The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-08-17
downright, 1913, by Mcclure News
paper Syndicata1 n

paper Syndicat@1 y
Tho tact that Christ dealt With this
subject is proof conclusive that II
- important. for he never dealt with
trivial things. When Christ focused
aftentfon upon a theme 1t was be-
cause Il was worthy Of consideration
lend Christ weighed the soul He
presented the subject, too. with sur
passing force: no one will ever add
emphaSis to what he said
On one side he put the world and
Aft the world can contain--all
tho wealth that can accumulate. all
che fame ito which one can aspire.
and all the happiness that one can
covet: and on the other side he put
the. soul, and asked the question that
has come ringing down the centuries:
what shall 1t profit a man If no
gain the whole world and lose his
Own.soul7"
II Most of the temptations that come
% III to sell the soul come in con-
nec4inn with the getting Of money.
The Bible says: THE love of money
=. ta1e root OF all evil" IL had been
unl<1ng the statement. I think I would
AaWU said that the love of money Is
the root Of nearly all evil. But that
10 probably due to the fact that j am
20 conservative In thought and In
method OF statement. that / prefer to
leave margin In the statement of
q proposition. so that IL anybody dis
pueeg It / can bring proof Of moro
than said. But the Bible says: THE
love OF money liz the root OF all evil"
and / shall not attempt to weaken
the statement. Ii ii is n mistake at
all It lis so slight mistake that we
need not spend time In correcting IT,
"a An~ re 8ar
tations come through the love of
money and the desire TO obtain IT, 1t
~ worth while to consider the laws
Of accumulation. 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
L. In fact. a very useful servant 1t
- bad only when II becomes the mas
ter, and the love OF It Is hurtfui only
because 1t can. and often does. crowd
out the love OF nohler things
But since we must all use money
ard must in our active days store up
money for tho days when our strength
falls. let us see II we can agree upon
the rules that should govern us IN
1.-The accumulation OF the money that
we need. How much money can n
man ri9htfnIiy collect from society =?
Surely. there can be no disagreement
here He canno, rsghtfuliy collect
moro than he honestly earns. II a
man collect more than he honestly
earns. he collects what somebody else
has earned. and we call 4 stealing
! n a man takes that which belongs
10 another. Not only Is man limited
lin his collections OF what he honestly
earns, but no honest man will desire
to collect more than he earns.
n a man cannot rightfully collect
more than he honestly earns, II Is.
then. a matter OF the utmost t,npor-
lance 10 know how much money a
man can honestly earn / venture an
answer to this and say that man
cannot honestly earn more than fairly
measures the service which he rem
ders to society. / cannot conceive OF
any way OF earning money except To
give to society a service equivalent in
value 10 the money collected. This
4 n a fundamental proposition and II
. ii important that IL should be clearly
'underxto God. for II one desires IN COL
+ ie<t largely from society he must he
prepared to render large service
to society; and osr schools and COL
leges. our churches and all other or
ga nixations for the Improvement Of
man. have for one of their chief OBJ
jects the enlargement of the capa-
city for service
But / need not dwell upon this. be-
cause In this country more than any
where else In the world we appreciate
the dignity of labor and understand
that II In honorable to servo. And yet
1xhere Ia room for Improvement. for all
over our land there are scattered here
and there young men and young wo-
men--and even parents-~*ho still
think II Is more respectable for a
a. tFs n
money some one else has earned than
TO be himself n producer or wealth.
And al long as this sentiment as to
be found anywhere there is eduea-
tional work to be done, fer public
opinion will never be wha. It ought
to be until 1t puts the badge OF dis
grace upon the idler. no matter how
rich he may be. rather than upon
the man who with brain or muscle
contributes to the nations wealth. the
nations strength and the nations
progress.
But we will return to the original
proposition-that ones earnings must
be measured by the service rendered,
This liz 30 important a proposition thai
beg leave tn dwell upon 1t mo-
ment longer, to ask whether It liz pos
sible 20 fix in dollars and cents
maximum limit to the amount one
can earn in q lifetime.
Let us begin with one hundred
thousand dollars. II we estimate a
working life at thirty-three years
ana think this 10 a fair estimate
= man must earn a little more than
three thousand dollars per year for
thirty-three years to earn one hun
drcd thousand dollars In a lifetime
I take Il for granted that no one will
deny that It Is possible for one to earn
this sum by rendering service equal
to Il In value What shall we say
81 : million dollars? Can q man earn
that much? To do 80 he must earn
I little more than thirty thousand dol
lars . year for thirty-three years. Is
q possible for one to render 50 large
4 service? I believe that It U.s. Well
what shall wo say az ten millions2 10
earn that much one must earn on an
aycraxe q little more than three hun
Ared thousand q year for thirty-three
years. IL It possible for one to rem
der q service so large as to earn SO
vast q sum? At the risk Of shocking
some at my radical friends am going
Is anirm that It IL possible. But can
one earn a hundred MILTON? Yes,
I believe that It Is even possible to
/ Servo society to such I'm extent AZ to
earn 4 hundred million. In the span
m = naE<a Axx