The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-08-17


HNHE fact that Christ dealt with this
subject is proof conclusively that
1t is important, for He never dealt
with trivial things. When Christ focused
attention upon theme it was because
II was worthy of consideration-and
Christ weighed the soul. He presented the
subject too, with surprising force; no
one will ever add emphasis to what He
said.
One one side He put the world and all
that the world can contain-all the wealth
that one can accumulate, all the fame to
which one can aspire. and all the happi-
ness that one can covet and on the other
side He put the soul, and asked the ques-
tion that has come ringing down the
centuries: what shall it profit man il
he gain the whole world and lose his own
soul?'
Most of the temptations that come to us
to sell the soul come in connection with
the getting of money The Bible says.
'The love of money is the root of all
evil If I had been making the state
ment think l would have said that the
love of money is the root of nearly all
evil But that is probably due to the fact
knhL L ALL SO COHSeTNdIlNe III lnOuSnl
and in method of statement that l prefer
to leave a margin in the statement of a
proposition. so that If anybody disputes
1t I can bring proof of more than l said.
But the Bible says. '"rhe love of money Is
the root of all evil" and 1 shall not at
tempt to weaken the statement. If it is
a mistake at all 1t is so slight a mis-
tnke that we need not spend time in cor
recting it.
And because many of our tempta-
tions come through the love of money
and the desire to obtain it, it is worth
while to consider the laws of accumua-
ton. We must all have money; we need
food and clothing and shelter, and money
Is necessary for the purchase of these
things. Money is not an evil in itself
money is in fact very useful servant.
1t is bad only when It becomes the mas
ter, and the love OF 1t is hurtful only
because 1t can, and often does crowd out
the love of nobler things.
But since we must all use money and
must in our active days store up money
for the days when our strength fails, let
us see If we can agree upon the rules
which should govern us in the aecumula-
tion of the money that we need. How
much money can a man rightfully coll
lect from society? Surely there can be no
diss greement here. He cannot rightfuly
collect more than he honestly earns. If
a man collects mere than he honestly
earns Ee collects what somebody else has
earned, and we call 1t stealing If man
take that which belongs to others Not
only is man limited in his collections
of what he honestly earns, but no honest
man will desire to collect more than he
earns.
If man cannot rghtfully collect more
than he honestly earns, ii is, then, mat
ter of the utmost Importance to know
how much money a man can honestly
earn. l venture an answer to this and
say that man cannot honestly earn
more than fairly measures the service
which he renders to society. 7 cannot con-
ceive of any way of earning money ex-
cept to give society a service equivalent
in value to the money collected. This is
a fundamental proposition, and it is inn
portant that it should be clearly under
stood, for if one desires to collect largely
trom society he must be prepared to rem
der a large service to society; and our
schools and colleges, our churches and all
other organizations for the Improvement
of man have for one of their chief OBJ
jects the enlargement of the capacity for
service.
But | need not dwell upon this because
in this country more than anywhere else
In the world we appreciate the dignity of
labor and understand that it is honorable
to serve. And yet there is room for i'm
provement for all over our land there are
scattered here and there young men and
young women-and even parents-who
still think it more respectable for young
man to spend in idleness the money some
ore else has earned than to be himself a
producer of wealth. And as long as this
sentiment is to be found anywhere there
is educational work to be done, for pub
lie opinion will never be what it ought to
be until 1t puts the badge of disgrace
i upon the idler, no matter how rich he
may be, rather than upon the man who
s. with brain or mustle contributes to the
+ nations wealth. the nations strength and
e the nations progress
But we will return to the original propo-
sition--that ones earnings must be meas
ured by the service rendered This is
80 important a proposition that | beg
leave to dwell upon 1t moment longer,
to ask whether 1t is possible to fix in
dollars and cents maximum limit to the
amount one can earn in lifetime.
Let us begin with one hundred thousand
dollars. II we estimate working life at
thirty-three years-and l think that is
fair estimate-a man must earn little
more than three thousand dollars per
year for thirty-three years to earn one
hundred thousand dollars in lifetime. !
take it for granted that no one viii deny
that it is possible for one to earn this
sum by rendering a service equal to its
" value. What shall we say of a million
dollars? Can a man earn that much?
To do SO he must earn little more than
thirty thousand dollars year for thirty
three years. Is it possible for one to rem
der so large a service? 7 believe that 1t
Is. Well, what shall we Say of ten mil
liops7 To earn that much one must earn
on an average a little more than three
hundred thousand year for thirty-three
years Is it possible for one to render
service SO large as to earn so vast a
sum? At the risk of shocking some of
my radical friends l am going to affirm
that it Is possible. But can one earn
hundred million? Yes, I believe that it