The Washington herald., 1914-11-20
USES OF ADVERSELY.
Virtues Worth More Than Gold May
Come of 1t.
BY B. c. FORBES.

New York, Nov. 19.-Let's have a little
talk about adversely. The subject is
much in mens-and women's-minds at
present. With most people it has gone
beyond the mind and into the pocket
That Is. 1t Is stern reality. not an airy
theory.
Everybody depIores adversely, whose
other name is depression. Some people
have made its practical acquaintance
during the last three months for the
first time in their lives. And. OF course,
they don't like it. They are not con-
soled by being reminded that whom the
Lord loveth he Chasteneth."
Yet was the sage who sang Sweet
Are the Uses OF Adversely so unmitl-
gated fool after all? I think not
Some OF us have known-have lived
with-adversity and have also expert
enced prosperity. Each has its compen-
sation. each its drawbacks.
Let us consider some Of the uses of
adversely. Mayhap it will serve in some
slight degree to cheer up sad soul here
and there.
Prosperity breeds arrogance. Adver-
S4ly UEStuS MUMMY.
Prosperity begets indifference others
needs and tribulations. Adversely begets
solicitude for others in misfortune.
Prosperity is apt to bring hardness OF
heart Adversely fosters charltableness.
The man whose barns are full to over
flowing, who has laid up enough to per-
mi. - 70, HripE
and be merry" without counting the
cost, is in danger OF forgetting his de-
pendence; IS in danger OF imagining that
IL is no longer necessary for him TO
pray Give us this day our daily bread"
He feels he is self-sufficient, that he and
his are safe and amply provided for,
that others can worry along as they
like. he is all right.
a blast Of diversity forces him to take |
his bearings afresh. lie becomes less |
sure of his strength and all sufficiency. |
His hauEhtiness s"ltens lie begins TO |
feel that aft,r al he was not so secure !
as h" had fOadiy imagined. He finds |
himself askingr-how other people are cir |
cumstanced. " begins TO realize life is |
not such a Va Of roses as he had come |
to think. that there is room and need |
for work. He wonders why he could have |
been 20 callous to the suffering and hard
ships Of others In short. he gets down to
mother earth and becomes a human be-
ing instead OF a narrow-hearted snob.
Riches also tends to blunt effort. TO |
take the keen edge of worthy ambition. |
TO deaden aspiration. and brake the at
tainment Of ideals.
1t is automatic that the poor are the
most charitable OF all: that they help one
another more than any other class. often
at real self-sacrifice.
May I recall an actual experience of a
friend? Accosted in City Hall Park by a
youn man who asked for aims, my friend
replied of1hand that he was down and
out himself and hadn't nickle. Half
an hours later he was returning when up
came the young man. tapped him on the
shoulder and said: Say. pal. I got
dime from a gent. Here's half OF it"
Can You imagine the average prosper
Gus citizen having that spirit in his
heart?
When man has or is making plenty
of money he fears and hates changes
He wants things to go on as they are.
He Is doing well, and isn't the world all
right as it is? Why turn anything up
side down? Shouldn't everybody be sat
isfed with their lot? Isn't he?
Such men develop into reactionaries.
They fan revolution.
Wealth-or even a Competency-often
develops brand of independence that
borders on insOlence. 1t is a cruel handi-
zap to healthy young man. He is i'm
patient of discipline. He resents even
wholesome restraint. He is apt to fancy
himself Mr.. Know-it-aIl. which is fatal.
The man who is compelled to live
more or less from hand to mouth, yet
S conscious that he is putting into the
world at least as much as he is getting
tut of II. is not afraid of a readjust-
nent of conditions. Nor is he indiffer-
mt to the state of others. His head is
Tot apt to get lost in the clouds nor
lis heart to become encased in steel.
To strive for a competency in every
and honorable way is
uty rather than a crime, and to be
ich need not necessarily be n reproach
r a disgrace-far from Ii. Indeed, the
nan or family who has a nest egg
an be better citizens as a rule than
heir imprudent neIghbors. Thrift in
pires self-respect and dignity and
oise and manliness.
But II fate decree a spell of ad-
ersity, especially in the case of thcse
rho have known nothing but pros
Gritty, there can be extracted from it
ruits and virtues worth in the final
nalysis more than gold permitted to
arden the heart and chloroform noble
The uses" of adversely may not
aste sweet But they can be made
Tholesome.