The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1915-02-25
THE GOSPEL OF THRIFT.

THE GOSPEL Or IHhIFi.
The term thrift is applied to the personal
habits of the poor man, or the man of small
means, who goes without much that those
in the same walk of life will usually enjoy
in order that he may have the means of
sefsupport when his working days are
over. If he has ability, imagination, cour-
age and force he is likely to become rich,
for he will himself soon put his savings to
productive use and get all the profit of
their employment. The combination of
qualities, however, which enable one to get
rich is very rare. The habit of thrift,
while it is necessary, is but one of those
qualities, and the lea st important, although
of course essential at the beginning. The
usual reward of thrift is at the most an in
dependent old age.
And yet it is the thrifty who are not rich,
who own most Of what there is. 1t is their
accumulated possessions put to productive
use by the most competent which provides
most Of the employment and pays most OF
the wages which the unthrifty scatter.
They finance the crop moving and provide
money for war. They lend money to ma
tons and cities for all manner of purposes.
They own the majority of the nest eggs.
Without the savings of the thrifty the
worlds work could not go on or modern
civilization exist. Incidentally, they lose
enormous sums Of money in becoming part
owners Of Improbable enterprises at the
solicitation of unscrupulous or over-en-
thusastic promoters.
Thrift has been hitherto considered as
purely an individual matter of concern only
to the person who profited thereby. Ben
jamin Franklin was the typical thrifty
American, and the homely maxims of Poor
Richard the inspiration of our earlier gen.
erations. Within the lifetime of the pres
ent generation there has developed a
change of spirit. There is a growing I'M
willingness to live the simple life, which is
the basis of thrift. To-day whoever will
live as his grandfather lived and live hap
PLY while earning what he can earn in
these times will have money to lend in his
old age. Every year there are fewer who
will do it, Nor will they work as hard or
for as long hours. The tendency is in
creasing to spend all that one gets and trust
to luck for the future. There are even some
who say thrift is vice and that the man
who saves unjustly deprives some one OF
employment. He does not. What he does
do is to give employment in production of
what is useful rather than support service
in what is not useful, and may be injurious.
The man who does not smoke takes en-
ployment from the producer and worker of
tobacco and lends it to neighbor who en-
ploys it in building house.
Thrift is not merely matter of advan-
tage to the individual who practices it, but
vital necessity of our modern civilization
as the only source from which funds can
come to carry on the prodigious enterprises
which involve productive employment
not for the advantage of the person who
saves, although he will get the same ad-
vantage as heretofore, but because the
world needs the use of the money which
should be saved.
But the basis of thrift is hard work, long
hours and the simple life, and none will
pretend that any of them are popular with
the present generation.