The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1913-08-23
The Price of a Soul

ed; in fact, he began public life we'll
TODD for man of that period, and died
poor-impoverished by visits of those
who called to tell him how much they
loved him and how much they appre-
ciated his work Lincoln did not col
lect the full amount; neither Jefferson
nor Lincoln would have cared to col
lect five hundred million What would
either one have done with such a
sum? Or, what is more important,
what would five hundred millions of
dollars have done with Jefferson or
Lincoln?
And how much can one wisely
spend? Not as much as you might
think, and not nearly as much as some
have tried to spend.
We speak of people being independ-
emily rich. That is a mistake; they
are dependently rich. The richer a
man is the more dependent he is-tho
more people he depends upon to help
him collect his income, and the more
people he depends upon to help him
spend his income.
But man can give his money away
Yes, and no one who has ever tried it
will deny that more pleasure is to be
derived from the giving of money to a
/ IN, xxsh oh
ed than can be obtained from the ex-
| penditure of the same amount in self
ish indulgence. But if one is going to
give largely he must spend great deal
of time in Investigating and in COM
pairing the merits of the different en-
terprises, and am persuaded that
there Is better life than the life led
by those who spend nearly all the time
accommodating beyond their needs and
then employ the last few days in Civ
ing it away. What the world needs is
not few men of great wealth, doing
out their money in anticipation of
death-what the world needs is that
these men should link themselves in
sympathetic interest with struggling
humanity and help to solve the prob
lens of today instead of creating prob
lens for the next generation to solve
But you say man can leave his
money to his children? He can, if he
dares. But large fortune, in anti
cipation, has ruined more sons than it
has ever helped. And it is scarcely
safer to leave the money to a daughter.
For if young woman has a prospec-
tive inheritance so large that, when a
young man calls upon her, she cannot
tell whether he is calling upon her or
her father, it is embarrassing.
desire to show how practical this
subject is. If time permitted l could
take up every occupation, every avo-
cation, every profession and every call
ing, and show you that no matter
which way we turn-no matter what
we dove are always and everywhere
weighing the soul.
In the brief time that it is proper for
me to occupy, shall apply the thought
to those departments of human activi
ty in which the sale of a soul affects
others largely as well as the individual
who makes the bargain.
Take the occupation in which l am
engaged, journalism. 1t presents q
great field-a growing field; in fact
there are few fields so large. The
journalist is both a news gatherer and
molder of thought. He informs his
readers as to what is going on, and he
points out the,relation between cause
and effect-interprets current history
Public opinion is the controlling force
in a republic, and the newspaper gives
to the journalist, beyond every one
else, the opportunity to affect public
opinion. Is he discharging the duty
which superior opportunity imposes
upon him? might mention number
of temptations which come to the
journalist but shall content myself
with a few. First, there is the temp
tation to conceal the name of the real
owner of the paper. The corporate
entity which plays so large a part in
the business world has entered the
newspaper field. The names Of the
stockholders are not published and we
do not always know what individuality
directs the papers policy. Year by
year the disclosures have brought tc
light the fact that the predatory In
terests are using the newspapers and
even some magazines for the defense
of commercial iniquity and for the
purpose of attacking those who lift
their voices against favoritism and
privilege A financial magnate inter
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