supplied his own bodily wants,
choosing always the shillings and six
pences 10 spend in this way. He loved
the guineas best, but he would not change
the silVer-the crowns and half crowns
that were his own earnings, begotten by
his labor; he loved them all He spread
them out in heaps and bathed his hands
in them, then he counted them and set
them up in regular piles and felt their
rounded outline between his thumb and
fingers and thought fondly of the guineas
that were only half earned by the work
in his loom. as if they had been unborn
children-thought of the guineas that
were coming slowly through the coming
years, through ali his life, which spread
far away before him. the end quite hidden
by countless days of weaving.
Money itself is not a curse. the love OF
money is. No man has a moral right TO
more money than he can rightly use Use
is the test To be rich is not Itself a
disgrace; 10 be rich and at the same
time 10 altogether neglect the opportunity
TO be OF service 10 ones felloWmen is
little less than a crime.
ARTHUR W. BEER.
Money never made a man happy yet, !
nor will IT, There is nothing in its nature
TO produce happiness. The more a man
has the more he wants Instead of its
filling a vacuum. IL makes one. If it
satisfies one want II doubles and trebles
that want another way. That was
true proverb OF the wise man. rely upon
it, Better is little with the fear of the
Lord, than great treasure and trouble |
with,"-Franklin.
What is money without happiness? It
is good servant. but poor master. 1t
can do nothing TO console a man with a
headache, nor one with a troubled heart !
II We love money for the good il en- |
ables us 10 do unto others, and not 10 |
satisfy our own selfish desires, then are
We justified in loving 1t.
How oiten we long Tor IL mat We may |
make the lives of some OF our dear ones !
little happier. their burdens a little
lighter. How we would love 20 make our |
dear mothers last years-years of rest |
and comfort She may have struggled |
long and hard. cheerfulIy making daily |!
sacrifices for her children. living only for |
them, taking no thought Of herself that /!
they might have the best there was |
Could we be fortunate enough to be able |
10 give her the many things she has |
denied herself in earlier years. then |
would we love the money that made il /