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

III TACT ne Degan pubnc life well to do
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 appreciated his work.
Lincoln did not collect the full amount:
neither Jefferson nor Lincoln would haye
cared to collect $5OO.0oo0O0 What would
either one have done with such a sum?
or, what is more important what would
@00,oO0,0o0 have done with jefferson or
Lincoln?
And how much can one wisely spend?i
Not as much as you might think, and not
nearly as much as some have tried to
spend No matter how honestly money
may be acquired, one is not free to spend
It at will We are hedged about by cer-
tain restrictions that we can neither re-
move nor ignose. God has written certain
laws in our nature-laws that no legisla-
ture can repeal--laws that no court cal
declare unconstitutional, and these laws
limit us in our expenditures.
Let us consider some of the things for
which we can properly spend money. We
need food-we all need food and we need
about the same amount; not exactly, but
the difference IN quantity is not great
The range In expenditure is greater than
the range in quantity. for expenditure
covers kind and quality as well guam
tity But there is limit even to expendi-
ture. If a man eats too much he suffers
for it. If he squanders his money on
high priced foods he wears his stomach
out. There is an old saying which we
have all heard, that "the poor man is
looking for food for his stomach, while
the rich man is going from one Watering
place to another looking for a stomach
for his food" This is only witty way
of exp essing the sober truth. namely,
that one is limited in the amount of
money he can wisely spend for food
We need clothing-we all need clothing,
and we need the 81 ne amount The diff
feienc in quantity is not great. The
range in expenditure for clothing is
greater than the range in quantity. be-
cause expenditure covers style and va
riety as we'll as quantity, but there is a
limit to the amount of money one can
wisely spend for clothing. II man has
SO much clothing that it takes all of his
time to change his clothes, he has more
than he needs and more than he can
wisely spend money for.
We need homes-we all need shelter and
we need about the same amount. In fact,
God was very democratic in the distribu-
ton of our needs, for He so created us
that our needs are about the same The
range of expenditure for homes is proba-
bly, wider than in the case of either food
or clothing.
II man gets too big house it be-
comes a burden to him. and some have
had this experience. Not infrsquently
Young couple will start sout poor and
struggle along in a little house. looking
forward to the time when they can build
a big house, larger possibly than they
intended to- and it nearly always costs
more than they thought it would, and
then they struggle along the rest of
their lives looking back to the time when
they lived in a little house.
We speak of people being independently
rich. That is mistake; they are depen-
IDENTIFY rich. The richer a man is the more
dependent he is-the more people he de-
come. and the more people he depends
upon to help him spend his income.
But a man can give his money away.
Yes, and no one who has ever tried it
will deny that more pleasure is to be de-
rived from the giving of money to a cause
in which ones heart is interested than can
be obtained from the expenditure of the
same amount in selfish indulgence But
If one is going to give largely he must
spend a great deal of time in investigating
and in comparing the merits of the differ
ent enterprises. and / am persuaded that
there is better life than the life led by
those who spend nearly all the time ac-
cumulating beyond their needs and then
employ the last few days in giving it
away. What the world needs is not a
few men of great wealth, doling 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 problems of today, instead of creating
problems for the next generation to
solve.
But you say a man can leave his money
to his children? He can, If he dares. But
large fortune. in anticipation, has
ruined more sons than it has ever helped.
If a young man has so much money COM
ing to him that he knows he will never
have to work, the chances are that it
will sap his energy, even if it does not
undermine his character and leave him
curse rather than blessing to those
who brought him into the world. And it
is scarcely safer to leave the money to
daughter For If young woman has
a prospective Inheritance SO large that
when young man calls upon her she
cannot tell whether he is calling upon her
or her father 1t is embarrassing-espec
Tally so IL she finds after marriage that
he married the wrong member of the
family. And, l may add, that the daugh-
ters of the very rich are usually hedged
about by social environment which
prevents their making the acquaintance
of the best young men. The men who
twenty-five years from now will be the
leaders in business. in society. in povern
ment, and in the church. are not the PAM
pered sons of the rich, but the young men
who. with good health and good habits.
with high ideals and strong ambition. are
under the spur of necessity LAYING the
foundation for future achievements, and
these young men do not have chance
to become acquainted with the daughters
of the very rich. Even if they did know
them they might hesitate to enter upon
the scale of expenditure to which these
daughters are accustomed