The Bad River news. [volume] (Philip, Stanley County, S.D.) 19??-1912, 1910-01-06
Saving ana Spending
"a sermon for the New Year by
the editor.)

Any man who sets out to preach
the gospel of seltishness at any sea
son is apt to get a pretty colo
hearing. Generosity and giving
have been held up before man
kind as shining virtues for so lonl
and seltishneSs has been SO yener
ally decried AS one of the meanes,
vices. that he is indeed bold mar
who starts out at this late day tc
reverse this general verdict.
The great biy-hearted. open.
handed. spending fellow has beer
the hero of history. He has been
paraded as little God and men
have worshiped him. His career
has been held up as an example
for little children to emulate. and
emulating they have usually missed
the mark.
On the other hand. the close
listed fellow-the fellow that cold
| ~ considers the needs of himself
and his family before the purse
strings are loosened- been
quite generally despised. No halls
of fame have been raised for him.
No one has been asked to emulate
his example. He has been simply
amiser, hugging his glittering gold
to a cold, unfeeling heart. Human
ity is quite sure it could get on
Just as well without him.
But is this verdict wholly Just
Is the giver the only benefactor!
Certainly no one is so short sighted
as to despise true generosity, that
fine, far-sighted, careful giving
that has so distinguished host Of
splendid men and women. who, by
their talents and means, freely
contributed, have brought so many
noble enterprises to certain sue
! cess. Nor is there one who would
commend the miser. He is un-
worthy to be the friend or neigh
Dor.
But out of this whole matter of
giving and saving there has arisen
a lot of confusion. and on this CON
fusion has been founded a host of
false ideals. Generosity has been
made an excuse for reckless spend
ing. Every spendthrift )ustities
his course by assuring himself
that he is generous hearted. and
entitled to commendation for a
very laudable virtue rather than
condemnation for a despicable
vice. We can easily imagine the
Prodigal Son, whispering under
his breath, as he fell upon his
fathers neck, "Oh, Father, have
been too generous. Lestwise,
generosity, in the popular mind.
is almost neck and neck with chari-
ty in covering a multitude of sins.
Again, it has been quite gener-
ally believed by the mass of men
that every man that saves a dollar
is man that boards dollar. The
open hand alone is accepted by the
world as the grand hailing sign OF
the members in the Society for the
! Advancement of the Common
Good. The closed fist is sort OF
Black Hand hard on the trail OF
some Of society's most cherished
and most foolish-notions. The
man who forgets the Thousand
ways in which his money may be
spent to make his home more Joy
full, forgets his children's educa.
ton, forgets the future and the de-
mands it is certain to make upol
him, he is unseltish! But the
fellow who thinks of himself anC
those dependent upon him first OF
all, thinks too much of his physi
cal self to waste his substance ane
himself in rioutous living, thinks
too much of his home to forget it.
demands upon his time and purse
thinks too much of his credit. self
respect, and standing in the com
munity to allow petty debts to re